James V. Ward
Philadelphia
When you sympathize with the murderers who took a police officer's life, it shows your warped perception of the value of life.
You sympathize with the murderer's upbringing and the many obstacles that they may have had. You don't understand, and maybe you never will, but no matter how they were brought up they still made a choice to take a life. They made a choice to steal money from someone who worked for it.
The fact that they didn't know that he was a cop is irrelevant because they chose to take a life. No matter what his job was, they ended his life.
You compared Mayor Nutter's statements to "the final solution." That shows your ignorance. The final solution that you refer to was Hitler's idea of obliterating a whole race of people.
Mayor Nutter only showed his disgust of two thugs who deserve punishment for their crime. I agree with Mayor Nutter: Let these men rot.
Charles J. Raffaele
Philadelphia
Empty chair & promises
Clint Eastwood's empty-chair routine is not far off the mark with this president. Four years ago, he promised us if he couldn't fix the economy, "I won't run for re-election." So, Mr. Obama, why are you running again? Unemployment at 10 percent, housing crisis worse, fuel prices out of control, and dissension within your own ranks. Only a desparate president would launch a multi-billion-dollar health plan during a recession. So, you came up short, and what did you do? You pulled $700 billion out of Medicare. Money that my parents depend on.
And don't use the lame excuse that the Republicans stop everything. When you took office you had the benefit of full party power. House and Senate were yours.
If you wanted to change something, how about welfare? Your administration makes it too easy for people to play the system and stay out of work. Now we are going to offer them health care, too. Health care that I now have to pay for through your new taxes for it. I buy my own health care - why should I keep paying for it for people who don't want to work?
I also want to thank you for adding $5 trillion of new debt to our deficit. You have failed, Mr. Obama. Your legacy will be that of debt, failed policies and unemployment. One thing to say about that, you surely "built that." Step down - your 15 minutes are up.
Ken Carchidi
Philadelphia
Blame where it belongs
Re: Unions march against GOP and Nutter ( Daily News, Sept. 4).
I can understand why the Philly unions are upset, but what did the Republicans do to them? Sixty years of Democratic rule in the city is what's caused their problem.
When you have a mayor who refuses to negotiate and appeals legal rulings, how is that the GOP's fault?
Oh yeah, has anyone told U.S. Rep. Bob Brady or electricians union leader John Dougherty that the mayor is a Democrat?
Once again, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Dan Dvorak
Phoenixville
It shore is puzzling
How is it that a presidential candidate who presumably loves America can legitimately defend offshore accounts?
I can just see it now: "Mr. President, the Bank of Cayman is on the phone."
Darwin Beauvais
Center City
Pro & con the spectator
Re: "Is South Philly Birdwatching really illegal?" (Stu Bykofsky, Sept. 4).
We now have the essence of the current presidential election. What Mitt Romney stands for is the ability of the private sector to exploit public and private resources to their own ends without any attention paid to who or what may suffer. In effect, Mitt says that if private interests are fulfilled, automatically the public interest is OK. In fact, he goes even further, in that he believes that the sum of all private interests equals the public interest.
So, the Iggles get the benefit of the grass strip and also control it - no matter that the public pays for it and maintains it. And no matter that Mr. Henkel wants to stand on it and watch football.
Jonathan Berger
Chestnut Hill
I truly believe that Mr. Henkel has too much time on his hands and is just trying to make waves for the sake of making waves. As a resident of that area, the last thing I would want is to have a throng of people "peeking" into the practices. Just to clarify: I'm a die-hard fan and would love to watch them practice, but I understand why the team wouldn't want hundreds of people peering in on them.
Joe Melloni
Packer Park
