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Keep the pressure on the purveyors of government pork

Re: Redirect highway pork to fund hurricane relief, editorial, Sept. 10.

This past week, I had the very thoughts you summed up so well in this editorial.

The highway spending bill was a gross misuse of our tax dollars in the first place and both the Congress and President Bush should be ashamed for passing such a "pork filled" bill that funds projects that should clearly be paid for at the local and state levels, if at all.

Just as we must adjust our budgets and our spending when something unexpected comes along in our own lives, our government should be expected to do the same with its spending. It is time to hold the politicians to a balanced budget and furthermore time to demand that these "congressional earmarks" stop.

I suggest that the St. Petersburg Times continue writing editorials of this nature, and at the same time that the editors point out those politicians using our tax dollars on their own local projects.

Good luck curbing the spending spree

Re: Redirect highway pork to fund hurricane relief.

Congratulations on an excellent and thoughtful editorial. To me, the highway fund looks like a bunch of drunken sailors off to spend every penny they have. Of course, the duty of governments turns out to be (1) to tax the people, (2) to skim off money for government salaries and benefits and (3) to send some money back to the taxpayer, based on the latest "dog-and-pony shows."

Look at Lyndon Johnson's so-called "War on Poverty," costing billions with no measurable good results. Under what part of the U.S. Constitution is authorization granted for the federal people to send out pork programs like an intrastate bridge in Alaska? If you or anyone knows, let me in on the secret!

Good luck on your idea, but I don't think the collective intelligence of the Congress and administration is at a high enough level to accomplish such a good task or even manage it at local, state or federal levels.

Americans need a day of action

During times of great crisis, elected officials have often called upon our citizens to sacrifice and give for the good of the country. In response, Americans have historically given their all.

Right now, the poorest residents of New Orleans and Mississippi are in great crisis. Survivors need food, medicine and water. Victims must be buried and thousands of displaced people depend on the kindness of strangers to help them through the coming weeks, months and years.

President Bush lost a golden opportunity to reach out and appeal to this country for help. Instead, he set aside Sept. 16 as a national day of remembrance and prayer. There is nothing wrong with prayer. However, the people of this great nation should do a bit more. We should work for our brothers and sisters who are struggling to survive. I believe we need a Day of Action. Let's pray while we're:

Donating money, clothes and supplies.

Giving blood.

Carpooling to save gas.

Hosting a yard or garage sale with proceeds to benefit hurricane victims.

Sheltering a displaced family.

Encouraging children to raise funds by washing cars or selling lemonade.

Taking time off to administer aid directly to people crying out for help.

We look to our leaders for hope and have found empty ideas and mediocre concern. Perhaps we should be looking to our neighbors instead, the ones out raising money and donating time to help everyone get through this latest blow to our national self-confidence.

Rules must be respected

Re: Shelter kicks out hurricane evacuees, Sept. 11.

This one is simple: It's her shelter and her rule. Don't like it? Move on! Make room for those who will respect the rules.

The reporters didn't mention that these people were living for free and getting meals provided on the assumption they truly needed it. They also had enough money to go to an Italian restaurant and spend even more money on drinks. If that's the case, why didn't they go to a motel and make room at the shelter for the truly needy - for those who have, in fact, lost everything? Better yet, why not contribute that money to the shelter for having taken care of them?

Sounds like a bunch of youngsters trying to party at the expense of others. I'm glad they got the boot.

When people aren't used to limits

Re: Shelter opens arms, then closes doors.

The Times reported that a group of seven family members and friends, Katrina evacuees, was evicted from the Holy Ground Shelter in Hudson for breaking curfew and, according to Lisa Barabas-Henry who runs the place, "drinking and carrying on." A 19-year-old member of the group said, "That program wasn't designed for us. She never should've brought us here."

It's not that the group of evacuees should have been more grateful or that the kill-or-be-killed management style of Barabas-Henry could have been relaxed given the circumstances. What attracts attention is that it never occurred to the group members that, contrary to their life experiences, they had to adjust their behavior to the conditions of their new surroundings.

To them, Holy Ground Shelter must have seemed like the Twilight Zone, an environment with a set of reasonable but unbendable rules, where there are no second chances and they didn't know how to act.

I fear that people of principle like Barabas-Henry are becoming a dying breed. Even more so, I fear that folks like that group of evacuees are spreading like kudzu among us and that there aren't enough Barabas-Henrys to stop them.

It's like the passing of an old friend

I was feeling melancholy the other day. I didn't know why, but now I do. The plethora of writers and others reminiscing about New Orleans has finally gotten to me.

My first experience of the city that I recall came when I was about 5 years old. My grandfather was a career railroad man with the Illinois Central Railroad, and my grandmother and I were taking a day trip to the "city," as we called it, aboard the renowned "City of New Orleans" train. Over the years, there would be many such trips, and I never lost my childhood enthusiasm for that train ride to the city.

Almost everything that can be said about New Orleans has been said over these past weeks. I guess my sadness comes from knowing that we have witnessed the passing of an old friend whose charm and presence will be seen no more.

So, thank God for the memories: street car rides to the end of St. Charles Avenue, then walking around the corner to Carrolton Avenue for hamburgers at the Camellia Grill; strolling down Bourbon Street and having the many smells of the French Quarter startle your senses in anticipation of an out-of-this-world feast of food and drink; jazz music to lift the spirits of even those least inclined to such things; the piety of the people co-existing with their decadence; falling in love when the camellias and azaleas were in full bloom and walking with your girl under the old moss-covered oaks in Audubon Park.

I'll never forget you, New Orleans. Au revoir, ma cherie.

[Last modified September 14, 2005, 02:15:34]