The Reader's Forum

A Hard Job

With the demise of much newsprint in the country today, it would seem to me that Jeffery Green, the new vice president of sales and marketing for the Journal, has acquired a job much like selling wick trimmers for Kerosene lamps ("Journal hires new VP of sales and marketing," Nov. 3).

Much has been said and written about the downturn in sales of newspapers. One can only read the latest edition of the Journal to see why circulation is in a downward spiral: 60-percent advertisement, editorials slanted to the left's agenda; the volume of local news could be put on one page. The comics are as funny as suffering with the flu.

I wish Green success in his new position. Better yet, I wish a gallon of gas to cost $1.10 and the Journal to be as it was a decade ago.

TINY SIMPSON

Kernersville

Anti-government nonsense

To oppose humane governance with inhumane philosophy advocates savagery to solve human problems. Anti-government nonsense in a democracy is anti-democracy. The best way to govern is to govern better. President Obama and the Democrats propose to and are governing better.

Since 2002, health-insurance premiums have increased by 87 percent and profits to the top 10 health-insurance companies have increased by 428 percent. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is not interested in health reform -- it only wants more wealth for business, including for most of its insurance-company cronies.

We the people want and need the better health-care reform proposed by Obama and the Democrats -- for the 50 million uninsured and the rest of us.

MARCIALITO CAM

Winston-Salem

American mass manufacturing

One must ask why Michael Dell can find financial incentive in manufacturing offshore in spite of millions invested and millions more of incentives to be paid back ("Dell's change in direction," Nov. 1). Is American mass manufacturing a dying entity?

Can we exist as consumers and not produce? Can we exist as a service-based economy? Note that we became the world's greatest economic power by producing for our nation and the world. What roles do overregulation and trade policies play?

What if the county put out a bid for PCs and Dell was the low bidder?

PETE MICHAILO

Kernersville

Bill will destroy freedoms

Once again the liberal media and the left-wing Democrats are going after Rep. Virginia Foxx. They can't stand it when she tells her constituents the real truth. The health-care bill before the House will destroy the freedoms that were given to us by our forefathers and it is questionable that we will ever be able to recover.

The Nov. 2 editorial page of The Wall Street Journal had an article titled "The Worst Bill Ever" in reference to the health-care-reform bill. The article stated that "Democrats have dumped any pretense of genuine bipartisan ‘reform' and moved into the realm of pure power politics as they race against the unpopularity of their own agenda. The goal is to ram through whatever income-redistribution scheme they can claim to be ‘universal coverage.' The result will be destructive on every level -- for the health-care system, for the country's fiscal condition, and ultimately for American freedom and prosperity."

I want to thank Rep. Virginia Foxx for doing what she was sent to Washington to do: represent me.

MARGARET M. GIESER

Clemmons

Simple solution

Our medical system is the best in the world, so we should not tamper with that, but only improve the payment system. Congress could write a bill in 100 to 200 pages and fix the medical payment system by doing the following four things:

1. Enact significant tort reform.

2. Replace the current medical-insurance system with catastrophic insurance, which is now outlawed in many if not all states.

3. Allow insurance companies to sell medical catastrophic insurance across state lines.

4. Create a real incentive for health-savings accounts.

For those people who now have health insurance, the premiums for catastrophic coverage would be considerably less, and those savings could be used to partially fund the health-savings accounts.

For routine medical care, this takes insurance out of the equation and allows patients to deal directly with the health-care providers, not only about medical care, but also about payments. Think of the paperwork alone that this would save.

This approach would also cut down a lot on the cost of "defensive medicine" and would enable the patient to shop around for care, which could result in bringing the cost down. This same approach could also be used to save the current Medicare program.

EDWARD L. BAITY

Winston-Salem