12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY july 18-24, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com Presidential Politics I hope you never have a bad day after traveling twice across the Atlantic, through so many time zones (“Biden and Trump should both drop out. Our country is too important,” July 4-10). How would you young whippersnappers do if then you had a cold? Watch the whole debate. See his strength now. No Biden, no democracy; is that what you want? Peter Watson-Graff | Monterey Dismissed as “right-wing extremists” and “Deplorables” by a highly propagandist Leftist media, many of us were not surprised by Biden’s debate debacle. It was painfully obvious to those informed by a more diverse assembly of information. Those informed only by that same Leftist media have had the harsh realization thrust upon them that “we have been lied to.” Richard Hellam | Seaside This editorial was misleading and disingenuous. Your three editorial board members failed to offer a balanced opinion and clearly demonstrated their personal agenda. You did your publication a disservice and intentionally tried to fool the readership. I would suggest that future editorial articles written by a small group from your publication include also an individual that can provide a different, more realistic viewpoint. Your short list of the Biden Administration accomplishments was also peppered with false information. I would suggest an apology to your readership. Kevin Kreyenhagen | Carmel Valley I guess I wasn’t paying attention in school, because I always thought that one of the reasons we fought the Revolutionary War was against the idea that “the king could do no wrong,” but our Supreme Court just said otherwise (“In ruling that Donald Trump has some immunity from criminal prosecution, the Supreme Court has undermined bedrock principles of American democracy,” July 4-10). I guess now our schools won’t have to teach all that silly old stuff about history, and focus on more important things, like the Ten Commandments. Glenn Nolte | Carmel Valley Village Character As an outsider (Monterey) looking in (Carmel) I find what they consider as quaint and iconic to be a pain in the neck…or even lower than that (“A divided Carmel City Council gives a green light to street addresses,” posted July 11). No address numbers and no streetlights are simply phony trappings to give the town some panache. I’ve set out at night looking for the house of a friend and spent a half-hour looking for his place in Carmel because it lacked both a house number and a streetlight to see by. Really inane. S. Duane Stratton | Monterey cost of care This story illustrated how Monterey County’s hospitals compare to hospitals in California and nationally (“Hospitals in Monterey County are some of the most expensive in the state. Why?,” June 20-26). We see these exorbitant prices daily as we administer nonprofit plans for the low-income farmworkers and hospitality workers we cover. These hospitals charge more because they can—not because they need to. Since residents don’t have many choices when it comes to hospital care, they are held hostage to increasing prices. The RAND Corporation study the Weekly referred to concludes price variation is largely explained by hospital market power. The hospitals claim that they must charge commercial payers more to make up for the lower payments they receive from Medicare and Medi-Cal. Yet as the correction by the Weekly shows, Monterey County hospitals receive only 3-8 percent more in Medicare and/or Medi-Cal revenue than the statewide average, hardly enough to explain why prices are so much higher than the statewide average. It’s time for them to stop taking advantage of their market power and provide care at reasonable costs to working families in Monterey County. Ivana Krajcinovic and Patrick Pine | via email Note: Krajcinovic is vice president of healthcare delivery at Unite Here Health; Pine is administrator of UFW’s Robert F. Kennedy Farmworkers Medical Plan. Winning big Congrats to the Weekly and its journalists for the honors and recognitions received last weekend (“The Weekly is celebrating state and national recognition in annual journalism awards,” posted July 15). We are VERY fortunate to have your esteemed team reporting and opining for us in our community! Graham Gottfried | Salinas Congratulations to all of you for the well-deserved honors you received at the California Journalism Awards! Those of us locals who look forward to the Weekly and the Monterey County Now know what a creative, entertaining and informative job you do of providing us with fact-based journalism. It is so nice to see that you have been so fittingly recognized both statewide and nationally. Keep up the great work! Sharen Carey | Big Sur Congrats!! You guys do a great job and deserve the accolades. Brett Roseberry | Carmel Congratulations! We are all very fortunate to have the Weekly as a strong regional voice, and a model of independent journalism. Maija West | Gonzales It’s nice of you that you left a few awards on the table for the other publications! Very well deserved! I was especially pleased with the Western Flyer reporting, giving me a chance to get aboard, and stand where John Steinbeck once stood. Walter Wagner | Salinas Congratulations to all the winners and especially the entire team from Monterey County Weekly and Monterey County Now. You folks are awesome! Joseph Hertlein | Carmel Valley Letters • CommentsOPINION Submit letters to the editor to letters@montereycountynow.com. Please keep your letter to 150 words or less; subject to editing for space. Please include your full name, contact information and city you live in.
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