ANTI-GOP letter painted with broad brush

Stan Gelb, on March 11, said that I “asserted most Americans do not want universal health care, don’t care about climate change devastation, nor clean air and water, nor a minimum wage that a person could actually live on.” And, he goes on to imply Republicans don’t care about any of those things either.

That’s quite a broad brush but not too hard to sort out. I’ve already addressed the implausibility of climate change devastation in my March 3 letter. I have never said most Americans don’t care about clean air and water, and certainly never indicated Republicans don’t either. A Republican president established the EPA to clean up air and water. The EPA does need a little reining in. It has overreached in some areas, including regulating CO2 without following proper procedures and setting lower limits than necessary for some other substances.

Universal health care is not a good idea, and most agree if they understand what it actually means. As I quoted economist Thomas Sowell, such an approach is “a government monopoly that virtually guarantees worse service. Why would anyone want that for something as crucial as medical care?” It’s pretty obvious it would lead to a rationing of health care. There is already a safety net for those who need it. Gelb should provide examples of those currently dying from lack of health care as he blatantly implies.

A high minimum wage is another bad idea. It tends to eliminate many entry level jobs. Society should provide a safety net for anyone in the relatively rare position of having to support themselves without having any training or job skills. But, the government should not mandate that individual employers have to provide such safety nets.

Carl Brady

Frederick