Letters | Token battle: This is war!

RE SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney's spin that it would be "easier for everybody involved to switch to a weekly or monthly TransPass" and that SEPTA "wants to get out of the transfer and token business," I offer this:

I take the Market-Frankford El every day from the FTC to 15th Street at a cost of $13 a week or $52 a month using tokens. Now you want me to pay $20.75 a week or $78 a month for my ride into the office? Exactly who is it easier for if everybody switches to a weekly or monthly TransPass? By my math, SEPTA!

Don't think for one minute that SEPTA's getting out of the "token business" will not be met with fierce resistance.

James J. Dowling Jr., Philadelphia

English is our tongue

If our elected officials are really serious on immigration reform, then the first thing that should be passed is a law making English the official language of the United States.

John Pawlik, Philadelphia

Fixing the minimum wage

The American Dream is about a land of opportunity where people who work hard will succeed.

The presidential candidates recently sought support from hard-working Philadelphians ("Promises aplenty here," July 3). So why, when too many working Philadelphians are threatened by poverty, was Sen. Edwards the only one talking about the crisis of poverty and how to decrease the rising number of working poor?

Although Pennsylvania's new minimum wage certainly provides a better starting point, poverty in our city will not be eliminated until the minimum compensation is commensurate with the cost of living. Sen. Edwards' plan to index the minimum wage with the rise in average wages is the first long-term solution that has been proposed.

Wayne MacManiman

Mid-Atlantic Area Director

SEIU Local 32BJ, Philadelphia