Federal salaries are high for a reason
Re: “Prime Numbers,” June 15
The Examiner continues its campaign of misleading and inflamingthe general public into thinking that the folks in the federal work force earn over twice as much money as do they. Are The Examiner’seditors really that stupid, or just so spitefulthat lying to the public has become acceptable to them?
The federal government does not hire burger flippers, convenience store clerks, janitors, or other minimum wage workers, whose salaries I am sure are included in your often cited comparison of federal and civilian compensation. The federal government work force is primarily white collar and professional.
Please do your paper’s credibility a favor, stop making yourselves look foolish,and make an honest comparison between similarprivate sector and federal careers on an individualbasis(i.e. lawyers, nurses, doctors, accountants)instead of comparing each sector as a whole.
Bill Spruce
=”text-align:>
Puppy mills are no laughing matter
Re: “Pa. lawmaker again targets puppy mills,” newsmaker, June 14
Lisa Hoffman appeared to find Rep. Jim Gerlach’s, R-Pa., attempts to regulate the puppy mill industry as something humorous, implying that the congressman’s quest isn’t worthwhile or that he’s deluded in his thinking.I find this innuendo offensive.
Why doesn’t Hoffman talk with a couple of rescues that have taken on puppy mill dogsand meet a few dogs that were brutalized by these inhumane operations?
Gerlach’s never-ending battle to protect innocent creatures — who cannot speak for themselves or vote — against a powerful moneymaker industry in his home state is nothing short of heroic.
Valerie Silensky
=”text-align:>
Constitution gives states power to deal with disasters
Re: “Obama address light on details for Gulf crisis,” June 16, and “Repeal the 17th Amendment?” June 8
Why is there all this focus on President Barack Obama in connection with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico when the issue is not constitutionally his to deal with in the first place?
There is no provision in the U.S. Constitution for the federal government in Washington to get involved with domestic disaster relief. Consistent with the Ninth and 10th Amendments, the domestic disaster relief issue should be left to the individual states to deal with.
Gene Healy’s recent op-ed in The Examiner said that states have been reduced to mere administrative subunits of the federal government instead of the strong, semisovereign entities this nation’s founders originally meant them to be. To remedy the problem, Healy suggests repeal of the 17th Amendment and the election of U.S. senators by state legislatures to insure states’ interests are represented in the U.S. Senate.
He is right!The true scandal here is that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal feels compelled to beg Obama for help in this oil spill crisis, instead of having the free hand to deal with it forthrightly on his own initiative, as he constitutionally should be able to do.
Lawrence K. Marsh
=”text-align:>
