It's time for Pa. to seriously tighten its belt

I would like to add to letter writer Joseph P. McHugh's list of things that need to be done before any increase in any income or other taxes ("What We Want," June 21).

The first thing in my estimation is the elimination of all pensions for anyone holding elected office. These offices are very sought after and there is no need to reward these folks with pensions; this is the sole reason we have so many lifetime politicians.

The second item on my wish list is to eliminate any tax increment financing. All businesses within Pennsylvania should be on an equal footing as far as taxes are concerned. We continually give away the store. Anyone remember Lord & Taylor?

The third thing is to pass legislation banning the use of any tax money or any other type of public funding for any sports teams or private ventures; we should make the various teams, Penguins, Steelers, Eagles etc., pay for their own stadiums. I still can't get over the fact that the citizens are paying for venues that are used solely by millionaires, but yet the guy/gal who barely squeaks by is paying for them.

The fourth item on my list is that all excursions/junkets be forbidden until the budgets are balanced. There is no compelling reason for any elected official to visit "sister cities" during this time of economic hardship.

I challenge the rest of the citizens of this state to come up with even more items to cut. This is not the time for any type of tax increase; this is the time to tighten the belt and eliminate all discretionary spending.

JEFFERY J. JACKSON
Ohio Township

The thought process

Do you think Gov. Ed Rendell and those tax-minded like him would agree to a battery of neurological tests and scans? I mean, I believe that both Pennsylvanians and the world deserve to know exactly how such minds function -- exactly where the green areas that should be red flash, where the 1's crash into the 0's, creating the decision to increase taxes during an economic cataclysm.

Really, I believe that we, those who understand the folly, the smoke and mirrors, the titanic error of this philosophy, should gather closely together as we watch these scans, this neuro-horror unfold, so that we can hold hands and support one another.

WILLIAM M. STODDART
Brentwood

Forgetting privacy

Thank you for printing the letter of Mt. Lebanon Democratic Committee member Ninamary Langsdale ("Robo Reflection," June 19). These are trying times that our country finds itself in today, and I am grateful that a complete stranger is kind enough to provide me with such a good laugh that my morning coffee almost came out of my nose. To defend robocalls is one thing, but to actually associate them with patriotism and honoring the service and sacrifice of our brave military is not only quite comical but strangely scary.

What's truly frightening is that Ms. Langsdale, despite holding a position on a political committee, fails to recognize that the intrusiveness of these robocalls violates one of our most basic and sacred rights as Americans, our right to privacy.

LEE ANN COLLURA
Crafton Heights

Yes, a nuisance

Ninamary Langsdale ("Robo Reflection," June 19 letters) really misses the mark when she equates disliking political robocalls with being an apathetic voter who doesn't care who is running for office. Robocalls are an unwelcome nuisance, and many people I know feel the same way.

I vote in every election, and there are ways to get better information about the candidates, such as online, newspapers and mailed literature, all of which can be consulted at the convenience of the voter.

JANET CARLSON
Ross

Re: forest health

Whoops! Looks like someone's been imbibing the Kool-Aid. Letter writer Craig B. Clemmens of Apollo imagines that the "healthy forests" policy of commercial loggers is a levy of benefaction on the ecosystem ("Obama's Ban on Forest Roads Is a Mistake," June 19). It reminds me of the army officer who, during the Vietnam War, declared "we had to destroy the village to save it."

Errata: 1) Adam Smith was not the first economist, having been preceded by Chanakya (c. 300 B.C.), Richard Cantillon and others ... 2) The Hobbesian phrase he intended to reference is: "nasty, brutish and short."

JIM LeJEUNE
McCandless

His arrogance

Because I have always felt that Charles Krauthammer's writing conveys a tone of cynicism and self-righteousness, I am always struck by how he creates an attitude of writing from a position above the masses. I was therefore amazed at his June 13 column where he condemns President Barack Obama for holding himself above "mere mortals" ("Hovering on High: Obama Surveys the World"). Of course, I should not be surprised because he was always so unwaveringly supportive of the Bush administration and is so unrelentingly critical of the Obama administration.

What Mr. Krauthammer fails to recognize is that if the president has been elevated to some higher level, it is the people who have placed him there. This has not happened because Mr. Obama has shown superiority. Human nature would not accept that. One need only look at the low approval ratings given to the former president and vice president to note how arrogance is received by the people. When President Obama left a prayer at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, he asked for humility. That quality shines through his public persona.

This column contains another piece of evidence that Mr. Krauthammer seems to hold himself above others. It contains uncredited phrases that he obviously "borrowed" from Matthew Arnold in the poem "Dover Beach." Arnold's lines read: "And we are here as on a darkling plain/ Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,/ Where ignorant armies clash by night." Mr. Krauthammer speaks of Mr. Obama as gazing "benignly upon the darkling plain beneath him where ignorant armies clash by night ... " Why did he not include attribution for these phrases?

ANNA BOWMAN
North Versailles

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