Letters: War or health care?; Be the change you want to see

War or health care?

President Trump says he launched a war to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons and attacking the United States. Many experts — including our own intelligence analysts — question whether that threat was ever imminent.

The threat to Americans’ health, however, is real.

Health care is increasingly hard to afford, driven in part by last year’s budget bill and the expiration of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies for people who buy their own insurance.

Republicans argued that adequately funding health care was not worth increasing the budget deficit. War apparently is — with a much higher price tag.

Consider the numbers:

• The war: $1 billion a day, $30 billion a month

• ACA subsidies (nonpartisan estimates): $30 billion a year

In other words, one month of war spending could have funded a full year of affordable health care for millions of Americans.

The loss of ACA subsidies is already taking a toll. Premiums have surged, and many families are being priced out. Nationally, about 1 in 10 have dropped coverage. In Pennsylvania, it’s closer to 1 in 5 — more than 100,000 people so far.

That number will grow as families are forced to choose between insurance and basic necessities.

Billions to guard against a distant, uncertain threat — or the modest investment needed to keep Americans —including people in your own family — healthy today.

Which one actually saves more lives?

David Whiteman, Centre Hall

Be the change you want to see

There are very few members of Congress, specifically GOP members, who have stood up for democracy. They have looked away from what is happening for too long. It is as if our Constitution and the rights afforded therein do not really matter, but rather the person in the Oval Office and the party. This administration’s cabinet is filled with handpicked sycophants and it appears that many in Congress, specifically GOP members, have fallen in line with supporting an authoritarian style of government rather than a democracy. We have lost a lot already. Every aspect of our daily lives is being impacted by turning away ... affordability, lawlessness, disregard for constitutional rights, due process, detention centers/concentration camps, voting rights, civil rights, women’s rights, health care, environmental and health regulations, energy initiatives, lack of accountability of government agencies, attempting media censorship, withholding congressionally approved funding for states, citizenship surveillance, taxes. The list goes on and on. Don’t be that person who doesn’t care just because you have not yet been affected. Don’t be that person who says they “don’t get involved in politics.” Politics impacts your life and it starts at the local level. Get involved. Know your candidates, their position on issues, values and character. Support them however you can. Register to vote but more importantly vote. Don’t wait for someone else to act ... be the change you want to see.

Christine Coleman, Boalsburg

Congress must end costly ‘nightmare’

Senator George McGovern, a World War II veteran, said “I’m tired of old men dreaming up for young men to die in.” In choosing a war with Iran, the Trump administration has joined the 40+ year dream of many hawkish U.S. politicians and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. To continue that war, the administration has asked Congress to allocate supplemental funding of $200 billion. Congress must say no.

The administration’s justification for the war changes every time a high-level official opens their mouth, but “regime change” is a common one for this war’s defenders. Recent regime-change actions include Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Like the Iran War, all these actions were against oppressive and cruel regimes. All were military successes. All were political failures.

We have already lost 13 service members, thousands of Iranians including over 150 students at a girls’ school, and many people in other countries in the region. Iran’s blockade of the Straits of Hormuz have driven up the price of oil to over $100/barrel, spiking gas and fertilizer prices. Thousands of Marines are being sent and the Pentagon is considering whether to send another 10,000 ground troops.

Its financial cost is between one and two billion dollars per day. For instance, among other benefits, NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof points out that approximately two weeks of the war could pay for a college education for every family earning under $125,000/year. The Trump administration has dreamed up a deadly, costly war. Congress and the people must end this nightmare.

Jesse Barlow, State College