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Dear Mr. President:During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensiveShiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensiveBrand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone. While glancing over herPatient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informedMe that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not theResult of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in which it is perfectlyAcceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.It is a culture based on the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me".Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health careDifficulties will disappear.Respectfully,STARNER JONES, MDIf you agree...pass it on