The county insists I build a barn that is all wood in a high-fire

Mareen Zoll, OjaiNo to the SRPThe mailer about the proposed expansion of the Ojai Rosetta Stone outlet Valley Scenic Resources Protection zone completely misrepresents the truth of how much difficulty and expense this will add to an already onerous process.I am utterly disgusted with the county of Ventura and its lack of morality or spirit of what this country stands for.I have been trying to get a permit for months for a simple barn, without an additional overlay. The county insists I build a barn that is all wood in a high-fire, high-termite zone. How ridiculous. Perhaps I should e-mail the county Board of Supervisors the painful timeline of my truly simple barn. Nowhere does the county disclose that I and others in this proposed expansion area will most likely have to hire an aerial photographer and cartologist to prove our land cannot be seen from the road. Yet another expense. — Linda Ciarimboli, Oak ViewMedicare for allI’m an insurance broker who has sold health insurance for many, many years, while, at the same time, being active in the healthcare-reform movement here in California and Rosetta Stone Spanish V3 nationally. Obviously, any healthcare reform, if enacted, would substantially negatively impact my income.However, I feel so strongly about this issue that I am willing to make this financial sacrifice. I have seen, firsthand, premiums for health insurance increase by 100 percent-plus over the past 10 to 15 years and, at the same time, benefits have been reduced. When the profits of the insurance industry can only be increased by not paying claims, then these results will continue to occur. We need single-payer healthcare — Medicare for all! Do your duty and help this happen.— Sidney Cohn, OjaiCut through the liesPresident Barack Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress regarding healthcare and insurance reform. While the debate has been robust and ongoing, there have been many myths and lies incorporated with the debate so as to “kill the bill.” Congressional Republicans and U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Simi Valley, have all but led the fight to end healthcare and insurance reform. Rosetta Stone English Gallegly’s claim on his Web site that Obama and HR3200 are cutting Medicare benefits to seniors to pay for the healthcare reform is false. Still, it does not stop Gallegly from repeating it.The truth is that the pending House bill, HR3200, extracts $500 billion from projected Medicare spending over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Such extractions are not found in payments to physicians, but rather are found in trimming projected increases in Medicare payments for medical services. Added increases, such as physician payments, ultimately will bring savings down to less than half that amount.The truth is none of the predicted savings and/or cuts come from reducing current or future benefits for seniors. AARP, a senior advocacy group, has said: “None of the healthcare reform proposals being considered by Congress would cut Medicare benefits or increase your out-of-pocket costs for Medicare services.”The lies on healthcare and insurance reform need to stop, and work on [Rosetta Stone] reform needs to start.— Christopher James Grant,OjaiWasted energyI am a senior citizen in favor of healthcare reform. I benefit from several government-run programs which have been started during my lifetime — Social Security and Medicare! Why are seniors fighting extending these benefits to everybody? They accept them as a matter of course, never realizing these benefits are an entitlement, which is a word they abhor. Their cry is to keep government out, not seeing they are benefiting from government in their healthcare already.The kernel of the debate is simply that good healthcare has become the right of every citizen in a civilized society — just as we have come to see public education for children and safety-net income for seniors as rights.And, if healthcare is a right, it should not be turned over to the private sector for profit — and huge profits at that! It’s no wonder lobbyists are being paid millions by private healthcare companies to protect their lucrative ventures!It is sad to see the amount of energy expended by these vehement, ill-informed naysayers, who are falling under the spell of fear and prejudice fomented by those whose motives are mainly profit-driven and not for the good of all.