Letters to the editor
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The payroll tax break is a blow to Social Security
The American people get snookered again. There has been so much coverage regarding maintaining the 2 percentage point reduction in FICA taxes, I cannot help but wonder why all of our statesmen in Washington miss the point.
We have been hearing for decades that Social Security is running out of money, so now we see our paragons of intellect in Congress vote to extend the reduction of that fund.
Of all the programs they have dreamed up in D.C., Social Security is the only one that actually funds itself.
Maintaining this 2 percent reduction in payroll deductions will only speed up the process of running out of money. No one brought this point up during the conversation.
After thinking this was a lesson in futility, it then occurred to me. This bill is not about the 2 percent FICA tax -- that is no more than a smoke screen. There are attachments to the bill that are being jammed through and no one is mentioning them.
It's time to insist that the Feds run one bill that contains only one item and gets a yes or no vote. They will continue to hide behind the obfuscation of multi-tiered bills, and no one will be able to hold them accountable.
It matters not if they are Democrat or Republican; they are not looking out for us.
NICK LIBERTO
Blawnox
Unique retail is key
Downtown will never experience revitalization without attention to retail shopping. The restaurants in Market Square are fabulous -- the announcements of Il Pizzaiolo and Vallozzi's are so, so exciting -- but without retail we cannot become a destination.
We need for our mayor to beg, borrow and do whatever he can to convince Macy's Inc. to switch out the Macy's for a Bloomingdale's. Bloomingdale's will single-handedly bring people into the city. Add a West Elm and you have two stores found nowhere else here. Add the free parking we had for Christmas and you eliminate the endless refrain about paying to park in the city.
Seriously, other than the people who live in the North Hills, who the heck wants to go to Ross Park Mall? Surely not the other 99 percent of us who live either in the city or any suburb that lies east, west or south of the city.
While I, a city resident, love the idea of small boutiques, the reality is if we want Downtown to become a mecca we need retail, and how about a movie theater? Love the Harris, but we need to appeal to the 99 percent of the people who do not frequent art films.
How about a Banana Republic for all the women and men working Downtown who want to run in and get something to wear out for drinks or to work? How many people do we have working Downtown? Do I hear 126,000 who want to shop? In the early 1970s when you wanted to shop, go to dinner or to a movie, you came into the city.
I moved back into the city four years ago and love it, but I long for a return of Downtown life. Make it happen, mayor!
MARY BEIER
Downtown
Re: police hiring
After reading about the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network's comments about having civilians in the hiring process of police officers ( "Group Demands Civilians Be In on Process to Hire Police," Dec. 17), my question is this: Why?
First and foremost, there is a distinct separation of church and state.
PIIN, or any other religious group for that matter, has no right to be involved in municipal hiring matters. If it is concerned about minority hiring, then its members should use their pulpits to encourage members of their faiths to educate themselves and take the exams and be hired the proper way. It is not the duty of PIIN to get civilians -- who have no educational or professional background in law enforcement -- to decide who gets to become a law enforcement officer.
I commend Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Public Safety director Michael Huss on removing this deeply flawed, nonsensical -- and most likely -- illegal practice and let the diverse men and women already in the city government handle the hiring process.
FRANCESCO ROSATO JR.
Brookline
The writer is a city police officer.
For cleaner air
I too applaud the Environmental Protection Agency's new mercury-reduction standards for power plants ( "The New EPA Emissions Rules Were Long Overdue," Dec. 26 letters) and am excited by the additional prospect to focus on challenging our nation's dependence on oil.
But we need to ensure that potential groundbreaking fuel standards become law. From the threat of more extreme weather fueled by global warming to the billions of dollars we spend at the gas pump each year, our addiction to oil has real consequences for our environment and our economy.
Fortunately, the Obama administration is working to tackle this problem by proposing strong new pollution and fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks sold in 2017 through 2025. The standards would cut gasoline use by as much as 23 billion gallons per year nationally. These standards will be the largest step the United States has ever taken to get off oil -- and tackle global warming.
Now the Obama administration wants to know what Pennsylvanians think about the new standards, and it is holding a public comment period through Jan. 30 to find out. As citizens we need to make our voices heard by submitting a public comment to a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov (include "Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0799" in the subject line) in support of strong clean car standards.
ALI BLUMENSTOCK
Field Organizer
PennEnvironment
Downtown
Health intrusion
Dr. Jen Russo ( "Unsafe Law," Dec. 23 letters) is right to label the recent law increasing the regulatory burden with which abortion providers have to comply as a ploy designed to make abortion clinics shut their doors.
Gov. Tom Corbett's support of this law, part of the increasing intrusion into medicine by the government (i.e. socialized medicine), is a clear indication of his lack of adherence to the principles of individual rights and liberty -- two factors that prompted my vote for him.
AMESH A. ADALJA, M.D.
Butler
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First Published December 31, 2011 12:00 am
