Dear Editor:

For the last two weeks we have been treated to the double opera of government shutdown and the role of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). Whether this was a comedy or tragedy depends on one's personal situation. Retirees, like myself, and those with employee insurance are onlookers; for the uninsured it was critical, as it was also for government employees and businesses affected. For myself, I'm thankful to my Uncle Sam, he takes care of me but I’m concerned for my children who are uninsured.

The ACA could be views as a reform of the healthcare industry which badly needed reform and even though it assisted in its formation, it still opposes. It can also be seen as a tax on the one thing we have no control over owning: our bodies. From now on we’ll all have to pay for maintenance as do for our cars. I would have much preferred a single payer system, such as I have (MaineCare and Medicare), which could have spread the cost and benefits to the entire population.

That said, the ACA is better than nothing and nothing, except for a few band-aids, seems to be the alternative. Also Massachusetts has been living with Romney-Care, which has existed much longer than the ACA and seems pretty popular, so if they ever get the application process worked out, and they will, Obamacare will succeed or fail on its own merits.

As for the government shutdown, Ted Cruse, head of the “bloody but unbound” Tea Party, he's promised us Act II of that drama — shut it down again. Should this happen, I hope one of “the adults” in the Senate will have the good sense to do as one C-Span listener suggested: treat him like any fussy kid in nursery school, give him his blanket and bottle and take him to the coat room until he gets over it.

At the president's address at the Rose Garden, he closed with these remarks: “Healthcare should not be a privilege for the fortunate but a right for all to enjoy.”

Frances Bredeau
Boothbay Harbor