Your Letters
January 6 2012
Letter to the Editor:
Charles Warren needs to forget the NAACP or what color he is and do the job he promised his voters.
No one else on the Commissioners has complained harassment or prejudice.
Perhaps he can move to New Hanover County or move Brian Berger to Brunswick County. Drama Queens are insecure, and it doesn’t take long to surface. Your 15 minutes of fame or shame are over!
Maybe a homeless shelter should be built for defunct politicians; at least that would create some new jobs.
Respectfully
Shirley Anderson
Leland, NC
Dear Editor
Finally, someone gets it! The Skyway Bridge is not Leland’s bridge; it is NC State’s Bridge! Here are a couple of reasons. One reason would be easier access to the Ports, which would help get the trucks off some of our roads and that, would help with traffic, safety, and cost of fixing the roads which wear out more quickly with truck traffic. Another reason for the bridge is that if hit with a hurricane there would be another exit point for evacuations. Remember Katrina and the people sitting in their cars trying to get away? One more thought, Brunswick County does not have a trauma center so it may be that another bridge would maybe- SAVE A LIFE!! These are just a few thoughts I have had about the proposed bridge; I am definitely for the bridge. Glenda Cordoni Browning
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Dear Editor:
I have been protesting the Phase 2 Village Rd project since June of 2008 by corresponding with DOT. I also have an oak tree over 100 years old very near the right of way. Most of the property owners on this stretch of road are elderly residents (from ages 50 or 60 to 93) despite the commercial designation on their property. My grandfather built the first house on my lot in 1923. We do not need a $21 million dollar road. Please spend the money on improvements to the Causeway from Leland to Wilmington so that we can avoid the daily tie-ups of traffic there. When money is so tight, how can we justify such waste that the citizens of Leland and the Town Council don’t want?
David O. Moore Sr.
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Dear Editor
Traffic on the morning of April 13th tested the patience of everyone in our area. Every artery in Leland that connected to the 17/74/76 causeway into Wilmington was turned into a parking lot for hours. Village Road was backed up past the funeral chapel. 74/76 was backed up “half-way to Whiteville.” I can personally attest to what it was like on 133 (River Road), with 3 or more miles of cars parked bumper to bumper. It reminded me of traffic after a Nascar race.
Hwy 133 Traffic
From what I’ve heard, it all started with an accident on westbound 17/74/76 around 6:30 am. This caused curiosity slow down on the eastbound side. Then multiple accidents were triggered, when BOTH the bridges over the Cape Fear were raised – during rush hour.
I questioned the logic of allowing the bridges to be raised with the NCDOT (capefear@ncdot.gov). I got a prompt reply from Joanna Rocco, URS Corp, who stated, “The Cape Fear Memorial Bridge opens to allow passage of waterway traffic 24 hours a day on demand and is not limited to any particular time of day.”
That policy may make sense for a small town, but a city like Wilmington needs to have a better policy over its draw bridges. Letting the boat traffic control the automobile traffic is a bit backward.
In her note, Ms. Rocco continued by stating that this is one of the main reasons a Skyway Bridge is being proposed. This is not a logical reason to invest over a billion tax payer dollars. I think it would make more sense to put traffic control on the water ways and a schedule on bridge raising, than to build another bridge!
Jay Merritt, Leland
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Dear Editor
Obamacare Replacement Suggestion
As one who has been in the insurance business a fair amount of time I believe I have a radically simple and inexpensive suggestion to replace Obamacare. This should cost less that 1% of the projected cost of Obamacare. Here it is. Create Medical IRAs for each CITIZEN of the USA. That would be about 307 million people. The federal government would put about $2,000,000 into each Medical IRA as a onetime contribution from Uncle Sam and there would be no tax liability. This is a onetime contribution over a lifetime. There would be no ongoing or future contributions from any government entity. This Medical IRA could earn interest from some entity other than the Federal Government. Each individual would have the option to deposit money into this account with a max deduction of $1000 per individual per year. Non-deductable money could be put into the account without restriction. The Medical IRA account would be allowed to earn interest that would be income tax free. The money in the account could be spent on direct medical expenses from a licensed medical provider and to pay health insurance premiums. No other expenditures would be allowed. No expenditures for cosmetic surgery, weight loss programs, stop smoking programs, medical marijuana, abortions or abortions services. Finally, if the money in the Medical IRA was 100% used up there would be no 2nd contribution by any government entity from local, state, or federal.
1. This could solve the pre-existing condition issue.
2. You could go to any doctor or hospital licensed in the USA.
3. There would be no requirement for mandated coverage
4. There would be no requirement or need for the Federal Government to regulate or oversee anything except monitoring the money spent in the Medical IRA. This would be to make sure there is no fraud or misuse
5. There would be no end of life counseling benefit
6. There would be no 1099 requirement
7. There would be no requirement to use a certain amount by a certain time
8. A provision allowing use of funds up to $5000 for a funeral at death
9. After death any money left in the account would go back to the government.
10. The individual or the parent of a minor child would be 100% responsible for managing this medical IRA
11. This would significantly reduce or eliminate medicade.
12. This could potentially save $1Trillion in spending from the Federal Budget.
The beauty of this is there would be no Regulation via HHS, and no additional government agencies or employees would be needed. The cost both initially and ongoing as people are born would be less than $2 Billion the first 5 years. Do you think the people in government would be interested in saving $1 Trillion+? I would hope so.
Legislation to implement this could be as little as 25 to 50 pages. There would be virtually no administrative cost once the system was set up. Banks or CUs could be involved in the Medical IRA account aspect.
The politicians probably are not interested in this as there would be no government agency or bureaucracy.
This is an outline of my idea. I would be happy to discuss if you want. My contact information is listed below
Donald Spaulding, Member #040145495
Insurance Marketplace
PO Box 3173
Wilmington, NC 28406
910-799-9003
