BRIEF COMMENTS ON ISSUES BY WILLIAM HESSELL, Ph.D

                  THE COMMENTS OF BILL HESSELL, PH.D

                            WHY WE SHOULD SUPPORT SINGLE PAYER

All great reasons why the nation should adopt a single-payer system, and to the last reason, ending private insurance company abuse, I would add ending private insurance company profits, which are massive, even after paying the multi-million dollar salaries their executives get annually and in their pensions.  No government officials or administrators get their exorbitant salaries, and any profits would be fed back into providing a health care system for all which we would all have a stake in and be proud of.

                      
                                   TEA PARTY CAUSES GRIDLOCK OF DEMOCRACY

Short-sighted, narrow-minded conservatives do have a lot that they are accountable for in triggering the gridlock that has stymied any ability that Wash. DC might otherwise have had for dealing with the nation's problems during Obama's administration.  The Tea Party movement may be partially responsible as a vehicle for mobilizing public support, but the causes run deeper.  Multi-millionaires who pour millions of dollars into defeating programs they don't like, lobbying groups which demand politicians sign pledges to not raise taxes or pass any spending bills, and politicians like Mitch McConnell who declare their prime purpose in marshaling votes is to see Obama and his agenda defeated, are among the prime movers of the gridlock.  Newt Gingrich's "contract with America" is a historical antecedent from the 1990's, as it placed an emphasis on pressuring block voting in Congress.

                                                   ON RONALD REAGAN                        

Reagan's reputation in many circles continues to be  highly overblown.  He does deserve some credit for having a very likeable manner that was appealing to a majority of voters, and also for telling the Russians to "take down this wall".  Other than that, his administration was marked with pronounced failures.  His effect on education, a failure.  His war on drugs, a failure.  His Reaganomics financial changes, a failure for all but the most wealthy of us, a disaster for the middle class.  Some of the long-term effects of his eight years in office are still coming into play, and are not positive.  So applaud his popularity and his smile if you must, but the results of his policies deserve little applause.

                                 HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS PASSES IN CT, IL

That a few states have passed laws that begin to recognize that the homeless are human beings and deserving of some respect should be applauded, but it is a bare beginning to what is needed.  The prevalence of homelessness in the US is an absolute national disgrace, and a reflection on all of us.  The government can provide countless millions bailing out banks and corporations, while the ranks of the homeless continue to grow.  Where is the valuing humanity?   Are our priorities that imbalanced??

                                ONE MILLION STUDENTS IN U.S. HOMELESS


                               That there are so many homeless in the United States is a criminal violation of the constitutional mandate to provide for the common good - where is the safety net? - and that so many children are homeless adds to the dereliction of duty that we should all, as parts of a democratic government, feel responsible for. It is an insult to all of us when children live in such conditions.

                                NSA USES STASI TACTICS AGAINST POT BUYERS               

The "war on drugs" has been a failure, yet it is continuing full bore even against mild drugs like pot, which has gained increased acceptance by the public and medical establishment.   Since the war on drugs was accelerated in 1980, prison populations have mushroomed yearly, having grown over 5-fold since then.  Too bad so much of the nation's  greatly needed employment program is directed towards more prison staffing and DEA agents, rather than infrastructure development, education, and social services for those in the greatest need.

                           CALLING LEAKERS SPIES IS MODERN DAY MCCARTHYISM

Who would have guessed that almost 60 years after Joe McCarthy was exposed as a disgrace to American principles for falsely accusing many Americans of being disloyal and communistic that mainstream leaders of our government would be today charging citizens of being traitors, driving them out of the country or into prisons without due process of law, for opposing secret government policies?  Or who would have guessed that many of the secret tactics employed by J. Edgar Hoover as director of the FBI to allow him to exert massive control over politicians in government by covertly collecting secret information on them would now be used more openly by numerous agencies on all citizens, supposed to add to our security and freedom, without real oversight??