Letters to the editor: Here's what readers have on their minds.

James Hoke, Lincoln

I read with great interest former state Sen. Julie Slama’s editorial regarding universal health care systems.

I found it to be untrue. Totally misinformed. Why?

I’m in Sweden currently. Swedes look at our “health care system” and shake their heads. In Sweden, if you have a gall bladder removed it will cost you $400 out of pocket. Open heart surgery? $400.

If you have a baby — two years of paid maternity leave. 80% of what you would normally make. In America, you’re lucky to even get maternity leave from your employer, much less paid maternity leave.

Waiting lists? No longer than in the USA.

I spoke to a Swede who had worked for a short time in the USA. When he needed surgery — and, like many Americans, was turned down by his “American health insurance” — his insurance provider found it cheaper to fly him back to Sweden, put him up in a hotel, have the surgery, recover in the hotel and then fly back to the USA. All of this was cheaper than having the procedure done in the USA.

My Swedish hosts have told me, “For us Swedes it's so hard to understand how you would not want universal health care.”

You can do better, Julie Slama. So can America.

Ted Alan Larson, Martell

I had a stroke last Monday (6-15) night around 7 p.m. The rest of the evening was somewhat of a blur, but everyone involved, from the paramedics to the nurses at the ICU unit at Bryan East, were very competent, efficient and polite. The speed with which my situation was dealt with I'm sure is responsible for lack of serious permanent damage from the stroke. Although I hope to never see any of them again (on a have-to basis), I'm grateful they were there for me when really needed. So, to all involved — Lincoln Fire and Rescue, Bryan emergency doctors and personnel, Bryan ICU nurses and doctors and everyone else involved with my care, thank you for all you did and do on a daily basis. Good city to survive a medical emergency! 

Bill Westlund, Lincoln

Young teenagers face employment discrimination because they do not have work experience, and state law restricts what they can do. You can’t treat young teenagers as full adults. They are minors. Everyone seems to know this until it comes to the Nebraska minimum wage.

Self-checkout used to be rare in Nebraska, and teenage cashiers were common until voters passed a flat minimum wage law in 2014. Within a year, many places added self-checkout stands, and these are now ubiquitous. But alcohol has to be checked out by a cashier, and the cashier must be 19 years old. No more teenage cashiers was what minimum wage did. But the voters did not notice and again voted to raise the minimum wage in 2024.

The end result is college students seeking their first job and finding that few will hire them as they have no job experience. They end up leaving Nebraska. The state senators who made the change to the Nebraska minimum wage law, who understood this, are right to encourage teenage employment. The Omaha and Lincoln city councils need to understand why.

Andrew L Sullivan, Omaha

Nebraskans are living under the misimpression that we live in a democracy. Though our country and our state claim it. In a democracy, the voter, especially in statewide politics, votes their desires for their fellow Nebraskans, and the voters allegedly get what they vote for.

Nebraskans voted for medical cannabis. It's being held up by conservative state government. Nebraskans voted for an increased minimum wage. It's being held up and attacked actively by the attorney general because he, like so many in government are business owners or are close to the business community. And not the labor community. It's disgusting, cowardly and frankly un-American that we as Huskers voted to pay people more at base level as costs go up for everything, yet the business community with its political pull keeps wages suppressed.

If you cannot run your business without 1993 wages for your workers, then you don't deserve to run a business. There are plenty of successful business models that include the $15-an-hour wage, just less labor and more automation. Or more workers, and cheaper rental spaces, or any combo of those things.

Any business that adopts $15 an hour needs to put in their window a big sticker that says "No need to tip, we pay a living wage here” and let the market speak.

Aaron Fischer-Erikson, Lincoln

We hold up our Christian beginnings in praise of who we are as a country. Yet we, one of the richest countries, cut food aid for the hungry here and overseas. Yet we cut medical assistance for our citizens and other countries. Yet we incarcerate a higher percentage of our citizens than most other countries. Yet we continue to use the death penalty when most countries have abolished it. Indeed, extremely few countries still use the death penalty. Yet we increase our already high military spending while citing the need to cut human aid for budgetary reasons. With our Christian beginnings, we should be so much better than this.

Bill Cross, Lincoln