Obama’s ‘liberal’ label does not match his actions Re: “Obama’s corporatism: One liberal denies it,” June 30, 2010
President Obama is not a liberal. Not only are Obama’s corporate subsidies and bailouts not “liberal,” as Tim Carney notes, but almost every other Obama policy has been as ferociously illiberal as his predecessor’s.
In just these past two weeks, Obama has attacked another Muslim country, raided medical marijuana dispensaries in Montana, and called the torture of Bradley Manning “appropriate.” These policies do not represent liberals.
Instead, Obama has made “liberal” represent exactly what Bush made “conservative” represent: failed policies and broken promises.
David Bier
Alexandria
District should correct before it collects
Re: “D.C. hunting down $1b owed in overdue fines,” March 23
Before D.C. pursues collection activity for allegedly outstanding parking tickets, it needs to correct its records. This deplorable parking extortion scheme is not new and is executed by design.
I parked at a meter in downtown D.C. and dutifully put in money, but the meter ate my cash. When I called the telephone number posted on the broken meter, I was provided a confirmation number and told that I was indeed allowed to park there because I had called to report the problem. But when I returned to my car, I found a parking ticket.
After writing two letters to resolve the matter, D.C. has still not acknowledged the error and is still sending me notices. I suspect much of the alleged $1 billion of outstanding fines reported in your lead story are more of the same bureaucratic nonsense. Many hapless victims caught in this Catch-22 eventually give in and pay the fine.
But before D.C. pursues collections activity on a mass scale, it should clean up its act or face embarrassing class litigation, since impeaching innocent people’s credit ratings is a line many will not tolerate being crossed.
Laszlo Pentek
Arlington
Demand for hospice care keeps growing
Re: “Conn. hospice programs at odds over proposed fixes,” March 20
Twenty-eight of 29 hospice providers in Connecticut have been working collaboratively with us and the state Department of Public Health for more than a year to draft proposed changes to our state’s decades-old public health regulations, which have limited access to inpatient hospice to a single palliative care hospital on one end of the state.
While nobody is disputing the excellent and compassionate care delivered at this nationally known facility, modernizing the regulations will improve quality of care for all state residents. Bringing Connecticut into compliance with federal regulations will increase access, ensure safe, appropriate care for hospice clients in any setting, and reduce travel time for family members.
It’s time to prepare our state to meet the 9 percent per year growth trend and demand for inpatient hospice services.
Deborah Hoyt
President and CEO,
Connecticut Association for Home Care & Hospice
Wallingford, Conn.
