We are seeing no real leadership on reducing taxes

Regarding the Dec. 25 editorial "Tax Tangle: It's Not Perfect, But a Fair Deal Is in the Works": You seem to imply that the Legislature is actually doing something. It is at best switching one tax for another. If that is all we expect from our Legislature, then Pennsylvania is doomed.

It is time we (the taxpayers) start expecting leadership and governing from our legislators. Is it too much to ask that they run the government responsibly? Having one of the highest-taxed states in the country is not going to attract new jobs or business. Pennsylvania will continue to lose out in attracting new business to more efficiently run states.

There is no way around the property tax mess. Property taxes are a result of overly generous schoolteacher salaries and pensions. Obviously the local school board model is not functioning. For you to support the status quo is confusing. A tax shuffle is not going to fix this problem. Only solid leadership from the governor on down can save Pennsylvania.

JOSEPH BARRON
Washington, Pa.

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Moving freight

Most businesses today rely on just-in-time delivery to control inventory costs, but traffic congestion threatens to turn just-in-time savings into jammed-in-traffic costs. Even with just modest economic growth, freight traffic alone is going to increase by 67 percent over the next 20 years. And unless our policies change, most of the additional freight will be hauled on the highways.

Pennsylvania is a leader in creating an effective public-private partnership between state government and the railroad industry. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, legislators and the Keystone State Railroad Association have worked together with the governor's administration to double the commonwealth's investment in the rail freight infrastructure over the past three years. This public-private partnership continues to create and retain thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania.

Effective state partnerships like the one in Pennsylvania are essential in ensuring that the railroad industry is prepared to meet the unprecedented growth that will take place over the next 20 years. While Pennsylvania's program is the best in the nation, it will not be enough to adequately address the growth in freight movement. Pennsylvania needs to further increase its investment in the freight rail infrastructure to ensure that the railroad industry has the capacity to keep up with this growth.

We need to focus on more effective ways to move freight in our state or else we will pay a heavy price in terms of more gridlocked highways, more highway damage and higher costs for businesses and taxpayers.

STATE REP. ROD WILT
Greenville
Editor's note: The writer is a Republican representing the 17th Legislative District.

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They did their job

The Dec. 21 letter "Hardly Reassuring" makes me wonder, "How many of my fellow Americans have forgotten Sept. 11, 2001?" The author of this letter obviously believes that federal air marshals used excessive force when they killed a man for behaving erratically on board an airplane that was scheduled shortly to depart and be in the sky.

I know more than one federal air marshal, and I strongly doubt that any member of that federal law enforcement organization would act outside of his training.

After Sept. 11, 2001, any person who shows any signs of misconduct aboard any airplane should realize he will face serious repercussions.

If this man was so mentally ill that he couldn't control his actions, and his wife knew this but let him board the plane anyway, is it really the federal air marshals' fault that this man died?

I, for one, feel much safer knowing that federal air marshals will not tolerate misconduct on airplanes, no matter what excuse is given for the poor behavior.

BILL McGAHEE
Cranberry

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Iraq perceptions

Regarding the Dec. 18 editorial "Good News in Iraq": It was a good editorial until the penultimate paragraph. You say, "The Bush administration can take the success of the elections as clear grounds, without acknowledging failure ... that it is time to leave." You believe early withdrawal could be interpreted as a failure. So do I, but that would be a catastrophe. We will be perceived as hit-and-run weaklings.

ROBERT G. McGRATH
Wilkins

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Kevin's nonsense

Why did New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd let her conservative brother Kevin fill in for her ("Mr. President, This One's for You," Dec. 26)? Does she think opinion-makers like him need affirmative action? The so-called "liberal media" goes out of its way to feature conservative and right-wing voices while marginalizing more progressive ones. In Kevin's column, he slams "the PC police" for their heinous crime of using the word "holiday" instead of "Christmas." (He never mentions that this year's White House Christmas card features the H-word; apparently no one can criticize comrade Bush.) He contends America had no qualms about celebrating Christmas "two generations" ago, when "real diversity" existed (and white male Christians controlled the government, the courts, the media and the business world more than they do now).

In addition, Kevin thinks "Judge Jones of Pennsylvania" will not go to heaven for daring to rule against teaching intelligent design -- i.e., creationism -- as a scientific theory. And while urging comrade Bush to "stay the course" in Iraq, Kevin falsely links that nation to 9/11, a link even Mr. Bush has acknowledged does not exist.

Yes, Kevin's intolerance, lies and parroting of the conservative PC line have brightened the holiday season. Thanks, Maureen.

DAVID V. MATTHEWS
Aliquippa

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Invaluable research

Regarding Aggie Lotz's plea for opinions on embryonic stem cell research ("The Research Could Help My Son, But We Reject Cloned Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines," Dec. 27 letters), I must respond with a vehement "yes," this research must continue, despite the recent scandal involving a South Korean scientist. The University of Pittsburgh is conducting a careful, methodical investigation of its involvement with this person and it is being very open about it.

However, this cannot be cause to abandon this quest for cures. My family, too, is a stakeholder in this research. I, too, have not only a child with Type 1 diabetes, but also a husband who has suffered major complications from it. I am a registered nurse who sees what happens from this disease.

When we talk about the sanctity of life, we should also discuss the hypocritical stand of those who endorse IVF (which discards unused embryos) but are against the use of these embryos for stem cell research. In my mind, this practice is not only scandalous but also immoral.

Make no mistake, this research will proceed here and around the world. The sanctity of countless families and my own depends on it.

DEBBIE McTIERNAN
Sewickley

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Medicare mire

After reading the information supplied by the Post-Gazette on the new Medicare options ("Medicare Part D," Special Business Section, Nov. 6), one thought came to me: What bozo came up with this? Is there really one elderly person who can figure this out on his own?

One option for everyone would be much more efficient, and a deadline would not be necessary. Seniors should be allowed to just keep the benefits they have until they make a decision on what works best. Simplicity would be a welcome change; it would cost less and would guarantee that their benefits were in place. It also would enable older people to deal with this on their own and would reassure them that they can still handle their own affairs.

ANN CIPRIANI
Jefferson Hills

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Please don't target our coffee pots

Ask anyone married to a teacher -- teaching is a really hard job; it can be very rewarding, but often it's exhausting, frustrating, twitch-inducing. Sometimes all it takes to bring us back from the brink of insanity is some small luxury -- a hot cup of coffee or a stolen sip of cocoa.

Before the Pittsburgh school district deals with energy costs by banning personal appliances or charging fees, it ought to consider some other ways to save costs ("Pittsburgh Schools Unplugged? Energy Costs Have District Considering Ban on Personal Refrigerators, Coffee Pots, Other Appliances," Dec. 21).

The temperature in my building is uncomfortably high, for example; many teachers keep their windows open all winter, and I sometimes have to run my fan to make it through the period without melting -- even on the coldest days. Lowering the thermostat would cut costs and eliminate the bipolar effect of having to dress for summer-like classrooms on a 10-degree day; it also would save money on computer repair and replacement. One computer lab is particularly greenhouse-like and its computers regularly overheat and die.

In addition, the district could save thousands (of dollars and trees) just by using the double-sided feature on its photocopy machines. Some collective brainstorming could generate hundreds more cost-cutting ideas, I'm sure; let's think outside the box that the Pittsburgh Public Schools' energy committee has given us. It seems to be missing the forest for the trees.

KATHERINE WILKINS
North Point Breeze