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Letters to the Editor

Kane legally can pick and choose State Attorney General Kathleen Kane should be applauded for her decision not to defend the state against the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples ("Kane says: I don't," July 12). Kane

Julie Miller, mother of Helena Miller a gay woman shows her support for gay rights. The poster she is holding has an image of her daughter and partner Dr. Dara Raspberry and their daughter Zivah Raspberry. Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane at Constitution Center at 6th and Arch St. in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 11, 2013. She spoke on the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's ban on same sex marriage. ( ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER )
Julie Miller, mother of Helena Miller a gay woman shows her support for gay rights. The poster she is holding has an image of her daughter and partner Dr. Dara Raspberry and their daughter Zivah Raspberry. Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane at Constitution Center at 6th and Arch St. in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 11, 2013. She spoke on the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's ban on same sex marriage. ( ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER )Read moreDN

Kane legally can pick and choose

State Attorney General Kathleen Kane should be applauded for her decision not to defend the state against the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples ("Kane says: I don't," July 12). Kane's actions were appropriate and in accord with the job description of the attorney general, as well as the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. In his response, Gov. Corbett implied Kane was usurping her responsibility to uphold the law based on her favoring same-sex marriage. But nothing could be further from the truth. The attorney general may allow lawyers for the governor or executive-branch agencies to defend a lawsuit if it is more efficient or in the state's best interest. Since it's obvious Kane is cognizant of the Constitution's 14th Amendment and the discriminatory nature of the state's anti-gay-marriage stance, it would not be efficient for her office to defend an inherently flawed and unconstitutional law. A governor with integrity would have commended Kane, instead of implying that Kane was out of line.

Neil Goetz, Boyertown, neilgoetz@comcast.net

Fearing another collapse

On a recent Sunday night, a brick projection fell two stories onto the sidewalk of a house being gutted in the 1900 block of Pemberton Street in the city. Fortunately, a couple walking their dog was still several houses away. Police fearing that the entire front of the house would collapse barricaded the street. An hour or so later, a city inspector appeared and announced that all was fine; the debris and the rest of the projection were removed Monday morning. But on the other side of the house, a similar collection of bricks projects above the sidewalk, with little mortar left and, like its fallen twin, apparently held up only by flashing. The owner says he won't remove it, because "it's good, and the other one wasn't" and because half of it is on the adjacent house. In the meantime, neighbors on this block walk warily around the house and park their cars far away. Obviously, there will be no relief forthcoming from City Hall.

Mignon Adams, Philadelphia

New worry over reading choice

On July 15, my credit card company called to tell me that my account had been blocked because of a recent payment to the Guardian Weekly. It was for renewal of my subscription, which I confirmed to the credit card representative. The block was removed. But now I wonder whether anyone having any contact with the Guardian is being tracked under the government's PRISM program - or whatever they call it - because the newspaper published the Edward Snowden secrets.

Aaron M. Fine, Swarthmore

Murder rate still unacceptable

Recent front-page Inquirer coverage reported that the city's murder total for the first six months of this year was the lowest since 1968. This was deceiving, as the city's population had dropped by 21 percent in 45 years. One thing is not in doubt: 10 people were murdered over a recent, four-day period, and their deaths were reported on inside pages. City police are doing a good job, but the public needs to know the truth, and the truth needs to be featured on Page One: The murder rate in Philadelphia is still not acceptable.

Paul L. Newman, Merion Station

Fashionably irrational talismans

There are no Rhodes Scholars playing ball in the major leagues, but I did assume minimal intelligence. Now I wonder. Lately, ballplayers have been wearing titanium necklaces that are supposed to improve appearance and performance. Are voodoo dolls next? No intelligent person can possibly think the necklaces have anything to do with an ability to hit a ball. If both hitter and pitcher wear one, who wins?

Bob Bohannon, Bellmawr, popbobob@aol.com

Past is prologue on schools mess

Absent from the discussion on the fiscal plight of Philadelphia's public schools is how we got here, and why money problems were permitted to become so protracted - all with the tacit approval of both the mayor and the School Reform Commission ("A failure of vision," July 14). Recall that former Superintendent Paul Vallas left amid a $73 million deficit. Two years ago, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman departed amid another multimillion-dollar shortfall. The figures have since been revised upward many times by seemingly many people without any clear explanation.

While the frustration is understandable, the apparent lack of resolve is not. Rather than using honest, hardworking, and productive people (including and especially teachers) as politically attractive targets, the people would do better to insist upon a five-year forensic audit of district finances - charters and all - before another dollar is spent. Absent an audit, the teachers' union will be relegated to the status of an ATM, forever locked in a quadrennial cycle of givebacks during contract negotiations; and the city, to an interminable symphony of waste, fraud, and abuse.

Jonathan R. Verlin, Philadelphia, teacjerkrv@msn.com

Medical cost controls needed

It is impossible to cut health costs significantly without reining in out-of-control prices that other developed nations do not allow ("If no changes, no Medicare," July 15). The choice is between health insurance that's made affordable by paying doctors and hospitals less (just as seniors might have to learn to do with less under a proposed change in consumer-price-index calculations) and insurance that's affordable by paying beneficiaries less and/or increasing patient costs. Commentator Sally Pipes from the conservative, free-market Pacific Research Institute clearly has decided on the latter. But by proposing to essentially end Medicare and give federal subsidies that would not keep pace with costs, Pipes would throw seniors back into a privatized system, just as before Medicare. Back then, half of seniors could not afford insurance, and they were often denied coverage when ill. She would also raise the eligibility age (hurting early retirees) when, from my perspective, eligibility for Medicare should be lowered. She would means-test the program, ignoring the fact that Medicare is means-tested and wasn't designed as welfare.

If Medicare goes bust as Pipes warns, it will be because politicians have decided they'd rather limp along with a for-profit health-care system that is the most expensive in the world, instead of addressing the fact that we can no longer afford it.

Elaine Hughes, Ambler

Toomey should make his own way

After a two-year delay, the U.S. Senate last week confirmed Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The vote was 66-34. A dozen Republicans joined the Democratic majority. But Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) voted against it. Does Toomey know some horrible fact about Cordray that disqualifies him for the post? Or was he blindly following Minority Leader Mitch McConnell running over the cliff? Great Pennsylvania senators have been more intelligent and independent than that.

Walter Ebmeyer, Bryn Mawr