Obamacare debated

I had to chuckle as I read Rob Courtenay's letter to the editor accusing me of running a smear campaign because I have written about some of the unsavory aspects of the Democrat's health care plan. Apparently quoting the president, Congressional Democrats and proposed legislation is so threatening to Courtenay he has to pretend that smear campaign means something it doesn't. He may wish to consult a dictionary.

At the risk of being further accused of running some sort of smear campaign, I will note the proposed legislation contains its own Orwellian-like language. The bill establishes "shared responsibility payments" which I will politely call a euphemism for the truer but uglier and more easily understood word: "tax."

Maybe in my next letter I'll tackle how the bill establishes that our tax dollars will be used to pay for the "special medically underserved population," including the homeless and illegal immigrants who are called "migratory and seasonal agricultural workers." Or we could discuss the hundreds of new commissions and bureaucracies established in the legislation to "help" us make medical decisions which will over-ride our doctor's medical advice.

Or we could discuss how a right to privacy underlies landmark Supreme Court decisions starting with Griswold v Connecticut in 1965 and Roe v Wade in 1973. The Supreme Court ruled that we were entitled to a constitutionally mandated zone of personal privacy that must be free of government regulation and that our most intimate and personal choices are central to dignity and autonomy and protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. It will be up to Congress to find a way around those Supreme Court rulings and determine they have the right to access and control our most intimate health care decisions.

Mary Beth Seaha