I am a believer in the American entrepreneurship that allows companies to take their advertising to the potential customers. However, the constant barrage of those medical alert telephone calls to one’s home telephone are certainly a pain in the rear end.

Complicit in these bothersome and frequent telephone solicitations is our very own government, which has written Medicare and Medicaid laws so loosely that many companies just blanket call every telephone in a given area code and rely on well-trained salespeople to entice the potential customer of a free service.

Whether it be medical alert devices, knee and leg braces, back braces or some other medical device that can be paid for by the government, these electronic stalkers are not only bothersome but also a danger to the older citizens of our fair nation, who must hobble to the telephone only to find a sales pitch that they, in many instances, do not understand.

The electronic salespeople know only too well that this confusion means a sale, with government picking up the tab. This would be OK if government weren’t funded by us poor taxpayers, who don’t begrudge helping poor old folks. The vast inefficiency of government is what makes it all possible.

Government at its finest, and only the taxpayer gets the bill. Why, the leaders in Washington even exempted themselves from the do-not-call list. Isn’t that just peachy?

George A. Fogg

North Yarmouth