Pretty soon . . . a future

Pretty soon . . . Every American will have greater control of their well-being with the help of private as well as public option healthcare.

Pretty soon . . . The President’s healthcare bill will help about 36 million people finally get the healthcare they deserve.

Pretty soon . . . We won’t get ranked behind Morocco by the World Health Organization for not covering 20 percent of our people.

Pretty soon . . . Corrupt businesses in the private sector (BP, Goldman Sachs, AIG, Toyota, GM) will be regulated, and with the help of a new Consumer Protection Agency, our money will be protected.

Pretty soon . . . This government will set goals for providing a cleaner future for generations following us.

Pretty soon . . . This government will have to make the same tough decisions other democratic countries are. Whether that means raising taxes to support entitlements (Medicare, Social Security, education) or cutting spending to reduce the deficit.

Pretty soon . . . Civil liberties will be expanded to allow people to get married regardless of sexual orientation.

Pretty soon . . . We have an election coming up and we will have the choice to choose between regression and progression, between selfishness and egalitarianism, and, most importantly, between hate and love.

Brian Blend
Mechanicsville

Hanover top digital county?

I’m writing in response to this article in the Aug. 4 edition of The Mechanicsville Local.

This past May I moved from Chester to Mechanicsville (the Black Creek area of Hanover).

I enjoyed Chester as it was a small, quieter portion of Chesterfield but still within short distances to the interstates and malls. I had choices of broadband Internet access from Comcast, Verizon and others. My Verizon DSL service was inexpensive at only $14 per month.

I was excited about moving out of a subdivision onto 6.6 acres in Hanover where it was more rural but still somewhat close to the interstates.

Once I moved in I was shocked to discover that hardwired broadband Internet was not available.

As I am in the Information Technology field high speed access is a requirement for my work.

I discovered that the only options were satellite or Verizon wireless.

Satellite was not an option for me as it will not allow me to connect into my employer’s network so my only choice was the Verizon wireless package for $59 per month.

Unfortunately, I am on the fringe of the coverage area as my signal strength is marginal and connection speeds are poor.

Watching videos or listening to music is not possible.

My son is unable to do any school research that requires large downloads.

And I am limited as to how much work I can actually do from home while connected each month.

So basically I went from excellent $14/month service in Chester to poor $59/month service in Hanover.

I am surprised that Hanover is this far behind Chesterfield on the technical curve for providing broadband Internet access to homeowners, and even more surprised after reading the article that was touting how well the county departments have used technology to provide better services for them themselves and for homeowners.

But, unfortunately, homeowners without broadband access cannot take advantage of this technology.

I have to ask why aren’t the cable and Internet companies held to the same service requirements as the phone and electric companies who must provide service to every home regardless of where it’s located.

I checked with Comcast and their wires stop about one mile from my house, and Verizon did not have a reason why DSL is not available at my address.

In 2009 the federal government appropriated $7.2 billion in loans and grants for broadband infrastructure projects in rural areas via its Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP). Did Hanover partake in this program?

I wrote a letter to Supervisor Elton Wade in September 2009 asking whether he knew of any plans to expand broadband in the county. He never replied.

Ron Listo
Mechanicsville

Public health always an issue

This is in response to your “Letters to the Editor” column in the Aug. 4 issue of The Mechanicsville Local.

I have to say “Pretty soon . . . wake up!” was well noted and I see this person’s point of view; however, it seems a little extreme and presumptious.

I work in healthcare, I see what the policies we have in place now, and how they are not working. Yes, there needs to be change, but in no way, shape or form will this come to “slavery”.

I quote “this current government will have total control of your health and well being; this current government will regulate what you can cannot eat” . . . It will never get to that extreme; however, public health is always an issue!

And, yes, they should educate and inform us, as citizens, what is best for us. More than a quarter of this country is obese, we have the highest obesity rate in the world.

Maybe someone should be telling us what to eat, we are obviously not doing that well on our own. Our country lives off of Starbucks and McDonald’s.

And, yes, the government should be regulating food manufacturers, retail grocery and pharmacies. Would you shop there if they didn’t?

I’m not disagreeing or saying that your concerns aren’t valid; however, the problem with this country is that everything has to be to an extreme.

The point of change is that if it doesn’t work, 20 years later it can be adjusted, corrected or overhauled . . . because what we are doing now is obviously not working!

Heather L. Mitchell
Mechanicsville

Question on ObamaCare

In regards to ObamaCare, can someone please explain how adding approximately 30 million new people to the health care system will actually help “cut costs” and how cutting $500,000,000,000 from Medicare will actually “improve the system”?

Glenn Lucy
Mechanicsville

Trip and funds for jobless

The first lady cost taxpayers $75,000 per day for her five-day overseas vacation to Spain.

With unemployment near 10 percent and with so many people suffering, I had to wonder if anyone in the regime brought to her attention that with a median annual income of $37,500, these funds could have employed 10 people for an entire year. More is the pity.

Glenn Lucy
Mechanicsville