Letters
Letters Betting On the Ivies Although Jay Mathews may well be right that the romance of an Ivy League college outstrips its usefulness (“Harvard Schmarvard,” Dec. 1997), he unintentionally...
...In reviewing the book Conspiracy: Hw the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From, Buckley points out the absurdity of rampant conspiracy theories and the people who thrive off of them...
...Unfortunately, giving churches public funds isn’t the popular panacea Worth’s article makes it out to be...
...Worth suggested that constitutional issues in the welfare and education debate exist as little more than obstacles to effective public policy...
...Letters Betting On the Ivies Although Jay Mathews may well be right that the romance of an Ivy League college outstrips its usefulness (“Harvard Schmarvard,” Dec...
...Smith, pardon me, but you have been duped...
...MARK BODZIAK via e-mail A Political Martyr Richard Blow’s analysis of the malaise at The New Republic (“Liberalism’s Flagship Adrift at Sea,” Dec...
...Being critical of the terms and conditions of trade agreements doesn’t make somebody a protectionist...
...mortgage rate (now about 7 percent) times the assessed value of the site...
...1997) is itself a callow piece of work...
...Although his analysis of the effects of NAFTA is well thought out, I can’t help but be concerned about the stage of his analysis...
...I’ve been reading TNR since 1967...
...1998 “Tilting at Windmills...
...At least...
...This was his copy, for his records...
...He brushes over critical issues of churchstate separation as messy details and seems to ignore the fact that the First Amendment exists for a reason...
...This “rent” would bring in a considerable sum to the federal government and might be more easily approved by Congress...
...1998...
...The way to get a reform of this law through an obtuse Congress is to let the mining companies buy their mining sites at $2.50 to $5.00 an acre but require them to pay an annual tax on their acreage equal to the current 30-yr...
...It would also encourage the landowners to use their sites more efficiently...
...More than one stated in no uncertain terms that NAFTA would have Mexicans buying U.S.-made washing machines in no time flat...
...As a senior public official concerned about access to health insurance, the author ought to be aware that any health plan in violation of these provisions would be violating both federal and state law...
...American taxpayers should never be forced to support religious indoctrination, and the needy shouldn’t be pressured to sit through religious sermons in order to receive help...
...DON PORGES Cambridge, MA The NAFTA Scam With regard to Hedrick Smith’s article <!A Fast-Track Reality Check” UanJFeb...
...They do not provide any substantive basis for violating further the constitutional separation of church and state...
...Thus, his allegations carry that much more weight...
...Also under HIPAA, regardless of whether one is covered under a group or individual plan, coverage is guaranteed renewable - which means a health insurer cannot terminate a policy holder’s coverage because of a change in that person’s health status (including new information about “genetic status...
...Kennedy Townsend’s article reflects a lack of understanding of current practice and of the legal protections now in place for health insurance...
...Things were much worse when Gilbert Harrison was running Edgar Snow’s paeans to Mao Tse-tung...
...That is the only “Iron Logic” in capitalism and “free-trade...
...Smith, a self-proclaimed “free trader,” should have reasoned long ago that if a trade agreement essentially makes a ThirdWorld country a part of (at least in a trade sense) the US., wage deflation might soon follow...
...It is sad because it shows that people have lost faith in their own abilities, are quick to blame their own circumstances on outside forces, and are living with increasing distrust and paranoia and a deepening sense of fear...
...This means that those two schools, which this year together admitted about 6,000 people - less than one half of one percent of nationwide college admissions - produced ei ht out of 50 of those officials, or a fu...
...1998), a few things pop to mind...
...Michael Kelly was sacked because his refusal to look the other way on the corruption of the Clinton administration was making it less likely every day that Martin Peretz would go down in history as mentor to a president...
...I for one, did not share in their shallow confidence...
...While entitled to her opinion, Ms...
...Working people in the U.S...
...I believe the obsession with conspiracy theories demonstrates that people are constantly trying to find scapegoats rather than talung personal responsibility for their lives...
...1998...
...1997), citing alleged widespread “genetic discrimination” as a reason...
...Sen...
...HAL RIEDL Baltimore, MD An Unholy Alliance I was disappointed with your recent article “Amazing Grace” (Jan./Feb...
...As this occurred prior to the days of Xerox machines, all I have is a second, non-original copy of the affidavit...
...The creators of NAFTA knew full well the consequences...
...Religious organizations often provide quality services for the needy, but they also often include proselytizing with those services...
...Pretty good odds, if I were judging colleges on how many powerful alumni they produced...
...All too often, we look for a quick fix when dealing with complex issues like welfare and education reform...
...BOYD McCAMISH UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION LOCAL 204 Lumberton, NC Rent...
...JOSHUA DRESSLER via e-mail License to Scapegoat Bravo to Christopher Buckley for an excellent article, “Kooks Around the Corner” (Nov...
...MARIANNE MILLER, DIRECTOR OF POLICY DEVELOPMENT HEALTH INSURANCE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Washington, DC...
...STEVEN CORD RESEARCH DIRECTOR HENRY GEORGR FOUNDATION OF AMERICA Columbia, MD More on Lucky As the affidavit stated, my father was more than just someone who “worked for the New York Parole Board” [as you described it in your JanJFeb...
...He was for the last nine years of his service, including the pertinent years on the Lucky Lucian0 matter, executive director of the Division of Parole for New York State or, as he was called then, “Parole Chief...
...The author calls for a sort of “time-out,” a reality check if you like...
...In short, he was the head of parole for the entire state...
...they were simply buying time and appealing to your and your co-workers at PBS’ humanitarian side by suggesting that NAFTA would give working people a better life...
...If a Republican president had sold the White House as recklessly, remorselessly, and colossally as Bill Clinton did, it wouldn’t be Bob Barr calling for his impeachment, it would be The Washington Monthly and the editorial board of The New York Times...
...senators...
...Principally, people go into business not for the betterment of mankind, but for their own selfinterest...
...What has yet to penetrate your defenses is that a Democratic president in the 20th century could be so monumentally corrupt...
...I know most of the incidents and people you describe...
...I am fairly certain, but admittedly cannot say for sure, that my father did sign the original copy of the affidavit...
...It seems like almost yesterday that those teary-eyed industrialists and their government cohorts were standing in front of us proclaiming the virtues of free trade...
...Under the 1996 federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a person eligible for group coverage cannot be rejected, dropped, or charged higher rates as a result of any health-related test - including a genetic test...
...need to understand that what is good for General Motors is good for General Motors, not them...
...BARRY W. LYNN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE Washington, DC It’s the Law Kathleen Kennedy Townsend argues the need for a national, universal health-insurance system (“The Double-Edged Helix,” Nov...
...Of the 50 politicians he checked, five went to Yale, and three to Harvard...
...Kennedy Townsend does the public a disservice by citing such allegations concerning “genetic discrimination” by insurers...
...I would say more...
...That is exactly why our government and its citizens cannot be expected to fund these programs...
...JEAN BREININGER Muncy, PA Robert Worth‘s essay raised a series of interesting points regarding churches and their effect on public policy...
...I had believed that good scholarship would prevent you from using a few anecdotal stories with “happy endings” to draw such erroneous conclusions...
...The question now becomes: Which side are you on...
...16 percent...
...Approximately 90 percent of insured Americans obtain “group” coverage (often through an employer), the vast majority without having to provide any medical information...
...However, the article gave an incomplete and often inaccurate representation of the welfare debate and the role religious institutions can play in the system’s reform...
...1997), he unintentionally makes the opposite argument with his list of colleges attended by current governors and US...
...Dale Bumpers is surely correct that the Mining Law of 1872 is ripping off the federal taxpayers “for at least $100 million per year’’ (“Capitol Hill’s Longest Running Chtrage,” Jan/ Feb...
Vol. 30 • March 1998 • No. 3
