This Letter to the Publisher is a direct response to the article, “Font-Checker” and Other Essential Government Jobs that ran  in the 2012 March issue of the Slippery Rock Gazette (pg. 6), commenting on the final rules the Summary of Benefits and Coverage provision of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) issued on February 9, 2012.

Mr. Hassert,

Please accept this comment in reference to your comments about the format and font size required for the SBC from the CCIIO. I believe the reason could be that printing on both sides of the paper and using a 12-point font creates a document that conserves paper and is large enough to read easily, but is not so large as to waste ink. This is a very CONSERVATIVE way of printing. Judging from your usually conservative remarks, I would think you would be in complete agreement, even if it is somewhat imposed.

I believe our present administration is now wise to the tools that are used to thwart their ideas. The original Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that was passed by Congress was no longer than the “No Child Left Behind” legislation that was passed by the previous administration. The Republican leadership had it printed in a large type edition so they could wave a 3˝ thick book in front of the cameras and decry its complexity. 

This action, in my opinion, was anything but conservative. It was just more “smoke and mirrors” that has now gutted what could have been a good first step in tackling the enormous financial burden that is our health care system. I’m not telling you but I am asking you to keep an open mind about such things. We’re going to be hearing a lot of disinformation for the next eight months. 

Very sincerely,  

Steve Carroll
Carroll Memorials, Inc.   
King, North Carolina

Mr. Carroll, 

First of all, thank you for your letter and thank you for reading the Slippery Rock Gazette.  You make a great point in comparing “No Child Left Behind” with “Obama Care.” I have long considered “No Child” as the Republican version of “Obama Care.” It seems to me that both laws are intrusive, expensive and damaging to our country. While the quality of our K-12 public school system is certainly a concern, and taking care of those who cannot afford health care is a need, both solutions from both political parties seem to me to miss the mark. 

I applaud the recent actions of the administration to grant some states waivers to  “No Child Left Behind.” I would urge the President to grant waivers to all states and then to challenge the leaders in congress to work together to repeal it. If the Republicans balked, it would probably help the President at election time. 

Waste and inefficiency knows no political boundaries. I think it was President Reagan who said, “To compare Congress to drunken sailors is an insult to drunken sailors.” Of course, I would suggest waivers and repeal regarding “Obama Care.” 

I also agree with you that we are hearing a great deal of disinformation coming from Washington. For example, not long ago, the individual mandate was a Republican idea before it became a Democrat idea.

As a side note, I enjoyed your video on the Carroll Memorials. website. Video can be a great educational tool and can take stress out of the buying process. I would urge our readers to check it out at www.carrollmemorials.com.
Best regards,


Rich Hassert

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