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Letters to the Editor

Obama must target Pentagon Three cheers for President Obama, whose State of the Union address targeted some of the culprits of economic woe for millions of Americans: fraudulent lenders and corporate offshorers of jobs ("Obama asks fair shot for all," Wednesday). The pres

Obama must target Pentagon

Three cheers for President Obama, whose State of the Union address targeted some of the culprits of economic woe for millions of Americans: fraudulent lenders and corporate offshorers of jobs ("Obama asks fair shot for all," Wednesday). The president vowed relief in the form of prosecution and tax-code reform, to hold accountable those who have profited from lax law enforcement and tax loopholes. He even braved the rough waters of Pentagon spending cuts, by offering to use war savings to plug the deficit and mend our infrastructure, an offer guaranteed to bring crocodile tears from a Defense Department that is used to ever-growing budgets. With the considerable amount of money allocated to the military, there is an answer to the question, "Where will the money come from to accomplish Obama's goals?" It has to come from shrinking the Pentagon. Is the president brave enough to target that culprit?

Jane Dugdale, Bryn Mawr

Pitting one group against another

Many in the media are purposely expediting the collapse of American culture with relentless observations on the differences in people's income. They directly and indirectly promote the idea that the government is there to take care of all, by controlling and redistributing personal income. The belief that a central-command government can control the general welfare is not only faulty economics but also personally self-destructive. Aside from the obvious intent of pitting one group against the other for political reasons, such news presentation clearly reveals anticapitalist bias and an unrealistic one-world view. World government is not compatible with human liberty.

Henry Coxe, Ambler

Penn State's priorities

The editorial "Stay focused, Penn State" (Thursday) was timely and on target. What about the academic reputation of this great land-grant institution? What faculty member, from Nobel winner to lowly assistant professor, would want to teach at Football U.? Why haven't the students and alums been up in arms over the possible decline in the national and international academic reputation of the Penn State faculty? Most venal of all is the obvious absence of any major concern regarding these questions from the institution's trustees. Are they sports or academic trustees?

Penn State and other "football" schools would do well to consider bowing out of a few bowl bids once in a while, or canceling a season of football as a way of saying that the growth of students' intellect and character come first on a school's must-do list.

Thomas M. Ricks, Havertown

In praise of small parishes

After the closing of parochial schools, the continued existence of small parishes will be a chief concern for Philadelphia Catholics. Retired Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit praised small parishes in a homily last December:

"So often it seems as if what is happening means that small parishes can't exist any more, and I think that will be such a loss. ... I must tell you that it's in the small parishes where I most of all experience the presence of God, because in a small parish people do gather together and they know one another. They care about one another. There is a bond of love based on common faith that makes them very close. . . . People have moved, we are told, so now we have to let go of the churches that are too small so we can take care of the big churches where everybody becomes anonymous. What a tragedy. ...

"I sense it in any small community where I go. The faith of the people is alive. They come together because they do believe. ... I hope we find a way to give leadership to those communities so they don't have to die. God is present and God can keep them vibrant and alive."

Frank McGinty, Jenkintown

Grateful for Catholic school lessons

I share Orlando R. Barone's gratitude for my Catholic education ("Gratefully remembering Catholic schools," Sunday). Like him, I even had a fifth-grade teacher who taught me the value of obedience. Sister Ann Marian also taught me the importance of self-control.

In fact it was the C grades in the character categories that marred my final fifth-grade report card. I tried to get away with not writing out, in its entirety, "Paul Revere's Ride." The rest of the class completed the task, but I skipped some of the verses. As a result, on the last day of fifth grade, I found myself in the back of the convent completing the assignment. Sister Ann Marian, however, in sympathy, did leave some ice cream for me at the back of the convent door. So ended fifth grade!

I certainly learned my lesson, and perhaps for that lesson I invited Sister Ann Marian 26 years later to my first Mass as a Jesuit priest. She attended and gave me "all A's!"

Like Barone, I do indeed remember similar Catholic education stories. I should mention, however, one significant difference: Instead of Villanova, I attended St. Joe's, and that's where the Jesuits got me.)

Rev. Kevin Gillespie, president-elect, St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia

Soul-searching for Gingrich, GOP

Newt Gingrich severely dressed down CNN's John King for his debate question concerning that day's news reports about one of Gingrich's former wives ("Gingrich rages at his creation," Wednesday). Gingrich lashed out, "I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office." He had a point, but I wonder if Gingrich would level those charges against the conservative news media whose unprecedented destructive, vicious, and negative attacks on President Obama have made his governance extremely difficult. Gingrich and obstructionist Republicans should consider some serious soul-searching in that regard. As for being a decent person who deserves public office, it will first be up to conservative Republicans to make that decision about Gingrich's candidacy.

Michael Frank, Doylestown

The truth about job creation

Charles Krauthammer's rant "Republicans self-destruct" (Monday) was another example of his usual myopic spin. Blaming the incumbent for the economy is neither new nor insightful. Krauthammer and other Republican apologists need to start telling the truth about deficits, taxes, and jobs. We don't have jobs because the creation of wealth is no longer dependent on the creation of jobs. With the manipulation of money and assets now made digitally easy, the "new generation" of wealth can easily bypass that pesky problem called "labor" in order to reap profits.

The "almighty marketplace" that Republicans love is neither intelligent nor moral. The only laws it follows are those of ownership and greed. We have government regulation because corporations and their lawyers twist and turn through loopholes that keep them from paying their fair share of taxes and environmental cleanup costs.

You want the profits that my labor generates? You want the freedom that my military service helped to establish? Give me a watchdog government that protects my health and welfare as much as your profits.

Francis X. Baird, Fort Washington

Hidden agendas stifle progress

We can be grateful for Bill Gates' support of traveling wave reactors, which are not only safe but cheaper to build and operate than current nuclear-power technology ("U.S. cedes the lead on nuclear energy," Friday). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission seems to be deaf to arguments for developing and licensing the small modular nuclear reactors. Why? Are there hidden monetary interests here as in so much of our policies? We don't seem to be able to maintain normal health standards in our foods, and in too many places the water is not safe to drink because of contamination from large meat and poultry companies or drilling practices. And now our chance for safe electricity is ignored by the NRC. The Chinese seem to be able to respond to new discoveries without being hampered, as we are, by hidden agency agendas.

Nina V. Fritsch, Philadelphia