LETTERS - Feb. 15

ISSUE | CABLE WOES

It's how much more?

In December, I agreed to a new Comcast contract at a total cost of $173. Last week, I asked Comcast to add one channel to my service, BeIn Sport. The next day, Comcast informed me that my monthly contract price was $330. There followed three hours of entirely fruitless attempts on the phone to bring some sanity to this situation.

How on earth can any regulatory authority allow this level of corporate incompetence and indifference to continue? And surely, no one in his right mind would allow Comcast to acquire the only other cable company that consistently matches Comcast's outrageous abuse of its captive customers.

|Paul Crotty, Bryn Mawr, pcrotty@comcast.net

Monument to hassle

Trying to resolve a bill, I have called Comcast four times and always had to start from the beginning with the problem. The tallest building in Philadelphia is a disgrace to consumer satisfaction.

|Paul Ludwig, Worcester, Paulludwig2@comcast.net

ISSUE | CHARTERS

Make district whole

With dozens of charters, Philadelphia hardly has a dearth of them ("It's not just the money," Feb. 10). As noted, the School District cannot afford to expand the charter sector without unacceptable cuts to the traditional schools. The School Reform Commission should just say no - to more charters, and the Philadelphia School Partnership bait - unless the state makes the district financially whole.

|Susan L. DeJarnatt, Philadelphia

ISSUE | FRACKING

Shield state game lands from drilling

Although Gov. Wolf has reinstated the moratorium on new oil and gas leases in state parks and forests, there is a gap in protection because the moratorium does not include state game lands ("Wolf restores fracking park ban," Jan. 30). The state's game lands are the least disturbed and most biologically diverse of public lands, harboring a wide array of endangered and threatened species. Also, a majority of game lands are contiguous with state parks and forests, which would allow the negative impacts of fracking to easily migrate.

This is an economic as well as environmental issue, given indications that out-of-state sportsmen who traditionally come to Pennsylvania to hunt and fish are avoiding the commonwealth due to the increasing industrialization and loss of game lands available for hunting. In order to fully protect public lands and waterways from the negative impacts of fracking, Wolf should extend the moratorium.

|Sondra Wolferman, Albrightsville

ISSUE | STATE STORES

Raise a glass to modernization

Rather than continue their tirades, Inquirer editors should invest some time in reviewing the State Store system's financial statements ("The great bottleneck," Feb. 10).

The financials show that in the first six months of this fiscal year, sales totaled $993.1 million, a 4.6 percent increase over the first six months of the prior year. Interim net income totaled $79.1 million, a 3.9 percent increase over last year. The State Stores remitted more than $247.2 million to the commonwealth, an increase of $10.7 million, or 4.5 percent over the previous year.

As for criticism of the wine kiosk initiative - which was designed to provide consumers with greater convenience - essentially, it was a financial wash. And every State Store carries between 1,500 and 3,000 brands. Premium stores offer up to 8,000 brands. Consumers have access to more than 46,000 brands. This selection is unmatched.

Privatization would be a boon for The Inquirer's ownership, given the additional ad revenue. But it would be a disaster for taxpayers. Former Gov. Tom Corbett's study found that nearly all 5,000 LCB employees would lose their jobs. More than $566 million in profits, taxes, and other transfers to taxpayers would also be jeopardized.

It's time to modernize the State Store system to improve convenience and generate more revenue to help the state close its $2 billion deficit.

|Christine M. Tartaglione, state senator, Philadelphia

ISSUE | DRAFT CARDS

Would lose that 'Hooah!' spirit

I take exception to suggestion that a reinstitution of the draft is a solution to the suicide rate among soldiers ("Draft to the rescue," Feb. 10). As a Vietnam-era Army veteran, I can say that the draft then resulted in the unenthusiastic and the unwilling being led by the incompetent. Today's all-volunteer armed force is just the opposite.

|Ben LaGarde, Glenmoore