President Bush clearly doesn't serve all Americans

I believe that President Bush, with the commutation of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison term ("Bush Spares Libby From Jail," July 3), has proved, now without a doubt, that he is the first American president who is not the president of all the people of America.

According to a TV report on ABC, there are close to 2,000 people who have commutation petitions pending, and he has turned down more than 4,000 requests in the seven years of his administration. One petition was from a former professional baseball player who was convicted for selling two ounces of crack cocaine. His petition was denied, and he will serve 20 years for his crime.

Now Mr. Libby will probably be pardoned ("President Doesn't Rule Out Future Pardon for Libby," July 4). Mr. Libby "has suffered enough." I suppose we all must reregister as Republicans and be able to prove it endlessly, if we want our government to work on our behalf.

And, finally, I wonder if Mr. Bush will actually honor the next election; after all, he is "the decider."

THOMAS DOUGHERTY
Ambridge

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Dangerous duo

A comment and a prayer.

Mr. Bush, the Libby commuted sentence was no surprise as I always felt a deal was made to keep Mr. Libby from talking so that you and Dick Cheney would not have to face the consequences of outing an undercover CIA agent and therefore, quite possibly, impeachment. Will await the coming full pardon!

Dear Lord, please hurry getting 2009 here before these two do even more harm to this great country.

BILL GARGIULO
Scott

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Political hit job

Once again, the PG in its editorials ("The Libby Outrage: Bush Sinks Lower by Commuting a Felon's Sentence," July 4) shows its left slant. President Bush's pardon of Scooter Libby has little in comparison with what President Clinton did upon exiting the Oval Office.

Mr. Libby is still responsible for the $250,000 fine plus the probation. His actions were not severe to the point of Marc Rich's in that Mr. Libby did not feel the need to leave the country. Only after the pardon from Mr. Clinton was Mr. Rich able to return to the United States. Big campaign donations bought him the full pardon.

As for justice being done, many would hardly call the Libby trial justice. The trial took place in Washington, D.C., which more than overwhelmingly votes Democratic. If a Democratic presidential candidate receives less than 80 percent of the D.C. vote, he dropped the ball.

If Mr. Libby's trial and sentence represent justice, then justice has fallen into the gutters in this country. The entire trial was nothing more than a modern-day political hit job that should leave everyone in fear.

ANTHONY BUZARD
Cranberry

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Bush-league justice

Famous American lies:

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

"The check is in the mail."

"I did not have sex with that woman."

"I respect the jury's verdict."

George W. Bush will be defined by his failures and his failure to recognize when his policies and decisions have failed. He told us he is the decider and he has decided to commute Scooter Libby's sentence. This was not an act of compassion; rather, it was an act of betrayal to the American judicial system.

At the behest of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, Monica Goodling draped cloth over the bare breasts of the statue "Spirit of Justice."

Now, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should put one of those black bags from Gitmo over the statue's head. That would be a fitting tribute for what has happened. Justice defied. Justice denied. Justice decided by George W. Bush.

KITTY LAGORIO
Peters

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Better for workers

Allison L. Feldstein and George F. Will have published columns in the Post-Gazette falsely decrying the Employee Free Choice Act ("New Union Rules Could Have Significant Impact on Workplace," March 6 Business and "When Persuasion Fails ... Labor Unions Resort to Coercion," June 21 Perspectives, respectively).

The extreme right and their big business allies are attempting to portray labor as taking away an employee's right to vote on becoming a union member. These extremists know that the proposed act requires a secret ballot vote be taken if one-third of the employees request one. So, why lie? Simply put, they don't want to lose their ill-gotten gains, which allow corporations to fire, suspend and intimidate workers when they engage in their legal right to organize.

Union membership means wages that are one-third higher than nonunion workers, and 80 percent of union workers have employer-paid health-care benefits and protection from unjust treatment.

The wealthy have learned to circumvent current law and deny workers their right to a better life by joining unions. They have been successful and are achieving their goal of destroying the American dream and the middle class. The gap between the rich and everyone else continues to grow, and for the first time, parents cannot expect a better life for their children. The Employee Free Choice Act is written to change years of employer abuse of the laws designed to protect workers. The penalties for law breaking will increase and the organizing process will become fair.

CHARLES M. BYRNES
Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local 926
Downtown

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Bad promotions

The world must be coming to an end; I agree with columnist Tony Norman. The promotions for the three Pittsburgh police officers, who have issues with the law, should never have happened ("Plots Unfolding in 'Grant Street Redemption,' " June 29).

I am of the opinion that Chief Nate Harper should never have been appointed to that high position. He's still saying there is nothing wrong with the promotions. What gall.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl had better step in, or the election might go to his Republican challenger in the fall. I thought that the mayor said there will be changes at city hall. Sure -- when elephants fly.

ART MASSIMIANI JR.
Ross

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UPMC's services for heart patients are no different from ours

We have read with great interest the Post-Gazette's reports on the recent Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council study regarding cardiac surgery. In particular, we were struck by UPMC's defense of the significant disparity in reimbursement to its facilities as opposed to other programs in the region ("UPMC Says Residents Getting Good Deal on Cardiac Surgeries," June 15).

UPMC centers its argument around the assertion that it handles a mix of cardiac procedures that are more complex and difficult, thus justifying them being more expensive. They are wrong. Quite simply, there are no differences in the spectrum of services and depth of capabilities offered to the cardiac patient between Allegheny General Hospital and UPMC Presbyterian/Shadyside.

All of these institutions are tertiary cardiovascular facilities, which by definition have the ability to treat the most complex cases and the sickest patients. All receive referrals from other cardiac surgery programs in the region. If UPMC's contentions were correct, then no other cardiac surgery program would send its patients to Allegheny General.

UPMC needs to refrain from generalities in its response if it is to hold water. Is it the only program doing heart transplants? Complex surgery for heart-failure patients? Implanting ventricular assist devices? Here again, the answer is no. AGH matches all of these capabilities across the board.

Nor does UPMC hold the franchise on clinical research and academics.

Our cardiologists and cardiac surgeons also have been featured presenters at national conferences and have authored scores of articles in peer-reviewed journals. We are lead investigators in important national and international clinical trials in cardiovascular medicine and surgery and have had long-standing academic programs for the medical students, residents and fellows.

Our rebuttals are not based on rhetoric or casual observations. They are founded on direct knowledge of the respective institutions, including one of us actually having been a member of the medical staff at UPMC.

We respect the capabilities of our colleagues at UPMC in cardiac care. Given our tradition of leadership in the care of heart patients, we would hope that respect would be reciprocated. Judging by the comments and observations of UPMC's spokesperson, however, it would appear that arrogance carries more weight than facts.

GEORGE MAGOVERN, M.D.
Chairman
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
SRINIVAS MURALI, M.D.
Director
Cardiovascular Medicine
Allegheny General Hospital
North Side

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