I am a bit befuddled with the proposed health care legislation that is making its way in and through the hearts and minds of all Americans this summer.

I have heard screeching testimony from the left and outrageous statements from the right. I have tuned in to perfunctory reports from various news sources. I am acquainted with diatribes from various segments of the medical industry, from the insurance companies, from the dude down the street who heard this and the other dude from the other side of the street who heard that.

What I have been witness to has been a dragging, stinking bunch of muck and mire and sarcastic, snide commentary. No explanation. No concise statements. No situational or precise premise of what the legislation offers. No consensus of what the problems are, how they will be resolved, or how they will influence the public’s medical care in the future.

What I have not heard or seen or displayed in some fashion has been fact, the basis behind the fact, and reason.

So I hope our elected officials can somehow, some way, stand together one lousy afternoon in the shade and explain. And also, be sure to tell the public why members of Congress will be exempt from this national plan of achievement in health care.

Eriks Petersons, Mechanic Falls