Roskam must read health care plan

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam sent me an e-mail asking for my opinion on the debate on the Obama administration's health care proposal. Reading further, it was not my opinion Roskam was soliciting, but my support for his opinion that the House should not be required to vote on the Obama administration's health care legislation, before Congress adjourns in August. Roskam's reason for not voting before the summer recess? It seems our busy Congressman has not had time to read it.

Mr. Roskam, as a Congressman, enjoys one of the best health care plans our disappearing tax dollars can buy. He never has and never will have to suffer the indignity experienced by the 50 million uninsured Americans who must choose between purchasing needed health care and purchasing food, clothing and shelter. He will not be one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who lose their health care every month with their lost job. He will forever be unaffected by the 30 percent of health care dollars that go to fund an immoral insurance industry that enriches itself by denying health services or even coverage itself to average Americans struggling to remain healthy in an unhealthy maze of bureaucratic obstacles.

If passed, however, the Congressman may stand to lose the financial support of that same health care industry, which has brilliantly delayed health care reform by spreading around some of the largesse the current corrupt system has shoveled their way.

Roskam, like most Republicans and some Democrats who oppose any meaningful reform, has been AWOL from the debate from the getgo and is simply using the "haven't had time to read it" strategy to delay the vote long enough to derail reform entirely. He should show respect and courtesy to the 50 million Americans who need the Congressman to do his homework.

Walt Zlotow

Glen Ellyn