Strengthening the case.

Regarding your December 1 issue, I have comments on two different articles that might strengthen your case.

Mr. William Norman Grigg's article about political correctness ("Punishing Thought-crime") referenced the comments by Paul Begala about the "red" states--that is, those states that voted for Bush in the last presidential election. Most of what I saw after the election showed breakdowns by county, with Bush counties in red. Of course, nearly all of America's territory was in red, with most of the urban centers in blue. I saw a study on the red counties vs. the blue (Gore) counties, and the crime rate was much, much higher in the blue counties. So despite Begala's attacks on the red areas that are supposedly responsible for various hate crimes, it is actually the blue areas where you have more crime, murder, drug usage, etc.

The other article I want to comment on is Mr. William P. Hoar's short piece on "Insurance and Government" in his "Between the Lines" column. As a Hood County commissioner, I also serve on the local hospital board, which oversees indigent care. Although I agree with Mr. Hoar's remarks, it should be noted that the high costs of E.R. visits are extremely difficult to collect on people with lower incomes. I've heard stories recently of people going to our E.R. with the sniffles or a swollen toe; these people see the E.R. as essentially their government-sponsored physician, which can be accessed at all hours. The reality is, because of federal and state mandates for indigent care, there aren't people dying left and right because they can't go to the E.R. They do go to the E.R., and you and I end up picking up the tab.

MATT MILLS

Granbury, Texas

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