Chattanooga Pulse

Written by Pulse Staff
Wednesday, 08 October 2008 22:16
Economic Woes In Chattanooga
Have you ever had to choose between buying food and paying bills? Going to a doctor or paying your rent? There is an average of $18,000 (excluding mortgages) in U.S. consumer debt per household! Why? Health care, huge military expenditures, predatory lending, student loans, and dependency on foreign goods are a few of the many things that can put us into debt. Some of this indebtedness is directly due to our government’s lack of foresight to care for its citizens.
If we paid for health care through taxes, we wouldn’t have as many people bankrupt from hospital bills. Erlanger wouldn’t feel the need to charge uninsured people 3 times as much as insured people just because the rate of return is so low.
If we stopped jailing people for misdemeanor drug offenses at $48.75 per day, which is $17,793.75 per year per inmate, that could be invested in more drug counseling, police intervention, and drug education.
Under capitalism, money gets concentrated into the hands of those with the money and resources to use it for growth. That leaves most of our citizens in a low income bracket. Shouldn’t we be morally obligated to provide for those who, in our current society, will never have the economic opportunity to pull themselves out of poverty? I say yes and emphatically yes. Here in Chattanooga Mayor Littlefield offered to help provide shelter for some of our citizens and was shot down. Remember in economic times like these, we are all potentially poor.
Daniel Westcott
Chattanooga

In Thanks To Dr. Rick
What great timing. As I contemplate the possibility of having to leave my beloved ATL, Dr. Rick’s column ["Not All Who Wander Are Lost", 10/2] gave me pause to smile and think. Perhaps my nomadic life, which began at 36, is the life I’m supposed to lead. At the very least, your words validate the place I find myself in now and are of comfort. Rock on, Dr. Rick!
Michael O.
Atlanta