Editor:

I am writing this letter in response to Koren O' Dell's letter, "Star-Trib needs integrity," which appeared in the September 23rd edition of the Star Tribune. After reading O' Dell's letter, there was only one thing I can agree with him on, which is that his letter was overrun with emotion. O' Dell mentions opinion writers criticizing the health care plan like it is a federal crime.

Health care for all is a "feel-good" thing that would be nice, but you can't just snap your fingers and there it is. The different forms of this health care reform bills call for a cut to Medicare by half a trillion dollars. This cut will result in many on disability and senior citizens having to take a severe cut to their benefits, or even worse, go without benefits entirely. America does not need socialized medicine for all. Medicare was designed for those who are deemed disabled by the Social Security Administration and for senior citizens.

I would ask O' Dell to take a look at the horror stories that come from the socialized health care systems of Canada and Great Britain. Their survival rates for cancer are much lower and there is rationed care in both of these systems.

You also mention that Obama has done more for this country than any other president has at this point in his career. I would like to know exactly what has he done for this country. I would say that it shouldn't be a matter of what he has done for this country to this point, but what he had done to this country at this point in his career. He has created more debt than the previous forty-three Presidents combined. Even worse, this is only eight months into his administration. I hate to think of the state our economy will be in once he gets further along in his presidency.

You also mention that Obama wants to make the United States less of a developing country. Last time I checked, America was not and is not a third world country. You mention that it is your right to voice your opinion, which it is. However, you speak as though the Casper Star and other Wyoming news outlets are not allowed to have their own opinions simply because they do not blindly support a president who does not have our best interests in mind. I do not believe that supporting Obama blindly will make the United States a better place to live. Instead, forcing such support on people is too much like what happened in the Soviet Union.

LUKE HUCKE, Laramie