To the editor:

I find it very interesting that the rationale given by most of those who oppose a bill to improve healthcare for all Americans and a bill to help the unemployed and underemployed are opposed because of the national deficit and the national debt. I really doubt that any American who is underinsured or uninsured is terribly concerned about the debt.

I also doubt that anyone who has found their family without a steady income or no income at all really worries about the national debt.

And yet, various commentators and politicians insist that the American people don’t want any government assistance to improve healthcare or to help provide jobs. Who are these people? I’ve yet to meet any of them, except for those who must believe that their incomes and insurance coverage is assured, I suppose, for eternity.

I and many of the people I know worry about the future. We know that the debt will have to be paid and that the national budget will need to be balanced. I would also like to have a lower tax bill.

However, if we find that more and more people are unemployed and face massive debt, either because they are underemployed, unemployed, or faced with catastrophic medical costs, who then will pay for the services we all want, and who then will buy the products and perform the services that will simulate the economy?

Now, you may say we can do without some of the services. And I ask you, which ones, yours or mine? Your police or mine? Your highways or mine? Your fire protection or mine? Your children’s education or mine? Your health or mine?

George H. Westergaard

Clinton