Letters to the editor

Virginia is for seniors

After reading Christina Bellantoni’s Friday article detailing some tax changes in Virginia, I realized that things are looking up for seniors in the commonwealth (“Residents will pay more tax on tobacco, less on food,” Metro).

The decrease in the tax rate on food to 2.5 cents on the dollar is a boon to those of us on fixed incomes, as our supermarket visit can now include an upgrade from a sale or store-brand item to one we would prefer, or just a little extra to spend elsewhere.

I was not aware of the elimination several years ago of the tax on nonprescription drugs. This has meant that aspirin, over-the-counter cold and allergy remedies and all the other products we buy to ease the discomfort of myriad senior ailments are not taxed. I will enjoy this benefit much more now that I am aware of it. Thank you.

Tax time next spring will be easier, too, with both the filing threshold and individual and dependent deductions raised.

In addition, my budget is happy that it is now worth my while not to start smoking again because of the increased per-pack cigarette tax. A diagnosis of asthma was the original cause of stopping; now there’s added incentive to follow the doctor’s orders.

The article mentioned that though there’s a break in supermarket food prices, the tax on food ordered in restaurants has not been affected. The benefits here can be a renewed interest in creative cooking at home and also recognition of the need to be more selective in where and when we eat out (possibly only where senior discounts are offered).

Virginia appreciates its senior population with discounts in movie tickets, lawyers giving a 10 percent discount on legal fees to AARP members, a partial waiving of fees for adoptions by seniors at animal shelters, and swimming pool and recreation center discounts as well as the restaurant discounts for senior diners already mentioned.

It’s good these days to be a senior in Virginia.

MARTHA HULLINGER

Fairfax

Faith at the Air Force Academy

In his Sunday Commentary column, “Combat zone for faith,” Robert Maginnis claims that aggressive evangelical Christian proselytizing at the Air Force Academy is good for the military. Mr. Maginnis defends an evangelical minister hired to preach at the academy who “urged cadets to warn their bunkmates that anyone not ’born again’ would ’burn in the fires of hell.’ ”

As a Christian who does not subscribe to such a narrow, sectarian view of God and the afterlife, I find this attitude personally repulsive and, more important, damaging to the U.S. military.

Our troops fight and die for a nation whose highest values include tolerance for a wide variety of beliefs that coexist peacefully on American soil. If George Washington had hired a chaplain to tell the soldiers at Valley Forge they would go to hell unless they accepted his interpretation of Christianity, America might not exist today.

Air Force Academy chaplains who seek to divide our troops through frenzied calls for proselytizing and the threat of eternal damnation are not good for the U.S. military. Most students at the academy do not hold such a narrow view of salvation that they would condemn Catholics, Eastern Orthodox believers, and liberal and mainline Protestants to hellfire unless they change to the born-again creed.

What about the Jews, Muslims, agnostics and followers of other religions who are also called to fight and die for this country? Promoting the idea that only a small percentage of troops will go to heaven and the vast majority will “burn in the fires of hell” after they take a bullet for America is not good for morale or the courage of our troops to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Freedom of expression and religious belief is not the issue. The issue is whether Air Force Academy chaplains should encourage disunity and sectarian strife — or should inspire our fighting men and women to recognize their common belief in a higher power and unify them around the values we all hold dear as Americans.

ERIC STETSON

Burke

How to help Africa

Rock concerts and President Bush’s proposed $1.2 billion plan to fight malaria in Africa over the next five years are almost meaningless, not because the money is sure to be misspent, but because there has been, is and will be only one way to really combat and control the mosquito-borne killer: with DDT (“Live 8 concerts rock the globe for Africa,” Page 1, Sunday).

How much more death and disease must Africa and other malaria-plagued areas endure from the decades-old environmental crusade against DDT and other pesticides?

Malaria was nearly under control as a result of widespread spraying of DDT in a worldwide anti-malaria campaign until the cancer-scare reactionary anti-DDT and anti-pesticide campaign effectively halted the use of DDT.

Since the use of DDT began more than 60 years ago, an abundance of scientific evidence has been accumulated that has shown no ill effects from human contact with DDT.

Yet the arrogance and irresponsibility of environmental zealots plus inept government have prevailed at a cost of more than 30 million lives since the 1972 ban on DDT was imposed in the United States and quickly spread throughout the world.

Indeed, must we wait until other mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus reach epidemic levels in America before the intelligent use of DDT is restored?

Adding insult to death and injury, environmental extremists have caused the ban of the most effective insecticides, such as chlordane, which was the best control for termites, ants and other crawling pests. Then lindane, which controlled tree borers. Then diazinon, which acted like chlordane but was much weaker. As a result, we have to endure invasions of relentless pests such as termites and Argentina ants and the loss of many trees.

DANIEL B. JEFFS

Apple Valley, Calif.

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I watched Live Aid some 20 years ago and could believe in its premise of fighting starvation in Africa, but Live 8 is taking a foolish path.

The proponents of Live 8 want the Group of Eight industrial nations to forgive all of the debt of the poorest nations. While this sounds like a noble thing, this idea has two profoundly bad components.

First and, yes, selfishly, who will pay for this forgiven debt? You either have to destroy the balance sheets of banks and lending institutions, thus raising the interest rate for all citizens of this country to pay for this, or you have to have the government pay off that debt, and from that comes the need to raise taxes to pay for it. Guess who pays in either of those events?

Second, have you ever forgiven the debt of an irresponsible friend who owed you money? How often does that friend come back to you for more and for the same foolish reasons? How often is that person grateful for your charity?

How often does a man who is given a fish learn to fish? If we forgive these nations’ debts, nearly all of them will come back again seeking forgiveness for their next foolish expenditure. Countries have to take responsibility for their debts and work them off to truly rise from poverty. It sounds harsh and cruel, but it works for individuals, families, corporations and nation-states.

I couldn’t watch Live 8 because of this foolish notion, in addition to participants’ support of the anarchists who riot outside of G-8 and World Bank meetings.

ALFRED JOHNSON

Troy, Mich.

Private property vs. public purpose

Thomas Sowell is right to decry the recent Supreme Court decision Kelo v. New London (“Property rites,” Commentary, Sunday), but he fails to underscore a key fact: Eminent domain already has been used in many cases to justify taking land and handing it off for private development.

Although this makes the court’s decision no less an offense against our constitutional rights, the “public purpose” problem is an outstanding one, which may actually profit from the New London ruling. In the wake of the 5-4 decision and the outcry that has followed, local and state legislatures across the nation have moved to secure private property rights.

Perhaps we shouldn’t thank the Supreme Court for this consequence, but we should celebrate that it is happening.

WILLIAM GOODWIN

Falls Church