Letters to the Editor

Left has overplayed the race card

Finally, I understand the race card. It is the bottom card in the deck. The one that is up the sleeve. The one suit that will trump all other cards, regardless of how well you played your game.

Until now. Now, that card has been played and played 'til its edges have been dog-eared and you can see it in the deck, and you know when it will be played, with all the predictability and certainty of a summer thunderstorm. It has lost its edge, its power.

The charges and countercharges of who exactly is racist have been played out on national television over the past few months to the mighty dismay of most Americans. And yes, we know there are those, black and white, who will take their abiding hatred to the grave.

But why does the political left keep throwing the race card on top of the pile? Simple. Leftists know they are losing their grip on the black community. They can see the awakening of the black conscience from the government-induced drug of dependency, and progressive leftists are very afraid that they will be exposed for the liars they have been.

What do tea parties around the country owe the black community? Nothing. No apology. No political correctness. Nothing except a welcome. A welcome to our ranks as we gird ourselves for the fight for the soul of the Republic.

Christine Armstrong

Pitman

No wonder care is so expensive

In May, I had an MRI of the lumbar spine to confirm a diagnosis of spinal stenosis. Although fully covered by my Medicare and secondary insurance, the amount approved, and paid by Medicare, $2,245, astounded me. The total amount billed was $2,389.

Wow! This hardly sounds like a negotiated price to me. I thought an MRI was an $800 procedure. No wonder MRI suites are popping up all over the area - it's obviously a very lucrative business.

When I questioned my doctor about the charge, he said the hospital had to charge the maximum, or risk having its coverages cut back. This looks like bureaucracy at its finest.

Ed Crocheron

West Chester

Library bonuses violated the law

Our laws should be applied equally to all ("Former library president has earned his bonuses," Sunday).

There is a clear prohibition in the Philadelphia City Charter against any city employee's accepting any form of payment or compensation from an outside entity for doing the job he or she is already getting paid to do by Philadelphia taxpayers.