— On May 18, we have a 12th Congressional District special election. The Democratic and Republican parties have endorsed their candidates. On the left is Democrat Mark Critz. Republican Tim Burns is on the right.

Both say they will bring jobs to the district, but what is the vast difference between the two?

Health care.

Critz most likely will stay with the Democratic Party and vote yes to any new parts. Burns will most likely vote against government seizing control of another part of our lives.

The government has been horrible at controlling the U.S. Postal Service, Amtrak looses billions, and Medicare and Medicaid are  broken, yet the government wants to control health care, energy, and the auto and banking industries.

Critz will continue Big Government, while Burns will not. Every attempt by government to control something has backfired, and for the health-care collections, it plans to hire 16,500 IRS agents to harass, torment and seize our assets to make sure we pay our health-care premiums.

Pennsylvania has a matchless situation – its House is controlled by Democrats and its Senate is Republican. One keeps the other in check. Democrats want to raise our taxes, while the Republicans don’t. If we have gridlock of this sort, they cannot pass new tax hikes, fees or horrible laws; but in emergencies and special needs, they unite and get things done.

I ask you to do the same with the 12th Congressional District. Send Burns to represent us and keep one-party rule from ramrodding unwanted laws and tax increases our way.

Ed McGarvey

Hooversville



Revolution or continued consent?

People who believe they see a “revolution” coming may find backing from the Declaration of Independence: “... to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government. ...”

I hope there will be a revolution, but the revolution I hope for is not an armed conflict but the proper use of the ballot box.

You see, when people keep re-electing legislators who keep bringing in budgets months late, vote themselves midnight pay raises, accept many per diem allowances, pass health-care laws that the majority of people oppose, etc., “we the people” indirectly grant our consent.

The revolution I long for is for every voter who is unhappy to get to the polls and get the incumbents out. The Declaration says we have that right. The odd thing about the House pushing the health-care bill through is that our Constitution purposely gave them fewer persons to represent and shorter terms, so they were to be more responsive to the wishes of the people.

Their response was a “we’ll tell you what’s good for you.”

What will be our response: A ballot revolution or continued implied consent?

Ed Price Sr.

Windber



More independence and less charity

In response to Steve Ettien’s article on March 28 in the business section, “Be independent, not influenced or controlled”: I want to praise him. What a good article.

If you didn’t read it and still have your paper – it’s well-worth reading. Too bad this kind of upbringing has gone by the wayside. Hopefully, it will come back before we loose our independence and freedom altogether.

Lucille Hoover

Hastings



Climate forum loaded with misinformation

At Pitt-Johnstown’s Climate Change Forum, I was appalled at the political indoctrination being presented. I lasted only through the first speaker, Ed Perry, before I left. I had heard that academics were presenting only one side of the debate, and this verified it.

Perry’s slide show was stuck in 2008, constantly quoting from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that climate change is all man-made and the glaciers are shrinking.

Doom and gloom! It appears Perry is not aware of “ClimateGate,” where the IPCC acknowledged some mistakes amid a string of revelations questioning the accuracy of some information in

its influential reports.

When I questioned Perry, he admitted that the IPCC report had some minor mistakes. Minor mistakes! If so, why did Phil Jones of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) accede that there has been no statistically significant global warming since 1995; that in fact, global temperatures have been trending to the downside since January 2002?

Jones now openly admits that the debate as to whether the Medieval Warm Period (900-1300) was worldwide and warmer than any period since is not over.

Unbelievably, Perry stated in his presentation that the debate is over and the earth is warming toward incineration.

The bottom line: The debate is ongoing.

Students deserve honest debate, honest facts and the opportunity to come to their own conclusions.

My recommendation to Perry – either update your information to the 2010 reality, or go back into retirement.

Michael McCracken

Windber



Standing up to gov’t corruption

We try to put smart people in office. Trillions of dollars of debt and a headache is what we get. Our country is to be united, working together for the good of all. It’s sad, but most politicians are corrupt.

Thankfully, there are still some “real” people out there. State Rep. Sam Rohrer is among them.

He is a 17-year veteran of the House and is running for governor of Pennsylvania. He won’t dilly-dally around issues such as taxes. He’s willing to fight for our future.

He realizes the next generation is just as important as this one and wants to protect both.

Rohrer believes in restoring freedom and opportunity for everyone. He plans to help the little guy by eliminating property taxes and boosting small businesses.

Our taxes are skyrocketing. Pennsylvania is heading toward bankruptcy if we don’t get a handle on spending.

We were once a great nation. Have we lost this title, this honor, due to our stupidity?

The health-care bill was passed without the thought of our rights. We’ve been slapped in the face and expected to deal with it. I urge you to get involved and rally with men such as Rohrer. Say no to these unconstitutional acts. We need to do something. You can make the difference.

For information, visit www.whoissamrohrer.com or www.samrohrer.org.

Shaina Stern

Berlin