Letters to the Editor
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‘A Bloomberg Bid for President Draws Attention of Strategists’
I had to laugh at the comment calling Mayor Bloomberg “the sane Perot” [Front Page, “A Bloomberg Bid for President Draws Attention of Strategists,” December 8-10, 2006]. Perhaps I’m wrong, but coming from America’s heartland, as I do, I can honestly tell you that I’ve heard no loud clamoring for more government or, especially, the kind of “nanny government” that characterizes Mr. Bloomberg’s administration so much.
While I’m sure that many of the more liberal persons up here may take issue with that, given the results of the recent midterm elections, I politely remind them that many of the fresh incoming Democrats who won office this year ran on conservative, not liberal, platforms.
JOHN OVERLAND
New York, N.Y.
‘Closing Six Hospitals To Be Sought in the City’
There’s been lots of coverage of the Berger Commission with its recommendation about closing hospitals, and there’s been plenty of concerned response by people worried about losing medical access, but no one seems to be asking the more fundamental question: Why is the state involved to this extent [Front Page, “Closing Six Hospitals To Be Sought in the City,” November 22, 2006]?
In pretty much every other business, whether doughnut shops, gas stations, or even newspapers, while there might be various degrees of regulation, the businesses stand, or fail, based on the marketplace. If there’s a need for their services, and if they’re better than their competition, they survive. If not, they fade away.
In the case of hospitals, though, the politicians and their enablers feel they know better than the public. It would be far better to let all the hospitals compete equally with each other, with the state regulating them all to the same degree, and providing the same access to tax funding.
The free market, with a light touch of government oversight, generally works a lot better than political motivations.
DANIEL BURSTEIN
New York, N.Y.
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