Letters to the Editor - 6/22/2009

Temporary insanity

Editor: Gov. Ed Rendell wants another temporary tax.

We had one in 1936 to help recover from the Johnstown Flood. That tax, which started out at 10 percent on liquor, is now at 18 percent. It's not going to Johnstown but to the state government to do as they wish.

In 1991 the income tax was raised from 2.1 percent to 3.1 percent for one year. The only problem is that after one year, it was reset to 2.8 percent. In 2003 the government raised it to 3.07 percent.

This government does not know the meaning of the word temporary. It is time for Mr. Rendell to step up and make the cuts to this massive and overpriced government he runs. If he took a hard look at the wasteful spending and took a hard line, it would put a big dent in his deficit.

This lame duck governor only knows one way - tax the little guy so we can keep our political contributors working. It's time for him to finally do the right thing.

RON SANKO

Blakely

Little guy pays

Editor: I agree with John Ciabocchi's June 8 letter regarding tax on tobacco - and I do not smoke.

I also generally do not drink sodas, and I understand they are also are considering placing a tax on that.

The government is looking for more money because of the actions of the CEOs and others who fueled the current economic disaster. They should be made to pay, rather than us.

The American people trusted them and because of them there is all of this ridiculous talk of taxing us. I have a hard time finding words to describe these taxes to those of us who have already suffered from the actions of those who caused the meltdown.

Those in lofty positions caused this economic tsunami. Their attitude seems to be "so what, I'll just exit on my golden parachute."

RITA BOSAVAGE

Scranton

Safer rides

Editor: Each day, there are about 350 crashes on Pennsylvania roads that - on average - claim the lives of four people. That's why PennDOT has developed "Drive Safe PA," an initiative to save at least 100 or more lives on Pennsylvania roads each year.

PennDOT will achieve this by working with 16 Pennsylvania state police troops and more than 400 local police departments around the state to implement targeted enforcement in high-crash areas. PennDOT will also develop and promote educational materials related to highway safety topics such as child passenger safety and bicycle and pedestrian safety. This year PennDOT will also install low-cost safety engineering improvements such as 800 miles of centerline rumble strips along selected roadways.

These programs can be much more effective with the public's help. Each driver must make a commitment to safety. School officials, business leaders, civic groups and other organizations are asked to do all they can to promote safe driving.

To help spread the word, PennDOT has developed the DriveSafePA.org Web site. It offers comprehensive information on the role driver behaviors play in highway safety. You can find tips ranging from bicycle safety to mature drivers to school bus safety, as well as information on Pennsylvania's DUI law and other recently enacted laws. The Web site is a starting point to help generate ideas and discussions about highway safety.

Please join PennDOT and its highway safety partners in this life-saving endeavor to create a safer ride for everyone who uses Pennsylvania roads.

SCOTT CHRISTIE

PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Highway Administration

All flued out

Editor: When I was a boy it was turtle fever. At that time, sometime in the 1940s, the culprits were baby terrapins sold in novelty stores in New York City. But the turtles with their painted shells were endangering the entire metropolitan area. The city fathers acted decisively. The decorated turtles were banned and the city saved. Saved from turtles but not from birds.

In the 1950s parakeets were the rage. Every pet store had cages filled with the sparrow-sized parrots. But their appeal was beguiling. Parakeets were the Typhoid Mary of the bird world. They were spreading the dreaded parrot fever. As fearful as this potential plague was, like its reptilian predecessor, it proved relatively harmless.

In the mid 1970s, the birds handed the disease baton to the pigs; it was the swine flu. (Fever had been upgraded to a more ominously sounding flu.) The government panicked. President Ford took control.

A nationwide vaccination program was initiated. Forty-six million lined up to take the shot. But this time the effect was deadly. No, not from the swine flu but from the vaccine. More than 30 died as a result of the "protective" vaccine and hundreds were temporarily paralyzed, a few permanently. Even so, it was a success for the drug companies. In today's dollars they garnered about $500 million.

Enter the bats. In 2002 the nation was in a thither. SARS, a pulmonary disease originating in bats, was a strong candidate for a pandemic. (Epidemics had been jumped up to world-wide status.) But it was a pandemic in search of a disease. No one died in the United States.

Anthrax, hoof-and-mouth, and mad cow diseases made brief guest appearances with much sound and fury but bowed out quietly.

Now we're back to the piggy flu. Thus far Big Pharma has received $1.3 billion from government largess. Is it worth it? Well, for the drug companies, absolutely. But for those on the sharp end of the needle, it's a maybe. One man, however, won't be in the porcine queue. You see, he's all flued out.

BOB SCROGGINS

New Milford, Pike County

Play hard ball

Editor: Kudos to the Lackawanna County commissioners for sticking by their guns and not jumping at building a new baseball stadium in these hard economic times. Whether the New York Yankees and their partners will exercise their option to purchase and remove the county-owned franchise remains to be seen. They still are having problems filling all the seats at the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Meanwhile, we have heard nothing as to whether the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees made a profit in 2008. We learned that in 2007, the inaugural year, a record attendance produced a revenue of about $7 million. In spite of this, the county's share of the profits was only about $250,000.

The taxpayers could only hope that our share in 2008, if there were any profits in spite of a nearly 100,000 decline in attendance, will be enough to cover the cost of the estimated $157,000 in needed stadium repairs.

JOHN HUTZKY

Madison Twp.

Midstream shuffle

Editor: COLTS seeks new proposals to finish the plans prepared by the original architects who were hired without complying with federal acquisition guidelines (Transport hub pact nixed, June 19).

This would require that the new designers accept full liability for plans that they did not prepare. It is unclear whether the professional liability underwriters would insure the new architect for any errors or omissions committed by others. Secondly, the new architects may be exposed to a federal copyright lawsuit for accepting, reproducing, or using the plans prepared by another architect without their express written permission.

When asked if they would grant permission to others to use the plans, the original architects are quoted as saying, "I wouldn't say that."

Attention all attorneys, prepare for battle stations.

EUGENE M. OGOZALEK

Scranton