Governor is off track proposing tax money for racing industry
Once again, our kind-spending governor wants to take taxpayers' money out of the hands of working people and build yet another stadium in Maryland.
Recently, Gov. Parris N. Glendening proposed spending $120 million to build a horse-racing track to promote the industry in Maryland.
Never mind that most Marylanders disagree with Mr. Glendening's giving away of $200 million to a multimillionaire to build a stadium for the Baltimore Ravens. Never mind that most Prince George's County residents were against giving Jack Kent Cooke $70 million for infrastructure improvements to support his football stadium.
The governor does not respect or listen to the needs of the people.
While our neighbors in Virginia took $200 million and invested in high-tech firms such as Motorola and WorldCom, bringing thousands of high-paying, steady jobs that will help the Virginia economy boom for years, Maryland took $270 million and invested it in stadiums and multimillionaires, creating a few thousand jobs for people to work 10 to 13 days a year.
But these are not the kind of jobs that will make the Maryland economy boom.
He should give tax money back to the people who earned it -- the taxpayers of Maryland. His main competitor for governor, Ellen R. Sauerbrey, says she would do just that.
Glenn Balick
Columbia
Right to arms defends us from government, if needed
I write in response to "Debating the right to bear arms," (Aug. 23).
It is strange that the article states that the Second Amendment protects only the states' right to form militias when it clearly says: ". . . the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
It is clear, after studying the Federalist Papers, Thomas Jefferson's notes, James Madison's notes and other documents, that this clause was placed in the Constitution to assure citizens the right to protect themselves against an oppressive and tyrannical government.
As is stated in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truth to be self evident that . . . whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and institute a new government."
If the only people with guns were government officials, there would be no way for the people to protect their own rights, and we would be dependent on the benevolence of the government.
Olatunji Mwamba
Baltimore
Which arms do we have the right to bear?
One question on the "keep and bear arms" portion of the Second Amendment is seldom asked: Aren't nuclear and biological weapons "arms," too?
Some may espouse private ownership of nuclear weapons, but for the rest of us, the issue is not whether the Second Amendment allows conditions on the right to bear arms, but rather whether conditions are placed on the type of arms and the definition of militia or both.
There are many possible permutations and valid arguments on all sides. Before we discuss them, though, we must first get past the discussion of whether having no limits at all is a viable solution.
Kenneth G. Olthoff
Linthicum
Light rail needs two tracks, but it has been boon to area
No one, including the Mass Transit Administration, would dispute the need for the Central Light Rail Line to be double-tracked in its entirety. But, as you may recall, when it was proposed and planned, funding was limited.
Then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer had a choice: "Do it now" on a limited scale, or waste more years waiting for available funding and more hearings and studies.
Other than Ravens games, the light rail has proven adequate and a boom to its service area. And the transportation bill Congress passed this year authorizes funding to complete light rail double-tracking as soon as the funds are appropriated.
As for the limited service hours, the MTA is handcuffed by the Maryland General Assembly's unreasonable and unrealistic requirement that the MTA recover 50 percent of its operating revenue from the fare box. With the restriction, the MTA cannot provide the desired level of service at hours and on routes that are not self-supporting.
Anyone interested in improving transit service should help get legislators to rescind, or at least lower, the mandate, and then MTA service will improve greatly.
As for the Olympic Games coming to this area, it cannot be expected that the local transit systems could provide all the needed transportation. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, nearly 2,000 buses were borrowed from many other transit systems, including 35 lent by the MTA.
Harry E. Bennett Jr.
Baltimore
President gambled legacy for moments of pleasure
You can agree or disagree with the politics of President Clinton, but most will agree that to attain the position of the president of the United States, one must be extremely intelligent and have the ability to think fast on one's feet.
How, then, does Mr. Clinton make the decision to engage in numerous sexual encounters with a 22-year-old intern in the White House? He has to know that this young woman would tell someone, someday, even if it were after his presidency.
The answer could be that Mr. Clinton simply did not care. It was worth the risk. However, the most likely answer is that the president would believe that the majority of citizens would continue to support him if the affair were uncovered and that his presidency and legacy would not be affected.
He gambled his presidency for a few moments of pleasure, against our country's morals and he won. And people feel better off today than six years ago?
J. Earle Beyer
Halethorpe
Criticism of patent office based on the hypothetical
Your Notes and Comments item "Building Boondoggle?" (Aug. 29), rebuking our pending space acquisition surprised me, not only because much of it was incorrect but also because no one from your publication contacted us.
In 1995, Congress directed the General Services Administration to competitively procure a 20-year lease to accommodate the growth of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The PTO has been in leased space since the mid-1960s.
There is a reason that Congress chose to continue to house the PTO in leased space. With emphasis on balanced budgets, no member of Congress is going to suggest spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy 2 million square feet of space to house the agency.
When all costs are taken into account, PTO's procurement will save at least $72 million over the life of the lease compared with our current arrangement. The project has strong Republican support.
Several independent studies have concluded that the most cost-effective approach to housing the growing agency is the competitive procurement. In spite of this, a few misinformed organizations continue to try to undermine the strong bipartisan support.
Contrary to allegations, the PTO never intended to spend $250 for a shower curtain or $1,000 for a coat rack. These figures and others being circulated are hypothetical and were contained in a worst-case scenario study.
Richard Maulsby
Washington
The writer is director of public affairs for the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Missile attacks came without due process
Hooray for Joe Surkiewicz in his letter "Bombings in poor nation are nothing to celebrate" (Aug. 29). He writes that the "dumbing down of America is almost complete."
Mr. Surkiewicz left details of this dumbing down. What about our killing of innocents, so-called collateral damage? What about our being the police, the courts, the judges and the executioners without due process?
Articles about this in The Sun have used words such as "alleged," "suspected" and "likely" terrorists, and we read that FBI Director Louis Freeh reported that no final conclusions have been reached about who bombed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Maybe the dumbing down of America has already occurred.
Lawrence D. Egbert, M.D.
Baltimore
The writer is president of Physicians for Social Responsibility in Baltimore.
Pub Date: 9/08/98