Todays letters: Incoming foreign workers a good thing

The absurdity of this column by Max Boot has me scratching my head. To say that the influx of illegal immigrants is the "most benign" sort of lawbreaking is in itself ridiculous. Does benign mean that it is okay and we should look the other way?

He goes on to say that illegal immigrants contribute a lot to society via sales taxes and other means. Just what are these other means? Even though they are not collecting Social Security or unemployment, I would bet the total costs for hospital/health care, emergencies, police, etc., far outweigh any savings received from those lack of benefits.

Furthermore he states that illegal immigrants don't take jobs from Americans. This I agree with to a small extent, because what they do is stifle decent wages and benefits to American workers by working for low wages without benefits. This is exactly why big business likes them here.

To insinuate that allowing millions of new immigrants into the country and by legalizing the millions of illegals already here it would make it easier to deal with drug smugglers, terrorists and other criminals is totally ludicrous.

His statistics from the Pew Hispanic Center are very questionable at best. The entire piece is, in my opinion, hyperbole to the max.

Don Mott, Largo

Characteristic behavior Dec. 3, letter

People and law

In reading this reply to a Nov. 29 story, Helping boy came first, I could not help but be concerned. The letter writer feels that his 20 years of experience in public service lead him to believe "the actions of Manuel Jesus Cordova Soberanes ... represent the character of the migrant community." While the actions of this man helping a child are admirable, they do not have anything to do with culture, migrant communities, legal or illegal migrants. They have to do with people. There are good people and not so good people. This man happened to be a caring individual, and he did something I think many people would have done regardless of their heritage.

The question is the law. Just because someone has "content of character" does not give him or her the right to sidestep the law. Get legal! I don't think anyone is trying to say these migrants are not welcome, only that they have the same responsibilities that all American citizens have. Get legal!

All citizens need to be "contributing" members of the society if the society is to be productive. I appreciate the letter writer's sensitivity and compassion. I too dedicate my life to everyone's future through my public service job. However, I have not confused compassion with legality.

Let's not forget to consider other actions of illegal migrants, such as a recent traffic accident, where the unlicensed, illegal, drunken driver crossed the median, killing the driver of an oncoming car - who was a citizen and probably also had excellent character.

Karen L. Potts, Seffner

Don't reject tax relief because it's not enoughDec. 6, letter

Where's the rest?

I absolutely will reject the January amendment. Florida's citizens have waited long and no relief is in sight. They say this is only the first step but don't let us know what else they have in mind.

I'll tell you what they have in mind. If that amendment gets passed, they will think we are satisfied. You won't see another thing. How do I know that? If it looks like a pig, it is a pig. This proposed amendment falls far short of the goal. They could have done a whole lot better and they did not. There is not one mention of what further measures they would push for.

From what I read, there is some support for a property tax repeal with institution of a sales tax to replace it. That would be a disaster for most of us, but a boon for rich people paying high property taxes on large beachfront properties. Hernando County just gave its citizens the second exemption, so except for the portability, we already have what this amendment calls for. As for the real estate slump, high prices and greed are the cause.

High prices caused the rise in assessments, which caused high property tax. Fix that problem and maybe Florida would be a nice place to live again.

Karen Doulin, Brooksville

Don't reject tax relief because it's not enoughDec. 6, letter

Take the relief

Finally, a voter with common sense. The writer of this letter should be congratulated for writing a sensible letter. We have heard from enough people who urge us to vote against tax relief in anticipation of maybe getting better relief.

As a retired tax accountant I could never understand why people refused a politician's offer of tax relief and come tax time pleaded with me to find ways to minimize their tax bite. As the letter writer plainly put it, "Take what you can get now and push for more."

Those who vote against this property tax amendment are usually the same blind sheep who vote for tax increases and believe politicians who tell them they will receive greater benefits!

I would gladly vote for another amendment that would require an IQ test to qualify as a voter!

David Malka, New Port Richey

Pope criticizes atheism Dec. 1

Papal distortions

It's unbelievable that anyone with a modicum of education could write the words ascribed to Pope Benedict XVI. Atheism, he says in his latest encyclical, has caused some of "the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice" ever known.

Can he possibly believe this statement? Benedict is a highly educated man. Surely he has learned of the appalling violence of the Spanish Inquisition, when men and women were tortured and killed for not adhering to the Roman Catholic line. Has he never read of the Conquistadors who came to the New World and stole from the natives, killing and forcibly converting them to "Christianity"? Atheism did not fuel the terrible St. Bartholomew's Day in Paris that saw thousands killed for the crime of "heresy" (read: being Protestants). And these are only three examples of "cruelty and violations of justice."

The pope is a German. He cannot be ignorant of terrible events in his own country which saw the chaos and tumult of the Reformation and the rise of Protestantism. And, contrary to accepted views, Adolf Hitler himself believed he was doing God's will in "cleansing" the country of millions of his own countrymen under conditions painful to contemplate, even as he waged war against other nations.

Inescapably, Pope Benedict must be charged with a deliberate distortion of fact. What does he hope to gain by his words? Universal peace?

Abigail Ann Martin, Brandon

Where life has no value, pain follows Dec. 5, Bill Maxwell column

Not devalued

As a black member of society I was very offended by this column. How dare Bill Maxwell call our existence cheap and say that we devalue our lives.

Is black-on-black crime a problem? Yes. Have I grown accustomed to it? No.

Do the white members of society devalue their lives; is their existence cheap because of the acts of others of the same race?

I think crime itself is a problem no matter who's the perpetrator. I don't think the existence of any member of society should be called cheap because of the acts of others.

Wanda Jones, St. Petersburg

Sean Taylor

Remember the other heroes

With all due respect to the death of NFL player Sean Taylor, our sports heroes seem to be more important than the lives of our men and women dying daily in the defense of our freedom.

When the media can give to each of our sons and daughters this same type of coverage, we as a country may soon realize our wars are as futile as the murders of our youth in our own country.

Daniel Lee Davis, St. Petersburg

The real job stealers

This column could not outline the real impacts of immigration any better. Kudos to Max Boot!

Yes, it is true immigrants spur economic growth and are the backbone of many of our most basic industries such as construction and farming. The argument that they take away American jobs is ridiculous. All this smoke and mirrors is taking attention away from who the real "illegals" are.

For decades, American corporations have been going overseas to hire workers at a cost less than they would find here in the United States. These corporations go from country to country, buying up land and getting people to produce the greatest amount of goods for the cheapest price. This industry is what really takes jobs away from Americans, and has put the rest of the world in poverty.

SunJin Zanker, St. Petersburg

[Last modified December 10, 2007, 00:22:27]