We fought a law unfair to our businesses

Your May 23 front-page story regarding the smoking ban ("County's Smoking Ban in Ashes") quoted William Godshall of SmokeFree Pennsylvania as referring to Jim Mitchell and me as puppets whose strings were being pulled by Big Tobacco.

Let me clear the air (no pun intended): When two adversaries go to settle their differences in court, they will face large legal fees.

The party with the deepest pockets can afford expensive counsel.

Mr. Godshall and his group then became the puppets of County Council's deep pockets (the taxpayers of Allegheny County) and assisted council in passing this unfair ordinance that would have damaged two businesses with a combined 175-year history in Allegheny County, and put their families and employees at financial risk.

What made the ordinance so unfair was that it affected a small geographic area and exempted too many bars and restaurants within that area.

Additionally, council did not have legal authority to enact this ordinance. Its own attorney even informed its members as to this illegality. Council proceeded anyway.

Being cognizant of the fact that we did not have the funds available to fight Big Government, we made ourselves available to Big Tobacco. Its financial help levels the playing field. By doing so, Big Tobacco provided an avenue by which both sides were able to present their case to the courts, which finally settled the argument. This is the American way.

Now, this will allow the state Legislature to act. The Legislature will become the puppet and the voters of the state will be pulling the strings.

JOHN J. PETROLIAS
Owner
Smithfield Cafe
Downtown

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Political pollution

Isn't there supposed to be a law in place that demands the removal of all the political posters once the election is over? It's bad enough to be bombarded with all the political posters before the event, but, once over, let's get the posters off the roadside.

If there is no law in place, perhaps we should institute one and fine those candidates for every day the posters remain.

DEBI KELLY
Castle Shannon

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NO amnesty, Sen.

Sen. Arlen Specter is defiant, obstinate and completely out of touch with his constituents' views on the so-called comprehensive illegal immigration issue.

Senator, listen close, please. Why can't you understand that we don't want amnesty for illegal aliens? You got that part, "illegal." I watched you glare into the TV camera lens and say, "This is not amnesty." Honestly, Senator, please don't insult our intelligence. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, what would you call it?

You lost all credibility with the working people of Pennsylvania who elected you to protect our interests and not that of big business, which is out to exploit the work force and lower their standard of living, not to mention sell this country down the river to the highest bidder.

Senator, I don't trust you to pretend to work for us. I'm certain you will make a successful lobbyist for big business. Why don't you change careers voluntarily before the next senatorial election, and you are forced out by the voters that you failed to represent. Then you can go and get a real job.

JOSEPH A. GRONSKY JR.
Bethel Park

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Land matters

Regarding the May 24 letter "Tax Based on Land": I would support this proposal enthusiastically if amended so that the tax on the amount of square feet owned varies according to the market value per square foot.

It is unfair for owners of cheap land to be taxed as much as owners of the same amount of expensive land. The market value per square foot of a plot of land can and should be assessed accurately.

Land values are much higher in Pittsburgh than in nearby rural boroughs. Land values in Pittsburgh are much higher Downtown and in fashionable residential areas, such as Shadyside, than in the many blighted neighborhoods. Market value of land can be assessed more accurately and cheaply than market value of buildings. Value of land is usually similar in the properties of the same neighborhood.

Unfortunately, it is politically difficult to assess increases in land value when a neighborhood becomes more commercially important or a more popular residence. Property owners feel outraged when the assessed value increases greatly although they have done nothing to cause the increase.

All residents will benefit if voters and elected officials support taxes on the updated values of the land.

The unhappy owners of more valuable and therefore more highly taxed land are compensated adequately by the higher sale price.

HERBERT BARRY III
Oakland

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We're fighting our enemies in Iraq: no appeasement

The fact that American blood is being spilled in Iraq trumps the reasons that got them there.

They are there, and they are fighting a Shiite jihadist's movement that has declared their short-term goal to be "erasing" Israel from the map. Their long-term goal is to convert the world to their religion, and kill those that resist.

They are also fighting the Sunni jihadist movement, including al-Qaida, that has declared their short-term goal to removing "Western influence" from the Middle East.

Their long-term goal is to convert the world to their religion, and kill those that resist.

I for one don't see anything in their own words that says if American troops retreat from Iraq, all jihadists will go back to whatever work they were doing before 2001.

In the four years of this war, we have lost more than 3,776 U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Sept. 11, 2001, the Sunni jihadist movement killed 2,973 mostly Americans in a matter of hours, just because they don't approve of our lifestyle.

The Democratic Party has fully embraced the Neville Chamberlain approach. Somehow I don't understand how trying to appease people who stand in line to kill themselves in the name of their god is going to work. The world will suffer for it, again.

BILL HOAGLAND
Whitehall

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Congress caves in

I can't tell you how disappointed and disgusted I am at the House passage of the no-strings funding bill for the Iraq war.

The Democratic Congress was elected to stop the war. That was their major objective. They failed. They capitulated to a delusional president and his administration.

If Congress won't stand up and do the right thing for our nation, and counter a wayward Executive Branch, who will? The Democratic House should be collectively ashamed for putting personal political agendas ahead of national interests. Shame on them for perpetuating a senseless, brutal bloody conflict and subjecting our young men and women to more of it.

This war is wrong, and they know it. They had the administration where they wanted it, and they let those grinning Neanderthals off the hook for purely political reasons.

Our troops will suffer, our nation will suffer, Iraq will suffer and the world will suffer because of those Democrats who lost their nerve and backed down. No profiles in courage there. Where is strong congressional leadership when we need it? Lyndon Johnson just rolled over in his grave.

DAVID TURNER
Mt. Lebanon

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So generous?

A recent letter writer bemoaned the fact that the United States, despite being "the most generous" country, is hated by so many ("U.S. Generosity," May 4). Perhaps the hubris exhibited by the letter writer is one reason.

The myth that the United States is the most generous of the rich nations is widely held in this country, and the United States often does give the most dollars. But if we compare on the basis of percentage of gross national product, the United States comes in at 21st of the richest 22 nations, with a whopping 0.17 percent, far less than the 0.7 percent promised by all rich nations in the 1970s.

And the idea that we send all this money without any red tape is just not true. Indeed, one organization has evaluated the cost of aid programs to poor countries, and by this measure, too, the United States is again at the bottom of the list of rich countries. Beyond that, the United States often ties aid to foreign or domestic policy. For instance, in times of famine, U.S. dollars could be used to buy grain from poor African farmers to distribute in Africa, but U.S. law requires those dollars to be spent on grain produced in the United States and shipped by the United States at great expense of time and money, in order to protect U.S. agribusiness and maritime interests.

In all, U.S. governmental aid totals about 13 cents per American per day, and private aid about 5 cents, according to the Center for Global Development. With an average per capita income in our country of $35,000, I'm astonished that the letter writer might consider that amount generous.

BEV SMITH
Wheeling, W.Va.

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Correction/Clarification: (Published May 30, 2007) U.S. governmental foreign aid totals about 13 cents per American per day and private aid about 5 cents per day. The letter "So Generous?" as originally published May 28, 2007 incorrectly said it was 13 cents and 5 cents per year.