TO THE EDITOR:

President Bush vetoed the bill to expand health care coverage. I encourage everyone to write their congressional representatives and urge them to override his veto. This bill would have covered the 6.6 million children currently covered by this program and add 4 million additional children who do not have health insurance. It is not a single-payer system that would have covered all children, a proposal I would favor, but it is a step supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans and members of Congress. The cost of the bill is $35 billion over 5 years, financed by an increase in the cigarette tax. Now compare this to his war in Iraq which costs $35 billion a month, a war opposed by most Americans, a war for which Bush refuses to establish measurable goals, a war with no foreseeable end, that will cost our children and grandchildren trillions in taxes, not to mention the lives of nearly 4,000 American soldiers and 10,000s of Iraqi civilians. So if we are truly pro-life, which should be supported: health coverage for uninsured children or a war waged on a lie? So tell your representative to join the Democrats and Republicans who will vote to override.

Bob Walz
North Branch