I once had a friend from Jersey visit me. She parked in "his spot" and he was outside scowling when she got in her car to leave. Not even a minute later he moved his van into that spot. So now, if I have a choice of spots and none of them are in front of my home, I'll park right between his white lines!

It's amazing how loony some people can be - especially when it comes to parking spots on a street that is as big as the one that I live on. There are other things they should be worrying about!!

Heather Steinberg

Bustleton

Giant warning for Krajewski

Hey, Joan Krajewski, when was the last time you ran a supermarket? What a stupid statement you made when you said that you didn't think the Giant Market planned for Grant Avenue and Blue Grass Road would hurt the other stores that much.

Where the devil do you think that the business will come from? It will come from all the stores in the area. It's just great that the contractors will have a year's work, but when they walk away they will be taking the jobs and pensions of their fellow union workers with them. For the sake of one year for the contractors and the 300 or more jobs that Giant will offer, you and City Council will destroy the lives and pensions of hundreds of union employees. SHAME ON ALL OF YOU.

But fear not, because all of you will surely feel the wrath of those people you hurt sometime in the future.

I, for one, believe that there was more to it than meets the eye when it came to passing that bill.

Catherine Gilbert

Holiday and Shop N Bag Markets

Close the Delaware loophole

It has been more than six years since I first introduced legislation to close the infamous "Delaware Loophole" to create a fairer corporate tax environment for Pennsylvania's families and small businesses.

So far, large corporations have employed the same skill and evasiveness in avoiding the legislation as they have in avoiding paying their fair share of corporate taxes.

This year, with the state facing a deficit of more than $3 billion, and small businesses being counted upon to lead the economic recovery that can prevent future deficits, my legislation targeting the loophole is more of a necessity than an option. Since I introduced Senate Bill 227 in February, the state's budget crisis has steadily deepened. Many of my Senate colleagues have now joined me in the effort, and we are trying to make the bill part of the final budget package.

If the legislature fails to modernize our corporate tax laws, every Pennsylvania citizen will be forced to make up the difference through potential increases to sales taxes, property taxes, state income taxes and drastic cuts to services.

In Philadelphia and across the commonwealth, residents have already paid a high price. I can remember a day when the streets were lined with small, neighborhood businesses and were crowded with shoppers into the night. While there are several factors that have contributed to the extinction of those hardware stores, office supply stores and toy stores, there is one that we could have - and should have - prevented.

Large, multi-state corporations have been able to create Delaware subsidiaries to which they pay exorbitant rent and royalties so they can write off those expenses on their Pennsylvania tax forms. Today, less than one-quarter of Pennsylvania corporations pay any state income tax at all. The state Department of Revenue estimates that half of the companies that pay no tax are using Delaware subsidiaries to hide income from Pennsylvania.