Misinformed And Dysfunctional

To the Editor:

Reading the letters to the editor pages from 2/17 I was struck by just how misinformed and dysfunctional my fellow Newtowners are.

Linda Watson [“Trampling Religious Freedom”] sees our government’s efforts to have all institutions that employ workers provide equal benefits to their employees as an attack on religious freedom. The Catholic Church and its many nonprofit appendages employ hundreds of thousands of workers, not all of whom are Catholic. The government is simply requiring the Catholic institutions to provide the same benefits their peers in academia, and medical institutions must provide. I’ll rest my argument with the fact that 98 percent of the Catholic women in America have used birth control, most paid by insurance policies as doing so is cheaper for them than paying for abortions or childbirth. Who’s the hypocrite?

Rich Narel is once again railing against the corrupt dysfunctional state of our leadership [“Washington is Corrupt And Dysfunctional”]. Refuting the bailout of the banks and our auto industry as failures. Mr Narel may want to spend some time researching his claims as the facts are the majority of the bank bailout funds have been repaid with interest, and our auto industry is across the board profitable. Our GM investment is likely to result in a serous profit for we taxpayers. The option to saving those institutions was massive disruption of the world economy and a depression deeper than the world has ever witnessed.

Then there is the bitter taste of pork from Mr Berendsohn [“A Taste of Pork],” who seems to think that those we trust to nurture and teach our children are spoiled union employees who are getting more than they give. To him I say you get what you pay for. It takes a minimum of five years of advanced education to qualify to teach in our schools and those lucky enough to be hired must continue to study and learn their specialty throughout their career. Doing so requires dedication worthy of far more than a steady paycheck, benefits, and a good retirement. By the way Mr Berendsohn, most public and private insurance policies require those eligible to apply for and use Medicare, thereby reducing the cost to the insurance company and the employer, just as most pensions include Social Security payments in their formula.

Lou Reda

17 Tamarack Road, Newtown                                 February 17, 2012