Campaign dollars ensure continuation of insurance racket

In response to Dave Foreman’s Wednesday letter to the Review-Journal (“Driven mad”) on rising auto insurance rates:

Who do you think are some of the biggest contributors to the campaigns of our elected officials? If you said the insurance industry, you are catching on.

The car insurance racket was the precursor to such marvelous industry innovations as Obamacare, crafted by the insurance companies and their political hirelings for separate reasons — the former to remain solvent for their shareholders and the latter to keep the money rolling in for their campaigns. Compare the two and you find the following: a requirement to buy insurance or be penalized and the ability to have your kids remain on your policy up to a certain age.

This common provision is there for only one reason: Because the insurance industry knows that the majority of young people will decline to purchase policies, but their parents will fork over additional money to cover them even though they are well into adulthood. Participation age limits established by the industry actuaries, of course.

This added padding to the bottom line is in addition to the higher premiums charged to the older, safer drivers who subsidize the younger more accident-prone individuals.

Obamacare is the same idea just reversed — with young people, along with the parents of those youngsters, expected to subsidize the premiums of the older, less healthy. I won’t even begin to list the similarities involving exclusions or higher risk premium add-ons.

Marijuana-adjusted premium rate increases should be the least of our worries. Wait until the industry pushes through legislation to charge you through the roof if you choose to drive yourself instead of purchasing an autonomous vehicle to relieve you of this task. Based on the findings of their actuaries, of course.

Dennis Leffner

Las Vegas

Sick bay

I went to see my doctor last week for a routine exam and left feeling like I was catching something. In the small waiting room were a few people coughing. One was coming up with phlegm every few minutes and barely covering her mouth. I was four seats away and couldn’t get any farther from her.

My question: Shouldn’t doctor offices provide and require a respirator mask for everyone in the waiting room? Isn’t it about time? Wouldn’t that cut down on the spread of “who knows what”?

Bob Ferri

Las Vegas

Tipping point

Decrying and lambasting non-tippers at casinos seems to be raising its ugly head again in Las Vegas. The latest salvo comes from a dealer’s spouse, Thomas M. Mattingly, whose Wednesday letter in the Review-Journal (“A little tip for winning gamblers”) denounced a winning non-tipper and called on casinos to post signs stating that “dealers earn their incomes from tips.”

Mr. Mattingly’s comments and suggestions open the Pandora’s box about tipping and the correlation to hourly wages that casinos pay dealers. Those wages, no matter how low or high, are derived from customer losses.

While I sympathize with Mr. Mattingly over dealers being paid “only minimum wage to stand there for eight hours,” it is not the gambler’s responsibility to assure a living wage for dealers. Tips should be discretionary and, according to Webster’s dictionary are “given for a service performed or anticipated.”

While many gamblers, including locals, may win and not leave tips — as Mr. Mattingly says — he does not know whether the non-tipping player was truly a winner. The gambler could merely have recouped previous losses.

I know tipping in Las Vegas is customary. But guess what? So was free casino parking. The times may be changing and instead of posting “we love tips” table signs, casino dealers should lobby their employers for higher wages.

Leon Pitt

Las Vegas