Once upon a time someone thought it would be a good idea to have a government "of" the people, "by" the people and "for" the people. That concept worked quite well until recent years when the U.S. Congress added another facet: what it could do "to" the people. Major examples are concessions to major pharmaceutical companies and big oil.
When Medicare Part D was being planned the U.S. Senate voted in favor of drug manufacturers by allowing only military hospitals to negotiate drug prices. All other hospitals, HMOs and medical insurance groups were denied that privilege. (The AARP "caved in" at the same time and immediately lost tens of thousands of members.) We needn't look far to see what those decisions cost us.
A second example is to note the chronic inflations of gasoline prices. A Senate report indicates that the cost of a gallon of gasoline is increased by 60 cents because of commodity speculation, much of it by mega-banks. To date, Congress has ignored the situation, not caring about the cost of living, charitable giving and general loss of discretionary income.
And we haven't even discussed the obscene increase in college tuition and $5 hospital aspirin.
Elections are coming -- a fine time to be rid of uncaring Washington incumbents.
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William W. Lainen
McGregor
