Letters
Letters Good Health Your "What Hillary Could Learn From Canada and Germany" [March] was on the mark. The single payer plan is the only way to goSo why doesn't the U.S. simply join the Canadian...
...Instead, just make policing accountable for customers, like most other services...
...Anything less than single payer will be a lawyers' paradise...
...Douglas Sczygelski Dayton, OH I am convinced that if Phil Gramm drafted a policy paper on all subjects, from foreign policy to health care, delivered it to Bill Clinton, and Clinton adopted the policy word for word, Gramm would then oppose it...
...We could call it the American Plan...
...As an attorney, I use jury questionnaires from time to time...
...1994 The Washington Monthly Co...
...two years, $72...
...Surely the conservatives who vote for Gramm in Texas do not like that, and how can Gramm run for president when his opponents will call him "The man who wants to cut the FBI in half...
...As a retired military type with service-connected disabilities, I have had socialized medicine since I entered the Air Force in 1941, and I wouldn't have it any other way...
...No paperwork, no fuss, no bother, and the care is as good as you will get anywhere...
...Seems to me that any employer would welcome such a plan...
...They could compete for business in neighboring or nearby jurisdictions...
...He wants to be president so bad he'll do anything...
...Tim Ferguson Los Angeles, CA The Washington MonthlyEditor In Chief Charles Peters Publisher Hilary M. Ross Editors Jon Meacham, David Segal Contributing Editors Jonathan Alter, Thomas N. Bethell, Tom Bethell, Taylor Branch, Matthew Cooper, Gregg Easterbrook, James Fallows, Christopher Georges, Paul Glastris, Mickey Kaus, Phil Keisling, Michael Kinsley, Nicholas Lemann, Suzannah Lessard, Arthur Levine, Joseph Nocera, Leonard Reed, John Rothchild, Jonathan Rowe, Walter Shapiro, Scott Shuger, Steven Waldman Editorial Advisory Board Charles Bailey, James David Barber, Edgar Cahn, David Halberstam, Murray Kempton, Richard Reeves, Hugh Sidey Assistant to the Editor Pam Matthews Production Manager Carey Jones Advertising Director Seth Engel Intern Stryk Thomas Proofers Virginia Cope, Alan Greenblatt, John Kalajian Subscription rates: U.S...
...For change of address, please provide six weeks' notice and include old address label...
...NW, Washington, DC 20009 (202) 462-0128...
...How often is the evidence accepted in court...
...How fast is stolen property retrieved and returned...
...This would introduce participants to the realities of private sector employment, eliminating problems of moving people to the private sector from government make-work jobs (where laziness or mediocre work would be tolerated...
...Reprints of articles are available to individuals or schools at $2.00 each (prepaid...
...Police work is one of the most mobile of public services: It consists of street patrols (cops who often don't live where they work anyway) reporting by radiowave to a central facility that holds dispatchers, labs, hard-file records, and detention...
...Reproduction by any method whatsoever without permission is prohibited...
...Of course, such private sector incentives could be offered as an adjunct to government hiring programs rather than as a substitute for them...
...One of the largest costs of doing business is health insurance...
...The Washington Monthly is indexed in the Book Review Index, Political Science Abstracts, Public Affairs Information Service, the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, the Social Science Index, and Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory and may be obtained on microfilm from University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI 48106...
...and possessions: one year, $38...
...What difference does it make whether that building is within the boundaries of the community being served...
...He is popular here in Texas...
...Send correspondence concerning subscriptions, undelivered copies, and changes of address to Box 587, Mount Morris IL, 61054...
...Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope...
...We are the only country in the civilized world that doesn't have it in some form...
...Printed in U.S.A...
...But the answer isn't rules for who stands where and with whom...
...I expect if a similar poll were taken of veterans, a like percentage would result...
...John W. Slayton Roanoke, VA Privatize the Police The cops will tell you they have to wait to perform their respective duties, but I'd say Charles Peters was dead bang right in his observation about police standing around at crime scenes ["Tilting at Windmills," April...
...Whether I need a bottle of aspirin or major surgery, I can go to a military hospital or Veterans Administration medical facility, plop down my health card, and everything is taken care of...
...The only ones opposed would be the insurance companies, as you can tell by the TV ads...
...The Gramm-Rudman law would've cut the sugar subsidy, and that surely will hurt Gramm in Florida when he runs for president...
...For Canadian and foreign subscriptions, add $7 for surface delivery...
...Most of our labor unrest occurs because workers are bargaining for better health benefits...
...The home team could use the competing proposals as benchmarks for improving itself, as is being done in other public services...
...ISSN 0043-0633...
...Your comparison to Richard Nixon is also accurate...
...All rights reserved...
...William Hinton Best III Arlington, VA Canada Try Why are we so afraid of socialized medicine...
...They even have the forms already...
...Published monthly except combined January/February and July/August issues by The Washington Monthly Company, 1611 Connecticut Ave...
...You can do that with competitive contracting...
...How many criminals are caught or cases solved...
...I have paid for this over the years, of course, since health care is considered to be part of a GI's salary, but I would be willing to pay a value-added tax of 10 percent, or whatever it takes, so that everyone would have the same benefits that I have...
...The Gramm-Rudman law would also have cut the FBI budget in half...
...The Canadians, of course, have such a system, and a recent poll indicated that 95 percent of the people were well-satisfied with it...
...Back issues, $5.00...
...For reprint rights for all or part of an article call Carey Jones at (202) 462-0128...
...I am speaking of the military, of course, active duty and retired...
...Imagine how many billions of dollars would be freed up for plant expansion and raises for workers if business didn't have to provide insurance...
...Richard A. Henderson Fort Worth, TX Work Fair Mickey Kaus ["Give Everyone a Job," March] argues for government to launch a large-scale public works hiring program, arguing that "you can't 'end welfare as we know it' by relying on private enterprise...
...Rather than pay perhaps $4 per hour for government to hire welfare recipients and incur huge overhead costs, paying private employers $2 to $3 per hour (or even more if necessary) to hire the long-term unemployed would demand quality work from program participants, with subsidies incrementally phased out...
...As a matter of fact, a large segment of our population already has coverage provided by the government, and has had it all along...
...How decently do the cops treat the citizens...
...Sheriffs already do this for small municipalities...
...A surprising number of potential jurors list Phil Gramm as the person that they most admire...
...I think Gramm is Nixon looking for a chance to repeat himself...
...Parades can be even worse for goldbricking...
...William Finnigan Cornwall, NY Gramm Stands David Segal wrote a good article on Senator Gramm ["The Real Leader of the Opposition," March], but he went too far when he said Gramm is unwilling to pay a political price in order to balance the budget...
...Second class postage paid at Mechanicsburg, PA...
...Thomas O'Brian Charlottesville, VA Laugh In I am seriously contemplating filing a suit for damages after reading "The Washington Monthly, 2019...
...Communities should routinely take bids on police services, and select and renew contracts based on cost, obviously, and on performance: How quick are the responses...
...simply join the Canadian plan...
...I do not know what will happen, but someday, Gramm will do something wrong that all will see and you will be able to stand and say, "I told you so...
...It proves to me that image and sound bites are everything...
...air mail delivery add $32...
...Gregg Easterbrook, March] I laughed so hard I hurt myself...
...We could achieve the same objectives with more cost-effective use of tax dollars by using private sector management and its need for efficiency...
...Postmaster: Send change of address to The Washington Monthly, Box 587, Mount Morris IL, 61054...
...Everyone would share in the system and everyone would help pay for it...
...Send Canada a check to cover the 200 million of us...
...three years, $98...
...Gramm has done cowardly things, but he isn't a coward all the time...
...Familiarity would affect performance, thus you wouldn't expect to see willy-nilly turnover of contractors...
...Although security functions are increasingly being privatized, there's an arrest and use-of-force problem in not using sworn duty officers, so let's say we limit our contracting to formal police agencies...
Vol. 26 • January 1994 • No. 5
