Don't put more public housing in Butchers Hill

I do not believe, as a quotation attributed to me in the article "Public housing plan stirs debate in Butchers Hill" (Dec. 2) suggests that I do, that it is fundamentally unfair that public housing tenants are housed by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC), nor do I believe there should not be public housing in Butchers Hill.

I believe that the HABC provides an absolutely essential service, but that it does so in a horribly inefficient manner. Additionally, I am shocked that the HABC is undertaking an ambitious plan to add 15 more rent-subsidized units in a neighborhood that already has a 10 percent rate of rent-subsidized units - especially in light of the fact that many of the existing HABC houses in Butchers Hill are in dire need of repair.

The fundamental unfairness is that certain neighborhoods have absolutely no affordable housing, while other neighborhoods, such as Butchers Hill, have far more than the metropolitan average.

The HABC is operating under a consent agreement stemming from a federal lawsuit. According to that agreement, the HABC cannot place scattered-site tenants in neighborhoods with a poverty rate of more than 10 percent and a rate of minority residents of more than 26 percent. But Butchers Hill exceeds both those marks.

I urge the Housing Authority to sell these properties to the Butchers Hill Community Development Corp. or on the open market. Such a sale would raise approximately half a million dollars. HABC could use this money to build new housing for its tenants, which is far less expensive than rehabbing 100-year-old properties in Butchers Hill.

And such a sale would again make these properties a part of the city's tax base.

Andrew W. Gray

Baltimore

The writer chairs Neighborhoods Matter, a nonprofit group that promotes home ownership.

Executive salaries push up premiums

I thank Insurance Commissioner Steven B. Larsen for ruling that CareFirst's double-digit rate hike request was "excessive" ("Larsen knocks down higher rates sought by CareFirst," Dec. 5). However, the subscribers still must pay approved and unreasonable premiums in very shaky economic times.

If the CareFirst management team really had subscribers' interests at heart, it would not ask for high salaries and bonuses. After all, their excessive salaries come at the expense of the subscribers.

The solution seems simple enough. Cut all executive salaries to the bare bones - which would allow premiums to be reduced. And it would also not be out of the question to ask executives to return some of the money they have enjoyed over the last few years.

The surpluses the company reports are the result of overcharging the subscribers. It's time to stop the bleeding.

Jerry Steinberg

Owings Mills

Pay hike only adds to state's shortfall

Gov. Parris N. Glendening further tarnished his image by offering to increase the state payroll by $100 million, which would exacerbate the shortfall that was already his legacy ("State plan on raises decried," Dec. 15).

Political infighting at the expense of the people is ultimately self-defeating. Whatever happened to moral fiber?

Stephen H. Knox

Baltimore

Tax avoidance shows need to reform code

The question should be not whether CSX Corp. paid no taxes in 1998 and 2001, when it was headed by Treasury Secretary-designate John W. Snow. Rather, the question should be whether CSX avoided paying taxes legally ("Bush's new Treasury nominee arouses questions over taxes," Dec. 11).

And if the fact that CSX avoided taxes legally seems unconscionable in view of its profits, then this is another argument for simplification of our tax code.

Benedict J. Frederick Jr.

Pasadena

Teach our children that alcohol is a drug

It was disturbing to read of the negative and permanent effects of alcohol on the brains of teen-agers and young adults ("Younger drinkers risk damaging brain cells," Dec. 10).

More disturbing, however, is the fact that alcohol is heavily advertised on television, glamorized in the movies and sanctioned in many homes.

Until we begin to view alcohol for what it is - a drug - and pass that knowledge on to our children, we cannot be dismayed when kids think drinking is no big deal.

Rhonda Altice-Jackson

Hunt Valley

Second Amendment gives rights to people

In response to Jules Witcover's column "An overdue rebuke for Ashcroft's gun crusade" (Opinion Commentary, Dec. 9), I must note that the Second Amendment contains two statements: first, that "a well regulated militia [is] necessary to the security of a free state," and, second, that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

The grammatical relationship between the two is conjunctional, not conditional. If the first statement had instead been, "The moon, being made of green cheese," the meaning and force of the second would remain unchanged.

And no amount of twisting can make "people" into a pronoun for "militia."

The authors could have said, "The right of a militia to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." But that's not what they said, because it's not what they meant.

Let someone propose a new amendment, and we can have an honest and meaningful debate about it. But like it or not, until the words are changed, the meaning stands.

Jeffry D. Mueller

Eldersburg

Missiles are setback for war on terrorism

Suddenly Yemen is helping the war on terror? This is Osama bin Laden's homeland, and the missiles are probably headed for al-Qaida, but the Bush administration did not stop the missiles even after troops boarded the transport ship ("Missiles allowed to go to Yemen," Dec. 12).

This is yet another example of the "all hat and no cattle" president, who talks tough but does little to stop terrorists.

Mr. Bush needs to pay attention to the war on terror instead of chasing Iraq's oil.

Roger Fitzgerald

Hampstead

Real war in Iraq will be no game

A Dec. 9 Sun headline read, "Computerized war game begins in Qatar." The article notes that no troops are actually involved in this rehearsal for an invasion of Iraq - which the Bush administration seems determined to undertake regardless of the results of U.N. weapons inspections.

But when the real war begins, American troops will be involved, and they, along with numerous Iraqi soldiers and civilian noncombatants, will face death and destruction.

Then the "game" will be over.

Cliff Harrison

Frederick