Letters to the editor
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Tolling I-80 will thwart economic development
In response to Dan DeLisio's Sept. 22 letter "Tolling I-80 Will Provide for the Common Good," I question the framework in which he defines "common good" in terms of highway infrastructure only.
What effect will the tolling of I-80 have on the economic development of the corridor? The area currently struggles with an aging population and lack of employment opportunities for young adults. Unemployment doesn't show up as a problem -- the young adults just move away. Tolling would adversely affect current industry on I-80 and would probably curtail future expansion. Just discussions of the issue will probably delay decision-making regarding relocations and expansions. In particular, the manufactured housing industry in the Clarion area will be greatly affected.
So what is the true, total cost of the tolling of I-80? What will be the cost of a declining population, unemployment and economic decay?
Might I suggest that I-80 be tolled and the proceeds used for economic development of the I-80 corridor? In that way, this rural area will develop a tax base and will no longer be in need of "urban" tax dollars.
ROBERT J. HUEMMRICH
Squirrel Hill
The writer is director of the Biotechnology Business Development Center at Clarion University.
Irresponsible tolls
In the Sept. 25 article "Truckers, Dems Get Revved Up Debating Tolls on Interstate 80," about obtaining the much-needed Pennsylvania transportation revenue, the following statement was reported:
"Would people rather see the price of a gallon of gasoline go up by 16 cents? I don't think so," said state Rep. Keith McCall of Carbon.
Just what "people" is Rep. McCall referring to? While the answer to his question may be a no-brainer for the bulk of Pennsylvania taxpayers who seldom, if ever, use I-80, does that make it responsible government? I don't think so.
MICHAEL D. VESLANY
Meadville
Can't answer that
Last week I was reading your article on the anti-war protesters in Oakland when my 9-year-old son asked me what I was reading. I told him what the article was about, pulling our troops out of Iraq. He stated he agreed with the protesters, we should not be in Iraq. I asked him why he thought that and he stated that "if we leave them alone, they will leave us alone."
I explained to him that normally that is true but not in this case. I gave him a quick rundown of what the hijackers of Islam have done over the years against Western civilization around the world for no other reason than the culture. I started with their attacks as far back as the '70s with the Iranian hostage crisis and pointed out the recent ones, the U.S. embassies, the USS Cole, the Marine barracks, Bali, London and of course 9/11, just to name a few.
My son then asked, "So if we leave them alone, they won't leave us alone?" My one word answer was "exactly." He then asked if the protesters know this, and if they do, why do they want to bring the troops home instead of fighting them where they are? I told him "that I don't know."
BILL HOAGLAND
Whitehall
He's no Lincoln
I am writing in response to Richard E. Jackson's Sept. 21 letter "Anti-War Democrats Are Repeating History." Mr. Jackson suggests in his letter that Mr. Bush is similar to the great President Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Bush will never be remembered as Mr. Lincoln is, as Mr. Bush is everything President Lincoln warned against.
In 1848, then-U.S. Rep. Abraham Lincoln wrote to his law partner in regard to President Polk's decision to invade Mexico, in a pre-emptive strike.
He wrote, "Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose -- and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you have given him so much as you propose. If, today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how can you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British monarchy invading us' but he will say to you 'be silent; I see it, if you don't.' "
As President Lincoln warned, Mr. Bush is telling the majority of this nation and the world to be silent and so is each and every one of the senators, representatives and Bush-lovers who support this president and his war. We cannot afford to be silenced.
RICH MARMURA
Oakland
Murphy church fliers
Regarding Mildred Pfeifer's letter ("Crossing the Line," Sept. 15): In it, she complained that opponents of U.S. Rep Tim Murphy had put fliers that criticized him on many cars in church parking lots.
Well, here's news for Ms. Pfeifer: A couple of weeks ago, fliers from Tim Murphy were found on my car after church! My wife was so upset by this "unethical" behavior that she wrote a letter to the PG. But her letter wasn't published; Ms. Pfeifer's was. I thought the PG was the liberal newspaper in town.
TIM McMICHAEL
North Huntingdon
Illegal and unfair
I do not understand what part of the definition of "illegal" our government or the dudley-do-gooders do not understand. It is sad that most people on this planet live in obscure poverty; however, illegal is illegal.
The undocumented Guatemalan who lost his arm should be sent back to Guatemala ("Getting to America Only Half the Battle," Sept. 9). If anyone in my family needed such intense medical care without insurance or money, we would be denied such care.
Before and after the fall of communism in Europe, we tried to legally bring my husband's cousin and family to this county. I called immigration and was told absolutely not, even if we sponsored him. Of course we did the legal thing, but realize now we should have had him come illegally and get all the rights the illegals seem to get.
During communism, he and his wife had an apartment, car, jobs and a fairly good life in the Slovak Republic. After, he and his wife considered themselves lucky if they could get work as migrant farm workers in Germany. Some years they were not that lucky. A few years ago they finally got employment in a factory in the Czech Republic. Three years ago he was hit by a car and killed the day after Christmas. Now his wife and son live in the Çzech Republic and have a hard time making ends meet.
Had we brought them illegally to this country, he very well might be still alive. It is not fair to the American taxpayer or the hopeful immigrants who come to this country legally.
JANE HARVATH
West View
Outstanding photo
I thought the photograph that has accompanied "Jena Six" stories in a lot of papers, including the Post-Gazette ("Rallying for the Jena Six," Sept. 21), was exceptional. The interlocked hands of the two Louisiana State Police officers -- one black, one white -- which frame the marchers with a "V" say a lot about overcoming prejudice.
The photo reminds me of the great picture from the Vietnam War -- by Larry Burrows, if I remember correctly -- of a black soldier and a white soldier clasping hands to help each other across a ditch, under fire.
Both photos make you stop and think.
DENNIS LYNCH
Indiana Township
Columbia was misguided in giving a platform to this hateful, dangerous person
As an alumnus of Columbia University I was personally very dismayed by the university's decision to invite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at its World Leaders Forum ("Iran's President Parries, Puzzles at Columbia U. Speech," Sept. 25). I believe the decision was misguided in that it provided instant respectability and a platform to an individual and a government recognized for spewing hatred and promoting terrorism.
However, I applaud Columbia University President Lee Bollinger's opening remarks prior to Ahmadinejad's speech which shed light on the many aspects of Iran's brutal regime and its impact on its own citizens and neighboring countries. What's more, Ahmadinejad's ability to skirt direct questions posed to him only confirmed his dangerous views, such as denying the Holocaust's existence, seeking the destruction of the state of Israel, supporting terrorism, participating in the destabilization of neighbors in the region and arming his country with nuclear weapons.
JEFFREY FINKELSTEIN
President and CEO
United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh
Oakland
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First Published September 26, 2007 12:00 am
