LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Baltimore Sun

Congress must show resolve on war funds

With U.S. military leaders warning that American casualties in Iraq will increase as the Bush administration continues its surge ("11 American troops, journalist die in Iraq," May 7), it is more important now than ever for our congressional representatives to remain steadfast in refusing to provide further unconditional funding for President Bush's war in Iraq ("Senators seeking Iraq compromise," May 11).

For four years, Congress has given President Bush a free hand in pursuing a war that costs more lives and more millions of dollars every day, with no end in sight and little apparent progress.

Following the November 2006 elections, congressional Democrats finally seemed to find their voice and their consciences and have made a first attempt at taking meaningful action to end this horrible war.

No one should be surprised by President Bush's veto of legislation that clearly reflects the wishes of the people; however, it would be a mistake for congressional Democrats to cave in to the president.

Mr. Bush has been praised by his supporters for his "consistency," which would be better described as "stubbornness."

It is time for our Congress to exercise the same stubbornness in refusing to offer unconditional funding for further violence and bloodshed in Iraq.

The difference between Mr. Bush's stubbornness and Congress' would be that Congress would have both morality and the voters on its side, while the president has neither.

Michael Johnson

Baltimore

Regulate the ratio of salaries instead

While I applaud Maryland's efforts to provide a "living wage" to some citizens, somehow things like minimum wage laws or laws to cap CEO compensation - ridiculously overpaid as CEOs may be - sound like warmed-over socialism to me ("Living wage becomes Md. law," May 9).

I have a much better way to encourage businesses to distribute wealth more fairly, and leave wage choices to the free market to boot.

Instead of having government decide what is too little or too much for a business to pay its employees, let's pass a law that states that the highest-paid employee of any company can only make 50 times (in total compensation, not just salary) what the lowest-paid one earns.

That way, if the CEO of ExxonMobil or Microsoft Corp. feels he can get by on a total of $500,000 a year (including bonuses and stock options), he or she can feel free to pay entry-level workers $10,000 a year.

But if the CEO decides he or she needs $20 million each year to make ends meet, then the lowest-paid entry-level employee of that same company would have to be paid $400,000.

Simple, isn't it? And entirely up to the people running the company - so they can't complain about government mandates or socialism or any of the other things corporations constantly whine about.

William Smith

Baltimore

Can business afford to pay 'living wage'?

Last Sunday's front page screamed, "$11.30: Can people live on that hourly rate?" (May 6).

But does anyone - the governor, members of the state legislature, Sun writers - ever ask: "$11.30: Can a business afford to pay that hourly rate and survive?"

I have never understood why liberals seem to love employees and hate employers.

Can you have one without the other?

Terrence H. Scout

Chestertown

Treat city shooters like child abusers

The solution to Baltimore's crime problem is so obvious that it's astounding to me that people with a lot more education than I have apparently can't see it: It's the shooters, stupid ("Violence reclaims part of Barclay," May 11).

We should treat the shooters in the city like child molesters and make them uncomfortable when they return to their old neighborhoods.

Let's treat them like the criminals they are, not like the folk heroes many people seem to regard them to be.

Ron Abrams

Baltimore

Lax border security puts citizens in peril

Recent events highlight the need for our county to implement an effective program to eliminate illegal immigration and deport the illegal immigrants who are already in this country.

In Maryland in recent months, three young people, all American citizens, have been killed in two separate automobile accidents by drivers who are illegal immigrants and who were legally intoxicated at the time of the accidents ("Driver in U.S. illegally, records say," May 9 and "New issue in fatal crash," Nov. 30).

And three of the Islamic men arrested last week in New Jersey over an alleged plot to murder soldiers and civilians at Fort Dix were apparently illegal aliens ("Alleged plot at Fort Dix called serious threat," May 9).

I would ask the Catholic Church, the many local organizations which aid and abet illegal immigrants and the countless armchair liberals to stop supporting illegal immigrants and to join the fight to stop illegal immigration.

If foreigners wants to immigrate to this country, they simply need to follow the laws that all other immigrants follow.

My maternal grandparents legally emigrated from Mexico in the early 1900s and contributed in a positive manner to their community in Tucson, Ariz.

They asked for no special treatment and received none.

Today, our society only pays lip service to border security and the rule of law where immigration is concerned.

This lack of resolve places our citizens at risk, takes jobs from citizens and legal immigrants and places additional burdens on our economy.

How many needless deaths must occur before the liberal elements in our society take a stand against illegal immigration?

Eric Schwartz

Annapolis

TV saturation a recipe for violence

The Sun's article "Study finds kids saturated by TV" (May 7) was alarming, to say the least.

It notes that as many as one-fifth of infants and toddlers (under age 2) have a television in their room.

A type of comic violence is often presented in cartoons as funny. Repeated exposure to this kind of entertainment can easily have a negative effect on young children.

Personally, I believe that, for the most part, television is raising our children today - even more than parents are when we consider how many hours many children spend in front of the television.

Monitoring what children watch on TV is a nonstop job.

But it must be done, because television can be a dangerous babysitter.

Edith Boggs

Bel Air

Life-jacketed pooch sets proper example

What a good photo of a boater and his pet dog out enjoying a mid-spring day ("An afternoon outing," May 10).

And it's nice to see that Mike Higgins thinks enough of his dog to provide him with a life jacket, just in case.

With another boating season in Maryland starting, all boaters could take a lesson from his fine example.

W. Brooks Riley

Parkville

The writer teaches safe boating for the United States Power Squadron.

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