Health care is not the main crisis facing U.S.
Re: “Ho-hum health care summit,” Editorial, Feb. 26
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Ho-hum? Not from this independent voter’s perspective. President Obama’s health care summit proved the overriding truth about the health care issue, which was held out as a crisis by candidate Obama before and after the 2008 election. The economic meltdown and resulting job losses was – and is – the crisis, not health care. When the president concluded the summit by saying “We cannot have another year-long debate about this…We have honest disagreements about the vision for the country and we’ll go ahead and test those out over the next several months till November,” he made it clear that, like it or not, he was going to get his health care plan passed. And if voters don’t like it, they can vote Democrats out. Health care needs simple reforms, such as those presented by the Republicans. If President Obama’s plan passes, health care will become a crisis of unfair taxation, rules and regulations, diminishing health care, and increasing costs that exacerbate the overall economic crisis. We can vote out all those who voted for the plan in November, but it must be made clear to those we elect to replace them that the health care takeover bill must be repealed.
Daniel B. Jeffs
Apple Valley, CA
STAR riders give paratransit service high marks
Re: “STAR flap goes on as Arlington bureaucrats duck and dodge,” Feb. 23
Barbara Hollingsworth’s latest column on Arlington County’s STAR para-transit program contains factual errors and distortions. These are the facts: * Eighty percent of STAR riders give the county’s para-transit service high ratings. * Arlington’s STAR program provides a higher level of service than any other para-transit program in the region. * Arlington County Government carefully monitors STAR to detect abuse, protect taxpayer dollars and preserve this service for those who legitimately use it. * STAR continues to provide high-quality, low-cost service to 1,200 riders a year, and its ridership is growing. In January, 2010, 7,253 rides were completed on STAR – a 44 percent increase over the number completed in January, 2009. *In FY 2010, STAR is projected to provide more than 84,000 trips for Arlington residents, while MetroAccess is projected to provide approximately 21,000 trips. Arlington County will continue to be accessible to the public and to reporters, and will continue to be exceptionally responsive to all queries on legitimate issues involving STAR. Barbara Donnellan
Acting county manager, Arlington County
Bicycling is a healthy and practical commuting alternative
Re: “Fairfax supervisors clash over bike plan,” Feb. 21
With the Washington region having the third worst commuting times in the country, and adult and childhood obesity rates climbing higher every year, more emphasis must be placed on creating sustainable transportation alternatives. Contrary to Supervisor Cook’s belief, thousands of D.C. area residents use a bike as a transportation device when they commute to work every day. In a 2000 survey conducted by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 20 percent of Americans used a bicycle for transportation to school or work. According to that same study, bicycling is the second most preferred form of transportation after the car, but ahead of public transportation. Bicycling even part of the way to work would eliminate the need to create more costly parking structures in this time of extremely tight budgets. Bike commuting is great exercise, removes a car from our congested highways and reduces greenhouse gasses. And since 40 percent of all car trips are used to drive two miles or less, a dedicated and safe bicycle infrastructure would go a long way towards reversing our increasingly long commutes. Gina Arlotto
Network organizer, Safe Routes To School
Washington
