If we can't pay for reform, don't buy it
Regarding Marie Kelly's letter to the editor "Seniors already have a public option" where she admonishes seniors for "trying to disrupt town hall meetings". She also suggests that "They're (seniors) not worried about where the money for them is coming from". I wish to respond to her somewhat thoughtless comments.
As a senior and as an individual who believes in health care reform but wants to be sure we don't rush into something that is not well thought out and is not paid for, I find Ms. Kelly's comments offensive, naive and selfish.
We seniors have worked a lifetime to provide for ourselves. We have worked to help make this country a better place to live. We have been given little as a hand out and have not expected such.
And we have paid into Medicare as part of our salaries for years to fund the benefit that we now have. We have paid our dues.
Most seniors I talk to are very concerned with the mounting public debt and the legacy we are leaving to our children and grandchildren. To suggest otherwise is wrong.
I would suggest that Ms. Kelly reflect on what may happen to this country if we don't start to develop fiscal restraint in Washington now and into the future.
If we can't afford it, then we shouldn't "buy it".
That is the way many seniors have lived their lives.
David W. Koester
Barrington