A letter to the editor of the Deseret News

Dear Editor:

Your publisher Jim R. Wall writes on page C7 of your December 7, 2009 Deseret News that a newspaper must “infuriate.” From my point of view, you are doing a great job of just that. Two recent articles illustrate my point.

On the Sunday, December 6, 2009 front page a headline reads, “Deep down, Utahns want health care reform bills.” That headline is derived from a poll asking us if pre-existing conditions must be covered (59% strongly agree), if most American’s should be required to have health insurance (27% strongly agree), etc. From the poll answers, your headline writer concludes that Utahns really want one of the reform bills before Congress to pass. I just don’t see the connection. That’s like asking us if we like food (I suspect that 95% would strongly agree), and then concluding that we would like to eat stale, moldy bread.

In Monday’s paper (December 7, 2009) a front page headline reads, “Climate finale in Copenhagen is looking up.” The article suggests that an international agreement to limit carbon dioxide emissions has a great chance of success. From my point of view, such an agreement would be a catastrophe, not a cause for celebration.

With our governments already spending so much more money than they have, I have trouble understanding how the Deseret News can be a cheerleader for the current health care reform bills or a carbon dioxide treaty. Both are certain to lead to increased deficits, more and higher taxes, and more government regulations. For someone like me who believes that a government needs to keep its spending under control, your paper truly proves itself infuriating.

W E Pete Peterson, an infuriated subscriber in Orem, Utah