As you may already know, the primary for Illinois voters is this Tuesday. There are many important issues for the voters to voice their opinions on. One issue that has received a great deal of attention is the issue of National Health Care. Unfortunately, the liberal media has not presented the whole picture. Instead it has misrepresented and misstated the relevant facts.

The Democratic party has found another expensive program that would cause more problems than it solves and further overburden the American taxpayers. Most people favor National Health Care until they are asked if they would be willing to give up their private coverage or until they see how much their taxes would go up to pay for the monstrosity.

The model of inefficiency that the Democrats worship as our cure-all is the debacle known as the Canadian National Health Care System. Let me tell you a little about the problems our northern neighbors face.

Canadians often endure long and occasional waiting periods for medical procedures that are readily available to the American public. Canadians know that if they urgently need health care the place to go is America. If you are over 65 years old in Canada, you can not get dialysis. If you have cataracts in Canada, you can get one eye fixed. I guess that one good eye beats two bad ones. But in America you can get the whole job done.

According to a May 1990 report by Canada’s Fraser Institute, the average waiting period for patients in British Columbia is 23.7 weeks for coronary bypass surgery, 16.3 weeks for a hysterectomy, 21.4 weeks for certain open heart procedures and 30.9 weeks for a prostatectomy. How long are you willing to wait for heart surgery for you or your loved one in their time of need? Besides, what’s a couple of months anyway!

If the Democrats have their way, the case of Joel Bondy will become reality for many American families. Two-year old Joel was to have cardiac surgery in January 1990, but the operation was repeatedly postponed as higher priority cases were moved up. Concerned about Joel’s deteriorating condition, his parents arranged for surgery in Detroit. Ontario officials, embarrassed by press coverage of the situation, told the family that the boy could have surgery immediately in Toronto. After a four- hour ambulance ride, a hospital bed was not available in Toronto. Forced to check into a hotel to wait, Joel died four hours before he was to go into surgery.

Everyone agrees that the increasingly high cost of health care is an important issue. However, National Health Care is not the way to go. It does not work. It would ultimately create a larger problem than the one we currently face.

So when you go to the ballot booth, look past the rhetoric and the slogans and think about which party is able to come up with a sensible way to solve the problems that face us today. Remember, it’s easy to promise the sky and say that you will deliver. However, the candidates who aren’t as flashy, don’t have all the gimmicks and aren’t selling cure-alls are often the candidates who know how to get the job done. So take with a grain of salt the plethora of programs offered by the Democrats. Instead look at the Republican candidates who simply offer realistic, affordable and helpful choices the taxpayer can afford.

Robert F. Harris

NIU College Republicans