We need top support for the plan that will keep the Pens
Well, I guess the other shoe finally dropped. Mario Lemieux announced what many of us have feared for months: The Penguins are for sale ("Penguins Put Up for Sale," Jan. 19).
It's too bad that Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato aren't as concerned as most Pittsburghers are about the Pens leaving town and taking a big chunk out of the Pittsburgh economy.
At first I thought it unusual that they did not join the other 18 legislators and City Council people who came out in support of the Isle of Capri proposal, which would include a new arena for the Penguins and a venue for many more performers and attractions, thus adding to the city amusement tax. Now I think that it is shocking.
How could Mr. O'Connor and Mr. Onorato not support a billion-dollar renovation of the city? Please clear the air, Mr. O'Connor and Mr. Onorato, and tell us why you can't support the best of the slots license proposals -- the Pens and the Isle of Capri.
MARK ZIGO
Hampton
Enriching a few
I'm sure I'll be accused of not understanding all the issues; that's usually the diversion people use. But when something smells bad enough, you don't have to do a full autopsy to know you don't want it lying around in your backyard. So, I have to say I'm indignant about the idea of having the Penguins remain in Pittsburgh, or having some new renovation performed, etc., etc., etc., in exchange for awarding a license to some corporation to have slots Downtown ("Penguins Up Pressure in Battle for Slots License," Jan. 20).
Don't get me wrong, I love having the Penguins in Pittsburgh. But let's be clear about this. The funding for the Penguins and a new arena is a molehill in comparison to the enormous revenue generated to a few wealthy folks.
Maybe I'm just envious. But I've heard too many stories about how legalized gambling can cripple a community, enriching a privileged few on the backs of hard-working citizens.
Just because the city is in financial trouble and the Penguins are desperate doesn't mean we have to sell our community's soul.
BILL WEIL
Blawnox
The wrong inquiry
The comments of Sen. Rick Santorum in a Jan. 18 In Rebuttal piece ("Telling the Whole Story About Iraq") make sad reading, and he pretends to represent the people of this commonwealth.
Throughout the article he bashes "the media." I hope he is referring to the well-oiled Republican propaganda machines in Fox News, the Tribune-Review, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Times and innumerable talk-radio shows, to name just a few.
I have yet to hear any of the right-wing media ask how we were misled into a war in Iraq that has killed nearly as many Americans as the al-Qaida attacks of 9/11. I have yet to hear Sen. Santorum ask why we were misled into this war, which has resulted in the deaths of many of his constituents.
I am sure he knows that al-Qaida was based in Afghanistan in 2001, and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, nor did it possess weapons of mass destruction or pose an imminent threat to the United States at the time.
These are the questions he should be asking the president of the United States, rather than focusing on "the media's" coverage of the war. Why does he reiterate his request to the president -- to support a group to travel to Iraq to take "a fresh look at what's happening there" -- in an article in the Post-Gazette? Doesn't he know that the president does not read newspapers?
Please, senator, do your job and represent your constituents, or we might have to vote for someone else next November.
MARIO KINSELLA
Indiana Township
Give Specter credit
I watched the Senate hearings on the nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court, and I must say I am proud of the job our senator, Arlen Specter, did overseeing the hearings as chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
In my mind, he has been a fair conservative who was open-minded when asking Judge Alito hard-ball questions, such as those regarding abortion, unlike the other Republican senators (such as Lindsey Graham and Mike DeWine), who talked to Judge Alito as if they were his friends.
He also was aggressive during the hearings, when he basically told Ted Kennedy to shut up after he was nagging Sen. Specter to subpoena certain documents.
He deserves a pat on the back just for being our U.S. senator as well. I am proud of him because he is well respected and dignified among his peers and voters. He's liberal on certain subjects, such as abortion and labor unions, and he never goes on rants and starts bashing Democrats for every little thing.
The citizens of Pennsylvania should be proud of Sen. Specter and the job he is doing in Washington, looking out for our best interests. As for Democrats, look at it this way -- he's no Rick Santorum.
BRADLEY MINOSKI
North Huntingdon
Right-wing rhetoric
Is Charles H. Stevers' letter "Solid Democracy" (Jan. 20) some kind of joke to send reasonable, rational-thinking people's blood pressure soaring? Because if so, it's working.
President Bush elected by a majority? Maybe he didn't see the actual numbers from 2000. Al Gore won the popular vote -- Mr. Bush was elected by the Supreme Court after he and Katherine Harris, Florida's then-secretary of state, were able to prevent hand recounts of the ballots in Florida.
Have we lost another World Trade Center? No, but last I checked, there wasn't another one available to lose. Have we suffered from outrageous terrorist attacks as our allies have? No, but the reason for those attacks is their alliance with the United States in this outrageous war on Iraq.
British, Spanish, Indonesians, Australians and, let's not forget, thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians have lost their lives because of Mr. Bush's lies. Mr. Stevers states that Americans need to get the facts and not blindly repeat political sound bites, but what I'm hearing from him is much the same as anyone who has just finished listening to a right-wing talk show.
At least back up your points of how we are better off now than six years ago.
SEAN McGUINNESS
Plum
Give him a chance
In response to Susan Litzinger's letter about the new Pittsburgh police chief ("About the New Chief," Jan. 19): First of all, how does she know that Dominic Costa and the newly elected mayor are "buds"? Has she seen them hanging out together?
Could it be possible that Mayor Bob O'Connor has worked with some of his new regime previously and has gained some confidence in their capabilities? I find it hard to believe that people are already judging his decision-making abilities without even giving him a chance, since he has been in office less than one month.
TIM TOMAINO
Kennedy
Our compromise
In regard to your Jan. 15 editorial "The Butt Stops Here: Pennsylvania Is a Desert Amid Smoke-Free Progress": Shame on you. Instead of criticizing, you should congratulate Pennsylvania legislators and businessmen for achieving a workable accommodation between smokers and nonsmokers.
In Pennsylvania, both groups can enjoy an atmosphere that is sensitive to their respective preferences and makes all customers feel welcome. To everyone involved in creating this "peaceful co-existence," I say, "Well done."
DIANE E. FOLTZ
Scottdale
We must demand total elimination of property taxes
The only sure way to solve the school property tax problem is by total elimination. A partial decrease doesn't do it!
First, eliminate all the individual school boards. Many of these directors are incompetent and uneducated; let the counties run our schools. The school directors could be either appointed or elected. The individual schools would remain with the same name and same sports teams and bands, but the county would fund all, the same as is done in many of our sister states; Virginia and Indiana come to mind.
Fund education by a sales tax on everything but health programs, hospitals, doctors and drugs. I know I will get some complaints about renters paying their school taxes in their rent, but that depends on where you are renting. Where I live, $400 a month is high rent. Some might pay $600 to rent a house, but if the house holds six children going to school, this rent is not going to pay a fair share of this education.
And sales tax is not mandatory like property tax. If you don't need it, you don't buy it and pay sales tax.
WARREN E. SHEPPICK
Fallowfield
First Published: January 26, 2006, 5:00 a.m.
