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Senior citizens are

important too, governor!

Gov. Rendell, you stated that the money raised from gambling when approved will go to reduce the wage tax in Philadelphia, which is good, and the rest of the state will get property tax relief, which is good, also.
What makes me upset is that you neglected the senior citizens of Philadelphia. As most of us are retired and don’t work anymore, we don’t pay the wage tax, so the reduction won’t help us.
The property tax relief would help us, but you and the legislature saw fit to forget about us seniors in Philadelphia. Either that, or I don’t understand your help. Please explain.
It seems to me you and the legislature are not looking out for the elderly in Philadelphia. We’re part of the state, also, and we’re on fixed incomes. Why haven’t more seniors said anything?
Richard West
Bell’s Corner




More minimum

wage outrage

When you printed my letter to the editor in August, I began with, "The salary increases the Pennsylvania lawmakers voted for themselves is hard to understand." Now I find the 105 to 95 vote to table the House vote on raising the minimum wage hard to understand.
Do none of these 105 legislators realize that to refuse to pay a just wage is a grave injustice? Do they deny responsibility for the vulnerable citizens of the state who have been denied a living wage? Why have they been refusing to vote on this for eight years when 80 percent of Pennsylvania residents think the minimum wage should be raised above the unjust $5.15 an hour?
Sister M. Aquinas Hamilton
Fox Chase




Peanut League’s

event tasted great

I would like to congratulate and commend the Northeast Peanut League, namely, president Frank Connelly and John Perzel Community Center operations manager Al Mercadante for an extremely successful NEPL all-star classic on Feb. 19.
Mr. Connelly, his board of directors and Mr. Mercadante and his staff worked tirelessly in preparing and executing a wonderful day of children’s all-star basketball games.
Not many folks in the Northeast realize that most of the time and effort that goes into an event is done by volunteers who give unselfishly of their time to our children and their well-being.
It was also a chance for the neighborhood to show off its beautiful new community center which was spearheaded by state House Speaker Perzel.
Mr. Perzel’s tireless efforts in our own community reaped the rewards as parents from all over the Northeast got a chance to enjoy such a pristine property.
Congratulations to Mr. Perzel, Mr. Connelly and Mr. Mercadante for a day that will not be forgotten. Great job and thank you!!!!
Scott Cummings
President, Mayfair Civic Association




Fido needs

your help

In response to Lou Peluso’s letter to the editor regarding House Bill 1911 (It’s time to help Man’s Best Friend, Feb. 16):
I am encouraging people to contact their state representatives to endorse Bill 1911. Mr. Peluso is absolutely correct in that many dogs need us to intervene on their behalf. Abuse occurs all too often in Philadelphia and it’s time we do something about it.
I believe emphasis also needs to be placed on educating people, beginning in the schools, that it is not OK to abuse any animal. Abuse can occur in many forms, and neglect is an all-too-common form of abuse that people more readily ignore.
Bill 1911 is long overdue. Please take a moment to contact your state representative and do the right thing by helping our canine companions.
Danielle Povio
Pennypack




Chicken lady

is getting a raw deal

Please tell me this is a joke: A woman by the name of Jeanne Smith has chickens and someone is upset.
I just retired from the police department. The entire area of the East Division looks like a farm. They have llamas, camels and chickens. There must be hundreds on every block living in everybody’s back yard.
These evil people who are going after Jeanne should be ashamed. If she has the room and the kids like it, go for it.
Hugh Gallagher
Somerton



On crime, officials

are incompetent

The killings go on and on and seemingly no one is immune from the murders in Philadelphia.
We have a mayor and police commissioner who obviously have no clue how to stop the carnage. In this city we are averaging at least a killing a day, and this administration and its top officials have no answers. How long are the residents supposed to accept the total incompetence in dealing with crime by this mayor and his underlings?
The commissioner goes on TV daily to tell us of another slaughter, but as he talks, he says absolutely nothing. Other cities such as Chicago and New York have initiated drives to cut back on crime, but we in this city do nothing but count the victims.
We have been told that Philadelphia is the next great international city. Who in their right mind would come to a city of murder and mayhem? There is something that can be done, but first we have to have competent and able people in charge. Obviously we do not have those people running the city presently. If in fact, as this mayor stated, "the brothers and sistas are running the city," then you are doing a really lousy job.
Jack Miller
Rhawnhurst




Give us

our country

Why would anyone be surprised that the White House was not up front with the shooting by the vice president? They are never up front on their end. Where were they when Hurricane Katrina hit? Now the blame has been spread around, and those poor people are still waiting for help six months later, when the people of this country gave millions to help.
Where are they when you ask about the over 2,000 men and women killed in a country we have no right to be in?
After 9/11, we went to Afghanistan to get the people responsible, but that was a ruse to get in the back door of Iraq. The president, who is always right — just ask him — wanted this more than anything, no matter the cost in American lives. The men and women in the hospital from this war will never be the same again.
How about the new budget that cuts education, health care, Medicaid. How does Mrs. Bush read to children who have no books? Who helps them? What about cuts in health care? Medicare D is a fiasco and very few people understand it.
There is the program for food for low-income seniors since 1964. Do away with it and give them $20 a month for food — another joke.
Taking away the $255 death benefit from Social Security doesn’t sound like much, but for some, it’s all they have. They are hell-bent to get rid of Social Security before they leave office. So, as seniors, don’t hold your breath for the next move.
What is wrong with the people of this country that question nothing this White House does to them? Where is Congress, the people elected and sworn to help us all, afraid to speak up? What kind of hold does this man have on them?
People, you live in a void that all is fine, that the White House knows what they are doing. Yet, they have lost this country’s credibility in the world. We need to be the greatest nation again. It’s lost now and we may never get it back if someone doesn’t speak up.
People, wake up — it’s your duty, your job, to speak up and not take this anymore. Write, call, demand our country back.
Elizabeth Desher
Bell’s Corner




Have you

no decency?

Whoever is responsible for the tasteless comments and cartoon concerning the accidental wounding of his friend by Vice President Cheney should hang his head in shame. A human being nearly lost his life in an accident. The timing of the report to the public has little or no bearing on the matter.
Who among us can state we never violated a local ordinance? Our failure to observe all stop signs and traffic signals falls in the same category as the failure to obtain a proper stamp for a hunting license. Step forward if you can cast the first stone! Your comments regarding a person suffering from Alzheimer’s suggest you have no concern for decency of a fellow human being.
David W. Campbell
Rhawnhurst




A dangerous choice

What would you rather do — hunt with Dick Cheney or ride with Ted Kennedy?
Anthony "Tony Irish" Porta
Sebring, Fla.




America on alert

What do we do next, if our government allows the United Arab Emirates to guard our ports? Do we allow bank robbers as security guards in our banks? Do we allow car thieves to do valet parking? Do we allow pedophiles as crossing guards at our schools?
I believe in our government, but I also believe it is our government’s responsibility to keep us all safe. Letting U.A.E. people with ties to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups is not in the best interests of the American people.
A. Antonelli
Modena Park




King George W.

The president is in the service of the people; we the people are not in service of the president.
Our terrible leader has shown that he is truly a child of entitlement. He believes working-class Americans are here to serve his needs rather than him serving our needs.
First, he and his party did everything they could to halt a recount in Florida, which some believe eventually showed he lost the state as well as the election. How un-American is it to fight against a fair election? He then demoted Richard Clark, anti-terrorism czar, from a cabinet position to somebody who reports to chief of staff, thus lowering this country’s attention to terrorism just eight months before 9/11.
Then he used 9/11 as a tool to pass the Patriot Act, which infringes on our civil liberties given us by Jefferson, Franklin and Washington. No citizens were part of the hijacking teams on that day. I am still waiting for somebody to ask the president and Congress why our rights needed diminishing.
He then felt no regard for what our founding fathers created with checks and balances and decided to use wiretapping without court or Senate approval.
Also, there’s the president’s response to Katrina. His very own mother even said the survivors should be happy with their situation because it is better than what they had. Of course it was her husband and her son’s jobs to make life better for all Americans, true entitlement to scold suffering people for complaining about their government’s lack of care for them.
Now his administration decided to sell six of our ports to a company that is state-owned by a country that has members that support terrorism. Our entire country stands together against this.
In the true nature of this administration, he threatened to veto any legislation put forth against this. Like a true dictator, he decided what the people wanted was irrelevant to what he wants. The foreign company actually had to delay it themselves, because our president was unwilling to listen to the people.
George W. Bush believes the people of America are here for his "greatness," not that he is here to serve the people of America.
Michael Scott Rorer
Holmesburg




Republican methods

Bank on it! Every time Republicans get caught in a scandal, lie or distortion, its army of sheep begins to complain about the "liberals" who complain about the scandal, lie, etc.
This not-so-original but effective "shoot the messenger" tactic is trotted out frequently because the Republican "sell-out-self-serve agenda" is found out frequently. And the "messenger" taking the fire is literally the messenger — the mainstream media. But few among the self-righteous, often hypocritical right wing care to acknowledge that the messenger is simply delivering the message. That’s its job.
And it’s not as if this messenger-shooting arises from an original thought or two. No, those who attack the "liberal media" for having an agenda and for subjective reporting, parrot the conservative news machine operators like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage and the others.
On many instances, you can hear the spin from Rush early in the day, then hear it again verbatim from the blind-led-by-the-Republican-spin-machine later the same day.
When "news" outlets like Al-Jazeera run one-sided stories intended only to make America the perennial villain of the world, aren’t we justifiably outraged at its selective bias and outright lying? Why isn’t there similar outrage from Red Staters who embrace the idea of "democracy for Iraq and the Middle East," but curse the vehicles of democracy here, namely the mainstream media and the individuals who hate it when government spits in their faces, then tells them "it’s raining?"
Arthur Gurmankin
Bustleton




Smart Republicans

Maybe Barbara O’Donnell (A battle cry for the Republicans, Feb. 23 letter to the editor) hasn’t been paying attention. I have yet to hear any normal Democrats say anything bad about our armed forces.
Of course there are a lot of idiots out there that will throw anything against the wall hoping something will stick, but when you lump everyone in the same boat it means you are not paying attention. It would be like me saying that all Republicans are so dumb they lump everyone in the same boat.
We know that all Republicans are not dumb. Some of them are smart enough that they are now trying to distance themselves away from Mr. Bush.
Rus Slawter
Bustleton




Don’t drain

the COLA

Lately, the federal government has given federal employees every year a COLA (cost of living adjustment). Blue Cross/Blue Shield almost immediately raises its health insurance premiums, thus almost wiping out the COLA.
I do not believe insurance claims that federal employees submit to Blue Cross/Blue Shield exceed the insurance premiums paid into the insurer (Blue Cross/Blue Shield). If Medicare would take over completely federal employees’ health needs, maybe the government COLA would remain intact.
John Horner
Oxford Circle

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