I strongly encourage our elected officials to vote no on House Bill 1600 ("House to Vote on Property Tax Relief," Jan. 27). This bill is nothing more than political chicanery designed to aid the fortunes of those running for office while hurting average Pennsylvanians.

If the Legislature wants to simply reduce property taxes, then fine, but don't do it via a backhanded tax shifting onto the shoulders of those less fortunate. Make no mistake, every working-class resident of this commonwealth pays income tax, which will increase under House Bill 1600 to offset reductions in property taxes, which is a gift to the wealthy and big business.

By shifting taxes away from the largest landowners, the Legislature will be enacting a regressive tax that spreads out among regular Pennsylvanians. Perhaps the Legislature should explore methods of giving rebates to senior citizens to stabilize their monthly expenses, rather than selling the farm to offer yet another plum to the most well-off and well-connected. Just because these individuals and corporations have helped to stir up a frenzy of "reduce property taxes at any cost" doesn't mean we have to take it in stride. Follow the money and you will see whom this tax shifting benefits most.

KIRK B. BURKLEY
North Side

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Irrespective of what actually happens in reality, we all know that it is politically incorrect to discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, disability or religion.

As an Indian Muslim by heritage, I was taken aback by the Jan. 22 article "Obama Out to Correct Misconception He's a Muslim." In a strictly political correctness sense, it should not have mattered whether Sen. Barack Obama was a Muslim.

However, justifiably or not, the reality in the post-9/11 United States apparently is that it is gradually becoming politically acceptable to disassociate with Islam. That's indeed a sorry state of affairs for Muslims here, especially since the earnest attempt to distance himself from Islam was made by someone who is a competent U.S. presidential hopeful!

Perhaps sincere and widespread use of phrases such as "Allah, bless America" by Muslims in the United States would help to rectify this deteriorating situation. If only it were that easy ...

NASH KHATRI
Irwin

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The Bush administration preaches from the White House pulpit about the virtues of liberty and freedom abroad, while systematically ignoring the same virtues domestically. While the right hand spies on and mocks habeas corpus, the left hand beats the drum about the righteousness of democracy and the necessity to go to war to protect it.

The administration hopes to strike civil liberties once more with its implementation of the Real ID Act, which essentially federalizes state drivers' licenses and creates a de facto national ID ("Driver's License Detour?" Jan. 12) -- this, to protect the liberties we are supposed to have from terrorism.

The program will infringe on what privacy we have left and enable the government to create a national database with information on all individuals. The potential for large-scale identity theft and terrorism will still exist. After all, if a terrorist organization is sophisticated enough to pull off 9/11, it is surely able to forge an ID card.

This is a national ID. Without public protest and absolute objection from the state legislatures, we approve of a surveillance state. I am not an alarmist, but I find the following quote from the Department of Homeland Security's Web site to be most alarming: "The REAL ID Act requires that a REAL ID driver's license be used for 'official purposes,' as defined by DHS." The DHS is accountable only to the president, whoever he or she may be, and not to the public. "Official purposes" can mean anything in this brave new world.

MARK BYRNE
Castle Shannon

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The Post-Gazette should endorse and give more attention to Ron Paul. He has more grass-roots support and has raised more money from everyday hard-working Americans than any other presidential candidate! Plus he is the only candidate who will end the war and bring our troops home!

RICH WEILAND
Mt. Lebanon

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Congratulations and appreciation to the Post-Gazette for the "On the Mend" series article about one woman's struggle to return home after a lengthy illness and nursing home stay ("From Nursing Home to a Home of Her Own," Jan. 6).

That story plus recent news stories about home dialysis and sleep apnea studies point to the trend in medical care to keep the patient as comfortable as possible and provide quality care at a reasonable cost.

Many groups, including the Alliance for Retired Americans, are working to educate elected officials on the economy and feasibility of home care and the need to make more Pennsylvania Medicare dollars available to home care.

With Pennsylvania having the third-oldest population in the nation, we need to act now to give our seniors a choice to live at home with dignity and respect and with a safe and reliable support system -- preferably before we have to sell our own homes to finance a stay in a nursing home, which may not be necessary.

KATHLEEN LIND, R.N.
Bethel Park

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Robert Gehrmann's Jan. 21 letter was pretty amazing ("Anti-Smoking Zealots Are Free to Move to France"). He accuses government of siding with special-interest groups in the proposed smoking ban. I seem to remember big tobacco companies funding the lawsuit by local bars to overturn the original ban.

The only special interest the proponents of the ban have is trying to stay healthy.

Mr. Gehrmann states that in a free society all people have individual freedoms. True! But they also have rights: the right to go into a bar or restaurant without being subjected to dangerous secondhand smoke.

No matter how he tries to spin it, all his arguments are is a rationalization so he doesn't have to quit smoking.

TOM KERIN
Bethel Park

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Wow, where do you even begin to refute an incoherent diatribe like the one from Robert Gehrmann ("Anti-Smoking Zealots Are Free to Move to France," Jan. 21)? He managed to lump anti-French, anti-democracy, anti-science and anti-law sentiments into what to him and him alone must seem like a huge conspiracy.

Maybe I could explain things very simply to him. Mr. Gehrmann, most of us wouldn't care if you smoked yourself into an early grave if you could just manage to suck all that smoke in and keep it in so the rest of us don't have to share in your pathetic addiction.

JOHN HINDERLITER
Bethel Park

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Think about everything that's happened in your life in the past 365 days -- a birthday, the holidays and the Fourth of July. But when it comes to fireworks, it's hard to top the revelation that sewage has been pouring into the Youghiogheny for at least that long ("Sewage Pouring Into Yough," Jan. 17).

Investigators have told our organization that a portion of the cause could date back 25 years. Think about that. Ronald Reagan was president and Dan Marino was a senior at Pitt then. Yet Pennsylvania residents didn't know about this odoriferous problem until it ran in the pages of the Post-Gazette recently.

Something about that stinks, and it's not just the sewage.

We have a right to know what's in our water. Thankfully, since the Post-Gazette exposed the problem, officials are discussing community notification and will take a first step: posting a sign where the plant's tainted water reaches the Youghiogheny. But who's going to do that when it happens again?

Congress is trying to fix the problem with some rather common-sense legislation. The Raw Sewage Overflow Community Right to Know Act would require residents to be told when there's a sewage spill. In light of the Buena Vista failure and Pittsburgh's overwhelming combined sewer overflow concerns, it's amazing that no congressional delegates from the Pittsburgh area have signed on to co-sponsor this common-sense bill.

We all should call our elected officials in Washington and ask them to exercise some common sense for clean water and public health.

LIZ GARLAND
Associate Director
Healthy Waters
Pennsylvania Field Office
American Rivers
Camp Hill

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