Standard-Speaker from Hazleton, Pennsylvania • Page 15

OVM FINAL EDfTlO END CF ROLL Vote for water referendum a vote for future By PAUL MARCHETTI CLEAN WATER REFERENDUM: "Do you favor the incurring of indebtedness by the Commonwealth of $350 million for use as loans to acquire, repair, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate, extend and improve water supply, storm water control and sewage treatment systems?" Just five years ago, many of Pennsylvania's communities were suffering from badly deteriorating drinking water or sewage treatment systems, or both. Forty percent of the state's municipal sewage treatment plants were pumping inadequately treated sewage into our rivers and streams. Thirty percent of the state's municipal sewage treatment plants were so overloaded that they had bans of limitations on new connections. About 60 percent of our community drinking water systems had serious deficiencies, including contamination by rivers. The program also has helped to create or retain 8,000 jobs in addition to the thousands of construction workers who have been employed to build the projects.

Municipalities also have benefited from the cost savings created by the PennVEST program. The low interest rates averaging 2.2 percent have made these expensive projects affordable to the citizens of Pennsylvania. In fact, for the loans approved to date, communities will save about $40 million per year in financing costs. The success of the PennVEST program also is reflected in the favorable reception that its revenue bonds have received on the credit markets. Standard and Poor's has given these bonds a AA rating, a vote of confidence that translates into significant interest rate savings for the program.

Local government officials agree that the PennVEST program has been an cesses, there is much more to do. Millions of dollars is still needed to help communities provide a clean and abundant supply or water and adequate sewage treatment. Because of its success, the Commonwealth's borrowing capacity originally dedicated to PennVEST has now been entirely committed to projects. Given the disparity between PennVEST funding capacity and our additional infrastructure needs, it is imperative that this program continue unabated. That's why Pennsylvanians ought to vote "YES" for the $350 million PennVEST bond referendum on Primary Day tomorrow.

It's a vote for the future of Pennsylvania a clean and promising future. Paul Marchetti is executive director of the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority. giardia and other disease-causing organisms. But, while the needs for improvements were obvious, the potential source of funding to pay for them was not. Quite simply, communities could not afford the high costs of traditional financing.

And, that's why Gov. Casey and the General Assembly in 1988 created a unique funding program called Perm VEST. Since 1988, when the innovative Perm VEST program began, the Commonwealth has awarded 596 low-interest loans and grant totaling nearly $980 million for improvements to Pennsylvania's clean water infrastructure. The funds have helped large and small communities in 64 counties to build or improve their drinking water and sewage treatment systems, resulting in purer drinking water and sewage treatment systems, resulting in purer drinking water and cleaner streams and unqualified success. In a recent Associated Press story.

James Luppert, executive director of the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority, which received $20 million for water system improvements, credited PennVEST with preventing an overwhelming financial burden for city residents. "If we had had to go with the going interest rates, it would have caused undue hardship on a lot of fixed-income folks," Luppert said. Carl Schnabel, chief operator of a sewage treatment plant in Souderton, Montgomery County, said that prior to receiving PennVEST funding for plant investments "everything had come to a standstill. There were not any new housing starts or new construction at all." Clearly PennVEST has been a beneficial and well-received program. But, despite all the program's suc "7 Standard Speaker Op-E MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1992 Pago 15 3 Facts to know about 'Medigap insurance Complaints from inside Congress shot.

They can make more money on the outside. And then there's the Rodney Dangerfield syndrome, which may be a bigger factor than any of them want to admit: They don't get no respect! It has to be demeaning for the men and women who've made real sacrifices to enter public service, and who work hard and honestly to serve well, to be lumped in the public mind (and on the editorial pages) with the political riffraff. But there's really nothing so new about that. Politicians, as a group, have never been held in high regard in this country. Americans have always been suspicious of those who say they're worthy to lead us.

And there's nothing wrong with that. It may be one of the healthiest aspects of our democracy, in fact. That's why we have three branches of government, why we have checks and balances, why we have elections every two years, and even why in election coverage we tolerate a press whose frequent shallowness and irresponsibility are constitutionally protected. We know that power attracts a lot of rascals. Somebody has to keep an eye on them.

And, let's face it, watching politicians squirm under scrutiny is good sport. But something is different now. Suspicion has given way to cynicism. And that cynicism goes beyond politicians to the political process itself and even the institutions of government. There's the uncomfortable feeling that those institutions just don't work anymore, no matter who we elect.

That kind of cynicism is dangerous. Especially when it seems to be confirmed from the inside. By LEE IACOCCA Alienation has been a big factor in American politics for a long time. But this year it's taken a new twist. Until now, it's been those of us on the outside who've become increasingly alienated from Washington.

This year, however, it's the people on the inside who seem to be the most turned off. I like the idea of imposing term limitations on congressmen and senators to make them more responsive, but I didn't think I'd see them being voluntarily imposed by politicians who quit in disgust over the incompetence of our government and the pettiness of those who run it. We're having a hard time keeping a running count of the senators and congressmen who are calling it quits this year, but it looks like about 10 percent of the members of each house have said the hell with it. And the interesting thing is that their complaints from the inside seem to echo the complaints many of us have had from the outside. In announcing their decisions not to run, one after another has said that Washington is in gridlock.

Nothing gets done. Special interest money controls the major agendas. Everyone is concerned only about getting re-elected. Partisanship is a lot more important than patriotism in explaining what happens in government and why. So now we see the same kind of skepticism and distrust infecting the system from the inside that has been contaminating it from the outside.

It keeps more than half the voters away from the polls on Election Day. Now it's starting to keep many of the candidates away as well. Now, in all honesty, some of this newfound distaste with the system by resigning politicians is nothing more than a convenient way out. It's a lot easier on the ego to wrap yourself in the mantle of integrity and say, "I'm above all this," than to face an electorate that's even madder than usual this year. Let's face it, this is likely to be a year when a lot of the bums get thrown out.

In spite of the huge war chests that officeholders can build up and the free publicity that they enjoy, incumbency isn't the advantage this year that it has been in the past. People are still trying to pull themselves out of the longest recession since before World War II, and they're in a foul mood. Foul enough, in fact, to latch on to an issue of such minuscule importance as overdrafts in the House bank as the last straw. It's ironic that some politicians who've been overdrawing the public checkbook by about $3 trillion in the past dozen years are going to get defeated for overdrawing their personal accounts by a few thousand. But still, some good people are walking away from powerful offices and safe reelection campaigns because they're truly fed up.

Sen. Warren Rudman of New Hampshire comes to mind. There are others. Rudman said he was frustrated that Congress and the White House have been so dismally unsuccessful in curtailing the budget deficits that promise to turn the old American dream into a new American nightmare for our kids. Apparently Sen.

Kent Conrad of North Dakota had the same problem. He campaigned six years ago on the promise to cut the deficit. He quit this year saying he wasn't able to keep that promise. Others are quitting, saying that serving in Congress just isn't worth it anymore. It takes too big a toll on family life.

Their privacy is Medigap policy without worrying about being turned down for health reasons. The six month period always begins the first month in which Part (medical insurance) becomes effective for a beneficiary age 65 or older. During the open enrollment period, a Medigap insurer may not deny you a policy or place conditions on the policy based on your health status, past claims experience, or medical condition. If you are in poor health, an insurer may not discriminate against you by charging you a higher premium than that charged anyone else who enrolls during this period. According to Gavio, if you are 65 or older and a new Part enrollee, it's important to remember that the first six months that your coverage is in effect is your Medigap open enrollment period.

A 1992 "Guide to Health Insurance for People with Medicare" has just been released by the Health Care Financing Administration, the federal agency that runs the Medicare program. This guide describes Medigap coverage and policies. It is available from our office by calling 455-2139. WANDERING ALBATROSS The world's largest sea birds are the wandering albatross and the royal albatross, with wingspans that often exceed 10 feet. Many Medicare beneficiaries buy health insurance to supplement their Medicare coverage.

This extra insurance is commonly called "Medigap" insurance. If you are planning to buy this type of insurance, you should know that there is now a law that protects you from paying for coverage that duplicates your other health insurance. Frank Gavio, Social Security manager in Hazleton, said recently. Since November 1991, it is illegal for an insurance company or agent to sell you a health insurance policy that provides any of the coverage you get from Medicare, Medicaid, or from any private health insurance you already have. This is true even if the new policy would pay benefits without regard to the other coverage.

The sale of more than one Medigap policy to a beneficiary comes under special scrutiny. If you want to replace an existing policy, you'll have to sign a statement declaring you'll drop the old policy when the new one is in place, Gavio said. You'll have 30 days to review the new policy and decide if you want to keep it. If you're eligible for Medicaid, you can be sold a Medigap policy only if the state pays the premium. For Medicare beneficiaries age 65 or older, the law provides a one time, six month period during which you can select a Local Cancer Society not soliciting i cttoikm RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL FREE INSPECTION! symbol of the American Cancer Society.

It is the nationwide community-based volunteer health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives from cancer, and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, education and service. When anyone asks for money, either at the door or in the mail, be sure you know who's going to get it. Tree Spraying Gypsy Moth Control Diseases Insect Control "Tree Care some nonprofit organizations may be operating within the dictates of law, without the dictate of ethics. And, unfortunately, this hurts the common good because money given for research never makes it there. The ACS urges all donors to ask questions before writing a check to charity.

The American Cancer Society and the National Charitable Information Bureau (NCIB), a charity rating agency in New York, have both developed a set of guidelines for donors to follow. These can be obtained by calling the local ACA Office 459-1212 or NCIB, 19 Union Square West, N.Y., 212-929-6300. The Sword of Hope is the come from the Pennsylvania Division Office in Hershey, and the donation will be mailed to the Hazleton Unit Office at 21 N. Church St. You can always recognize the American Cancer Society by its symbol-the Sword of Hope.

This past year the society has implemented a new logo which is incorporated on all printed materials distributed by them, "There's Nothing Mightier Than The Sword." The problem is there are other honest and reputable nonprofit organizations that desperately need the public's support. But because a rotten apple or two is in the barrel, it is affecting all the good non profits. The public needs to know that STATE CERTIFIED LICENSED INSURED 10 TO 15 MORTGAGE NOTES OF LEHIGH OFF-TRACK WAGERING, L.P. $5,000,000 MAXIMUM Many Americans are givers, and this enables volunteer 'neighbors to work for the com-'mon good. Unfortunately, their work is being threatened by a few less-than-reputable organizations that are soliciting donations and using most of the money for their private purposes.

Look-alike organizations have sprung up across the country over past few years using names like Foundation, Research, Society, National, Institute, Fund, and American to ride upon the reputations of more credible institutions to solicit donations. Often, they pay much more than half of the donations to fund raising agencies to produce more money and a big chunk of the rest for administrative costs. The Greater Hazleton Area Unit of the American Cancer Society is receiving queries about the Cancer Fund of America of Knoxville, Tenn. This organization has sent letters asking residents to go door-to-door for their area Cancer Drive. This is not the local American Cancer Society we are not currently doing a door-to-door campaign locally.

Consequently, good people are becoming angry after giving to a look-alike unknowingly and then receiving a request for a donation from the America Cancer Society. When you receive a request from the "American Cancer Society" in the mail it will always Please send me a Free Information Kit and Prospectus. I I I I I Name Address. I City I State Interest Rate Minimum of 10 per annum is locked for 5 years. Interest Rate can rise to maximum of 15 per annum if Prime Rate rises.

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