Don't forget people voted for change

It strikes me that most of the same people who see reform of the health insurance system as an intolerable governmental intrusion had very little to say about the massive governmental intrusions that occurred in the previous administration - intrusions that went as far as wiretapping our phones without any court supervision, monitoring the books that we were checking out of our libraries, and even taking parents and spouses out of their homes for months at a time and sending them to war zones.

I don't believe for a minute that these people have a problem with government per se; they just don't like Democrats running the government. The far right received a harsh repudiation from the American people in 2008, but they still understand that it doesn't matter if you lose an election, as long as you can keep the winners from actually doing anything while they have power. Now it is time for Democrats to recognize the same thing: it doesn't matter if you win an election if you don't accomplish anything with the power.

The people voted for change in 2008 and they deserve to see that change realized. President Obama is not a socialist, but he has always espoused that there are certain things that the public sector must do because the private sector simply won't - ensuring that all Americans have access to health insurance regardless of age, income, or pre-existing conditions is one of those things.

Guy Rosenthal

Wheaton