West Newsmagazine 5-3-17

1.
4 I OPINION I
1.
May 3, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
Happy Mother’s Day
Steve Downs
142 Enchanted Pkwy #101
Thanks for the trust you have placed in my agency
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Missing trees along the trail
To the Editor:
I am writing this letter because it made
me sad when I saw all the trees that were
cut down along Manchester Road in
Wildwood. I have many reasons why I
think this was wrong.
First, my family loves to bike and run
along the Wildwood 2. trail. Now there will
be less shade for us without the trees. It
7:30 a.m. on the first Thursday of the month
was a beautiful trail to walk Happy with trees Mother’s and visit. DayThat is, if you aren’t trying to get
along both sides but now all we will see your children ready for school, loading up
is fences or the backs of houses. Second, your truck to get to a job site or in a traffic
®
the cutting down of trees destroyed many jam on your way to the office. The mayor
animal habitats. In school, I have learned could have (Agent this Name) on a weekend, but maybe
the leading cause of endangered animals is that’s asking
(Address)
2.
too much. Apparently, he likes
(Phone No.)
destruction of animal habitats. What was to keep his conversations with citizens out
done does not help with the problem. We’re your of Shield. the We’re scope your of Shelter. public record.
Wildwood is a special Give Thanks place because And now we citizens of Wildwood
of all the trees and trails. I love living in are told that it is more convenient for our
Wildwood!
government to have the city council meeting
®
Alexis Sandberg
(Phone No.)
Public input in Wildwood
03-2015 To the Editor: Holiday 3.6c - (1)
Years ago, when the Committee to
Incorporate Wildwood came before the St.
Louis County Council, they were regularly
told that their presentations could not be
completed because of an imposed time
limit. They, and the hundreds of people
10-2014 Holiday 8.5c
(Agent Name)
(Address)
who worked with the incorporation
movement, must now be flabbergasted to
hear that the very thing they vowed would
never happen in the new city of Wildwood
is, in fact, happening.
The agenda for every City Council
meeting in Wildwood lists an item called
“Public Participation.” That probably
should be called “Public Comment”
because there is no participation. And, by
the way, if you do want to comment, you’d
better talk fast. The new mayor likes to
keep things moving along. There is a time
limit for speakers. If you’re worried about
exceeding your time, you can rest easy.
There is a little light box on the podium,
which has green, yellow and flashing red
lights to keep you in line.
Before anyone is allowed to approach
the podium, the mayor reads a prepared set
of instructions to be followed, including
the statement, “Please avoid repetitive
information. If someone before you has
said something that you plan to say, it
means the same thing if you simply want
to let us know that you agree with that
person’s comments.” Wow!
That different citizens might actually
present unique perspectives supporting
or opposing an issue, that insight might
be gained by considering one citizen’s
comments vs. another’s, is immaterial to
the mayor. Maybe he could just arrange to
pass out cards with the subject listed and
boxes to mark “agree” or “disagree.” It
would be so much quicker.
The mayor, however, does have time for
citizens once a month at the “Coffee with the
Mayor” event. You can come to city hall at
at 7 p.m. instead of at the usual time of 7:30
p.m. Remember, the mayor likes to keep
things efficient. No need to ask the citizens
what they think about this change.
This is not the Wildwood so many of us
fought to incorporate.
Pat Kozlowski
We’re your Shield. We’re your Shelter.
A true fan of Dennis Prager
To the Editor:
After the editorial column retirement of
Thomas Sowell late last year, I was curious
as to who West Newsmagazine was going
to publish in his place.
Thankfully, you all have risen to the
occasion with the publication of many of
my favorite columnists in syndication. It’s
been great to see Dennis Prager’s smiling
face on page three; he’s been my favorite
radio talk-show host and columnist for
more than 15 years.
Up until recently, my only access to
Dennis had been through internet podcasts
via his flagship Los Angeles radio station
and his syndicated columns via a couple
of websites. I’m thankful that he can now
be heard – and read – in the St. Louis area.
Few people in this country can articulate
the issues with such moral clarity and
intellect than Mr. Prager. Thank you,
again, for sharing his views with the local
populace.
John Cannon
Not a fan of John Stossel
To the Editor:
Why do we have to listen to a full page of
John Stossel each week? He’s not a middle
@WESTNEWSMAG
WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
of the road Libertarian. He is a guy who
wants everyone to sit on our hands and let
this country become the opposite that our
founders intended. We already have the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch for that opinion. Give
us editorial thinkers who want America to
be first again.
Carol Senn
Not a ponzi scheme
To the Editor:
I respectfully disagree with reader Jon
Schulte’s letter regarding health insurance
and the demise of Medicare.
Medicare is not a ponzi scheme;
Medicare will not go broke if we take a
rational approach.
I am a life long Conservative and have
been in the health insurance business for
over 40 years. The best way out of the
intolerable situation today is to embrace
single payer – Medicare for all if you
will – with some incentives such as health
savings accounts.
There is not now, and never will be, a
free market when it comes to healthcare
and health insurance. That is an illusion,
because providers and drug companies
[the later of which are robbing everyone
blind] are the supply and the demand. If
both supply and demand are in the same
corner, then costs will naturally rise.
The main problem with our system
is cost. Enbrel, which is a drug used to
reduce pain associated with arthritis and
is heavily advertised on television by PGA
player Phil Mickelson, is being taken by
millions of people. Do you know what
Enbrel costs? $4,500 per month. Forever.
So, we are spending $50,000 per year per
person taking Enbrel. Multiply that by
millions of people and you can see we
are headed for bankruptcy. And this is just
one example. There are hundreds of drugs
where the same sort of fleecing is going on.
Single payer is not, as some uninformed
conservatives think, “government-run
healthcare.” That is total fabrication.
Rather, under single payer, the federal
government sets reimbursement rates to all
providers. And that is all it is.
Getting a handle on costs is our main
problem. If we do not adopt single
payer soon, our nation most assuredly
will go bankrupt. In this respect, we are
beyond trying to cobble together some
sort of replacement system that will be
as ineffective and costly as our current
system. Single payer is a necessity, not a
choice.
William B. Hall
www.balabanswine.com
Want to express your opinion?
Submit your letter to: editor@newsmagazinenetwork.com • 636.591.0010