Tinkering with private health insurance carriers via private insurance mandates will simply secure the golden parachutes of those insurance CEO's while continuing to inflict pain and suffering on the American people. Nothing less than universal healthcare for all citizens will fix the problem. The high costs of premiums now paid by individuals and employers will be easily offset by a different tax structure. That is, while we will all pay a higher tax overall to achieve universal healthcare, the tax that covers the program will be much smaller than the costs of current premiums.

There is also an army of ready-to-work, experienced paper shufflers and mid-level executives who can administer the program as government employees. The top insurance executives who lose their jobs will have to find a way to make ends meet on whatever they saved from their multimillion-dollar salaries.

David Ohman

Irvine



Karl Manheim and Jamie Court argue that health insurance "mandates" are unconstitutional. Rubbish. First, the writers set up a straw man by poorly describing the two Democratic candidates' healthcare proposals, and then they knock it down. People would not be mandated to contract with private healthcare insurers or providers; they would only be mandated to have health insurance. This is only saying they are mandated to be able to prove they can pay for their medical care before they get sick. The government has an ample interest in preventing people from demanding health services at a cost to the rest of us.

The proposals by Sen. Barack Obama (only for children) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (for everyone) would require simply that people be able to prove they have health insurance, which they can provide for themselves by contracting with private companies or use the service provided by the government. They are not "mandated" to contract with private companies that can jack up prices.

Philip Shaw

Mill Valley, Calif.



Nothing but spin from McCain

Re "McCain tempers his war message," March 27

I was all set to thank The Times for the front-page article on Sen. John McCain's speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles because it so ably demonstrates his practice of changing his message according to his audience while continuing to be indistinguishable in his votes from the Bush Republicans. Imagine my shock when The Times characterized this as a turning point rather than a calculated trust that his audience has the memory of a hamster. Insult is added with the quote, "Democrats, who have sought to portray McCain as a reckless militarist, charged after the speech that his embrace of diplomacy was fraudulent."

I suppose that since McCain did not break out into another rendition of "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran," he has reformed his own militarism.

Winsor Crosby

Long Beach



Listening to McCain's speech before the World Affairs Council made my brain hurt. In the speech, he admonished America to listen to our democratic ally nations. Would that be all those same nations that have been crying out, for months now, "Surge? Are you people nuts?"

Susan North

Los Angeles

Changing drug import rules

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