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Selling nursing home isn't a fix

March 28, 2008

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What a shame that Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy wants to "fix" the Suffolk County budget by selling the John J. Foley Nursing Home in Yaphank ["Levy's budget fixes draw concerns," News, March 19]. Surely there are ways to trim costs other than by causing such devastation to those who need help the most. I guess March 2008 will be a record month for New Yorkers to be let down by our political leaders. Joan Vogelle, Miller Place

Matthews off base on Red Sox

One can't be anything less than amazed at the inherent hypocrisy in the commentary of Wallace Matthews and the money involved in the Red Sox trip to Japan ["$40G tip for Japan trip? Please," Sports, March 20].

The way in which Matthews castigates the Red Sox while profiling the Yankees as sacrosanct devotees of sacrifice is simply absurd. His anointing of a team with the highest payroll in baseball and the highest paid individual player as virtual altar boys is ridiculous. He equates a trip to Virginia to one to Japan, belying any objectivity to which Matthews may lay claim. Greed is endemic to all professional sports, and George Steinbrenner's Yankees certainly deserve no pass. Kenneth J. Kavanagh, Rockville Centre

Pols are acting like rock stars

With the well-publicized events relative to Eliot Spitzer, Jim McGreevey, David Paterson, Rudy Giuliani, and Bill and Hillary Clinton, it makes me wonder if the new moral code for politicians is any different from the one for rock stars. The sexual escapades as well as the acceptance of sexually degenerate spouses seems to be more fitting for the decadent lifestyles that we hear about in the music and entertainment business.

If this is the new America, I say let our children be rock stars, in the hope that they will be better men and women than politicians. At least they will be honest with their fans.James Vena, Old Brookville

Cigarette tax hike no answer

"One worthy tax hike" [Editorial, March 17], on a cigarette tax hike, is simply idiotic. I'd like our state to be a leader in personal freedom rather than in using taxation to control personal behavior. Consider the logic: Obesity is a widespread health problem - let's add a $1 tax on milk, bread, eggs, etc. Traffic is getting worse - let's tax new cars. I think golf is a silly game - let's levy a $100 tee tax.

The concept of freedom is that each person makes his or her own decisions, even if someone else does not like or approve of them.Dennis Ruppel, Elmont

It is clearly shortsighted and simplistically one-dimensional to advocate a $15-a-carton tax increase on cigarettes without considering all the repercussions. Past increases, particularly Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2002 initiative, destroyed the legitimate channels of distribution in New York City.

Bootlegged products from lower-taxed states, counterfeit tax stamps and, most importantly, millions of untaxed cartons purchased on Indian reservations robbed the state of revenue without significantly reducing consumption.

People will reduce smoking based on economic factors, but as long as these increases can be circumvented with Internet or direct tax-free purchases, we are only enriching those who break the law while crippling thousands of retail and wholesale proprietors. Have resources dedicated to preventing counterfeiting and bootlegging, and you can rest assured that many of us who still are surviving in this industry will find a way to cope on a level playing field.Ed Berro, Farmingdale

Editor's note: The writer is owner of the convenience store distributor Harold Levinson Associates.

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