LETTERS: Haiti aid, safer streets and more

Haiti aid numbers don't compute

Pardon me if I'm a little off, but my figures show that the national debt is $12.6 trillion. I am 62 years old and very well educated, but to this day there is no way I can truly imagine what $1 trillion is, let alone $12.6 trillion.

Now I read that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has promised $1.15 billion in aid to Haiti. Believe me, I am not a bad guy and have lived my life trying to touch people in a positive way. But at this point I am having a very difficult time trying to make any sense of the fact that I can't get a job and am receiving $142 per week unemployment, and if it weren't for my wife's job I might be living in the street. This makes the world and national situations a bit difficult to comprehend.

Bob Carnesi

North Babylon

We need more police for safer streets

During the bad old days - the '80s and the '90s in New York City - crime was out of control. The city government put in place a program called "Safe streets, safe city," hiring thousands of police officers and putting them on the streets. They did more stops of suspicious people and vehicles, all for legitimate cause. Crime went down, way down. Residents went back into Central Park; they were not afraid to go out at night. The fear disappeared.

In Suffolk County, we face the same situation . Violent crime is rising, and residents are afraid to go out at night. As a senior citizen, I want more police officers, not fewer. I want to go out day or night without fear. Hire more cops and pay them well; they deserve it.

Peter Kelly

Medford

Focus on jobs, not health care repeal

I believe that those in the GOP who are concerned with attempts by their fellow Republicans to repeal the health plan are correct .

With seven months to go before the November elections, it would be a mistake to pin anyone's hopes on an issue that may deflate within a short period of time. The real costs and effects of the plan will not be fully understood for years to come and, in the short term, the public will only hear of the positive features.

The GOP must understand that the issue that remains number one with most Americans is jobs. I haven't heard the Republicans' recommendations to create an economy that will put Americans to work. Americans love a winner and, right now, President Barack Obama is a winner.

Anthony Di Donato

East Northport