GARFIELD — Editor:

Since it seems everyone has an opinion on healthcare reform, I might as well jump in the fray. As I see it, we have three options.

One option is to proceed with the plan on the table in Congress (Democrats’ plan). This plan bothers me for two reasons. First, there is the cost of it which no one actually knows what it will ultimately be; and second, any several thousand page plan is bound to be confusing and loaded with unnecessary junk, i.e.

pork and special deals. The other option is to do nothing (Republicans’ plan).

This option bothers me because it suggests the status quo is okay. Maybe it’s okay for insurance and pharmaceutical companies but that’s all. The third option is to scrap what’s on the table and start over. This option would call for Congress to identify say the top three issues facing us today regarding healthcareand then come up with a bipartisan solution for each of these issues. Once enacted and proved successful, then identify the next three issues and fix them in the same manner. Sounds simple but the possibility of Congress actually doing this is extremely remote since recent history suggests that Congress can’t do anything that makes sense for the American people. Maybe that’s why a growing number of us have no use for either party and the dolts that belong to them.

PETE RATHMELL Garfield

Opinion, Pages 4 on 03/24/2010