The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • A10

Orlando Sentinel: PRODUCT: OS DESK: EDP DATE: 02-15-2005 EDITION: FLA ZONE: FLA PAGE: A1 0.0 DEADLINE: 19.33 OP: dtate COMPOSETIME: 18.34 CMYK A10 Orlando Sentinel TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 OPINION KATHLEEN M. WALTZ Publisher and President Orlando Sentinel YOO'PE News Opinion CHARLOTTE H. JANE E. HALL HEALY Editor Editorial Page Editor and Vice President and Vice President MANNING PYNN Public Editor FOUNDED 1876 Sticker shock Our position: It's in both parties' interest to address Medicare prescription-drug costs. Reader Views BUCKLING UP What it takes to save lives and millions more had inadequate coverage.

It would deny many seniors access to medicines that could keep them healthy and save Medicare the much-higher cost of treating them in hospitals. A repeal would deserve a presidential veto. But between doing nothing to the benefit and repealing it, there are reasonable changes Congress could make that are worthy of support from the president. Among the best ideas is undoing the ban on Medicare bargaining with drug companies for lower prices. Congress caved to pressure from drug-industry lobbyists when it passed the ban.

Giving Medicare bargaining power, which the Veterans Affairs Department already has, could save tens of billions of dollars for taxpayers. Another good idea is setting up a safe system to let Americans import lower-cost prescription drugs from Europe and Canada. That could persuade the pharmaceutical industry to raise its prices abroad and reduce them in the United States, benefiting Medicare and any other U.S. customers. A third common-sense idea is barring Medicare from paying for Viagra and other "lifestyle" drugs.

Some limits on what's covered are essential to controlling expenses. The higher cost estimate for the drug benefit highlights the fact that even as Congress begins to confront Social Security's long-term financial problems, the funding gap facing Medicare is even larger. Dealing with one is no excuse for ignoring the other. A little sticker shock in Washington, D.C., can be a good thing if it leads to more taxpayer-friendly policies. Members of Congress from both parties expressed surprise and outrage recently at new projections pegging the cost of Medicare's prescription-drug benefit over the next decade at $724 billion.

When the drug benefit was passed in 2003, the Congressional Budget Office projected its 10-year cost at $400 billion. The White House budget office, in an estimate kept hidden before passage, forecast $534 billion. But both estimates were misleadingly low because they included two years before the full phase-in of the benefit in 2006. Rather than just wring their hands at the new numbers, some in Congress responded by renewing their proposals for sensible measures to hold down the benefit's cost. Good for them.

President George W. Bush then issued a blanket threat to veto any changes that Congress tried to make. That's not only unfair to taxpayers; it could undermine Mr. Bush's campaign pledge to cut the federal deficit in half by 2009. Not surprisingly, some members of Congress who never liked the idea of Medicare paying for prescription drugs have jumped on the new higher cost estimate to call for repealing the benefit.

A repeal would put senior citizens in the United States right back where they were in 2003, when 10 million had no prospect of prescription-drug coverage Close to home Thank you so much for your road-death graphic that has been running on the editorial page. You have poignantly pointed out the senseless deaths caused by speed and lack of seat-belt use. When the public understands that these deaths are real people who live in our community, perhaps they will take five minutes to contact their legislators. You have effectively put public pressure on legislators in Tallahassee to pass a primary seat belt law. Getting passage of a primary seat-belt law in Florida is one of MADD's top legislative priorities, because we know that wearing your seat belt is your best defense against a drunken driver.

Thank you again for your efforts to get this important piece of public policy in place. LAURA DEAN-M00NEY PRESIDENT, MADD CENTRAL FLORIDA ORLANDO Why not pass it? On New Year's Eve, I read a story in your newspaper about how many lives could be saved in Florida if our Legislature would pass a primary seat-belt law. You have followed up with even more facts and editorials that point out that about 200 lives each year would be saved in this state if our Legislature would pass this bill. My question is: "Why not pass this bill?" Does Florida want more traffic fatalities than any other state? Does Florida want to spend more Wise move Our position: Blue Ribbon panel members were right to see that the chairman issue is a distraction. than $15 billion in medical expense, property damage and lost productivity because of people not being properly secured in their car or truck? I have read that 75 percent of that amount is paid by Floridians not even involved in those accidents.

If my math is correct, that works out to about $1,000 a year for each resident of Florida. Those residents have to ask, "Why not pass this bill?" Just last week I learned that the U.S. Department of Transportation wants more states to pass primary seat-belt laws because 21 states have them on the books, and it saves lives by increasing seat-belt usage roughly 11 percent. Congress will even reward states with a financial incentive for passing this law. Florida's check would be in excess of $37 million.

Most people in Tallahassee seem to think our great state rarely gets its fair share from Washington. Wouldn't those same people ask, "Why not pass this bill?" ALAN STARLING ST. CLOUD A waste of money Regarding Sunday's article "Gates About all one can say is, "Where are the lizards?" What did Forrest Gump's mother say? "Stupid is as stupid does." What a shame to waste money while others lack for adequate housing, food and medical care. ROBERT "TIM" GILLEY ALTAMONTE SPRINGS Perfect for drilling Trying to connect oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling off the coast of Florida features a big critical-thinking failure. ANWR is a very cold place where no one lives, wildlife is scarce, and it has no sunlight five months of the year.

The Florida coastline is home to millions of people and has great beaches, great weather and wildlife. ANWR is a perfect place to drill for oil. President Bush campaigned and won election saying the energy bill has been debated for four years and that now it is time to pass the bill which includes drilling in ANWR not Florida. Sen. Mel Martinez is smart enough to reject the critical-thinking failure of the Sentinel's editorial position and also reject the validity of a poll conducted by a wildlife group that is against oil drilling anywhere in the United States.

ANTHONY R. RAGUS0 ORLANDO Population connection In the Sunday Insight article 'Improve' foreign aid by cutting it in half," Thomas Dichter, a consultant to several Third World aid providers, examines reasons why foreign aid should not be increased, as requested by the United Nations. He says aid spent over the years has failed to decrease poverty which is the goal. This is particularly true of most African countries. However, I believe that he left out a major reason why all that aid has failed to reduce poverty namely, rapid population growth.

The increase of population is 2 percent or more a year. In Uganda and the Congo, growth is 3 percent. Only in Tunisia and a few of the smallest countries is the rate of growth less than 2 percent. With more than 40 percent of the population in most countries younger than 15, there is little hope for change unless much more effort is made in teaching family planning. Several agencies have been working for years to provide health and family-planning services.

Engender Health has been growing in providing health services for 60 years. Worldwide, it has 300 workers in 42 countries. International Planned Parenthood has been increasing services for 50 years. But millions in the developing world do not have access to essential health services. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

ROBERT G.LATIMER MOUNT DORA Check the water The Orlando Sentinel editorial board wants taxpayers across the state to help build a new arena for a second-class NBA franchise and, in Refusing to let themselves get tangled up in knots, members of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Education have wisely dropped the question of how the School Board chairman should be elected. Two members who strongly supported a measure for a full-time School Board chairman were right in agreeing to set it aside. Political consultant Dick Batchelor and attorney Charles Gray both decided the panel's work was too important to derail over the growing political dispute. Another who showed admirable self-restraint is State Rep. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando.

He had hoped for the panel's support on the issue, since he has pushed it previously in the Legislature. But he agreed to put it on the back burner when he saw the dispute threatened the panel's work. The 25-member panel of community leaders and educators was appointed in August to study ways to improve student achievement in Orange County, following a sobering slide in state grades given to the district's high schools. Its work is in high gear, with draft recommendations due in a month. And the intervening weeks are packed full.

This week, teachers and administrators have an opportunity to register their views anonymously in an online survey. By the end of the month, a separate survey will be submitted to local elected and business officials soliciting their opinions on the performance and leadership of the public schools. With so much at stake and just a month left to conduct research and debate, the panel is wise to focus on what's most important. doing so, make Orlando a world-class city. You need to check the water coolers in your building.

RICHARD HERRING KISSIMMEE think retractable A mere 15 years ago, the then-named Orlando Arena was regarded as the best basketball facility in the land. Now, the Sentinel and the Magic tell us that it is, perhaps, the worst. Are we going to use tax dollars to build a new arena every 15 years so already wealthy owners can make even more money? There is also talk of spending up to $100 million to renovate the Citrus Bowl for one to 10 games annually. When will this lunacy stop? Schools are severely overcrowd- ed, yet instead of spending any newfound tax money to build new schools, some choose the non-judicious spending of our money. If we deemed it necessary to build a sports facility, we should consider which sport would bring the greatest return on our investment.

NBA basketball and its 40 home games a year and a handful of football games in the Citrus Bowl are not the answer. Orlando should build a multi-use, retractable-dome stadium that can be used by a Major League Baseball team (perhaps the Rays), as well as for the University of Central Florida and other football games, because MLB teams play 81 home games, not including the playoffs. More home games translate into more revenue, especially when one considers that baseball draws many more people than the NBA. If UCF desires the stadium to be near its campus, then we should oblige and partner with them on financing the stadium, which would save money for new schools. This would be a win-win-win for Orlando and UCF, as well as baseball and football fans.

D.L.MORGAN MOUNT DORA Delays that can hurt Our position: Loosening visa rules on students and scientists makes sense if security is OK. Uncle Sam made a smart move in easing visa rules for many foreign students and scientists. Under rules adopted in 1998, students and scientists working in fields considered sensitive had to renew their visas every year. But tighter security after the 9-11 terrorist attacks lengthened the average wait for renewals to more than two months. The delays have led some foreign students and scien tists to take their talents to America's economic competitors.

Now the State Department will give students up to four years, and scientists up to two, between visa renewals. Homeland Security officials have blessed the change. As long as it can be done without compromising national security, it will always be in America's best interest to attract the best and brightest from around the world. SOMETHING TO SAY? Send a letter to the editor to the Orlando Sentinel, 633 N. Orange Orlando, FL 32801 by fax to 407-420-5286 or by e-mail to insight orlandosentinel.com 1 HENRY KISSINGER, DIPLOMAT "Countries do not assume burdens because it is fair, only because it is necessary." Voice of Freedom COLORSTRIP: I.