California forum letters: Bee readers take on Hillsdale, single-payer health care, solar
Gun violence
“‘Everything was done wrong.’ Why was this suicidal CHP officer given back his gun?” (sacbee.com, Jan. 26)
Since 2016, California has allowed gun violence restraining orders. These red-flag emergency restraining orders give law enforcement the ability to call a judge 24 hours a day to remove all firearms from individuals deemed at risk of harming themselves or others for up to 30 days, during which time mental health help or other appropriate responses can be employed. Sadly, this is one of the most underutilized tools for prevention of gun violence. More needs to be done to educate not only the public but also law enforcement.
Marion Leff
Sacramento
Solar cost
“Cutting rooftop solar subsidies would be a huge mistake. California needs to reassess,” (sacbee.com, Jan. 24)
Net energy metering compensates solar owners at full (or near full) retail rates. Simply put, other people are paying for the very wires solar owners need to enjoy the benefits of net metering. While it’s fair to compensate solar owners for the value of the electricity produced (and this policy should continue), shouldn’t they pay their fair share of other costs? The solar industry argues that solar actually reduces the need for and cost of the electric grid, but that’s not how it works. Study after study has shown that solar has minimal benefit to the overall grid. In fact, additional investment is needed to manage the energy produced by homes during the afternoon and to meet their needs at night. Battery systems and microgrids are being touted as solutions to balance grid energy. Shouldn’t we all pay for these investments?
Jon Bertolino
El Dorado Hills
Hillsdale defense
“A conspiracy-peddling college is coming to Placer County. That should scare us all,” (sacbee.com, Jan. 23)
Bee columnist Hannah Holzer suggests that Hillsdale College is somehow a threat to democracy. Is this because students at Hillsdale spend a semester studying the U.S. Constitution? Is it because Hillsdale students are exposed to the “fringe beliefs” of such thinkers as Hamilton and Madison — the belief, for example, in self-government? Hillsdale’s articles of incorporation, adopted in 1844, cite “the inestimable blessings resulting from the prevalence of civil and religious liberty and intelligent piety in the land” and claim that “the diffusion of sound learning is essential to the perpetuity of these blessings.”
Michael Cook
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Single payer
“Newsom campaigned on single-payer health care for California. This proposal needs his help,” (sacbee.com, Jan. 21)
The Healthy California for All Commission has a problem: How will the commissioners and Gov. Newsom deal with the likelihood that the only truly equitable healthcare system — single-payer — will not be recommended? Why are our leaders afraid to try? On one side, we have profit, politics and fear. On the other side, equity, savings and health. Will the commission report clearly state that we could have a healthcare system that guarantees comprehensive care (including long-term care) at a lower cost if not for the pharmaceutical industry, the California Medical Association, Kaiser Permanente, the Heritage Foundation, the Chamber of Commerce and other corporate interests? Will the report at least give a nod to the immorality of denying us the best and most equitable health care available? Or will it simply provide cover for foundations, politicians and pundits by saying “now is not the time?”?
Harry Snyder
Mill Valley
Saving lives
“Newsom campaigned on single-payer health care for California. This proposal needs his help,” (sacbee.com, Jan. 21)
Thank you for holding Gov. Gavin Newsom accountable on his broken promise of supporting a single-payer health care system for California. I believe we will finally win this fight, even though the people currently profiting off our suffering — health insurance companies — are spending those profits on an aggressive campaign against life-saving health care for all. I would rather my hard-earned money go toward health care for all than filling the pockets of billionaire health insurance executives. We will absolutely be saving money under a single-payer system, and, more importantly, saving lives.
Melissa Martinez
Sacramento
Stop the suffering
“Newsom campaigned on single-payer health care for California. This proposal needs his help,” (sacbee.com, Jan. 21)
My wife and I have operated businesses in Auburn for 40 years. Health insurance has always been a financial burden for us, but it’s been a tragedy for some of my colleagues. Two of them waited decades to turn 65 and begin Medicare to before being able to afford surgery that they needed. One was blind from cataracts, and the other endured horrible pain that could only be lessened by spine surgeries. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.” AB1400 CalCare and Assembly Constitutional Amendment CA11, the companion funding measure bill, must be signed into law now. The suffering and medical bankruptcies must stop.
Scott Johnson
Auburn
Propagandists
“Sacramento’s struggles with homelessness are a result of Mayor Steinberg’s failures,” (sacbee.com, Jan. 26)
It’s a good idea for The Bee to publish a variety of op-eds, but I find it hard to read anything by extremist propagandists like Jay Ambrose and Matt Rexroad. Their pieces are generally complaints, unsupported by facts, and they never provide solutions. At least some conservative writers, like Mike Madrid and George Will, present intelligent, comprehensive views with positive direction; a rarity in these times. The rest of the conspiracy-driven, hateful-of-anyone-who-disagrees-with-me “writers” are a waste of print.
Bill Adelman
Galt