Lack of space prohibits me from adequately replying to my friend, Mr. Raypholtz. I'm afraid we must respectfully agree to disagree on nearly every issue. But I would like to offer some food for thought on a few points of contention.
The price of oil is based largely on two things: Supply and demand and the value of the dollar. A dollar is worth about 60 percent of what it was when the great decider entered the White House. By outsourcing our jobs and creating greater worldwide demand for oil, we have created the perfect storm for our present predicament.
Mr. Raypholtz, like most Republicans, blame the liberals for the energy crisis. Might I point out that Republicans controlled every branch of government for more than six years and made no progress toward solving the energy problem. If the great decider truly wanted to drill in Anwr, he would simply have issued a signing statement or executive order as he did on previous occasions when he wanted to circumvent Congress or the law. But there was no reason to deprive his billionaire oil buddies of their record profits by increasing supply.
The Republican mantra to drill, drill, drill is not the answer. Whether you want to believe the environmental dangers of fossil fuel or not, the facts remain that the polar ice caps are melting, a hole exists in the ozone, bees are dying and the oceans contain "dead zones" where nothing can live. Other nations are making great strides in alternative energy, using everything from meat packing plant waste to methane gas from garbage. Solar and wind power are renewable sources that need to be expanded.
Your allegation that the U.S. has the best health care in the world is subject to debate. The U.S. is the only industrialized county in the world that does not have health care for its citizens. As a result, life expectancy has declined while infant mortality rates have soared.
I hesitate to use the words socialized medicine for fear of sending you into a brain seizure, but I wish to inform you we already have such a system. It is the program that covers our elected officials and their families as well as government employees. Why am I denied the most rudimentary care while they have the best that taxpayer money can provide them? I am no less a human being than they are; my blood no less red.
While I appreciate your generous offer to send me to Venezuela, I must decline. I have a son and granddaughter that will inherit this mess that has been created for them. I will stay, continue to write letters, raise a little hell when I can, talk to people and try to create a more egalitarian society. This system in which so few have so much and so many have so little must be changed.
Incidentally, May 1 was the fifth anniversary of the great decider strutting aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in full military regalia and declaring combat in Iraq to be over. Five years later, 4,000 dead Americans later, 30,000 grievous injuries later, $1 trillion later, the war still rages. Happy anniversary.
