Let's hear from those who created this mess

Where precisely have the architects of the current Wall Street debacle been keeping themselves? I've yet to see even a single picture of a CEO, a CFO or a chairman of the board, much less a public admission or, dare I even think it, an apology for their calamitous decisions.

Indeed, the proposed bailout is more like an entitled demand, as befits these Masters of the Universe, as they huddle in the Hamptons while they send their well-shod lobbyists to Congress to wring a low-interest loan (why only 11 percent?), out of the taxpayer at as little personal cost to themselves as possible. Presumably, the premise behind their bloated compensation packages is that only they, of superior talent, are up to the task of running their institutions. Well, the mess happened on their watches, and where are they?

Is it too much to ask that we peons with the checkbooks should be able gaze upon the faces of those responsible for this international disaster? Perhaps one good outcome of this sorry era will be to drive down executive compensation by hiring young talent that has not yet had time to acquire the smug, untouchable sheen of the current crop.

LINDA L. HALLER
Mt. Lebanon

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Support prudence

If ever an administration has forfeited all rights to our trust in its judgment, it is this one.

The economic meltdown that we are experiencing will be painful, regardless of what solution is chosen. Further, there is likely more bad news coming: auto loan bundling and personal and small-business credit card debt, to name two possibilities.

Rather than being involved in discussions about the merits of one plan over another, or even alternate sources of financing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposed bailout, our representatives have been given one man's idea to consider and to tweak if they dare, and four days in which to do it. So, if Congress -- and a Democratically controlled one at that -- approves the plan and it fails, well, they approved it.

If Congress resists this bullying, then regardless of what comes down the pike, regardless of how inevitable or unrelated, Congress will be blamed. If Congress takes more time to study the proposal, then approves it, any failures will be due to the delay caused by, again, Congress.

Our senators and congressmen need to know that we understand that they will be blamed for any outcome (except the impossible one, a painless reversal), and that we will support their prudence. If you agree, please contact your senators and representative.

MONICA STEIN
Mt. Lebanon

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Fiscally irresponsible

Republicans' fiscal responsibility: The $700 billion bailout is the largest tax hike ever proposed in the history of the world. The Republicans will have added another $5.3 trillion to the debt from the Bush years.

Short selling (borrowing shares without collateral) led to the 1929 Depression. Short selling by Wall Street has led to this current mess. The banks have borrowed money against worthless collateral, the short-selling brokers have borrowed worthless assets to drive down the worthless value of the banks and now they expect taxpayers to be the suckers and pull their feet from the fire.

I say give Wall Street one-half of what they are asking for and use the other half to directly help the American consumer.

And as a final condition, impose every regulatory measure on the books since the Teddy Roosevelt era.

John McCain is trying to distance himself from the Republican Party. I think that it is time for all Americans to distance themselves from the Republican Party.

TOM HUTCHISON
Braddock Hills

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Obama inexperience

This letter is in response to Dave Brink, who criticized Sarah Palin's 20-month experience as governor of Alaska ("An Affront to Hillary," Sept. 12 letters). Mr. Brink thinks Ms. Palin's level of experience is not enough to be vice president, who would assume the office of president if John McCain became incapacitated.

This strikes me as odd, considering Barack Obama became a junior senator in January 2005. Sen. Obama hasn't even served as a U.S. senator for 48 months. Why does that make Sen. Obama qualified to make decisions affecting 300 million Americans?

JULIE BUFFINGTON
Shadyside

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No time for bullies

Recently someone wrote a letter to the Post-Gazette and said that anyone who doesn't recognize that we need a presence in the Middle East is an idiot ("The Economy Means Nothing If We're Not Safe," Sept. 15).

We were fine before we got involved in Iraq. Since then we have spent $600 billion and lost 4,200 lives and have countless wounded. Iraq is in the Middle East, obviously.

We need a good spy network and our warships to be in international waters. The terrorists are mobile and not an established country. We need quick-strike capability and good intelligence. We do not need to invade countries and fight at the drop of a hat like Mr. (John Wayne) Bush seems to think.

I have never let anyone take advantage of me and have fought when I needed to in my life. However, anyone with a brain knows that fighting is the wrong way to go 99.9 percent of the time. Some people think they are tough just because they rush to fight before they explore other options. They fight just for the sake of fighting. This isn't being tough, this is being stupid. We needed to stay in Afghanistan and fight the terrorists, an effort I supported 100 percent.

There is a word for people who think that they can always solve things by fighting and by bullying. We call them "idiots."

SAL SABATUCCI
Beechview

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Report litterers

There is a simple solution to the problem of cigarette litter at the Liberty Tunnels (and elsewhere): Issue citations to litterers ("Liberty Tunnels Qualify as City's Biggest Ashtray," Sept. 11). Although some people claim that law enforcement has better things to do, we need to ask our elected officials if they really value a clean city. It wouldn't take very long to change behavior after a few rounds of littering fines. All taxpayers bear the cost of cleanup due to some ignorant individuals.

Please show some pride in Pittsburgh. I have seen people with Steelers bumper stickers throwing cigarettes out the window. What kind of hypocritical statement is that? They're proud of their city, but they treat it like an ashtray? Don't tolerate litterers -- you can report them at www.litterbutt.com.

GREG HARTLEY
Assistant Director
SmokeFree Pennsylvania
www.NoSmokeDining.org
Swissvale

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Lower-income children benefit when insurance is available to all

About 18 months ago, Pennsylvania took a giant leap forward in improving the health of our children with the implementation of the Cover All Kids Children's Health Insurance Program expansion. Now all children have access to affordable health insurance.

As a pediatrician, I know that health-insurance coverage is essential to providing access to appropriate and necessary health care for children. It improves health outcomes and establishes relationships with primary care physicians, and the insured are less likely to use costly emergency room services for common ailments.

CHIP is working well in Pennsylvania. Our success has national health policy implications. The reauthorization of CHIP's federal counterpart, SCHIP, was unsuccessful on several attempts because some in Congress and the president wanted to focus the program on the poorest children. The Pennsylvania experience shows that offering access to insurance to all children actually encouraged lower-income families who were previously eligible for the program to seek out CHIP. In fact almost 60 percent of new children enrolled in CHIP since the program was expanded are from the lower-income levels.

According to data compiled by the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Illinois observed a similar trend. The experience in these states has important relevance nationally as about two-thirds of America's uninsured children are already eligible for existing health-coverage programs including Medicaid and SCHIP.

I strongly encourage our federal policy-makers to invite more children to participate in affordable health-insurance programs, like SCHIP, as a means to improve coverage for children in lower-income families.

JAMIE CALABRESE, M.D.
Treasurer, Pennsylvania Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
President, Plum Pediatrics
Plum

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We receive more letters than we can fit into the limited space on the editorial page, so we'd like to share some additional letters with our Post-Gazette Web site readers.

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The Cold War is alive and well

The test of time ? We were told some years ago that the Cold War was over. The Soviet Union was dismantled by actions of the Gipper's administration. The Cold War was over and we won. The Russian Bear may have become smaller and gone into hibernation, but it was alive and still had most of his teeth.

This was not the version presented by those wishing to give all the credit for the Soviet Union's demise and the end of the Cold War to the Gipper's administration. Politicians never let the "test of time" get in the way of passing out the champagne prematurely to reinforce their political philosophy.

We are confronting Russia in Georgia and the Ukraine, while Russia sends a "carrier destroyer" vessel to have joint maneuvers with Venezuela. Sounds like 1962 and Cuba all over again. Somebody needs to eat some crow, as it is obvious the Cold War is alive and well.

We deserve something better than the brinkmanship that alpha U.S. and Russian politicians seem to enjoy more than their citizens.

HARVEY GOTTSHALL
Connellsville

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Praying for our nation

I'm a Democrat and I pray every day for my country. I pray to God that Republicans will wake up to the destructive powers that they have unleashed upon our country and this planet.

Since George W. Bush has gotten into office, our country has faced unprecedented challenges never before seen in our history at the same time -- a financial crisis that rivals the Great Depression, an Iraq war that has divided this nation, China's economic superiority, Russia's action in Georgia and now Russia's efforts to combine military maneuvers with Venezuela with their nuclear warships, the systematic destruction of our Constitution through the spying of American citizens and the destructive points of view held by most Republicans on global warming and its detrimental effects on civilization.

Why do people still believe in the Bush/Republican philosophy after all that has happened to our country? You were wrong then, so what makes you think you're right now?

And one more thing: George W. Bush used the teachings of Christ and religion to gain power over men to destroy nations, and that includes our own. Why do Republicans continue on this same path?

I pray every day for my country so that my children and yours have a safe and prosperous future. Maybe we can agree to be bipartisan; join me in that prayer.

ROMAN DEUTSCH
Butler

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What the GOP doesn't want you to know

Brian Coyle's Sept. 5 letter ("Obama's Policies Are Unsettling") attempts to make him appear politically moderate with the claim that he knows the facts about Barack Obama and that he has "yet to decide whom to cast my vote for" -- then he goes on to completely discredit himself by using the GOP talking points of "higher taxation, increased government and diplomacy with radical governments."

Mr. Coyle tries to portray diplomacy as improper behavior that only Democrats engage in, when, in fact, Condoleezza Rice was recently on a diplomatic mission to Libya to meet with Moammar Gadhafi. Libya was responsible for 1998 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, which some consider quite radical.

Regarding taxes, the Obama/Biden administration will lower taxes for 150 million working Americans by creating the "Making Work Pay" tax credit, and he will eliminate income taxes completely for seniors earning less than $50,000 per year!

On increased government, let us not forget that President Bush inherited a budget surplus from President Clinton but that we currently have a national public debt of more than $9 trillion, which is a birth tax of $28,000 for every new American child born today. This situation is the direct result of a massive expansion of the federal government over the last eight years.

These are facts that the Republicans don't want you to know, because they can't win on real issues important to Americans.

JANIS WILLIAMS
North Side

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This VP nomination is pure politics

Sarah Palin is being hailed by the GOP as the perfect example of the successful conservative working mother. Yet there's something creepy about the GOP's latest ploy to lure women voters. Hiding your pregnancy from co-workers, friends and close family? Returning to work three days after giving birth? What kind of family values are these?

While I respect Sarah Palin's right to be a working mother in whatever way she chooses, to hold her up as the embodiment of the working mom is disingenuous to millions of mothers in this country. Most working moms don't have the money, resources or support that Sarah Palin has to balance her career and family.

The women's movement has been working for years to give women equal pay, more time off after giving birth and more flexible work schedules. Could I have returned to work three days after giving birth to my son? Possibly. But the real question is, why would I want to?

The nomination of Sarah Palin as VP smacks of pure politics. This is nothing but a backhanded way of turning back the clock 30 years to a time when women had to hide their pregnancies to be considered "successful."

AMY HARTMAN
Squirrel Hill

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Why would gender be a decisive factor with anyone?

My response to the Sept. 5 article "No Single, Simple Answer on How Women See Palin" by Tracie Mauriello is nearly one of shock. Despite the many opinions regarding Sen. John McCain's choice of a running mate as a shameless effort to sway diehard supporters of Hillary Clinton, I remained optimistic.

I believed Mr. McCain's choice reflected him extending an arm toward the more religious conservatives, because of Ms. Palin's family values and pro-life standpoint.

However, after reading the article and listening to other opinions on the matter, it greatly disappoints me that Sarah Palin will gain votes for Sen. McCain simply because of her gender. Arguments for Ms. Palin include statements such as, "I think we're due for a good woman in the White House. We are ready for it." There is nothing on her previous experience in politics, nothing about her political stances and nothing about her leadership ability. I fail to see the weight behind it being "the right time" or America "being ready for" a woman in the White House.

Why is now the right time? How will having a woman as president automatically solve America's issues? Why are the real reasons behind choosing the right candidate taking a back seat to what gender that candidate is?

I find it disgraceful that people are deciding their vote for the new second-in-command of the United States in such a manner.

REED ABRAHAM
McCandless

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Everyone could use a seat

This letter is in response to Amy Hasan's Sept. 10 letter demanding that parents be given seats on local transportation ("Give Parents a Seat").

I wonder if Ms. Hasan has ever stopped to think that perhaps those people sitting reading their books and newspapers might also have a need to sit. How could she possibly know if someone has severe back or joint problems and is in chronic pain? What about an older waitress who has been or will be on her feet all day? What about someone who is undergoing chemotherapy or who has just returned to work from surgery or a lengthy illness that has left them weakened?

I have big news for Ms. Hasan -- we are all tired. Having a child does not entitle you to special dispensation or consideration over others. And everyone's life does not revolve around you and your child. Stop whining.

Incidentally, I've ridden Port Authority buses for 33 years and have not only frequently seen riders give their seats to others but have also given mine as well.

ROSEANN CASTELLI
McCandless

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