The ‘tea party’ convention; extending the Expo Line; a health insurer’s rate hikes

Not part of the party

Re “ ‘Tea party’ convention a forum for woes, worries,” Feb. 6

Hey, Tom Tancredo!

Giving the opening speech of the National Tea Party Convention, you told an audience that “people who could not spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House -- name is Barack Hussein Obama.”

I am an immigrant; I voted for Obama; and I know how to spell that word: v-o-t-e.

I brought my children with me and raised them in this country. I am sure that they know how to spell too: They attended Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA and Harvard. (By the way, they also voted for Obama.)

Reading about your past and present activities, I learned how to spell some other words: h-a-t-e, o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d, b-i-g-o-t-r-y.

It is your turn to learn some English words such as “democracy” and “civil rights.” You might also listen to a popular Spanish-English phrase: “Hasta la vista, baby!”

Gregorio Lerner
Los Angeles

Re “ ‘Put your faith in ideas,’ Palin tells convention,” Feb. 7

The Republican Party, starting with Ronald Reagan, has systematically thrashed the economy and the federal government.

After each Republican administration, the Democrats were left to clean up the mess, which under George W. Bush had grown into an unbelievable catastrophe.

Now Sarah Palin is rallying her troops by ridiculing President Obama for not cleaning up the Republican mess fast enough, and Republican candidates are lining up to dog-pile Democrats across the country. What is wrong with this picture?

Dianne Herring
Altadena

A healthy insurance hike

Re “Health insurer hikes rates,” Feb. 5

The Times reported that Anthem Blue Cross will be hiking its rates 30% to 39% for individual policies (which self-employed people like myself must get) on March 1. At the same time, Obama is conceding that his healthcare overhaul may die in Congress.

Can anyone tell me what happened to the country that I knew and loved?

Joel Wachbrit
Burbank

As an individual policyholder with Anthem and a healthcare provider, my back is indeed against the wall. Last week, I read about its eightfold increase in profits. This week, I get the letter telling me it is hiking my rates 36% because healthcare costs have risen.

I don’t doubt that healthcare costs have risen, but apparently so have insurers’ profits. I am puzzled about where they spend their money because most insurance companies haven’t adjusted their reimbursement rates for my services in more than 25 years. Those that have have not even kept up with inflation.

As an individual policyholder, I cannot find any other insurance. As I gasp for breath, I know that this is only the beginning.

I also worry about how my self-employed patients, who are already struggling to make ends meet, will be able to get by.

This is a cruel blow at a time when so many are already living on the edge of insolvency.

Elizabeth Weinberger
Los Angeles

I chuckle every time I hear the public cry out against health insurance companies raising their rates or declining coverage of a person who may be a health risk.

These healthcare insurers are publicly traded, for-profit corporations whose managers are responsible for making money for their company and its stockholders. They are not part of the social welfare system.

Understanding that raises a fundamental question that must be answered before we go forward with healthcare reform: Should healthcare be a for-profit business?

If it should be, why all the screaming?

Elliot Rosenthal
Fullerton

The revelation that Anthem Blue Cross is increasing health insurance premiums demonstrates that healthcare reform is necessary.

In the absence of rate regulation, there is no limit to the profit that some health insurance companies will try to make on the backs of policyholders. As prices continue to skyrocket, more Californians will be priced out of the market.

Auto and homeowners insurers cannot raise rates without prior approval by the Department of Insurance. Why would we provide less government oversight for life-saving health insurance coverage?

The best solution would be a single-payer universal healthcare system that removes profit from the equation.

At the very least, we should require that health insurers submit their proposed rate increases to the state for approval. Without such oversight, more Californians will become uninsured or underinsured.

Dave Jones
Sacramento
The writer, a Democrat, represents the 9th District in the Assembly and chairs the Health Committee. He is also a candidate for state insurance commissioner.

Railing about light rail

Re “Making tracks to the Westside,” Editorial, Feb. 4

I don’t live in Cheviot Hills, but if I did, I would welcome the light-rail project and the access it will provide to the nascent Los Angeles County rail system.

My opposition to the proposed route is more objective. I believe the train should go where denser populations exist and not just where there is an easier path. The cheapest price is not always the lowest cost or best solution.

Why is the Phase 2 Expo Line not heading from Culver City to Century City and connecting with a future subway station? Why is it not heading west via Santa Monica or Olympic boulevards, where it could serve office and multi-unit residential developments and their hundreds of thousands of potential users?

It would be preferable if the traffic, planning and demographic experts controlled this project and the politicians and activist amateurs stayed out of their way.

Barry Baker
Los Angeles

I am astounded at how casually The Times dismissed our Westside quest for building Expo Line Phase 2 the right way by “demanding unnecessary additional grade separations . . . that would make the project financially unfeasible.”

Central to the issue was a three-quarter-mile section running through residential neighborhoods. Burying the line underground at that point would have increased the proposed cost only slightly and would have solved most of the major concerns of the area’s residents.

The Expo planners appear to be perfectly willing to boost quality of life for one group (commuters) at the expense of another (area residents).

Considering the cost overruns and delays of Phase 1, the entire cost-projection process of the project has the appearance of Monopoly-money manipulation.

The main beneficiaries will be politicians who can claim credit after jamming it down our throats in the cheapest way possible.

Darryl Rehr
Los Angeles

It was not Westsiders who killed the “Subway to the Sea.” A 1985 methane gas explosion raised safety concerns and prompted Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) to deny federal support to the subway.

Also, faulty construction and obscene cost overruns prompted Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to pull his support for the subway. He sponsored a measure denying the use of county sales taxes for subway tunneling.

Richard S. Harmetz
Los Angeles