Letters To The Editor

Letters from readers are invited and should be sent by regular mail to Times Newsweekly, P.O. Box 860299, Ridgewood, N.Y. 11386-0299 or by email to info@timesnewsweekly.com. All letters must be accompanied by the writer's full name and address, which will be withheld upon request. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. All letters are subject to editing.

A GI's perspective on health care

Dear Editor:

It is unbelievable that President Obama's administration could approve billions for foreign banks in a spending bill 16,000 pages long but couldn't force AIG to break contracts with executives who performed below standards.

Yet this administration considered breaking our government's contract with its veterans by forcing them to pay for service-connected treatment at the VA. This is no rookie mistake. It's the direct result of the contempt and disregard liberals hold toward the profession of arms and the working class from which most of us come from.

We need the nation we served and protected to protect us on this and similar issues in the future. Here are some points to consider as you decide what's best for our nation and its veterans:

It is unconscionable to pass along any of the costs of war to wounded veterans and their families.

Caring for wounded and disabled veterans is a sacred trust. Their care is part of the ongoing cost of war, and the price a grateful nation pays for their service.

Insurance companies would pass on the additional costs to covered veterans, raising premiums and fees.

Increased fees and premiums would result in veterans subsidizing their own injuries, forcing them to pay for parts of their service-connected care.

It would impair a veteran's ability to obtain private insurance, expecially at reasonable rates, which affects not just them, but also their families.

Employers might look at a veteran differently during the hiring process if they think that he or she would affect the company's health care insurance costs, serving as a disincentive for some businesses to hire veterans.

Please do all you can to block increased costs to veterans or cuts in service to them. Marvin R. Jeffcoat SFC, USA (retired)

Says beer tax would hurt business

Dear Editor:

Governor Paterson's budget proposal to more than double the state beer excise tax from 11 to 24 cents in the hope of generating revenue for the state will ultimately have the opposite effect.

The excise tax increase will raise the cost of beer, decrease volume sold, thus negatively impacting sales and eliminating jobs. Historically, when the federal excise tax was doubled in 1991 three breweries closed, one located in [upstate] Fulton, and across the nation 60,000 jobs were lost.

Should the state excise tax more than double, the future of the Anheuser Busch brewery in [upstate] Baldwinsville is questionable, putting more than 800 jobs at risk.

It is not sound public policy during a recession to implement taxes that would eliminate jobs and seize small business growth, the very businesses that have created about 70 percent of new jobs nationally.

Members of this Association are all third or fourth generation family owned, small businesses, investing in their local communities and providing solid wage earning jobs and paid benefits to their employees. Implementation of this tax will jeopardize the wholesaler's ability to continue to provide such benefits.

Beer already pays its fair share of taxes. On average 40 percent of the cost of each beer is made up of taxes.

There is no arguing the state needs to balance the budget and seeks revenue to do so but assaulting the middle market with hidden taxes and burdening industry will only compound the debt issue. Steven W. Harris President New York State Beer Wholesalers Association

Supports Maspeth high school

Dear Editor:

District 24 is one of the most crowded in the city. Newtown and Grover Cleveland high schools are both over capacity. Many parents and students in Maspeth, Middle Village and Elmhurst want the choice of a neighborhood public high school.

The city is now willing to invest up to $70 million in a beautiful, new, modern facility which is absolutely needed. We should not turn down this opportunity.

All children in our city deserve the opportunity for a quality education. Good schools also attract young families and increase property values. Many students from our area will be able to walk there, and for others, there are five bus lines within a sixblock area of the school—the Q59, Q58, Q67, Q18 and Q45.

I am hopeful that City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, who says she cares about education and children, will vote yes! Michael Fordunski Maspeth Member, Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together (COMET)