Letters to the Editor for Sunday, August 30, 2009

Writer: There is no ‘right’ to health care
In an Aug. 25 letter to the editor (“Health Care a Basic Right”), Walter R. Smith cites the well-known words of the Declaration of Independence as defining the right to health care. I’m not sure where in phrase “... the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness …” he finds our right to health care.

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Another role is to secure our liberty, rather clearly and specifically set forth in the Bill of Rights.

If he is applying the “pursuit of happiness” phrase, I believe his argument neglects to recognize that this declaration does not guarantee happiness, but rather the pursuit of it. That is a transitive verb phrase. To achieve happiness, we must do something: act, work, earn. We must pursue.

By contrast, the First Amendment guarantees our right to free speech. We need not do anything to hold this right, except ensure Congress does not abridge it. It is given, granted, guaranteed. It is a right.

Do we also guarantee everyone has food? How much; what kind? Do we guarantee everyone has shelter and clothing? Certainly all of these are essential to health. How do we guarantee people are protected from the consequences of engaging in destructive behaviors, such as drugs, violence, or forgoing a free education provided by the taxpayers? Those who engage in such acts may believe they are “pursuing happiness” for themselves.

All nations that have attempted to provide health care to all people have come up against the reality that in doing so, limits must be imposed. Even China, that great construct of equality, is struggling with an overwhelmed health care system in which the Chinese people do pay a significant amount out-of-pocket for health care or they do without it.

Life is not fair. Government cannot make it fair.
NEIL W. BOHNERT
Lynchburg

Worker bashing
Ben Davenport’s Aug. 23 Op-Ed in The News & Advance bashing the Employee Free Choice Act shows that corporate CEOs will say anything to maintain their grip on power.

He blasts the legislation’s arbitration provision, claiming binding arbitration is a radical idea. Yet Big Business regularly uses arbitration when it works in their favor, such as resolving consumer disputes, personal injury claims or home construction contracts. They seem to only oppose such measures when bargaining contracts with workers, hypocrisy of the highest proportion.

The reason why union membership has declined isn’t because workers don’t want unions. It lies in the fact that corporations have the upper hand in preventing workers from organizing unions. Thirty-four percent of employers actually fire workers for their support of a union. Even when workers overcome hurdles like these illegal firings and other forms of intimidation, 52 percent of workers unions have no contract one year after a successful union election.

The Employee Free Choice Act would resolve these delays by giving both workers and companies the right to request an independent arbitrator if they can’t settle a contract.

This commonsense measure will help restore balance to our obsolete labor laws by giving workers a fair path to choose to form a union, toughening penalties for employers who violate the law and preventing companies from using endless delays and stall tactics to deny workers a collective bargaining agreement.

It’s time lawmakers in Washington pass this vital legislation so we can create an economy that is fair for all of Virginia’s workers.
KIMBERLY FREEMAN
Acting Executive Director, American Rights at Work
Washington, D.C.