To the editor:

While President Bush has recently vetoed the SCHIP bill, the issue of health, health insurance, coverage of minor children and coverage of illegal aliens is here to stay and will be an imposing factor in the 2008 presidential election.

Regardless of what plan will develop, as always I wonder how will such a monumental plan be paid for and by whom? One bill would apply a “sin tax” to cigarettes at some 65 cents per pack.

Here is an alternative that will raise more revenue and even make this world a better place: Apply the sin tax to individual bottled water!

Water is good for us and we want a ready supply, but, folks, it is as close as your kitchen faucet and your personal plastic tote bottle. Good tap water is always available, can be frozen and allowed to thaw if you need a cold beverage later and costs pennies compared to dollars.

Our landfills are choking with empty plastic water bottles that take eons to dissipate, and the large trucks carrying water to markets clog our highways with their noxious fumes. Tobacco products are not good for us, but neither is the prospect of our environment being critically damaged by this Madison Avenue gimmick.

If you insist on expensive water, please be proud that, with this tax, you could be contributing to funding for underprivileged children’s health care.

I would hope this recommendation to our lawmakers, environmentalists and concerned citizens will be seriously considered.

Jeane Landry,

Lawrence