PUBLIC FORUM : MEDICARE EXPANSION GETS MIXED REVIEWS.

Leave it to Clinton to complicate things.

We have a Social Security-Medicare system that is going broke. What does our fearless leader propose? Expand coverage to even more people.

With Generation X-ers expressing more faith in the existence of UFOs than in the availability of government benefits when they retire, now is no time to be getting generous with other people's money.

How this expansion will help ensure long-term solvency for those now receiving or about to receive benefits is a mystery. But as long as it leaves Clinton looking compassionate today, it probably doesn't matter that children yet unborn will be stuck with the bill.

Clinton wants to lull us into believing that ``the era of big government is over.'' Unfortunately, he is going chockablock with tiny bits of little government that will cumulatively cost a bundle, not just today but for years to come.

This is the time for tax relief, paying down the national debt and fulfilling our commitments already made to our elder population, not a time for unrestrained feel-good spending sprees to make politicians look good.

- Pat Parker

Los Angeles 

We believe expanding Medicare coverage eligibility to people 55 to 64 is an excellent proposal, but certainly not at the $300 monthly suggested, which is a prohibitive amount for most low- and middle-income seniors.

Those already covered by Medicare, including me, don't pay such high premiums. We only are required to pay $40 monthly. In fairness, people like me could or should pay $50 or even $60 to allow people, such as my younger wife, to join for much less than the proposed amount.

Also, taxation could be increased slightly to keep Medicare programs solvent. However, in election years, tax increases are most unpopular.

Better yet, the Medicare administrators should re-examine some of the exorbitant costs, fraud and waste that plague Medicare. We read that the Veterans Administration pays less for medical supplies and services. Perhaps some good examples to reduce Medicare costs can be discovered there.

In summary, expand Medicare optional coverage to people 55 to 64 - certainly to Social Security retirees who elect to be covered at 62 instead of waiting to age 65 - but for less than the $300 monthly premium suggested.

- Sheldon Walter

Van Nuys

It is typical of Washington politicians to propose adding another layer of beneficiaries and bureaucracy to a Medicare system they just admitted was mismanaged and close to bankruptcy. Let them prove they can fix the system we've got.

- Mel Wolf

Burbank

President and Mrs. Clinton have as an objective a full-blown national, socialistic-style health-care program. In 1994 the Clintons lost their proposed program because of a national clamor against the costs and infringement on our choice of medical care and control. We have enough problems with health maintenance organizations.

The Clintons' latest request is an example of their attempt to impose their national health program in small increments, much as the camel enters the tent. They seem to be proposing programs entering from two sides of the tent: care for children on one side and lowering the age to enter the fiscally strapped Medicare program on the other.

Soon the camel will become the dragon with expansions to include elementary school children, then secondary school students, college students, etc. At the other end of the tent, the Clintons will propose lowering the eligibility age to 45, then 35 and finally to all people.

Our political hacks should take a cue from problem-ridden social health programs in European and other countries where the cost is growing every year. These countries are making every effort to reduce this major budgetary problem.

Is there another solution? I can suggest several.

Consider a slight increase in the budget for VA hospitals and have approved unemployed people and their families treated at these facilities.

Next, a recent study indicated more than 155 health and medical programs, other than Medicare, are funded by the federal budget. I will bet that we would find programs already in place to satisfy the children and unemployed ``almost'' seniors.

- Charles Dusheck

Chatsworth

Congress in 1997 cut Medicare to the bone, but members of Congress voted themselves a $3,000-a-year raise. Congress made sure retired people got the bare minimum of an increase for Social Security and would pay more for their Medicare while getting less in return.

Thanks, Mr. President, for all you've done for your fellow Americans who are retired and on Social Security. We don't need any more of your help with Medicare.

- Benjamin R. Laufer

Sherman Oaks

This is another insanity of the Clinton administration.

Medicare itself is in deep financial trouble, and adding coverage would compound the failure.

We would all be better off if Medicare and the associated obscene HMO programs were eliminated, allowing the various states to decide these kinds of issues.

The treasury of this country is being flagrantly squandered at the federal level by these types of ``do-good'' efforts.

The proposed expansion of Medicare coverage should definitely be stopped.

- Bob Sharp

Arleta

Courts too powerful

Regarding the lead article in Viewpoint, Public Forum, Jan. 11: ``Judicial shrinkage,'' by Thomas A. Bowden.

Bowden purports to call upon history to explain the source of our dwindling vital liberties. However, the prism through which he looks is skewed and renders his view myopic.

He is correct that the Founding Fathers intended to exalt the individual above the collective and therefore break with the then-traditions.

He also is correct that these rights were intended to be inalienable as against the legislature, etc. However, he fails to include the most intrusive branch of the government in his admixture - the federal courts.

Courts usurp the power of the people every day. This apparently meets with the approval of Bowden. In fact, he laments that the Supreme Court doesn't do more.

The idea that the Supreme Court was designed to protect the individual from the big bad government is another sophomoric sophism. The Supreme Court is part of the very government our Founding Fathers feared.

I put my faith in the people, not the government.

Let's hope the power of the judiciary continues to shrink and the power of the people expands.

- Richard A. Nixon

North Hills

Mayor and gardeners

While there are both pros and cons to the ban on leaf blowers, can one really think of anything more despicable than the mayor of the city of Los Angeles flaunting his opulence in the face of the poor by chomping down a hamburger while meeting with the hunger-striking gardeners?

Oh, yes, there is one thing possible more despicable: Mayor Richard Riordan's pathetic attempt to bribe those defending their beliefs via a long-accepted means of civil disobedience - hunger strikes - with a free dinner at his restaurant.

Jan. 5 was one of those days when I was truly ashamed to be a part of Los Angeles. Secession starts to look mighty appealing in the face of such arrogance.

- Sharon L. Vickers

Arleta

Lungren's record

Despite a few conciliatory phrases after Proposition 215's victory, state Attorney General Dan Lungren has revealed himself: He is as ``tough'' on medical marijuana as he is ``soft'' on assault rifles.

- Thomas J. O'Connell, M.D.

San Mateo