Letters to the Editor: 1/22/04
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Democrats and tax increases go hand in hand
The tax increase for city parking does not come as a surprise to me ("Council Approves Parking Tax Hike," Jan. 15). What does surprise me is the feigned shock among city and county residents! Every year, residents of this region go to the polls like sheep and continue to pull the Democratic lever because they've been doing it since they turned 18.
Democrats, in general, are the taxing party. They do not believe that government can create more revenue for a region by reducing the tax burden. Rather, Democrats consistently attempt to make our region the first in human history to tax itself to prosperity.
Any time an additional cost is placed on a product, that product will lose sales to its competitors. In this case, the product is the Downtown shopping district, and the added tax is a deterrent for people who can drive to suburban malls and park for free. When will the people of this region realize that Democrats and taxes are permanent partners?
The city is in financial distress, and the voters re-elect a Democrat; the county is in strong fiscal shape and the voters throw out the Republican! If you vote, and you vote Democratic, you have no right to complain when the taxes in this region again are raised.
CRAIG M. TUMAS
South Fayette
Just the shell is left
I lived in the Pittsburgh area for most of my adult life. I grew up in Greensburg, went out of state for college and military service, and then was an employee and owned my own business in the city of Pittsburgh.
I watched the population of both Allegheny County and the city of Pittsburgh decline sharply in a 30-year period. In 1999, I sold my last Pennsylvania residence and moved to Florida. I was and am able to follow the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates via satellite television. I might add that the deplorable states of the Penguins and Pirates are directly related to the shrinking wage base and population of the area. That is another story.
I miss the old town, or at least I miss the way it used to be. Sadly, politicians, civic leaders and labor unions never adjusted to a changing world, and the area has become a shell of the vital collection of communities that it once was.
The weather in Pittsburgh was harsh but bearable. The taxes were harsh and became unbearable. I can do a lot of living in Florida just on the savings in property, state income and local taxes. Such a shame.
And so the Democratic political machine keeps grinding down the citizenry, blaming everything but the image in the mirror. When will Mayor Tom Murphy and other public officials of the 130 Allegheny County municipalities realize that the golden goose is dead? All that is left are the bones they are picking.
ALLAN L. DAVIS
Dunedin, Fla.
God and our culture
In the Jan. 3 editorial "Shifting Culture," the PG makes the statement that "America, after all, is a republic, not a church." But America was not founded as a republic void of faith in God. Thus, the church should have a voice in the republic.
I think our Founding Fathers believed God should have a part in the new adventure they called freedom. Freedom does not mean "one can do as he or she pleases" because that would create chaos, which we almost have in Allegheny County, with all the murders, muggings, rapes, burglaries, etc. We surely need the love of God in our culture.
We need God! We need loving concern for each other, and that is only taught by the church and in God-filled homes.
The PG also states that we are heirs to a great political tradition. And I agree. But I believe the political has taken over the decision process completely. Man makes rules, and I am not sure they are always for the best.
It seems that the desire of the political tradition is to eliminate God from all decisions. I remind you that we also have a great spiritual tradition, not only by God but by our Founding Fathers who carried their faith into this new nation. I am positive they wanted God to have a place in the political structure of these United States. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!"
REV. WILLIAM G. MORRIS
Mt. Lebanon
Editor's note: The writer is a retired pastor.
Allah, bless America
About two years ago, my letter "Allah Is God" was published in this column. I pointed out that the Arabic word "Allah," which is merely a translation of the word "God," is often erroneously perceived by many as a Muslim God. I concluded that "Allah" should be associated with Arabic, and not necessarily with Islam.
My understanding of the concept of religion and God has, I think, improved since then. Religion helps believers cope better with life and, in the long run, keeps mankind from submission to death and destruction. God is whoever the believers define him to be. Muslims, Christians, Jews, etc., all define God differently in terms of what God expects from them here and what he will have for them in the afterlife.
So, depending on one's definition, there are different versions of God. Fortunately, within the realm of their own definition of God, all the believers are right regardless of their faith. And, contrary to what I had concluded before, "Allah" is indeed a Muslim God.
Here's my point. There currently exists a generally anti-Islamic atmosphere here in the United States, though the vast majority of mainstream Muslims in the nation are pro-USA and are not even remotely associated with terroristic activities. One elegant method, I think, for mainstream Muslims in the USA to calm down the tension and bridge the gap with other fellow Americans is to capitalize on the prevalent association of "Allah" with the Muslim God. To show Muslims' support for the USA, mainstream Muslims should encourage use of the phrase "Allah, bless America" -- and be sincere about it. Who said Islam cannot embrace America?
NASH KHATRI
Monroeville
Puzzling warning
Whenever I visit my family in Pittsburgh, I am always amazed at the sign posted on the parkway between the turnpike exit and Penn Hills. You know, it's the one that warns motorists to watch out for aggressive drivers.
Isn't it the job of traffic controllers to monitor those who drive aggressively? What I don't understand is if this area is a known danger spot, why isn't it more closely regulated?
Each time I see that sign and look at my family in the car along with me I cannot help but hear this message from authorities, "We know this roadway is hazardous, but are doing nothing about it. Therefore, you'd better watch out for yourself."
Personally, I'd feel a lot safer if someone with the authority to fine and punish aggressive drivers would heed that sign.
MICHAEL MATELAN
Emmaus
Assuaging his fears
A little work with Internet search engines resulted in finding some facts that should remove letter writer Don Schwartzmiller's concerns ("Mass and Health Risks," Jan. 4): In 1996, the Centers for Disease Control issued the following statement: "The CDC has never identified an outbreak of illness traceable to the communion cup." Even the theoretical risk of disease was adjudged to be "exceedingly low."
In 1998, the center wrote: "The CDC concludes that the risk of infectious disease transmission by the common communion cup is very low and that current safeguards such as wiping the rim between communicants apparently is adequate to keep risk at the undetectable level." Alcohol itself and its molecular polyphenols, the latter used in hospitals for cleansing, are natural disinfectants and antiseptics.
All this said, in the final analysis, the medical community's negative or positive evaluation matters little to the faithful Christian. For he or she knows that the sacred body and blood of our Lord is the medicine of immortality and never a cause or means of harm or illness.
REV. ERIC R. ANDRAE
Campus Pastor
First Trinity Lutheran Church
Oakland
If you don't follow the issues, then please don't vote
I have a message for the general public as election time draws near: Don't vote.
So you're 18 years old, and you are reading a flier posted on a bulletin board about how important your vote is. Don't vote.
You are a person who works all day and raises kids all night, without enough time to read the newspaper or a good news magazine. Don't vote.
You hear commentators telling you that "you must exercise your right" or "if you don't vote, you deserve the government you get" (as if bad politicians are the fault of people who don't vote). These pundits who spew the "get out and vote" message brought to you by the "committee to re-elect blaw blaw blaw" are just muddying the waters in trying to herd voters to the polls like sheep. I don't vote in every election or for every issue on the ballot if I don't understand it.
Don't vote for a candidate because he seems to make sense or sounds confident or because your brother-in-law told you to or because he's cute. If only the people who study the issues voted, then the best candidate should get elected.
By the way, an election isn't like a basketball game -- "my candidate beat your candidate, ha, ha, ha." It's about who will lead this country into the future.
God bless our president.
MARK C. BISI
Brookline
First Published January 22, 2004 12:00 am
