While health care and the delivery of it may be outdated and need improving, the voice of common citizens expressing their concern has nothing to do with a right wing Republican GOP machine.

Health insurance, the last time I checked, was not enshrined in the Constitution as a right and no one has the right to shove it down our throat “for your own good.”

The document reads “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” not the “provision” of happiness. Seems some of us got lost on the way to civics class.

The “Republican thugs” referred to in a letter in the last issue of the News-Times are, in reality, citizens including myself who are concerned about government’s constant and ever-deepening intrusion into our lives, usurping our rights and burdening us with ever-increasing debt that will enslave all of our children well into the future. The right to freedom of speech applies regardless of whether or not you agree with the message. Count me as one of those “thugs.” I still have not heard how it will be paid for, nor do I have faith in those who say “trust me.”

I, too, have recently lost my job, but I want nothing to do with a government administered health care system. This would truly be “cradle to grave” socialism, with a government-appointed health czar deciding who makes it into the cradle and when we go to the grave. People like White House science czar John Holdren. Mr. Holdren advocated for forced abortion and mass sterilization in a book he co-authored in 1977 titled “Ecoscience.” This man is now in control of White House science policy. All to be paid for with your tax dollars under a government-mandated health program. Whether you like it or not.

How’s that hope and change working for ya?

Ron Hewitt

Oak Harbor