Educating seniors about Medicare drug plan
Re: “Medicare drug plan’s confusing sign-up,” Nov. 13 editorial.
A recently released study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health strongly echoes concerns long raised by the Medicare Rx Education Network, senior advocates and beneficiaries about the new Medicare prescription drug benefit: education, education, education. We know the success of any new program lies in educating the people who will benefit the most. And the new Part D insurance is no different. With the right information and guidance, everyone can get the education on Part D that he or she needs to make an informed decision. Reviewing plans with a trusted resource – whether a doctor, friend or counselor – is the best way for seniors to assess their options. Then, seniors can make the decision that is best for them, based on cost, coverage or convenience. With the six-month open-enrollment period (Nov. 15, 2005, to May 15, 2006) just beginning, seniors have ample opportunity to educate themselves fully about the benefit. We urge Medicare-eligible seniors to attend educational seminars, meet with trained counselors and continue to learn about this new insurance program. It’s a timely benefit for all seniors.
John Breaux, Chairman, Medicare Rx Education Network, Washington, D.C.
The writer is a former U.S. senator from Louisiana.
Vice president’s energy task force
Re: “Document shows oil execs met with Cheney task force,” Nov. 16 news story.
In your article, we are informed that Vice President Cheney’s energy task force met with (of all people) oil execs, and excluded (of all people) those representing environmental groups.
Considering that the oil companies do their best to make sure that we have a stable source of gas for the vehicles that most of us drive, in spite of myriad regulations and laws, I can understand why any reasonable person would want representatives from these companies at an energy summit. On the other hand, I can also understand why you wouldn’t want representatives from groups that have consistently worked to make the U.S. more dependent on foreign oil, through their extreme stances on the development of existing oil deposits in our own country.
If I’m having a tea party, I want to be in the kitchen with people who work with me to brew it, not some idiot who is continually turning off my water while my guests are impatiently waiting with empty cups.
Kerry Harwick, Arvada
Columnist’s dismissal of Pueblo smoking study
Re: “Pueblo study is blowing smoke,” Nov. 17 David Harsanyi column.
Is David Harsanyi a rebellious teenager or just someone who pouts when he doesn’t get his way? As a lifelong asthmatic, and the butt of cigarette smoke along the way, I am delighted that he has to call his chosen pub to find out if one can smoke there. The implied dismissal of the legion of legitimate tobacco studies, which have demonstrated beyond any doubt the catastrophic effects of smoking, is worse than the “junk science” he debunks. Harsanyi needs to discover that, in the adult world, freedom is not just about doing as you like; it’s give-and-take, with the well-being of others as important as your own.
Anne Culver, Denver
…
David Harsanyi has done a tremendous public service in exposing the lack of scientific rigor in much of the debate concerning the effects of secondhand cigarette smoke. His column, spawned by the recent research in Pueblo showing a reduction in heart attack rates since Pueblo passed a smoking ban in public places, demonstrates how some people will just see what they want to. I refer to his outing of Steven Milloy, whom Harsanyi calls “the nation’s leading debunker of junk science.” Harsanyi quotes Milloy as saying, “I haven’t seen this study.” This apparently is no barrier to Milloy concluding that the Pueblo study is “100 percent garbage.” Thank you, David, for showing us the analytic shortcut taken by Milloy.
Ken Kirkpatrick, Denver
Are men necessary?
Re: “‘Are Men Necessary?’ Who’s asking?” Nov. 15 Diane Carman column.
Substitute for the word “men” any other group into Diane Carman’s final lines: “_____ are not necessary. But once they learn to cope with their insecurities and their chromosomal inadequacies, they can be a whole lot of fun.” Try inserting words like “gays,” “blacks,” “Muslims” or (gasp) “women.” Why is it that men are fair game for this when any other reference would be met with (justifiable) outrage?
Gerry Anderson (female), Centennial
Intelligent design
Re: “The sound and fury,” Nov. 15 Ed Quillen column.
Ed Quillen is absolutely wrong when he states that it could be argued that intelligent design is “just another scientific theory.” There are strict requirements of what constitutes a “scientific” theory. One of them is that the theory must be falsifiable (that is, one can design an experiment which could prove the theory false). Another is that it cannot invoke the supernatural. Intelligent design fails on both counts. It does not belong in a science classroom, period.
Bettina M. Voelker, Golden
Leadership on Iraq
Re: “Pressure builds on Iraq policy,” Nov. 16 editorial.
The Post’s editorial begins with the paragraph, “With public support for the Iraq war withering, and fewer than half of all Americans now considering President Bush to be trustworthy, Congress is beginning to exert pressure on the White House.”
In other words, our so-called leaders only respond to the tide of popular public opinion? And think of that public opinion: When it seemed as though our foray into Iraq would be a quick, decisive win, the public was for it, but now that we appear to be “losing,” people are against it? Why isn’t there an effort to clearly articulate how we can extricate ourselves from Iraq and seek alternatives to military action?
I have yet to see an example of anything I would define as leadership. With so many critical issues facing our nation, it’s still all politics. I can only hope that some poll in the near future will reveal that the public wants a clear definition of all our foreign policy goals. Perhaps then Congress will “exert pressure” to come to terms with the reality of our role in the world in the 21st century.
Maureen Wirth, Aurora
U.S. response to prisoners found in Iraq
Re: “Tortured detainees found in Baghdad basement,” Nov. 16 news story.
There are press reports this week that more than 170 malnourished Iraqi prisoners have been found in the basement of the Iraq Interior Ministry. The U.S. State Department says the administration “found the reports troubling” and that, “We don’t practice torture. And we don’t believe that others should practice torture.”
It’s as if our government wants us to believe we’re living in a parallel universe, one where events that the administration finds inconvenient are fantasy, and only the words they say are true. How does the administration explain the revolting pictures of beatings, sexual abuse, depraved acts, and even death that Americans have inflicted on Iraqis at Abu Ghraib, and the string of Soviet-style prisons in eastern Europe where prisoners are secretly held, and almost certainly tortured, at the behest of the CIA? The sad truth is that it is our own government that has taught the world that America no longer honors its traditions of humaneness, compassion and fairness to our prisoners. No wonder other governments now feel uninhibited in dealing sadistically with their prisoners.
Jim Muhm, Englewood
TO REACH OPINION EDITORS
Phone: 303-820-1331
Fax: 303-820-1502
E-mail: openforum@denverpost.com (only straight text, not attachments)
Mail: The Open Forum, The Denver Post, 1560 Broadway, Denver, 80202 or PO Box 1709, Denver, 80201
