MY LITTLE GIRL IS SICK; HELP.

Joe Sixpack showed up at the firestation, dressed in work clothes, walking, carrying a bundle, a little girl in her pajamas, barefoot and bareheaded. Joe seemed distraught, and the FIREPERSON could smell Budweiser. The FIREPERSON, being a professional person, and non-judgmental, immediately recognized that this was a serious problem. The Bud was secondary. What was wrong with the girl? How can I help and how can our FIREDEPARTMENT help? We have emergency people, med-techs. We are authorized to help this girl, and we are authorized to practice medicine in order to do so. Emergency medicine. We will help her; we will save her life!

Socialized medicine has reared its ugly head. Tell us how expensive it is; tell us how inefficient the Canadian or English system is; tell us how wrong it is to take money from the affluent and give it out to the non-working poor. Why do these people act like they are entitled? Why don't they buy insurance, provide for themselves and their children?

If this is one of those expensive cancer cases, why doesn't Joe Sixpack get a quart fruit jar, put his girl's picture on it, place it next to the STATE OF NEW MEXICO lottery ticket dispenser in the gas stations and grocery stores, and beg for charity so that he can pay the doctors and save his child's life.

What would Captain Kirk say? What would Bones say? What would Christopher Reeve say? What will Guliani, Frist, McCain and Gingrich say? What will Hillary say?

The State and federal governments tax us and give, yes give, millions and billions to business and agriculture and other special interest groups to subsidize such groups. $200 million a year in tax breaks to Intel; $100 million to subsidize Eclipse. Why not first things first?