Twenty-two members of my family gathered this weekend for an October 30, 2010 grave-side service honoring the memory of "the twins," my aunts Carolyn Magliola and Cotty Richardson-Johns who died just months apart in 2008. Their ashes were lain to rest in the Livingston Cemetery (they are descendants of Parker Livingston).
One aunt, two uncles, 12 "Hockett" and 2 "Best" cousins attended along with five spouses.
We celebrated their lives by listening to scripture from the Christian Bible and singing hymns. Nineteen of us stayed at a delightful Bed and Breakfast.
Always when traveling, I try to get a copy of the local newspaper, to get a flair for what's important (locally), and to compare the quality of these local papers to the Chicago Tribune, with which I am not enamored.
This letter to the editor leapt out at me:
... I am writing in support of Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for election to Congress in the 2nd District of Iowa.
I ..., [have] been her partner for 12 years. ... Mariannette is one of the smartest and maybe the hardest working person I have encountered. She is the embodiment of the American dream, having worked her way up from a childhood of limited means to achieve a high degree of success at every level. If elected, I know from experience that she would read the legislation before she voted on it. I also know she would examine each issue on its merits rather than vote a straight party line since she is not afraid of confrontation. She also has the knowledge to offer meaningful input into the health care system which, as it stands now, is on the verge of a transformation which has the potential to be a disaster for our country.
Much has been made of a few of her statements in an effort to marginalize her. A decision to go without insurance for a short time when you have a sizable mortgage, children in college, and are otherwise in good health is one many people might make. The fact that she might move east if she loses is a reflection of the fact that her children are out there, not that she doesn’t like the people in our community. People with “hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank” usually payoff their mortgages and buy health insurance. The class warfare innuendo is typically pathetic and drives a wedge between people at a time when we should be pulling together to get ourselves out of the trouble which we now find ourselves in.
A vote for Dr. Miller-Meeks on Tuesday may well be a vote for healing the country.
Norman R. Hutchison, M.D.
So why vote for Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks?
Why? Because she's
SMART
HARD WORKING
AN OVER-ACHIEVER
SHE WOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR READING LEGISLATION BEFORE VOTING ON IT
(this is huge - tres, tres, huge - ginormous)
WOULD EXAMINE EACH ISSUE ON ITS MERITS
IS AN EXPERIENCED HEALTH INSURANCE PROFESSIONAL (it is the Medicare and Medicaid medical expense programs that will, if nothing is done, bankrupt "the system." All the "oh woe is we-oh" about the deep doo-doo that social security is in is so much smoke being gassed out of the propagandists' *sses. Social Security (according to current projections) is fully funded for another 29 years. Even if nothing were to change between now and then, if the underlying growth rate of the U.S. GDP were to exceed 1.7%, the current rate of growth assumed by the Social Actuary underlying the projections of future revenue inputs and benefit outputs, THERE WILL BE NO PROBLEMS AND THE SYSTEM CAN CONTINUE AS IS!! Here is a chart showing Shadow government statistics and BLS of GDP growth since 1982.
I doubt that candidate Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks has any campaign literature that presents a more compelling reason for giving her your vote than this.
ELECT MILLER-MEEKS!
GO HAWKEYES
