Who are the real bad actors in Syria? Re: “Syria blames rebels for Houla massacre,” June 1
One huge vacuum in the news coverage about Syria is that wherever the “rebels” show up, they execute the Christians, while President Bashar Assad’s policy toward Christians has been relatively benign.
Lawrence Chisholm
Lost City, W.Va.
Voters’ angst over congressional waste of time
Re: “Congressional angst over the History Channel crosses the aisle,” May 30
I wake up every morning to a country with fewer personal, civil and economic liberties, while Rep. Gerry Connolly and Sen. Chuck Grassley think that the programming on a pay channel is far more important.
As much as those two blithering idiots might like to, the pesky First Amendment does not allow them to censor a cable show. All the reality TV shows Connolly listed do have something to do with the history of this fine nation and are extremely popular among History Channel viewers, or else they would be canceled.
Mr. Connolly should go from reading one history book a week to two, or perhaps bone up on the Constitution he is supposed to be defending. That, or turn off his television and focus his attention to the actual pressing issues of the day, such as the national debt, the upcoming debt ceiling debate, or (and this is a really novel idea) passing a budget.
But that won’t happen. All we will get in this country is more congressional hearings on steroid use in baseball and elected officials tweeting about how they don’t like the programming that a privately run television station chooses to air.
Ty C. Berry
Rockville
How many jobs did Obama’s book create?
Re:”Obama’s intentions, Romney’s results,” May 30
I enjoyed Noemie Emery’s column, and then had a realization. President Obama wrote a book and became a millionaire. Mitt Romney created a company and became a millionaire.
Which one resulted in the most jobs?
Larry Krauser
Montgomery Village
Wellness programs mean healthier employees, lower costs
Re: “Headache over high taxes? Don’t call the ‘wellness czar’,” Local Editorial, May 29
The Washington Examiner criticized my proposal that Montgomery County government hire a wellness coordinator, a proposal that was unanimously passed by the County Council. The editorial stated that it was “laugh-out-loud ridiculous” to hire someone who could save the county money.
Between 2002 and 2011, the cost of providing health insurance to current and retired county employees increased by 134 percent, from $134.4 million to $314.6 million. Without action, those costs are expected to increase by another $216 million by 2016. That is why I led the effort to create the Task Force on Employee Wellness and Consolidation of Agency Group Insurance Programs, which issued its report to the council on Dec. 6.
The task force examined whether the county’s wellness programs could be more effective. Healthier employees would mean lower utilization, higher productivity and reduced health costs.
The task force reviewed the experience of other local governments and learned that King County, Washington, estimated a cumulative savings of $26 million through its Health Reform Initiative, which reduced the annual growth in health care costs from a projected 11 percent to 9 percent between 2005 and 2009.
Local governments as well as large and small private employers throughout the country, are implementing wellness programs and hiring individuals and firms with expertise in managing these programs as an effective way to reduce the escalating costs of health care.
George Leventhal
Chairman, Health and Human Services Committee
Montgomery County Council
