Presidential ambitions of one more well known politician have come to an end.
Thirty-nine years ago, for one politician it happened at Chappaquiddick Island; now - for another politician - at a Washington hotel.
Victor Maltsev
Rego Park
Another point of view
At $4,300, who but Governor Eliot Spitzer and the very wealthy could afford to be serviced by such a high-priced prostitution ring? The United States Attorney’s Office just wasted taxpayers’ dollars and time to grab some free headlines.
Our funds would be better spent prosecuting those who commit real crimes against individuals or property. There is no coercion between the customer in the exchange of cash for the product purchased and the supplier of services.
At those prices, imagine the revenues government could create with legalization combined with a sales tax? Law enforcement would be free to deal with real crimes of murder, arson, rape, muggings, robberies, auto and identity theft or home break-ins than high-priced call-girl services.
What consenting adults consume, inhale, perform, read or view in the privacy of their own home or private social club is not the concern of government. Individual economic and civil liberties prosper best when government stays out
of both the bedroom and marketplace.
Capitalism will always provide whatever goods and services legal or illegal customers desire despite the best efforts of both police and the Moral Majority.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
Good luck to David
As our new Governor, David Paterson, takes the reins of this great state, I wish him success in all that he tries to accomplish. I praise him for being the first African-American to be governor of New York, but I praise him more for overcoming being legally blind.
Former Governor Eliot Spitzer saw with his full sight but did not know where he was headed and where his destructive actions would lead him.
In Paterson, we may truly have a man that has the best interests of the people of New York at heart. Good luck governor.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Bellerose
St. Mary’s corrections
The Daily News editorial, ‘Pols’ Sick Ploy’ (February 19), is factually incorrect. It states, “No public funds were involved.” Here are some facts:
1. St. Mary’s will “finance $87,632,000 via the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York at an interest rate of 6.50 percent for thirty years.”
2. If St. Mary’s did not use public funds from the Dormitory Authority, they would pay a higher interest rate of at least 8.5 percent.
3. The yearly payment of an $87,632,000 bond at 6.5 percent for 30 years is $6,710,634, instead of $8,154,208 for a similar 8.5 percent bond.
4. St. Mary’s will pay $1,443,574 less each year by using public funds. The value of these lower payments over the 30 years is $15,513,860.
The bottom line is that St. Mary’s receives a $15 million benefit by using public funds from the NY State Dormitory Authority.
Patrick J. Lyons
Bayside
Impact of Willets Point development
The planned development of Willets Point will cause the destruction of about 225
businesses - employing more than 1,300 persons - that will undoubtedly involve hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and tax perks for wealthy real estate developers. This is a matter of grave concern deserving the utmost scrutiny and full and open disclosures.
Back room political shenanigans and ambiguities have no place in the proposal and do not serve the public interest. One need not speculate that Mayor Bloomberg and members of the city Economic Development Corporation, the proponents of the proposal, would not buy a suit of clothes without first trying it on; purchase an automobile without being apprised of all of its features; invest in a business without the knowledge of its every single aspect.
Yet when it comes to Willets Point, they have the arrogance to push for a ULURP and zoning change with the public kept in the dark about anything but the barest details. It is contempt for the people at its most odious level.
The notion that 300 skilled people at Willets Point, a pittance of the total, will be retrained for other jobs without specifying what kind of jobs and where they are is an example of the snake oil being pedaled by the proponents. Equally offensive is the claim that the 225 businesses will be relocated. Where?
City Council members John Liu, Hiram Monserrate and Tony Avella have every right to drop support for the proposal and should be congratulated for breathing fresh air into what may well be a public rip off on a grand scale. ( Willets Point losing pols’ support - The Queens Courier February 21, 2008)
Benjamin M. Haber
Flushing
A matter of living
Hillary likes to use the fact that she lived in the White House for 8 years as a qualification for president. Well, so do the cooks and the gardeners and the maids – are they qualified to be president too?
Michael Chimenti,
Bayside
Letters To The Editor
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