This is a great web site for information on all the candidates - voting
records, public statements, survey on the major issues, ratings by
various groups representing the entire political spectrum -
Project Vote Smart
http://www.vote-smart.org/index.phtml
THanks also Ken for your comments on the election and Al Gore. I cannot
understand the news media's obsession with discussing his perceived
"dullness" instead of talking about the issues. What better qualities
could we want for a President than hard working, serious and knowlegible?
Did anyone else watch the Dateline program on Friday about 3
families who lack health insurance? All were working families who fell
between the cracks - earning too much to qualify for Medicaid, too little
to afford to buy health insurance on their own, and they were not covered
by their employees. The results -- a middle aged woman died of lung
cancer because she couldn't afford surgery at an early stage, when it
could have saved her life, and wasn't considered sick enough to qualify
for disability. When her cancer reached the end stages -- then Medicaid
was approved. A single mother who could not afford medicaation or
doctor's visits for her 2 children who both had asthma, and had to risk
permament respiratory damage. A young man who couldn't afford treatment
for what began as a simple kidney stone problem. He lived in pain for
months, until a health care worker finally located a doctor who would
treat him for a now more serious condition for free. He also faces
permanent kidney damage and maybe dialysis (ironically then he would be
covered by Medicare at a cost many times greater than the cost to treat
his problem at the start) IN all 3 cases representatives of the health
care providers and theire states said there were other options available
for the uninsured. All 3 families denied ever being offered these
options.
I know there are also list members facing similar problems everyday.
Which of our candidates can we trust to solve our national health care
system? What is the health care system in Texas like, under Gov. Bush.
Look at the records before you vote.
Linda Herman
