We do not publish anonymous letters and have no intention of changing that policy. But we do think that some of the comments posted online are worth consideration by readers who might not have an opportunity to see them. So, here are a few excerpts ...
On Rep. John Murtha's vote for the cap-and-trade bill:
"Coal is not our friend and untill the coal companies start being good stewards of the environment, we need to pass laws that limit its pollutants into our environment ... Coal is not clean as we are lead to believe; ask the farmer that just wants his water back; ask the community that has seen the number of cancer cases rise; and what about the miner that has gotten black lung from all the years he worked in the mine? So, is it to much to ask them to clean up their dirty coal to save the next generation?"
On legalizing gambling
in bars:
"I do agree that expanding gaming in this state to bars and clubs is a no-brainer as long as the proceeds go to college tuition. Let us face it that many of these bars and clubs have been using these video poker machines for years now, costing law enforcement time and effort to enforce the laws. Make them legal so that the player in the state has some protection in that the state will set payout minimums on handle."
On raising the state sales tax:
"Since 2000 the whole state has become poorer. Median household income is down and the poverty level is up. That's not from people being lazy, that's from all the taxes Pennsylvania is famous for. They keep taking and taking putting our elderly out of their homes. Do you believe that happens because they are lazy? A sales tax increase INSTEAD of an income tax increase is a good idea. Let's get some of the tax evaders' and drug dealers' money too and stop taking away peoples income."
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"For clarification, none of us rejecting the tax increase are against fixing bridges and roads, etc. What creates the rejection is the lack of restraint on the part of the government ... Businesses throughout the nation, including locally, have recently cut back expenses, incluidng employees. They are living within their means provided through the sale of products or services. Not so with the PA government. After the hiring freeze, 1,000 jobs have been added. Salary increases have been given to government workers. Only a few in the Harrisburg group are wanting to curtail services."
On taking the Book of Genesis literally:
"St Augustine (354-430 AD) was not a Bible literalist. He preached that the Bible should NOT be taken literally if it contradicted what we knew from our "God-given reasoning." It is only since the end of the 19th century that a relative few, mostly American Protestant, fundamentalist sects have given up their "God-given reasoning" and proclaimed the biblical inerrancy position, which says Augustine was wrong and that biblical accounts of the natural world are literally true."