Corbett guts education

Letter to the PG Editor: A link between slashing education funding and fracking?A link betwen education and fracking.

After slashing education funding (despite a funding increase to the Pennsylvania prison system), Gov. Tom Corbett's party suggests that in addition to allowing gas drilling in pristine state forests, we encourage it on school property -- specifically at universities. Never mind the unknown health implications; this suggestion exposes dishonest policymaking.
Education improves earning potential, enhances society, allows graduates to get good-paying jobs and stay in Pennsylvania and improves almost every metric in quality of life measures. Mr. Corbett drastically cut funding to public education.
At the school district level, Mr. Corbett's education budget places unfair stress on poor districts, forces cuts to needed programs and will likely cause local tax increases.
Mr. Corbett's priorities are clear: profits to drillers and a strange disdain for education. It is now an unfortunate reality that the two are so clearly related.


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/letters/education-disdain-638127/#ixzz2CP452oZm

After slashing education funding (despite a funding increase to the Pennsylvania prison system), Gov. Tom Corbett's party suggests that in addition to allowing gas drilling in pristine state forests, we encourage it on school property -- specifically at universities. Never mind the unknown health implications; this suggestion exposes dishonest policymaking.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/letters/education-disdain-638127/#ixzz2CP4E5RD0

After slashing education funding (despite a funding increase to the Pennsylvania prison system), Gov. Tom Corbett's party suggests that in addition to allowing gas drilling in pristine state forests, we encourage it on school property -- specifically at universities. Never mind the unknown health implications; this suggestion exposes dishonest policymaking.
Education improves earning potential, enhances society, allows graduates to get good-paying jobs and stay in Pennsylvania and improves almost every metric in quality of life measures. Mr. Corbett drastically cut funding to public education.
At the school district level, Mr. Corbett's education budget places unfair stress on poor districts, forces cuts to needed programs and will likely cause local tax increases.
Mr. Corbett's priorities are clear: profits to drillers and a strange disdain for education. It is now an unfortunate reality that the two are so clearly related.


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/letters/education-disdain-638127/#ixzz2CP452oZm

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Religious Freedom versus Individual Liberty

The Republican primary contestants and some leaders in the Catholic Church claim that the provision requiring religious insitutions who offer healthcare must include coverage for birth control is a violation of religious freedom. The Democratic pundits and several women's groups claim it is a violation of womens' ability to have the personal liberty to guide their reproductive health. They are both wrong.
Health care and health care providers have a sacred duty to provide health care to those they represent. Religious health care providers can choose not to work in heath care sectors which offer services they do not believe in.
Consumers of health care plans can choose not to receive services they do not believe in. Catholic women do not have to take birth control pills even if their insurance plan will pay for them. Just as catholic men do not have to purchase condoms in a drug store if they have a religious objection.
Following the logic of those that cry religious freedom is attacked because an option is made available, drug stores should not be allowed to sell condoms. But what about the religious freedom of those that do not have a moral opposition to birth control?
Following the logic of those that claim this provision restricts womens' ability to choose what is best for their reproductive care, then that assumes all women have an inability to wisely choose where they receive their health care.
An independent solution realizes why we have a separation of church doctrine and state policy. It also realizes that individuals ultimately have the personal ability to make their own choices. The outcome of birth control is that unwanted pregnancies are prevented. The ultimate birth control, according to many religious beliefs (and in practical reality) is abstinance. Objective data shows abstinance only programs in the public sector are inneffective in preventing unwanted pregnancies. The personal teaching of abstinance to family members may be more effective. Health Care policy is, and should remain a public sector decision. How parents weave their religious beliefs into what they teach their children should remain a private matter.
For those that choose birth control, unwanted pregnancies and abortion rates will be lower. This is a policy result that those that argue either position on this topic can be happy about.

Jack Kelly is Wrong

Jack Kelly's Jan. 3 column ("Blowing Up Liberal Shibboleths") is typical of his style and what has come to dominate opinion pieces: a distortion of facts for partisan bickering. Mr. Kelly, like writers on both sides, offers selective information to support his opinion, rather than arriving at his conclusion after reviewing the information.
He describes the Transportation Security Administration as a "bumbling empire" when it successfully assists 10 million commercial flights a year to operate safely in the United States. He then opines that "hurting the feelings of Muslims" affects President Barack Obama's security policies. Mr. Kelly should also know that of the 1 billion people who practice the Islamic faith, fewer than 1 percent are involved in active radical jihadist activities.
What Mr. Kelly really exposed is not a weakness in Mr. Obama's approach, or an issue with Islam, but the weakness of his writing. Why is someone who distorts facts given space in the Post-Gazette?

URA?

The report by Mark Belko about the URA's involvement in the Strip District is concerning ("URA Approves Deal for Strip Development," March 12).
While it is a laudable goal to improve the area with recreational riverfront opportunities, it makes no sense not to renew the agreements with current occupants of the produce terminal. The URA's mission includes, "creating jobs ... and working with businesses."
So why would businesses that are staples of the area be relocated for what the mayor's office feels are "the highest and best use" of their space?
The mayor, Sen. Jim Ferlo and the URA should keep their plans away from successful businesses and instead grant the terminal a historic designation. The Strip should look like Pittsburgh, not a "redeveloped" common area with no unique character.

Jack Kelly is Wrong

Jack Kelly is at it again, writing a column of distortions and half-truths. He claims the president is "in bed with big oil" ("Sloth in Charge," May 30). However, President Barack Obama's contributions from employees of oil companies represented only 1
10,000th of his campaign donations. Mr. Kelly also claims the federal government "dithered" in construction of berms in the gulf. The delay came while Mr. Obama demanded BP fund the berms, and they eventually provided money in escrow for the project — a project that many scientists believe will not be effective.
Finally, Mr. Kelly's implication that federal regulators' poor response is Mr. Obama's fault ignores history. The agency charged with oversight of oil exploration was gutted by the Bush administration. In 2005 shortly after an energy summit with Dick Cheney at the White House, a provision in a defense appropriations bill allowed off-shore drilling to be regulated, in effect, by the oil companies themselves. This lack of regulatory oversight represents another problem Mr. Obama inherited from a former administration truly "in bed" with big oil.
Mr. Kelly is just as delusional as those who allow deep-water drilling to continue without a reasonable plan to deal with these inevitable disasters.

DDT

DDT is not safe
Letter writer Don Adler misrepresents the environmental accomplishments of Rachel Carson and misinforms readers about the spread of malaria ("Blame Rachel," July 31). DDT, or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, is a neurotoxin that has been shown to kill animals and disrupt the food chain (thereby potentially increasing insect populations). It is still in use today but has failed to eradicate malaria in Africa.
One reason is that those who succumb to its effects are often poor and live in small shacks or huts near pools of stagnant water and lack access to sanitation and clean drinking water. The World Health Organization has also linked the malarial spread to "rapidly spreading resistance to antimalarial drugs, climatic changes and population movements."
The "DDT is safe" chorus has unfortunately found its way into some media outlets that choose to rehash the rantings of a few lone bloggers.
To control malaria, policies are needed to lift people out of poverty, provide immunizations and proper childhood nutrition, limit the effects of climate change and provide clean water sources to people regardless of their economic status. These are all causes of the modern environmental movement championed by Rachel Carson.
Thanks, Rachel!

League of Women Voters Rocks

Thank you, league
I want to show support for The League of Women voters and their continued efforts to allow voters to hear candidates in a public forum prior to casting their votes ("Pledge Incites Peters Debate," Oct. 28). The league is nonpartisan and hosts many debates. It has rules so that the people who come to the debate hear issues and not talking points.
Candidates should respect the rules (which they have agreed upon in advance) and each other even when their positions differ. The audience should do the same. Standing up and shouting that the debate is "un-American" or accusing the moderator of being "agenda-driven" serves no purpose and further shows a lack of knowledge of what the league does. I would suggest that holding a debate is not "unpatriotic," but using a debate in an attempt to create a phony controversy is.
STEVE KARASForest Hills

Jack Kelly is Wrong Again

Jack Kelly's Feb. 13 column ("Beware the Muslim Brotherhood") is another directly slanted commentary that completely misses the mark. He claims President Barack Obama has been "caught ... by surprise" by the events in Egypt and has given mixed signals. Mr. Kelly must not have heard the president's Cairo speech or his inaugural address, in which he said dictators who "cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent" are "on the wrong side of history."
What Mr. Kelly fails to understand is something that President Obama does understand: People in the Middle East can retake their country without the direct intervention of the United States, or the forceable imposition of what Mr. Kelly calls "Western-style democracy." Mr. Kelly was a cheerleader for the Iraq War, in the name of freedom, which left hundreds of thousands dead.
However, it is perplexing that now he seems deeply concerned when a peaceful, intrinsic protest removes a dictator without the cost and lives that were required in Iraq. Mr. Kelly should remember the argument from the prior administration whose military intervention, it was thought, would produce a cascade of democracy in the Middle East. What is happening now, in a mostly peaceful manner, may actually achieve that goal.

Post Gazette LTE

Braddock progress
Your Monday piece about Braddock Mayor John Fetterman was timely considering the upcoming primary ("Braddock Mayor Has His Critics," May 4). As a council member of a neighboring municipality I would like to report on some changes I have noticed in Braddock since Mayor Fetterman's arrival.
Obvious aesthetic changes include: basketball courts, murals, re-paved roads, trees, an urban garden, UPMC additions, new housing and several revitalized buildings on historic Library Street. Practical additions have included a stronger youth program, a jobs center, a vegetable-based fuel business, a district art show, a farmer's market, creative artists space and the return of the annual street fair.
While it is true that many people have worked to keep Braddock viable since the loss of the steel industry and no one disputes that, Mayor Fetterman's unique character and dedication have created a buzz that has generated grants for the town, politicians' attention and movement on the much-delayed neighboring Carrie Furnace development and Rankin bridge repairs next to the popular Waterfront.
The residents of Braddock would be well-served to embrace the change that their mayor has helped them realize and work with him to continue to move their neighborhood forward.

Too much in our stuff.

Driving today I noticed that even though a lot of cars look exactly the same, you can only tell what features they have if you take the time to examine the letters after their names. As the letters change you get more stuff. Stuff like better AC, a bigger engine, sun roof, and leather seats. For example, the BMW 3, 5, and 7 series. Each of them look the same to me, but there are even more combination of letters on those. The i, the ix, and the l. The letters seem to change every year. At some point it was the S, IS, and the M. As the letters change, the prices go up. The BMW's are dependable cars and get you where you are going, exactly what a car is supposed to do. But they also have features such as leather heated or cooled seats, heated steering wheel, navigation systems, DVD screens with headphones, satellite radio, hands free phones, heated and or cooled cup holders, and much more. Their maximum speeds are more than twice the legal limit and they poses enough horse power to merge into any possible traffic scenario. I wondered why people had to advertise what type of car they were driving, and how what was on the outside even mattered when you are inside driving it? Why do you need to drive a race car to work? Does anyone need that much horsepower to pick up some takeout? Are letters on the back of our cars the new status symbol or do we simply buy more car than we need? Do we buy more of everything we need? Only the blind should qualify for an 80 inch plasma TV. Who needs surround sound? Do we really need to be surrounded with anything? Why am I paying for 110 cable channels? I couldn't get it out of my mind...so I came home and pulled out my DELL 6000 computer with Windows XP, game, video, camera, and multiple other programs I have never opened...and used it for word processing. Then hopped on my titanium framed racing bike, which is held up by a stationary trainer and thought some more.

Post Gazette LTE

Controlling forces

The Dec. 17 editorial "Drilled" falsely claims in the subhead that "Consumers Will Pay for Lack of Oil Exploration." The editorial board is assuming that gas prices are based on supply and demand. They are not. Gas prices are manipulated by multinational oil companies and OPEC.
The economics of oil is not based on a supply-and-demand model. And the true economic, public health and environmental costs of fossil fuels are not included in the price. Unless we move to renewable sources, such as solar, the price of which typically goes down as demand for its use increases, we will continue to see energy and gas prices that are controlled by sources other than the free market.

Post Gazette LTE

This election must be about addressing the issues

David M. Shribman's Sept. 14 column, "A Wide Open Election," may be factually accurate, but it is not what the voters want or need to hear. Since the nominees of each party have been selected, we continue to hear about strategy and personality and not issues.
Our unemployment rate is now just over 6 percent. Worker productivity continues to rise, but wages are stagnant and the price of food, gasoline and daily essentials are rising. This means that although the average American is working harder, he or she is able to afford less. The economy is not working for many Americans.

The war in Iraq continues, and the war in Afghanistan grinds forward with its deadliest month since its start. The credit crisis continues to grow as Freddie and Fannie, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and now potentially AIG have crumbled. The majority of voters do not want our government to bail out large companies or provide the individual with a handout, but they do expect a functioning government to proactively address these issues.

It is not liberal bias to say that during the past eight years the administration has failed to do so. It is certainly more important to remind voters of these facts and speak to the issues than to concentrate on the political spectacle.

It's Joe

Everyone will have a say on what the meaning of Obama picking Joe Biden is and what the impact will be on the election. How can the change candidate pick a Washington insider? Why didn't he pick Hillary? Is he admitting his foreign policy weakness? Did he cave to the Washington insiders? Is Biden like Cheney? Is he giving up on Virginia? Why didn't he really pick someone unique? And it will go on and on and on and on...

The reality is VP picks just don't matter. They never have swayed any presidential race, ever. What will matter is how Obama uses Biden. He can have Biden respond to the attacks from McCain. He can have Biden do the attacking. Either way the choice of Biden doesn't really matter, but of course, I have to have my say. I think it brings into focus the clear policy choices in this election: the economy, jobs, and Iraq.

Biden's age, Washington experience, and ties to his son's lobbying firms takes all of theose arguments off the table. They did not seem to be allowing Obama to surge ahead of McCain even though his message of change may have secured him the democratic nomination. The age of Biden and McCain may bring Obama some older voters, but it takes McCain's age off the table. Obama's lack of Washington experience can't be used against the ticket, because Biden brings that time. McCain's lobbyist ties can't be used against him because Biden, after so many DC years, no doubt has the same ties. It also will defuse the race card. Biden's off color comment, although not intentional, (clean and neat quote) may be replayed. Obama can show that he can rise above it and even, possibly, attract some white voters who have issue with his race.

Since all of these superficial items are off the table, since those in glass houses should not throw stones, what will we talk about? Issues? I think that is waht Obama is hoping. For in the category of issues important to the American voter, the average voter, the one that has not had the time to consider who they are going to voter for, Obama will win. He will win on the economy: more McCain / Bush trickle down, supply side talking points will be dead in the water. The argument that McCain / Bush have generated that freeing big business increases jobs does not hold water when a voter's job has been sent to Mexico. And finally, people are just tired of Iraq. The majority of Americans think it was a bad idea, think we should get out, and realize we were all fooled into going there in the first place.

Will the trivial be ignored and the issues actually argued? I believe that is Obama's hope and hope is a powerful thing.