A veto on kids’ healthcare

Re “A step closer to healthcare veto,” Sept. 29

I am enraged to find out that President Bush is threatening to veto healthcare for millions of uninsured children. Do Republicans not feel a responsibility toward poor children? Are they so disengaged from the experience of what life is like for poor children without the safety net of health insurance that they cannot think with compassion, vision and rationality? I am beyond appalled.

Janice Thompson

Santa Monica

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With the Democrats running on a platform of health insurance for kids and eventually everyone, they need to tell us how we can afford it.

Health insurance is the responsibility of each individual, just as is auto, homeowner and life insurance. If my neighbor can’t drive to work without car insurance and he can’t afford to buy it, he is in a difficult situation, but that does not transfer the responsibility to me.

Likewise, a homeowner is required by the mortgage company to carry a homeowner’s policy for fire. Should those of us who can afford the insurance pay for someone who cannot?

While the Declaration of Independence states that people “are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” it does not state we are guaranteed happiness or that others should pay to make us happy.

Jere Robings

Thousand Oaks

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By threatening to veto this bill, Bush once again proves that while he champions the rights of the unborn, he cares little for the child once it leaves the womb. Republicans need to distance themselves from such a soulless philosophy on life and muster the needed votes to aid Democrats in overriding Bush’s imminent veto.

Marcia D’Amico

Portland, Ore.