Doing nothing on issues means we’ll fall behind

In regularly scanning the newspaper, I have come across a number of ideas that make sense for the United States today.

l Universal health care: We pay far more for health care than other industrialized countries, and our outcomes are worse.

l Education reform: Our students rank 20th to 30th as compared with students from other developed countries in basic disciplines such as math, reading and science. Doing nothing is not an option.

l Hybrid vehicles: These vehicles save money on gas, reduce dependence on unfriendly foreign nations and are better for the environment.

l Nuclear power: We have improved the technology to use this form of energy and it does not produce greenhouse gases. Nuclear wastes can be reprocessed.

l Elimination of the death penalty: The death penalty has not been shown to be a significant deterrent to crime, and mistaken executions have occurred. The majority of developed countries already have eliminated the death penalty.

Concerning many of these ideas, doing nothing simply means we fall further behind what we want and need for this country. Partisan politics and special interests have held us back too long already.

Robert J. Boes

Ely