Taxpayers, not politicians, bankroll programs

Unless the government has some part-time job I’m unaware of, everything it “gives away” is purchased with money that was taken from individuals who actually have jobs (and worked hard to that money).

Politicians love to brag about those who will be helped by a government program, but nothing is ever said about those who actually foot the bill. It’s almost as if they want to take all the credit for themselves! There ought to be a law that every government entitlement be accompanied by a chart listing the amount of sacrifice needed from taxpayers to make the program possible. For example, in order to offset the cost of health care for those making under $25,000 a year, a family of four making between $40,000 and $45,000 will be assessed $92 per month. A family making between $45,000 and $50,000 will be assessed $104 (not real numbers) and so on.

To listen to Sen. Chuck Schumer, you’d think he’s personally bankrolling every broken arm and tonsillectomy in the nation. What do you say we give credit where credit is due? ED McCAULEY

Peters ACA “takes away individual freedom and gives government too much power over our lives.” I suppose he never considered how the lack of health insurance can bankrupt families, taking away what individual freedom theyhave to live with dignity.

His solution is to help those in need of health insurance through private charities and religious organizations. Can’t you just see it now — private charities and churches lining up to provide health care insurance assistance to the 22 million people who will lose their coverage underthe Republican proposal?

Every civilized industrial country in the world has figured out how to provide its population with universal health care. The only exception is right here in the USA, where this issue is tossed around like a political football. It is disgusting to watch and incomprehensible to the outside world. WILLIAM D. PRESUTTI JR.

South Fayette

Themyopia evidenced by people, including the PG editorial board, is astounding to me — specificallyregarding Allegheny Center (“Out With the ‘Moat’: Good Riddance, Allegheny CenterRing Road,” June 26):

1) If Allegheny Center is suburban, then all of downtown Vancouver is suburban, with high-rise apartment buildings and close-by retail, office and entertainment space with no highways entering the city.

2) It was foolish to demolish the entire center of the city of Allegheny; however, Allegheny Center was the very definition of a city, and not just an office complex but with residential, retail, consumer services, entertainment and cultural uses.

3) The pedestrian center of Allegheny Center is indeed a leafygreen, car-free oasis of safety, quiet and absence of vehicular fumes. That’s why I moved there in 1976. It is irksome that Open Streets doesn’t take a position opposing the proposed reintroduction of vehicles through this area.

We welcome your opinion

The change in traffic pattern from a grid in the 1960s may have confused someone the first time, but once understood, it is simplicity itself to negotiate, and pedestrians crossing the ring road haveonly to look in one direction.

4) Allegheny Center was never a“ghost town.” Mall stores closed because of the competition from suburban malls. What was the advantage of stopping off at AlleghenyCenter when suburbanites could wait until they got home to shop? The resident population of Allegheny Center is insufficient tosupport the number of stores in theoriginal mall.

5) Bike lanes and two-way traffic around Allegheny Center? There will be blood. Bike riders can now travel through Allegheny Center instead of around it, in quiet and safety. How are bike lanes mixed with cars around the perimeter an improvement?

6) The main question is why the city is spending money on changingtraffic patterns around Allegheny Center when the North Side has real problems. As someone who has lived here for 41 years, I can say that you need a thick skin to live here, with the crime, litter, panhandlers, homeless camps and general anti-social behavior by a significant portion of the population. And the city is spending our tax dollars rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. NICK KYRIAZI

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