Text Size:
A|
A|
A
Email
PrintThis law will provide savings in other ways
Your editorial "License to Change: A Sensible New Law Saves Pennsylvania Millions" (Jan. 29) was right about the financial savings that a new law I sponsored, Act 133 of 2008, will mean for Pennsylvania. While you mentioned the three-year, $59 million savings that will result from no longer requiring the replacement of vehicle license plates every 10 years, state residents also should know this new law will save Pennsylvania money in many other ways.
Another facet of the law relaxes the testing schedule for radar and speedometers used by the Pennsylvania State Police. Before the law's enactment, state police had to test radar units and speedometers six times a year. The new law requires one test per year, for a total annual savings of $420,500.
Additionally, because the law brings Pennsylvania into compliance with federal standards for commercial driver licensing and vehicle safety enforcement, the state will be able to secure roughly $29 million in additional funding from the federal government.
Finally, the law provides a savings component for potentially hundreds of Pennsylvania veterans -- the commercial driver's license waiver for military members returning home from duty. It will save veterans the time, aggravation and cost of taking the state CDL skills test when they are already certified by the military to drive commercial vehicles. This will allow for a smooth and quick transition into the civilian work force.
More information and the forms related to the waiver are available online at www.dmv.state.pa.us by clicking the "Military Personnel/Veterans" link under "Information Centers."
STATE REP. PAUL COSTA
Wilkins
Sink the Niagara
Jon Schmitz's article about the new law eliminating the mandate that PennDOT replace license plates every 10 years contains the statement: "An illegible license plate is defined as one or more letters or numerals not recognizable from 50 feet" ("Law Eliminates Replacing License Plates Every 10 Years," Jan. 26).
This would include virtually every "Flagship Niagara" series license plate. They are no longer issued but are currently still in use on vehicles in Pennsylvania. Talk about form over function. Their design renders them practically illegible. Those plates should have been recalled years ago.
If I ever wanted to knock off a bank, the first order of business would be to steal a Flagship Niagara license plate for the getaway car to confound any pain-in-the-butt innocent bystanders.
DAVE JULIETTE
Swisshelm Park
Too-many assembly
I have an opening line for the governor's State of the State address: "Never have so many received so much to govern so few."
I'm sure this won't stop the General Assembly from cutting middle-class workers to help save the budget, but I would like the option to trim their ranks instead of leaving it up to them.
BILL HOAGLAND
Whitehall
'No' to yes men
Regarding the Jan. 28 editorial "Pass the Stimulus: Republicans Oppose Needed Aid at Their Peril": The Post-Gazette would have everyone, including the Republicans, be yes men and women to President Obama without question and opposing views. That's not the way things work here in America, and that is why we have a two-party (or three-party) system so that there are checks and balances and why we don't assume that just because President Obama has said it makes it gospel.
Remember, there are always going to be different opinions on everything from lunch to the economy. We just have to learn to listen in both ears and find common ground to get this economy back on its feet.
WILLIAM BENDIG
Overbrook
She touts failure
On a day that America inaugurated a new president and broke all precedent by electing an African American, a Harvard graduate, a brilliant senator and an articulate spokesman for America, Ruth Ann Dailey's Jan. 19 column still resonated ("The Perilous Times Still Shape Bush's Legacy").
Ms. Dailey recited former President George W. Bush's decisions on Guantanamo, justifying keeping some men in that infamous place for more than seven years without a fair trial. She made reference to information "mysteriously unimportant [to President Obama's 'defenders'] during the Bush term" related "to keep[ing] these would-be terrorists off our streets." She also made sarcastic reference to hanging chads, called the questions regarding President Bush's second election "petulant" and said the invasion of Iraq will be vindicated.
At a time when this country desperately needs hope and thoughtful, positive action, it is sad that she tries to make amends for a failed presidency.
The huge crowds showing support for a new beginning should be enough evidence that we all are ready for a new beginning -- a positive, truthful beginning.
PAT STEIN
Mt. Lebanon
On target
Kay Christy is so right about retail today ("What's Wrong With Retail? A Shopper's Perspective," Jan. 29). If manufacturers would make something that "adult" consumers wanted to buy, use or eat, retail would be in much better shape. Hope they read the editorial page.
CAROL BRANDYBERRY
Peters
Right on
Kay Christy's Jan. 29 letter regarding retail "hit the nail on the head."
Truly, a brilliant, correct assessment of retail and the reasons we do not shop!
ROBERTA CHURILLA
Forest Hills
The civil rights ordinance will not infringe on religious rights
In her Jan. 28 commentary "How Do Others See You?" Angelle Guyette notes the vehement religious opposition to the proposed nondiscrimination ordinance for Allegheny County. This ordinance would protect county residents from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry or place of birth, sex, disability, marital status, age or use of a guide or support animal because of blindness, deafness or physical disability or gender identity and sexual orientation. The opponents claim that the inclusion of the last two groups will violate their religious freedom.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania supports the Allegheny County ordinance as a step forward in the struggle for civil rights and equality for all people. We are also in a unique position in advocating for both religious liberty and for advancing civil rights.
Those who claim that religious organizations' right to practice their faith will be impacted by laws protecting people from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation are wrong on this issue. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, the state Religious Freedom Protection Act and exceptions within the proposed ordinance itself all provide multiple layers of protection to allow religious organizations to carry out their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.
The proposed ordinance to protect Allegheny County residents from discrimination will advance the cause of civil rights in Pennsylvania without infringing on religious organizations' right to practice their faith.
BARB FEIGE
Deputy Director, ACLU-PA
Director, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter
Oakland
We wouldn't be similarly forgiven
Well, it looks like Barack Obama is bringing Chicago politics to Washington, D.C. First we have Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who made an honest error about paying taxes, but remembered them in time to be sure they wouldn't be in the way of his nomination.OK, he was forgiven, no penalty.
Then, we have Tom Daschle -- wow, what a tax bill he ran up. But he paid them after his nomination for health and human services secretary (which he has since withdrawn).
Remark made by Washington, D.C.: Anyone can make a mistake.
Are these the best Obama can find to fill the positions? We are to forgive these "tax evaders." Would the same thing happen to you if you "made a mistake" in paying your taxes? I think not.
So why should we settle for the less-than-honest among them? Is this what you voted for in the election? Just try it and see how far you get.
SARAH LUCAS
Bon Air
GOP obstructionists prove they lack ideas
President Barack Obama has made a remarkable start on changing our standing in the world, taken steps to return our constitutional freedoms and begun to restore integrity in government. He is making progress on passing a program to start the recovery from the recession with a mixture of stimuli that will touch most aspects of our economy. Impressively he is doing so while addressing important projects that will help us move into the 21st century.President Obama has accomplished another thing in the process. He has exposed the Republican congressional caucus as a collection of political hacks who have no concept of why we sent them to Washington. It is more obvious now than ever before that our GOP representatives do not care about trying ideas that can work, choosing instead to cling to a partisan defense of failed trickle-down Reaganomics. These Republicans do not care about those who are hurt most by the recession but champion tax breaks for those who need it least, their fat-cat buddies sitting in corporate boardrooms and Wall Street offices.
I am not just talking about Reps. John Boehner and Eric Cantor, the Republican leaders who appear on television daily to rail against the president's proposals while offering no new ideas of their own. I am also talking about our own Rep. Tim Murphy. Given the opportunity to show independence by stepping up to work with our president to solve the problems of our country, he has chosen instead to march in lockstep with the GOP obstructionists who were so complicit in bringing us down during the Bush years. Apparently, like Boehner and Cantor, he has neither the integrity nor the intellectual strength to put the good of the nation above partisan politics.
I split my ticket in November to vote for both Obama and Murphy, believing that they were the best candidates for their respective positions. Obviously, as right as I was about Obama, I was just as wrong about Murphy. I won't make the same mistake again. It may not be too soon for Democrats to look for a strong candidate to unseat him next time around.
RON CHRISTMAN
Washington, Pa.
Sports fans, put that same energy into civic affairs
As a resident of Western Pennsylvania, I have found something interesting about people who live here. Western Pennsylvania has three top sports teams and the loyalty of fans is astounding. If one happens to have a criticism of the teams, you are pretty much considered a nut or there is something wrong with you. The time, money and support are phenomenal.I personally hope the teams lose every year in order for the fans to broaden their interest and involvement. An example of this starts with the stadiums, three new ones in less than a decade. I simply don't get it. I called a local radio talk show host, Fred Honsberger, to ask a simple question and was treated as a heretic.
The question I put forward was, wouldn't it be better to build some select manufacturing plants (Toyota, etc.) in order to create 30,000 to 40,000 new jobs than to invest in three new stadiums? That would have a ripple effect with many support businesses. The jobs would be higher-paying than the comparatively few minimum-wage jobs the stadiums bring to the table. The local tax revenues would go far to reduce the debt of the city of Pittsburgh. Plus it would increase the population of Pittsburgh.
In this writer's opinion, if fans' involvement with sports teams was equaled by them regarding involvement in government -- by writing letters, making phone calls and following up on them -- maybe the area would be a better place to live and work. I think too many of us think our only responsibility in involvement with the government is to vote once in a while. That's really tragic.
We currently have an elected official and judge problem simply because people do not participate in their government. So keep it up, fans; we are losing in every area because of you and the many like you.
J.M. SPEARS SR.
Butler
The solution is not a military one
Regarding Dan Simpson's Feb. 4 column ("Get Out of Afghanistan, Too"): When I heard that President Barack Obama signed off on a Predator drone attack into Pakistan, my heart sank. It sank again when I heard that Obama is going to commit an additional 30,000 troops to the region. Many experts and historians say there is no military solution in Afghanistan. There is only a political solution.The Pashtun region that includes a wide swath of border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been called "the graveyard of empires" because of the rough terrain. Look what happened to Genghis Khan, and the British and Indians in the first and second Afghan wars. The Soviets, a century later, had 150,000 troops, yet were soundly defeated, and the entire Soviet Union was economically bled dry and crumbled into pieces.
Some may say, "Now we have Predator drones, so we don't have to put so many troops in harm's way." That may be less controversial, but "strategic bombing" doesn't "demoralize the enemy." It kills a bunch of other people around. Therefore, beyond a shadow of a doubt, we recruit more opposition than we get rid of by killing the one person, at that, we wanted to kill.
Historian Marilyn Young says about bombing: "I will not be grateful to you for harming someone I don't like in the course of which you kill my kid."
SCOTT MANLEY
Carnegie
Can't wait to respond to our letter writers? Go to community.post-gazette.com/blogs.
We welcome your letters. Please include your name, address and phone number, and send to Letters to the Editor, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh 15222. E-mail letters to letters@post-gazette.com or fax to 412-263-2014. Letters should be 250 words or less, original and exclusive to the Post-Gazette. All letters are subject to editing for length, clarity and accuracy and will be verified before being published.
