Killing innovation | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

My friend is a potential job creator. He has an idea that may solve our energy problems and result in a brand new industry — provided he has the courage to quit his day job and make this thing work.

However, if he does this, his children will lose their health insurance.

If this were not so, then my friend, as well as many of our nation's innovators, inventors, artists and other creators, could break out of their cages, free of the real and mortal threat of a medical disaster.

This is the economic value of President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As he said about the social safety net in his inaugural speech: "The commitments we make to each … do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great."

In this regard, Rep. Jim Matheson found a way to vote against our interests, and that is why I have withdrawn support for him.

Ken Shaw

Salt Lake City