Letters to the Editor
Police should enforce bike law I'm glad to see that Mayor Nutter has provided "safe" bike lanes for the cyclists. I drove out Spruce Street from Second to 19th Streets and saw four people on bikes. Two were on the sidewalks; one was in the automobile lane; and only one was in the bike lane. Hardly mission accomplished.
Police should
enforce bike law
I'm glad to see that Mayor Nutter has provided "safe" bike lanes for the cyclists. I drove out Spruce Street from Second to 19th Streets and saw four people on bikes. Two were on the sidewalks; one was in the automobile lane; and only one was in the bike lane. Hardly mission accomplished.
Now if the mayor would just order the Police Department to enforce the already existing law and keep the cyclists off the sidewalks, the pedestrians could be safe too.
I. Milton Karabell
Philadelphia
Or, to put it
another way . . .
OK, you finally achieved your hard-fought goal: a river-to-river bike path.
Now, get your environmentally pure, traffic-decongesting, exercise- inducing, air-cleansing, resource- conserving conveyances off the #!$*&! sidewalks.
Richard Epstein
Westmont
A 'public plan'
would be costly
When it comes to politics, the best sign that you've got it right is when you're being attacked from both sides. The long-awaited bill from the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.) is drawing criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.
As a member of the New Jersey Association of Health Underwriters, I commend President Obama for saying he will not sign a bill that will increase the deficit. The Baucus bill currently stays within those lines, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But adding a "public plan" will drive up the cost of the bill to the point where it will no longer be revenue neutral.
Obama has told us we will be able to keep our current health insurance if we are happy with it. But adding a public plan that competes on unequal footing with private plans will change the whole equation.
As the public plan dictates what it will pay doctors and hospitals - just like Medicare and Medicaid - lost revenue will be shifted onto private plan ratepayers.
Douglas Lubenow
Mount Laurel
Gouged
by the meter
I came out of a downtown diner on Saturday morning to find that I had a parking ticket. I was puzzled at first because I was certain that I had put more than enough money in to cover my time in the restaurant. Then I looked up to see the sign I had overlooked classifying the section of curb as "handicapped parking only."
Expecting a fine between $30 and $50, I was floored when I saw that the 40 minutes I spent in the diner would cost me $301 for parking. How can city officials justify such an outrageous fine? Yes, I know Philadelphia has budget problems, but the money it is getting in fining and impounding parked cars is likely more than offset by lost revenues from driving away tourists and businesses.
Robyn Wall
Philadelphia
Problem
solved?
Didn't Philadelphia "solve" its budget problems with a little creative accounting and weasel wording?
Moving dollar classifications to a future date merely changes a legal obligation from a current liability to a long-term liability. A balance sheet or equity position considers assets minus liabilities to reveal net worth. Whether the liabilities are current or long-term, they remain valid liabilities. The only proper way to improve net worth or net value is to properly lower or remove certain liabilities.
This would include the all-too-generous liabilities Philadelphia has incurred for pension and other benefits. To improve the financial position, these liabilities must be lowered and/or canceled. With the strength of the municipal unions, this is perhaps an impossible task. Meanwhile, let's paint the proper picture for the citizenry.
David W. Campbell
Philadelphia