What about Rocky Flats’ former workers?
While homeowners near Rocky Flats won a half-billion-dollar judgment, Rocky Flats workers continue to fight, jumping through hoops, trying to obtain the funds promised to them by the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000.
My doctors advise that my cancer and heart problems were caused by working at Rocky Flats, helping to win the Cold War. Do the homeowners win and we lose? This is a sad day for the Cold War veterans and the American taxpayer.
Fellow taxpayers, be aware. Millions of dollars have been spent administering this program in the past five years. And how many Rocky Flats claimants have been paid? Just 405 out of almost 2,500 claims filed.
The government continues to pay people to sit in an office and call Cold War vets, encouraging them to sign up for the EEOICPA. Ads are run across the bottom of our TV screens telling the vets to sign up. One wonders why these vets would even try. Many have died or given up while trying to have their claims processed.
Wally Gulden, Arvada
Lt. Col. Joe Rice, veteran and House candidate
Re: “Iraqi leaders inspire politician,” Feb. 27 news story.
Your article on Lt. Col. Joe Rice and his efforts to build democracy in Iraq was both encouraging and disappointing. Encouraging in that there are still public servants like Joe Rice out there; disappointing that there aren’t more like him.
I’ve followed Rice’s career, heard him speak and I’ve read his biographical materials. One thing strikes me about Rice: his altruistic sense of duty. Whether as a 20-year officer in the Army Reserve or fighting the big-money strip clubs as mayor of Glendale, Rice eschews the political gamesmanship so common today and works hard to find real solutions.
Good luck to Rice in his future endeavors, including his race for the Colorado House of Representatives.
Maryl Blackwell, Littleton
…
From the General Assembly’s opening day this session, House District 38 Representative and House Majority Leader Joe Stengel has demonstrated a combative, divisive attitude that stands in contrast to that of the many members on both sides of the aisle who have worked together to move Colorado forward with bipartisan legislation. The good news is that soon Stengel will have to give up his term-limited seat. The better news is, a truly inspiring candidate for that seat has emerged: Lt. Col. Joe Rice.
Running as the Democratic candidate for HD 38, Rice’s experience as mayor of Glendale gives him a firm grounding in working with other officials and citizens groups to achieve results. His experience as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, serving in Iraq as liaison between the U.S. Army Command and Iraqi officials, well prepares him to forge the kind of productive bipartisan alliances our state government needs to cut through partisan divisiveness and work together on solutions to problems we all share. The respect he has won from the Iraqis with whom he has worked as an adviser on the development of their own democratic institutions demonstrates integrity, good will and strength of purpose.
Felice Sage, Littleton
Support for a proposed Colo. smoking ban
I recently spent a weekend in Denver and was taken back by the smoking in public bars and restaurants. While eating lunch with my pregnant wife, we were overtaken by smokers in a downtown bar/restaurant. We were seated next to two women with a 3-year-old child. Shortly after sitting down, the two women began smoking. We quickly moved to another table; however, the 3-year-old was stuck in a cloud of secondhand smoke. Shortly after moving tables, we were in the same situation again. We quickly finished our meals and left. Unfortunately, the hotel we were staying at was connected to the restaurant/bar with open doors and stairwells. We could smell the smoke all the way to the third floor of the hotel.
The facts about the negative externalities of smoking in public places are well documented, as are the studies of the economic benefits of smoke-free bars and restaurants. Why would the people of Colorado want anything but clean air to breathe?
Brad Hahn, Boulder
U.S. ports management
One thing certain about the port-security concerns was that it was a lose-lose situation for the Bush administration – whether Bush knew about the deal or not. The choice was made to permit this Arab country to manage Eastern U.S. ports. Immediately, Democrats and some Republicans who were worried about re-election condemned the decision based on security concerns. Usually, Democrats are questioning whether we really have an enemy in the Middle East – other than al-Qaeda – and pressing our need to make allies there.
Had the decision gone the other way, the screams would have been that we were insulting an Arab ally state, the United Arab Emirates, and how can we make friends and influence Arabs with this action? Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.
I yearn for a time when members of Congress will give some consideration for the country – what they were elected to do – rather than their re-election. The members of both parties seem far more interested in cutting each other’s throats from ear to ear, from sea to shining sea. We aren’t going to survive as a nation if this internecine bickering doesn’t stop.
Gary Thompson, Thornton
Whistleblower protection for health workers
Colorado is on the threshold of becoming a world leader in medical care and research with the state-of-the-art facilities of Fitzsimons medical center. It is imperative that these facilities and all other health care facilities in the state be staffed with the highest-quality personnel available to guarantee the care that will be entrusted to us as leaders.
With that in mind, I urge the legislature to pass House Bill 1193 to provide whistleblower protection of our health care workers. If we are going to recruit and retain the best health care, we must treat workers with the trust and respect they deserve. Currently, Colorado does not have whistleblower protection for health care workers.
No health care worker should ever be terminated for reporting substandard medical care. This is not only unfair to workers, denying them the rights most other workers have, but it is also unsafe for patients. If the world is going to come to us for treatment, they must feel safe and protected and know we have nothing to hide.
John M. Beckman, Aurora
Nuggets’ sex offender
Re: “Nuggets retool roster; Trades bring Evans, Patterson and Smith,” Feb. 24 sports story.
Where do we draw the line? With examples like the acquisition of Ruben Patterson by the Denver Nuggets, we are telling our youth that not only are you above the law as long as you are able to play sports at a professional level, but that you are richly rewarded.
When we allow (via our continued, unquestioning support) our professional and college teams to make contracts with or provide scholarship funding to talented athletes who have been charged with or convicted of serious crimes, we are giving tacit approval of that behavior. It seems the line of demarcation for appropriate behavior continues to move further and further into the criminal realm.
My family and I will no longer support professional teams that choose to court players with so few morals and with such a lack of social conscience. It may be only our tiny, grassroots effort to make a change, but perhaps if enough of us refuse to purchase tickets, watch games or purchase team memorabilia, the managers and owners will take notice.
Kathie Barnes, Aurora
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
Letters guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 200 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address and day and evening phone numbers.
Letters may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.
