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PrintNo one is forcing smokers to quit
I take exception to the comments of Joseph Skundrich, the 56-year-old 2 1/2-packs-a-day smoker who thinks it's easier for nonsmokers to "put up with a little bit of smoke" in the nonsmoking section than for smokers to quit ("Two Downtown Restaurant Owners Sue Allegheny County Over Smoking Ban," Dec. 7).
I smoked about a pack a day for almost 10 years. Six months ago, I quit. As both a smoker and a nonsmoker, I feel I can say with authority that Mr. Skundrich has it plain wrong. Sure, it's tough to quit smoking. However, Mr. Skundrich confuses quitting with declining to smoke in a public place, where his destructive habit affects other diners who might happen to be asthmatic, pregnant or former smokers particularly sensitive to the smell.
Make it easier on everyone's lungs, Mr. Skundrich, and quit smoking. You might just save your own life.
In the meantime, try to give up the two or three cigarettes you smoke during lunch. You might find that you spend a little less money on cigarettes and a little more time savoring the taste of your food, a sensation you're currently choosing to dull by smoking and killing your taste buds. We nonsmokers will thank you.
GRANT HACKLEY
Brookline
Worse than smoke
Before bar and restaurant owners are forced to say goodbye to their smoking clientele, let's mandate hybrid vehicles for all city- and county-owned vehicles, including buses.
As a rider of mass transportation, I cannot count the number of times I have been exposed to thick black clouds of diesel exhaust fumes emitted straight into my face, all while walking down a city sidewalk. It is disgusting and inescapable, and it occurs outdoors. I am not sure what the health ramifications might be, but I am sure that they are far more hazardous than those of occasional secondhand smoke.
Sometimes I actually look forward to entering a smoky bar, in hopes of finding fresh(er) air. Let's take some action on a serious pollutant before we infringe upon paying customers' right to light up.
JEFF HEISKELL JR.
Mt. Lebanon
Mutual respect
In response to letter writer Juliet Oliver on smoking ("Feel Free to Pollute Your Lungs, But Don't Pollute Mine," Dec. 5) -- and I quote her: "The act of actually drinking alcoholic beverages does not harm the people sitting or working around you. But, having a cigarette does hurt those around you" -- I would like to point out that if that person sitting around you is having too many drinks, he or she might have one too many drinks and get behind a wheel of a vehicle and kill someone (the person sitting next to this person, a family member or a loving friend).
Cigarette smoke won't kill you in a second, whereas a drunken driver could. I would say that alcohol can cause just as many health problems as cigarettes can. Did you ever sit close to a drinker and when that person talks, you can smell that "raunchy booze" breath? No, it won't kill you, but secondhand booze off someone's breath is gross, too.
Compare apples, oranges, watermelons, etc. to whatever. It all comes down to my rights as a smoker and other rights of those who don't smoke. I respect nonsmokers' rights, but they should respect mine as well. After all, when God says "your number's up," you're going to go, no matter what.
THOMAS F. STANESIC
West Mifflin
Where will it end?
Regarding the letter "Feel Free to Pollute Your Lungs, But Don't Pollute Mine" (Dec. 5): OK, Juliet from Ben Avon, I have had enough too! I am responding to all nonsmokers who think less of us who smoke. I am a smoker, yes, which is my choice.
I do not believe it is my "right" to pollute the lungs of nonsmokers, but I do believe that I should have the right to smoke in certain places or areas, just as nonsmokers have the right to have a nonsmoking place or area. I also believe the owners of establishments should have the right to label their own property as smoking or nonsmoking. When the government steps in and starts infringing on our rights or freedoms, you can call it prohibition or communism -- it is just wrong!
Where will it stop? How about the do-gooders who want to ban restaurants and manufacturers from using trans fats? Where will it stop? As far as the remark about the smell, maybe we should have laws against people wearing too much perfume or cologne that might offend or "harm" someone sitting next to them who has allergies or asthma.
Finally, in response to the statement, "the act of actually drinking alcoholic beverages does not harm the people sitting or working around you," why don't you ask the family who has lost a loved one to a drunken driver how they feel about that?
PATTI CALDWELL
Bloomfield
Whose 'fix'?
I am skeptical of the Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force, which reiterated its support for Isle of Capri's casino campaign last week ("Capri's Slots Still Favored," Dec. 8). The task force is an entity appointed by former Mayor Tom Murphy, whose former campaign manager, David Caliguiri, works for Pittsburgh First, a development group that includes Isle of Capri.
It has been apparent from early in the process that the task force would not fairly evaluate the other competitors.
Mayor Murphy's comment that "the fix is in," obviously was meant to discredit the Forest City application, and the task force refused to visit the Harrah's casino that most closely mirrors its Pittsburgh design. Given the importance of the site visit, I don't understand how the task force could evaluate Isle of Capri's bid, as it has never built or operated a facility nearly as large as its proposed casino in the Hill District.
This is an immensely important decision, as the casino's revenues will provide much-needed property tax relief, fund the convention center with a chronic deficit problem, help finance a new arena and endow other charitable contributions specific to each proposal. Hence, the most successful casino will ultimately have the greatest positive impact on Pittsburgh, not the casino that provides the Penguins with the greatest subsidy.
I'm afraid the task force has confused the two. Plan B will still provide our hockey team with a huge arena subsidy at little to no cost to the city. Mayor Murphy was right when he said "the fix is in." Isle of Capri's bid was his pick the whole time.
STEPHEN MORROW
Friendship
Station Square best
Looking at Downtown Pittsburgh from Grandview Avenue on Mount Washington, depending on what day of the week or what time of the day, is important and must be considered as to population and vehicular congestion problems. All government, corporation, medical and educational work-related jobs and participants, plus all involved in sports activities, conventions, housing and shopping, create excessive population and vehicular congestion. Putting the casino and entertainment complexes Downtown, as it exists today, would be like trying to put 10 pounds of something into a 5-pound bag. This is why I, and everyone I've talked to, believe "the best location is the station."
Station Square is Downtown Pittsburgh's place to go for shopping, eating and overall entertainment with all the necessary space for large expansions. No properties to purchase or acquire. No concerns for churches or schools. No additional cost for utilities or infrastructure. For ingress or egress -- north, south, east, west -- roads, bridges, tunnels, waterways and highways. They are all there now, and only five or 10 minutes from Downtown, yet, isolated and independent, as to congestion matters, by the Mon River.
The name Harrah's speaks for itself as a casino operator. It's first and foremost. This cannot be denied. Also, one of the most community-conscious corporations in Pittsburgh or Cleveland is and has been Forest City Enterprises. When Forest City gives its word and commitment, you can count on it. Its reputation is exemplary in every respect. Station Square, Harrah's and Forest City are the tripartite arrangement for Pittsburgh's most successful casino location.
FRANK J. VALENTA
Mount Washington
This bright idea is good for the city and for students
Regarding "Tuition Grants a Lure for City Schools" (Dec. 14): Great idea! I think it's worth a try, and it benefits the residents of the city who have chosen to stay in the district.
Too bad this program wasn't initiated back when I graduated. I hope it's a complete success ... for both the city and the kids and their families.
M. VAITES
Scott
We receive more letters than we can fit into the limited space on the editorial page, so we'd like to share some additional letters with our Post-Gazette Web site readers.
The only workable plan
If Isle of Capri does not win the slots-licensing bid on Dec. 20, we should seriously consider widespread government reform. The Isle of Capri provides Pittsburgh with an arena free of cost, while Plan B includes a clause that would have the taxpayers paying for an arena 30 years down the road. Not only that, but if whoever wins the slots-licensing bid next month decides in 15 years to stop paying its voluntary $7.5 million a year toward the arena, we pick up the burden. How hard a choice is this?
I am sick and tired of sending politicians to Harrisburg who claim to represent our interests then turn on us when they stand to gain personally.
Scrap Plan B and any other plan that puts us in the red.
SEAN FEENEY
Dormont
We can eliminate property tax
Property taxes should be eliminated. Consider the stark reality of property taxes. Since the government has the power to seize your property for nonpayment of taxes, the net result is that you don't own your home; you rent it from the government.
Thomas Paine in 1797 called for the need for all people in the world to be guaranteed property free of encumbrances.
The taxes that would be lost from the elimination of property taxes could be replaced by the reallocation of earned income taxes that are paid to the federal government. Currently, Pennsylvanians pay less than 3 percent in earned income tax to the state government. Whereas, the federal tax rate for a majority of people, including residents of Pennsylvania, is 17 percent.
The U.S. Constitution allows Congress to collect taxes only to pay debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States. If government spending was strictly limited to these areas, the government would be forced to eliminate some of its programs and curtail others. It seems reasonable to conclude that if this were done, the federal government could make do with a tax rate of 13 percent.
The 4 percent that is "saved" on the federal taxes would enable the state to increase its earned income tax rate to 7 percent. In turn, the state could fund the local municipalities.
It is possible to eliminate the need for a property tax. What is needed is the will of the people!
STEPHEN J. VEROTSKY
Johnstown
An anti-abortion nation
Columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. argues for "Common Ground on Abortion" (Nov. 21), even as he claims that America is a "broadly pro-choice country." But a careful analysis of public opinion finds otherwise.
A recent nationwide poll conducted by The Polling Company found that a majority of voters would prohibit almost all abortions. Public opposition to partial-birth abortion, in which a child is partly delivered and then killed, is particularly pronounced: A Gallup poll found that 70 percent of Americans support a federal ban on partial-birth abortion.
Leading medical experts, including former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, have stated emphatically that partial-birth abortion is never necessary to protect a woman's health and that the practice can, in fact, jeopardize the health of women.
The abortion industry's alternative to partial-birth abortion is the equally troubling practice of dismemberment, in which an unborn child is torn limb by limb from the mother's womb. This brings up the question: How can a civilized society find common ground when it comes to dismembering a baby?
The common-sense approach to the issue of abortion is to follow a path that offers hope for pregnant women in trying circumstances, empowering them to make life-affirming decisions for themselves and their children. And that is the pro-life path.
MICHAEL CICCOCIOPPO
Executive Director
Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation
Harrisburg
Will abortion rates rise?
I read with much interest E.J. Dionne Jr.'s Nov. 21 column "Common Ground on Abortion." I read the entire Ryan Bill, and it seems a practical and level-headed attempt to ensure the 20-year decline in U.S. abortion rates continues.
Unfortunately, it will not reach the floor of the House for debate until next year. In the meantime, President Bush on Nov. 21 announced the appointment of Dr. Eric Keroack to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Population Affairs, which is responsible for overseeing the disbursement of federal funds for public family planning services. In his professional capacity as an obstetrician-gynecologist and director of a chain of women's health centers, he would not prescribe their use -- even for married couples -- and denounced birth control as "demeaning to women."
His appointment does not require confirmation by the Senate. It's frightening to think the effect he may have on the abortion rates of those who depend on programs he will be in charge of under-funding for affordable access to contraception.
TRACY KEPHART LASH
Ohio Township
Wrong way on road priorities
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission needs to shift its focus back to the taxpayer. As a resident of Allegheny County, I do not see how another toll road benefits our area. If the state continues to neglect the existing infrastructure where you and I live, I would rather have local government make the decisions.
A resolution by Allegheny County Council urging a moratorium on the purchase of property for the Mon-Fayette Expressway would send a message to Harrisburg that residents want to be heard on this issue.
CHRISTOPHER SEYMOUR
South Side
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