Va. can’t afford Medicaid as it is

Va. can’t afford Medicaid as it is

Re: the front-page article regarding Medicaid expansion (“State still undecided on Medicaid expansion,” June 16 news story):

Medicaid in Virginia is one of the most abused programs that we have. All of the situations described regarding those who cannot receive Medicaid are sad. However, it is only because current Medicaid funds are given to so many people who take extreme advantage of the program.

The laws and regulations regarding Medicaid recipients need to be changed. Medicaid reform is the only way to solve this ongoing crisis.

Since when does having a child out of wedlock qualify you for Medicaid funds? I am a firm believer in children, the elderly and truly poverty-stricken individuals receiving these funds.

I urge everyone to support Medicaid reform, not expansion. We cannot pay for this broken system as it is, and asking Virginia to expand it even further is criminal.

DARLENE WELLS
GALAX

Cuccinelli will take coal counties nowhere

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is a real “Nowhere Man, sitting in his Nowhere Land, making all his nowhere plans” for the No-Coalfields Expressway.

The Republican candidate for governor now doesn’t have a point of view on whether he would repeal Gov. Bob McDonnell’s transportation plan. Pound, Clinchco and Vansant are just not part of his plan.

Cuccinelli has no plan of his own. He only favors the very few, certainly not you and me.

We need not be scared, since Nowhere Man failed to offer us a helping hand.

We know there is hope in Democrat Terry McAuliffe to make us somewhere for somebody with his support of the Coalfields Expressway construction plan.

LEABURN KENNEDY
POUND

Whaaat? Ah, satire, and nicely done

Re: Madeleine Love’s letter published June 13, “Warning! They’ve got your number”:

For just a moment I was astounded. Then I realized that Love had written a clever satirical letter chiding the people who are wringing their hands and crying “Wolf” about the data that the National Security Agency is gathering to protect our country from terrorism.

Well done, Love.

TOM SANDERS
MONETA

Obama shouldn’t have drawn a line

It seems that Sen. John McCain and the Pentagon brass have finally succeeded in convincing President Obama to supply arms to the rebels in Syria. The reason: the unnecessarily announced red line laid out by Obama has been crossed.

Of course, they would quickly find that some chemical weapons had been used. Didn’t we hear a similar story before we attacked Iraq? The only slight difference in Iraq was they were nuclear instead of chemical weapons.

Why do we always have to be the policeman? If Russians and Iranians supply weapons to the Assad government, does that mean we automatically have to supply the rebels? Nobody should deliver weapons into an unstable area. The Syrians and the whole Middle East should sort out their religious problems for themselves.

FRITZ NEUHAUS
ROANOKE

Goodlatte should back hen amendment

For years, egg producers in the U.S. have had to face a labyrinth of conflicting and confusing state laws due to much-needed national standards for egg production and hen housing.

Currently, the majority of the 280 million hens raised for eggs in the U.S. live their entire lives in “battery cages,” barren metal crates so small that the hens cannot extend their wings, perch or engage in other natural behaviors. A proposed amendment to the farm bill, H.R. 1731, has the potential to fix these issues.

If passed, it would incur no additional expense for the federal government, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and is expected to help stabilize egg prices for consumers. Rep. Bob Goodlatte should seize the opportunity to vote “yes” and put this popular, bipartisan law into action.

CHRISTINE LOFGREN
ROANOKE

Weather Journal

5 hours ago

1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County 

2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day

3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys

4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping 

5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football 

6. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen

7. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust

8. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible

9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli 

10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area