There are ways to reduce health care costs without the federal government taking over the health care of all American citizens.

Three ways to bring down health care costs are 1) Bring down doctors' liability insurance by putting a cap on lawsuits; 2) Let people choose what they want to be insured for; 3) Get illegal immigration under control so our hospitals don't have to put the costs of all these uninsured in their rates.

For those of you who think Europe is a dream and can't wait to be just like them, think again. In Germany individuals have in euros the amount equivalent to between $300 and $400 taken out of their checks automatically every month to pay for national health care. In the United Kingdom they pay a value-added tax on everything they buy from between 17 and 19 percent for national health care. This is in addition to what their employers pay. In addition, their hospitals are so bad that they have quit polling nurses as to whether they would be willing to receive care at the hospital they work at because so many were saying they wouldn't. In Spain people die while on waiting lists for heart surgery.

Our forefathers gave us a constitution to protect our freedoms, a constitution that affords our federal government enumerated and not unlimited powers.

Think before you support a government that violates our constitution and tries to imitate Europe, which has a history replete with centralized governments that respect only the rights of dictators.

Barbara Rush

720 Holter