Letters:

The 'Comical Ali'

of the economy

When Vice President Biden speaks about the economic recovery under way ("Biden says stimulus succeeding," Tuesday), he reminds me of the now-famous "Comical Ali," who was in denial about the fall of Baghdad. As U.S. forces were marching through the city, Ali, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, was still telling anyone who would listen that the Americans would be defeated.

According to most observers, the stimulus has not worked. In fact, it was reported recently that stimulus money was saving jobs in congressional districts that don't even exist. It's obvious that this administration and Congress fall short on the truth when it comes to almost anything having to do with the economy.

If I were Biden, I'd ask my boss to stop making me look like a fool.

Jerry Komar

Collingswood

Cutting back care

won't solve crisis

As of now, one of the only things the U.S. health-care system is doing right is practicing good preventative medicine. In regards to screening for cervical cancer and catching cancer early (last Sunday), the United States rates much higher than New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and Britain. Although these extra Pap smears slightly increase expenditures, is this really our largest concern? We should be worrying about the uninsured not having access to health care.

"Taking away" health care, will not solve our health-care crisis. If we start cutting back on preventative medicine, more people will end up in the hospital with surgeries and tests that cost much more than Pap smears.

Mikaela Kislevitz

Ridgewood

City bike lanes

were ill-conceived

Although the dedicated bike lanes in the city were well-intentioned, they were ill-conceived. Very few people are foolish enough to actually use them. They are dangerous for the bicyclist, pedestrians, and drivers - who have accidents trying to avoid the bicycles.

Technically, almost all drivers break the law whenever they make a right turn across the bike lanes. But what is the alternative? The laws regarding turns over a bike lane - if there are any - are vague and unenforceable for practical reasons.

As more and more people join the foolish few who ride their bikes in city traffic, it is inevitable that more people will get killed or injured. You can blame the driver, the cyclist, weather, pedestrians, or anyone else, but the real blame should go to the myopic-minded folks who approved this blunder.

Center City traffic is already horrible during commuter hours. Apparently it made sense to our city planners to spend a bundle of taxpayer money to take one lane away from cars and create a lane that very few people use.

Vernon J. Linder

Perkasie

U.S. must act

to keep the peace

A letter writer expressed the opinion that 9/11 was not an act of war, but a mere crime committed by "a band of disjointed religious fanatics" (Tuesday). The writer believes the Bush administration labeled these actions an act of war only out of a desire "to cover their behinds for what they were about to do," meaning Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's tragic that individuals write off the actions of presidents involved in unpopular foreign wars as irrelevant and see only domestic concerns as threats to our nation.

George Washington's advice to avoid foreign entanglements, relevant in the 1790s, is a fantasy in the modern world. Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Bush understood something that many Americans refuse to accept: The world will not fix itself and cannot be left to its own devices if we want to live on a truly safe and peaceful planet.

John Baxter

Newtown Square

Dredging to 45 feet

won't be enough

The Army Corps of Engineers' plan to dredge the Delaware River to 45 feet from its current 40-foot depth is shortsighted and will not add new businesses on the Delaware, which is the stated purpose of such an undertaking. It is necessary to dredge to 50 feet to accommodate future cargo ships that will be built to navigate the widened Panama Canal in 2012.

If the corps dredges to 45 feet, Philadelphia will enjoy only a few short years of handling the current large ships now using Baltimore, New York, and Norfolk, Va., which all have 50-foot channels. This short time frame will not be enough to attract new business to the area.

If Philly wants to continue as a feeder port, don't dredge. Otherwise, go to 50 feet and deal with the environmental impact such an undertaking would involve. Isn't such an idea worthy of stimulus money?

Don Proctor

Philadelphia