Amendments to our constitution, state or federal, should not be taken lightly or used to promote an agenda. It is a matter of taking a permanent position with no chance of it's ever being reversed. With time and maturity we very frequently change positions on issues and once the amendment is made we can't modify our position. Pioneer Press editorial addressed this very well March 22 regarding the marriage amendment.

As said by the Pioneer Press, Why an anti-gay-marriage amendment is a bad idea: It's a solution in search of a problem. There is no evidence that gay marriage is a threat to anybody. By limiting access to the benefits of civil society, it limits liberty.

There are two recent additions published in the Pioneer Press to support my position. Bishop Peter Rogness representing the St. Paul Area of the Evengelical Lutheran Church in America sez that Minnesota lawmakers should not send forward a proposed constitutional marriage amendment because it would hinder the civil rights of gay and lesbian people and do nothing to protect heterosexual marriage. And to further strengthen my position, a recent poll indicates that a majority of Minnesota voters oppose such amendment with 54 percent against while 40 percent support lt.

Pioneer Press Monday March 27. Amendment could reach far beyond marriage. A variety of rights for couples, gay or straight, are in doubt.

"If I could perform I would be willing to pay for it." (what's it?) Ronnie claims to be celibate, but it's not his choice.

Town Hall meeting sponsored byJohn Marty and Bev Scalze at Little Canada Government Center, March 4th.

Both commented on health care comparing U.S. with other countries. Such comparisons are not valid because of the differences in cultures in Switzerland, Norway and Germany compared to the United States. They are comparing our very diverse culture with the others being homogenous with very strict immigration policies. While in Norway and Sweden three years ago I saw very distinct differences in their cultures compared to ours. Norway had 27 murders committed that year compared to 27 murders in North Minneapolis alone. People could ride their bibycle downtown or to the park, leave them leaning against a tree or post and find them in place on returning. Norway has a 27% value added tax (sales tax) and provides cradle to grave services far beyond what we can afford. Their government provides health care with very strict restrictions on services which keeps the cost low while we provide many more services and spend way to much.

Following are examples of our very expensive generosity. Waste could be easily controlled with health savings accounts.

Example: Parents of a 1 1/2 year old baby thought the child should hsve the insulin pump, but insurance wouldn't supply it and the doctor redused to prescribe it. Having been duabetic for 60 years and a pump user I can speak to that as it would be a terrible waste of money and do more harm than good. They complained to one of our US senatores and he had it done.

Example: Elderly patient had trouble turning neck, as is common in old folks, and insisted on physical therapy which was granted and paid for by insurance. This would not happen in Norway, Germany or Switzerland nor by holder of health savings account in USA.

Following are comments by Marty and Scalze and my replies.

"Government pays the majority of cost of reasearch and development costs for pharmaceuticals." Not true, I would challenge them to demonstrate that.

"Pharmaceutical companies mke excessive profits" Could be true, but who is to determine what is excessive other than Mr. Marty. My question to that, is profit a sin?

"Switzerland has a much higher life expectancy than U.S." Almost true,but.... Switzerand 80.3 years, USA 77.7 and Congo 31.2 years. USA in upper 3%. With a much greater incidence of murder here than in Switzerland, that in itself would reduce our life expectancy significantly.

"Switzerland has a much lower infant mortality rate than USA." Almost true, but... Switzerland 4.39 per 1000 births, USA 6.5 and Angola 187.49. USA is in lower 2%. Diversity has a significant effect on our infant mortality rate and life expectancy.

"Pharmaceutical manufacturers should be required who they give discounts to and how much". Would that benefit us? probably not. They give discounts of 20-25% to insurnce providers and they pass the savings on to the police holders. I would be happy to document this to a naysayer, please contact me at alanrph@comcast.net.

"Drugs are cheaper in Canada." Naturally, because the Canadian government sets prices that can be charged. At that rate there would probably not be money left for research and development which is done almost totally in USA without a lot of support from the government.

Following are my personal comments.

Make two choices: Universal access, Low Price, Quality health care. At this time we have no way to offer all three choices, but must find some way other than socializing.

I am 77 years old having retired from pharmacy three years ago and am well qualified to make medical judgements.

I have been diabetic for 60 years and have always excellent medical care. Ten years ago I had a heart attack and had by-pass surgery two days later. My brother's sister in law in Germany had to wait eight weeks as do people in Canada who come here for prompt attention.

I looked for opportunity ta speak against smoking ban but time ran out. The smoking ban is just another reason for politicians to take control of us.

One of our major expenses in health care compared to socialized medicine is the high cost of liability insurance due to excessive awards paid for law suits. Many dctors pay in excess of $100,000 annually for insurance and in order to avoid liability they do tests and procedures that are not necessary.

by Alan Anderson alanrph@comcast.net

With the sale of the Pioneer Press being imminent there are some questions to be answered. Can the metropolitan area support two major daily papers? That is probably marginal. If so, can we compete with the Startribune as a copy-cat liberal publication? As I see it, we would do better as a conservative alternative with a different point of view from that of the Strib. Our editorial page seems to be moving in that direction with Mark Yost and Craig Westover and now with Mike Burbach our new addition to the editorial page.

If purchased by the Newspaper Guild, we would no longer serve as an alternative but as a liberal Strib copy-cat. At that point say goodbye Pioneer Press and hello Startribune.

"Consumers respond to market signals", talking about government setting excessive limits and standards that bear a high cost for the consumer to pay. This is in response to CAFE laws that set high gas mileage for cars and a 90% reduction in mercury emissions. See Westover at http://craigwestover.blogspot.com or Wednesday Pioneer Press.