Pricey prescriptions

Grapevine is a sampling of comments and observations on a variety of timely topics submitted by readers of The Daily Times.

I prefer "To have peace, prepare for peace." Usually, preparing for war leads to war.

Grapevine comments suggest we "vote 'em out." I have tried to do that; however, when new politicians are voted in, they are just as greedy and likewise look out for themselves. There is no way we can know how politicians will act once they're in office. One thing I have found throughout my life is that it doesn't make much difference which party is in the majority -- we of the middle class are always taxed more and gain less.

I just picked up a 90-day prescription for a strong antacid called Lansoprazole. The pharmacy said my insurance company saved me $322.19 and all I had to pay was $85.70. I assume the total cost of the drug was $407. I checked with a reputable online pharmacy and found you could buy the same drug, dose and amount for $42 --90 percent less, and 50 percent of my co-pay. This is one of the main reasons health care is so expensive. The drug companies, pharmacies and insurance companies are killing us --and the reason drugstores are multiplying faster than banks.

Why is there no outrage in the media concerning Rush Limbaugh's comments about the law student testifying before Congress? When Don Imus and Howard Stern did the same, they were virtually hanged.

I was recently watching a local news station. They were talking about the price of gas going up. They said we shouldn't complain because other parts of the world pay two and three times what we pay. This is what you get with socialist governments. When will the mainstream media and liberal Democratic voters realize the free market works to keep prices in line? I don't care what other nations pay for goods, this is America, and we are blessed with everything we need to live well at a reasonable price. That's why so many died to preserve our way of living.

From Grapevine: "Even the Catholic Church, one of the world's largest capitalist organizations, uses its enormous wealth to forward a specific worldview." Right. That's what all religions do -- promote themselves. Nothing wrong with that. But the statement makes it seem like it is a bad thing that they use money to do it. Personally, I'm glad. Just think what this country would be like if instead, they used suicide bombers to do it.

While natural gas may burn cleaner than coal, we should exercise caution about expanding its use. The fracking process, used to extract natural gas from the Earth, poses serious hazards to air and water -- and may contribute to global warming. We need the EPA to thoroughly investigate the fracking process. The Oscar-nominated documentary "GasLand" is a good resource to open a dialogue.

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Pricey prescriptions