Letters to the Editor
Kemp helped Philadelphians Many looked upon Jack Kemp and Chaka Fattah as the odd couple. He was a Republican, and I was a Democrat, but we found common ground on the issue of providing decent and affordable housing to those in urban areas.
Kemp helped
Philadelphians
Many looked upon Jack Kemp and Chaka Fattah as the odd couple. He was a Republican, and I was a Democrat, but we found common ground on the issue of providing decent and affordable housing to those in urban areas.
We worked together to reform the Philadelphia Housing Authority. As a result, we were able to rid Philadelphia of those run-down high-rise buildings and move thousands of Philadelphia families into rehabilitated homes.
As chairman of the Congressional Urban Caucus, I continue the work Jack Kemp and I started years ago to revitalize America's urban communities by building up infrastructure, creating jobs, and providing affordable housing. He was a man of warmth and vision, a friend to urban America, and he will be missed.
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.)
Washington
Put limits
on all contributions
In the wake of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision to overturn the state's ban on campaign contributions from casino interests, there is an obvious way to limit the potential for contributions from gaming and other interests to corrupt public officials.
Simply limit campaign contributions from all donors to all candidates for the state legislature and statewide offices. A big check is a big check and can corrupt a public official, even if it is a gift from an industry that does not have ties to organized crime.
James Browning
Associate director for development
Common Cause Pennsylvania
Bala Cynwyd
Doubting
casino poll
Just who did the Pew Charitable Trust pollsters call, and did they ask leading questions, before concluding that Philadelphians support riverfront gambling?
They didn't call me; they didn't call my neighbors.
For thousands and thousands of us who live or work near the Delaware River and/or use the major commuting roads or shops here, the locations are front and center in our sight and in our minds every single day!
Foxwoods doesn't belong in the heart of my riverfront Philadelphia; SugarHouse doesn't belong in the heart of my Northern Liberties/Fishtown neighbors' Philadelphia, either.
Mary O. Reinhart
Philadelphia
Waterboarding
killed no one
It illustrated the Chester County Peace Movement's moral blind spot when director Karen Porter's letter Wednesday ("Torture 'worked' ") equated the Spanish Inquisition (5,000 dead), Hitler's Final Solution (six million) and the Soviet Gulag (19 million) with waterboarding, which claimed no lives at all.
Where was the CCPM's outrage when captured U.S. soldiers were beheaded and their bodies mutilated?
Raoul Deming
Chester Springs
Show both sides
of torture
Lately the news has been inundated with one-sided stories about Americans torturing prisoners. News outlets also want to publish photos of American troops in coffins as they return from the ongoing war.
Somehow, the United States has the burden of having to prove to the rest of the world, and especially the Islamic believers, that we in America have created this utopian country seemingly devoid of all evil behavior. All of which sounds good to the other side, but if we're going to level the playing field, shouldn't the media also show torture committed by the enemy?
Larry Lueder
Mantua
Government can't
guarantee happiness
I think Jonathan Zimmerman missed the point in his column on Glenn Beck and the Fox News Channel ("No love of the common man," Thursday).
It has always been my understanding that this country was founded on the principle that its citizens are free to seek out life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without the interference of their national government. As in all endeavors, some people are better than others. I don't think it was ever the intention of the Founding Fathers that the national government would provide for those who fail, only that it would guarantee their freedom in trying. Somehow this concept has mutated into a national government that has assumed under the Welfare Clause the unauthorized power to provide these things, and to intrude into many, many other parts of our lives.
The more power that the government assumes, the greater the potential that the power will be abused.
Mike Morgan
East Goshen