Pa. is not going after retirement accounts

The Investment Company Institute’s claim in its Sept. 18 Forum article (“Pennsylvania Wants Your Retirement Account”) that Pennsylvania has removed “special protection[s] … between your retirement savings and the state treasury” is not correct, and here is why:

The Legislature did change state law dealing with retirement accounts and savings bonds, but it happened because the Pennsylvania Treasury asked for the technical changes to resolve ambiguities in dormancy rules sparked by a 2014 alteration of the law. The changes we made did not put people’s “retirement savings at risk.”

If a bond or retirement account falls into Pennsylvania’s unclaimed property program, it would continue as the property of the owner. The commonwealth would work, as it always does, to reunite property owners with their funds.

For a bond, once it reaches its final maturity, and only after that date (when it no longer accrues interest), a three-year clock begins for the owner of that bond to cash it. Only after that time would the commonwealth place the bond in its unclaimed property program.

On retirement accounts, a 70.5-years-of-age provision that had required holders of inactive accounts to turn them over to the PA Treasury is gone. An IRA can only be turned over to the commonwealth three years after a fiduciary has lost contact with the owner.

The state’s unclaimed property law was not written to give the state the power to actually take title of a property at the expense of the owner. That principle doesn’t change with the technical alteration made to Pennsylvania’s fiscal code in July. REP. JOE MARKOSEK

Democratic Chairman PA House Appropriations Committee Harrisburg the hatred of a few misguided people to divide us. Even as we reel from the shock of these blasts, know that America is strong because it is the Great Melting Pot. SOHAIL HUSAIN Indiana Township

If you really want to know why Donald Trump is so popular, just take a look at some recent events. At a time when terrorist bombs are exploding in New York and New Jersey, and a person who might have had connections to the Islamic State group stabs nine Americans at a mall in Minnesota, the U.S. Navy announces that service members will now be required to undergo mandatory transgender sensitivity training.

While I am not unsympathetic to the gender-confused out there, it seems like the folks in Washington have taken their eye off the ball. If the Defense Department would spend a little less time trying to figure out what bathroom everyone should use (or how to modify the physical standards for combat so women can serve on the front lines), and a little more time on the actual defense of the country, average Americans might have a little more confidence in their elected leaders.

For most of us, we aren’t as concerned about who is in the bathroom with us as we are with not getting blown up or stabbed while we are in there. PATRICK HEWITT

Upper St. Clair

I am writing in reply to Alan Hart’s Sept. 18 letter concerning Mayor Bill Peduto’s support for Uber (“Driverless Uber Rides Will Eliminate Jobs”). He is surprised that a Democrat would support a major corporation, and a very bad one, over American workers.

I would refer Mr. Hart to Thomas Frank’s new book, “Listen, Liberal.” He is the author of “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” answering the question of why lower-middle class and lower-class people vote Republican.

In his new book, Mr. Frank explains that the Democratic Party is no longer the party of the working class but of the professional

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class, especially highly educated people. Mr. Peduto is just reinforcing that opinion. This is why a lot of working-class people are abandoning the Democratic Party for the GOP. DAVID PARRISH

Oakland

Close your eyes for a minute and imagine ...

Imagine the president of the United States saying, “Our military is a disaster.”

Imagine him saying, “I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me.”

Imagine him saying, “I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things ... my primary consultant is myself.”

Imagine him saying, “You have to give [Kim Jong Un] credit. How many young guys — he was like 26 or 25, when his father died — take over these tough generals? ... It’s incredible.”

Imagine him praising Vladimir Putin: “I will tell you, in terms of leadership, he’s getting an A.”

Imagine him commenting on U.S. Sen. John McCain’s service record, “He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured, OK? I hate to tell you.”

Can you imagine the president of the United States saying these things — all quotes from Donald Trump? Can you hear him? Can you imagine it? Now imagine if the president of the United States who said these things was black. KEITH KONDRICH

Swisshelm Park