Washington's uncertainty hurts job creation

The Jan. 9 editorial "Joy on the Job" (or the lack thereof) argued that our malaise couldn't be cured without more jobs. But it isn't clear that "the first step ... is job creation by the federal government," as advocated.

There were 15 million unemployed in December plus another 11 million involuntarily working part-time or discouraged. Total government employment (federal, state and local) is only 20 million. So government isn't nearly big enough to absorb all those who need work.

The private sector, at 100 million-plus, could absorb them if given some encouragement. But government discourages, instead, through, for example, (a) indeterminate employer health-care responsibilities, (b) promised higher energy taxes, (c) favored union belligerence, (d) higher materials costs (from weaker dollars) and (e) tighter lending (banks must avoid "excessive" risk and all small businesses are risky).

President Barack Obama has spent about $200 billion of the first stimulus under his administration to save about 1 million jobs. That's $200,000 per job. The private sector employs people with roughly $120,000 in invested capital per worker, implying that there would be 67 percent more jobs if we'd just left the money in private hands. Small businesses (providing 70 percent of new jobs) typically start up at a $65,000 investment per worker, implying three times as many new jobs if we hadn't been so busy redistributing the wealth!

Unfortunately, the biggest brake on expanding job rolls now is uncertainty coming from Washington. And if President Obama were to suddenly reverse field and start advocating for -- rather than against -- business, few employers would believe him. It would simply be another source of uncertainty: "Now what's he up to?"

FRED ANDERSON
Ross

Closed-door reform

I will stipulate that health-care reform is needed, but let's have a bill enacted openly and honestly. One that is "of the people, by the people and for the people."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid makes special deals with certain senators, behind closed doors, to get their health-care reform vote.

President Barack Obama promises, behind closed doors, to exempt unions from the Cadillac tax until 2018 -- after they threaten to get even next November ("White House, Unions Modify Health Tax," Jan. 15).

I wonder how much I can get for my "next November" vote if I put it up for sale on eBay.

ROBERT A. KUSHNER
Mt. Lebanon

About Haiti's debt

As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti's lack of infrastructure and acute poverty made what would have been a horrendous natural disaster even worse. Haiti's lack of development undoubtedly magnified the impact of this tragedy.

While the world has come together in an outpouring of support, the road to recovery will be a long and arduous one. To help Haiti not only in the short term but in the long term, the world should forgive Haiti's international debt, which totals $890 million.

We need to make sure that this devastated nation has every available chance to recover and secure a better future. The United States has already forgiven the debt Haiti owes us directly. But institutions that the United States has major influence with, like the International Monetary Fund, still have not forgiven Haiti's debt. It's time they do so.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has the power to persuade these institutions to do the right thing. As a member of ONE, a grass-roots campaign and advocacy organization committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, I ask that Mr. Geithner use his influence to persuade international lending institutions and countries to drop Haiti's debt once and for all.

JEN LEITKAM
Scott

Foolish yet followed

Recently, Rush Limbaugh advised us not to contribute money for the relief in Haiti, while at the same time Pat Robertson suggested that there was a curse on the Haitian people, implying that country deserved God's wrath. Where is our humanity?

Had both men had a bully pulpit in 1948, they would have opposed the Marshall Plan for the same basic reasons. It shows how utterly out of touch those two men are.

But the amazing thing is that they have millions of followers. What does that say about us?

MICHAEL SCHULTZ
Penn Hills

Turn it off

Right-wing talk radio and unbalanced Fox Noise are more dangerous than any Muslim terrorist. The threat of terrorism unites Americans; mean-spirited half-truths divide us.

Do the patriotic thing -- tune out WPGB (104.7 FM) and Fox News.

RAY BURNETT
Whitehall

Truly sideline them

How long do the people of Pennsylvania have to wait for our lawmakers to get up off their apathy? How long do we have to bear the emotional loss, financial burden and the ever-increasing insurance dollars spent on drunken drivers? Is there anyone who hasn't been affected by this gaping hole in our judicial system? Do we have to wait until a senator or a congressman's family member is killed to get some action?

We screen every person boarding planes for that one in 100,000 who is a terrorist. It could be that we saved 300 people. Yet each year thousands are killed on the local highways. How long must we wait for a drunken driving law with teeth? We are not asking the state to screen them, just once caught, put them where they can't get to a car.

How long must we wait for one lawmaker to rise up and protect the people they are supposed to serve?

DANIEL C. BUTTS
Plum

The next gamble

From the 1970s on, the answer to all economic problems was the lottery. Today the answer is the casinos. Tomorrow the answer is table games. Why not prostitution next?

At least the state will not have to train pimps. Pennsylvania already has 253 ready to go in the General Assemby. Yes, that's the answer to all the economic problems of Pennsylvania.

GERARD D. PASQUERELL
Pleasant Hills

Stop blaming the mill and appreciate the jobs there

In response to the Jan. 7 letter "Stink in the Air," why the Clairton mill? I am a resident of West Elizabeth and an employee of the Clairton mill. If you drive five miles in any direction from Clairton, you come across numerous places that can and do produce odors, i.e., waste-water treatment plants, chemical plants, electrical plants, etc. Why does everybody always blame Clairton?

As for the letter's comments regarding the Environmental Protection Agency, Clairton Coke Works is monitored 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, with multiple monitors and reading sites. Clairton sets the standard for pollution and emissions control in coke production.

There are roughly 1,500 people employed at the Clairton mill who are dedicated to keeping the air we all breathe clean. Also, before you complain too much, think about the people affected positively by the Clairton mill, i.e., the people who work there and the hundreds or maybe thousands of people whose jobs are indirectly affected by the mills.

Maybe we should send all of our "stinky" jobs to countries overseas; let them make the products that we do not want to. At least it won't smell bad here. Remember the '80s when the mills shut down? I hope so! It was not fun.

In closing, before you complain about Clairton, make sure that you know where the smell in Pleasant Hills is from. Maybe it is from your waste-water treatment plant, which the state mandated the borough must repair. It's not always the Clairton mill.

LANCE BIDDLE
West Elizabeth

America is a democracy after all

In reply to Barry Light's letter "Dems Not Delivering" (Jan. 16), I'd like to remind Mr. Light and everyone else that the Ninth and 10th Amendments to the Constitution reserve ultimate power to the people - not to our politicians. That means we are not powerless against the minority elite who think they run things.

Our biggest problem is that most Americans do not seem to be aware of that fact. We form demonstrations and march in the streets protesting whatever, only to be ignored by those elites. The only time they pay attention to us is during the election cycle when we hand our power over to them in the voting booth.

Yes, the Democratic Party is corrupt. And so is the Republican Party. These two powerful parties control our political system, so it is also corrupted - badly.

But we, the people, are a powerful political force ourselves. All we need to do is to stop letting all the misinformation confuse us and to begin acting in unison.

We can do that peacefully and without marching in the street! To see what I mean, check out the National Initiative for Democracy (www.ni4d.us).

DONALD GRBAC
Valencia

PG is a Democratic shill

If there was any remaining doubt that the PG editorial page is little more than a shill for the Democratic Party, your Jan. 8 editorial "Democratic Eclipse: The Party Must Act to Preserve Its Senate Majority" should erase it. This editorial reads like a call to arms. With the sudden announcements of Sens. Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan not to seek new terms, the Democrats "must act" the PG implores. To do what? Fight terrorism? Revive the economy? No, to "preserve its Senate majority."

To be fair, preserving the prospects for the Democrats' unpopular health-care bill is the real objective for the PG. Only bribery ("cut deals" in PG-speak) and a 60-vote Senate majority (until Tuesday's election in Massachusetts) have enabled this monstrosity to survive, even though a clear majority of Americans now oppose it.

Only a few years ago, minority Democrats were speaking out against the increasingly unpopular war in pre-surge Iraq. The PG then lauded the "mettle" and courageous stand of the minority party. No such praise from the PG for now minority Republicans, who appear united with the majority of Americans in opposing this unpopular legislation.

To the PG, though, they're just obstructionists, a waiting filibuster to be overcome. Well, if you can't have standards, I guess double-standards will do. Your readers, however, deserve better.

DOUGLAS POWELL
Robinson

In this together

Letter writer Diane Balcom thinks that Sens. Bob Casey and Arlen Specter should have secured special benefits for Pennsylvania, like a number of senators did for their states, in exchange for their votes for health-care insurance reform ("What Did Pa. Gain?" Jan. 1). She writes that we were very poorly served because our senators didn't hold out for something special for Pennsylvania.

It's a good thing that the majority of Americans don't share Ms. Balcom's "What's in it for me?" attitude toward the important issues facing our country.

FRANK J. KERNAN
Mt. Lebanon

Government is not about Christian values

In response to Carol J. Moessinger's "Liberal: A Good Word" (Jan. 4 letters): Caring for the widows, orphans, aliens and the needy is an explicitly Christian religious value. For this reason, government policy should not be based upon it.

In this country, you have the right to live a Christian lifestyle. You can hold these religious values as sacred truths and put them into action. What you can't do is demand legislation forcing others to do the same. When tax money is being used for social programs, that is exactly what is happening. Hinduism, for example, a religion far older than Christianity, would view poor strangers in a very different light. Call that wrong if you like. It doesn't matter what those biblical verses say because your freedom of religion does not take precedence over others' right to property.

For those of you who would say, "It's just the right thing to do regardless of religion," you're trying to universalize your personal values. Not everyone thinks that way, and they shouldn't be forced to live out your morality.

Incidentally, I happen to agree with your morals. Still, charitable giving ought to be done voluntarily, through churches and private institutions.

ANDREW W. MILLER
Forest Hills

What he'd do if he were truly sorry

Former Major League Baseball player Mark McGwire is sorry and wishes he had never used steroids; so am I.

I am sorry to the extent he made millions of dollars, ostensibly illegally, deprived some pitchers the opportunity for a reasonable or modest career, and set records that at best are shallow and hollow.

So if he is truly sorry, let him suggest or demand his records be stricken from history, let him give back, say, $10 million to the fans he fooled and defrauded or to a noteworthy charity.

This admission now is an act of contempt of Congress. It is also too late for him to be completely forgiven. His only reason to step forward now is purely self-serving, just as the act of using steroids was, so that he may find another job in baseball and thus avail himself of an opportunity to prey on our sympathies when Hall of Fame voting comes around again.

He didn't do well in this round of votes.

E. ROBERT HASIS
Pleasant Hills

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First Published: January 21, 2010, 5:00 a.m.