Opinion
Wednesday, September 28,1994 Page 4
Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
JeffZeleny...Editor, 472-1766
Kara Morrison.Opinion Page Editor
Angie Brunkow. .Managing Editor
Jeffrey Robb .Associate News Editor
Rainbow RowelI. .Columnist/Associate News Editor
Kilev Christian .Photography Director
Mike Lewis.i.Copy Desk Chief
James Mehsling.Cartoonist
Down, not out
Reform delay doesn’t equal defeat
Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Mainc, officially
announced this week that health care reform would not happen in
1994.
The announcement brings to light the difficulties of timely
reform in Washington.
Millions of Americans who were hoping desperately for
immediate health-care reform will have to wait for access to
needed medical care for at least another year and more likely,
several more years, before any reforms will actually be enacted.
Many college students, as they turn 21 or face graduation, will
experience for the first time the difficulty of securing affordable
health care. Approximately a third of those who have no health
insurance arc between the ages of 18 and 29.
Also, many first or entry-level jobs will not include health-care
benefits, giving graduates a firsthand look at the issue Americans
have been debating heavily for more than two years.
There is no question that health-care reform legislation is
needed.
Yet, reform that would directly affect the lives of every Ameri
can is not something that should be entered into without intense
— and time-consuming — deliberation
Few can explain the complexities of the major plans being
considered in Washington. Terms like HMO, entitlements,
universal coverage, single-payer plan and health-care provider still
confuse the average taxpayer and policy-maker alike.
The United States now spends a seventh of its national income
on health care. Reform of something this costly, in short, had
better be done right the first time.
And before putting into place another costly program, we need
to continue looking into ways to cut unnecessary government
spending.
The temporary exclusion of health care from President
Clinton's list of accomplishments should not reflect badly on his
first two years in office, either.
The boldest headlines in newspapers in recent months have
been those announcing the president's plummeting approval rating
and bungled foreign policies.
The press and the polls, however, have not been quite fair about
highlighting Clinton's domestic record, which some say has
surpassed that of former presidents Kennedy, Ford, Carter and
Bush combined.
Just to name a few:
• The budget deficit reportedly will go down three years in a
row for the first time since the 1950s.
• More than 70,000 federal jobs have been eliminated, with
more than three times that many targeted for elimination.
• Americorps, with 20,000 volunteers expected, will be larger
than Kennedy's Peace Corps, providing students with opportuni
ties to do needed community service and cam assistance for
higher education.
The exclusion of health care is not a major defeat, but another
critical goal in step with two years of domestic progress
It is a goal that will take all of our efforts and voices to accom
plish in the coming year.
Stuff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1994 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the
university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent
the opinion of the author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL
Publications Board to supervise the daily production of the paper According to policy set by
the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of
its students
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Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space
available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material submitted. Readers
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Pro-life
I have a few words to say to
Denise Saxton, Melanie Chin and
all pro-abortion people (DN, Sept.
22, 1994). 1 am pro-life, and I am
appalled at your thoughts about
baby killing.
Melanie Chin said that the fetus
had not been proved to be a life. I
lost a baby a couple of years ago
through miscarriage. I lost my baby
when I was eight weeks pregnant. I
went to the doctor a week after I
missed my cycle and had an
ultrasound; we could see a heart
beat. What does that indicate to
you? Life, perhaps?
I’ll go even further back to
conception. As soon as the egg is
fertilized, cells start dividing and
forming the baby. Lifeless things do
not move or grow. The next
question is, when do you believe the
soul enters the body? Do you think
God just throws one in the body as
soon as the baby is bom? Or maybe
when the child is baptized? Some
people aren’t even baptized. Does
that mean they have no soul? I don’t
think so.
l believe the soul is there at
conception. I believe that my baby
is in heaven and that I will see him
someday. Our 8-week-old baby has
a name, and my husband and I think
of him and remember him on the
anniversary of his death. What a
wonderful reunion we will have
someday.
What do you think the reunion
would be like between a mother and
the child she killed? Wouldn’t it be
interesting if aborted babies were
God’s jury? Where do you think
you would end up? They might tell
God that it is too inconvenient, or
they don’t have time for you and
it’s ' o stressful.
, WAKE UP!! Those have
to be the lamest excuses I have ever
heard. You sure found the time to
have sex. This goes for both men
and women. I agree with Saxton
that men should take responsibility
for their actions. If they don’t want
a baby, maybe they had better think
twice about sowing their oats. For
the sake of the unborn, use birth
control — or better yet, abstain until
you get married. There are so many
diseases out there. /
I have since had another Daby.
He was bom last year. He is the
most beautiful miracle that I have
ever seen. It makes me cry thinking
about the millions of beautiful
babies that are butchered because
they happened to be in the wrong
place at the wrong time.
I feel sorry for you people.
Hopefully someday you will have a
change of heart. Your babies don’t
need you anymore. You cut them
out of your life. But you might need
them someday. You better hope
they have a forgiving heart.
Alissa Johnston
Lincoln
BretGottshall/DN
Kidding?
Hoo Boy, that Shane Tucker,
what a wild man! Every time I read
one of his columns I start to laugh
until tears literally squirt from my
eyes!
When 1 read that abortion
column (DN, Sept. 20, 1994), I had
to check into the emergency room at
Lincoln General Hospital because I
laughed so hard I pulled some vital
muscles.
I know he’s kidding. Nobody
thinks that way, now do they? Do
they?
Sean Green
sophomore
journal iam
Democrats
We would like to correct and
comment on just a few of the gross
inaccuracies and hyperbole con
tained in Shekhar Gupta’s letter
(DN, Sept. 23, 1994). Gupta seems
to have as much regard for the facts
as his idol. Rush Limbaugh.
According to Mr. Gupta, the
Republicans are responsible for
passing the recent crime bill. Hello?
According to the roll vote, only
seven Senate Republicans broke
ranks and joined the majority to
pass the bill. Led by the obstruc
tionist Bob Dole, Republicans
fought it tooth and nail — even
those provisions that they were on
record as favoring when proposed
by the previous Republican presi
dential administration.
Your admonition that Democrats
should not complain about gridlock
because they have majorities in both
houses is laughable and shows your
lack of understanding of the
legislative process. According to
Senate rules, 60 senators are needed
to end a filibuster (endless debate
intended to kill a bill or force
certain changes favorable to the
stalling minority) and thus bring a
bill up for a vote.
The Senate is currently 56-44 in
favor of the Democrats, which
means that the Republicans can
suppress a vote by refusing to end
debate on a bill, and the Democrats
are powerless to act.
We especially take issue with
your broad brush statement that
Democrats do nothing for them
selves and Republicans stand for
“individualism.” This type of
dogma, uttered time and time again
by the likes of Mr. Limbaugh and
yourself, is both inaccurate and
hypocritical.
So-called conservatives who take
a laissez-faire approach in economic
matters are the first to advocate the
heavy hand of government in
matters of personal freedoms —
control over one’s own body (right
to choose), freedom of religion in
public life (prayer in schools) and
tolerance of others “different” from
the rest of us (discrimination in
sexual orientation), for example.
The world is not as black and
white as you seem to see it, Mr.
Gupta. Believe it or not, we Demo
crats have jobs, pay taxes and wish
to see government do things that
empower, not hinder, the ‘‘indi
vidual spirit.” We do believe that
government can be a useful tool for
change for the better and can give
people a voice who would not
otherwise have one.
When a minority of the govern
ment suppresses that voice through
a perversion of the democratic
process, we think that a little
“whining” — at a minimum — is in
order.
Jerri Franklin
. senior
history
Christopher Thomas
law student
f
