Daniels ignorant of budgeting basics

In your report on Gov. Mitch Daniels’ visit to Concordia High School to praise the school voucher program (Jan. 27), you reported that Daniels was pleased to see evidence the program was making private schools available to students who weren’t from wealthy families.

Well, what Daniels apparently doesn’t know, but should, is that many (likely most) families with kids in private schools are not wealthy. For these families, it is a matter of priorities, deciding if a private school education is more important than, say, a nicer house, a newer car, more expensive vacations, etc.

It’s a matter of sacrifice and budgeting, items that Daniels apparently hadn’t learned yet when he was President Bush’s budget director. As a result of those budgets, we started piling up huge deficits, and their effects are still with us today.

ART KONWINSKI Fort Wayne

Lawmaker on track on debt reduction

I read with great interest the Feb. 3 editorial. The editorial staff was critical of Rep. Marlin Stutzman’s proposal to eliminate $1 billion annually for the Corporation for National and Community Service. I do not know the congressman but applaud his proposal.

I say this as someone who volunteers for a number of non-profits and knows, first hand, the terrific and vital work they do. I also know the value that individuals paid for by this program bring to the agencies they work for. With that being said, we cannot escape the fact that the United States is broke; we spend more than we bring in. It is time for us all to encourage our politicians to do the hard work they were elected to do and eliminate the hundreds of billions in spending it will take to bring us back to financial prosperity.

This will be hard as it will call on us to sacrifice those programs that are of benefit to us and our neighbors, but we have to do this if we wish to pass on to our children a vibrant future. It will also be critical for us, as a community, to bridge the gap and be as generous as we can with these non-profits so that our friends and neighbors get the help they need.

We each have a choice to make; what is yours?

RON TURPIN Fort Wayne

Stutzman move is short-sighted

I was shocked to read about Rep. Marlin Stutzman’s decision to propose a bill to eliminate a program like the Corporation for National and Community Service.

I have been a volunteer for nine years at Volunteer Center/RSVP since retiring from Verizon. It is truly rewarding to be able to help agencies perform their operations fully, even as Congress continues to cut their funding. The agencies are so thankful when we volunteer to complete jobs that they would be unable to pay to have completed.

I think about all of the tax credits and payments Congress gives to oil companies, farmers, fishermen and others while wanting to do away with this great program. I wonder whether Stutzman even knows who introduced this program to Congress. By golly, it was Ronald Reagan.

I am very disappointed that northern Indiana would elect a person who protects the rich from a tax increase to help pay for two wars started by his party, and someone who would support 20,000 jobs to bring heavy dirty oil across our country. Would he want it in his backyard? I was so shamed to see we could have had Tom Hayhurst fighting for the poor, disabled and the seniors in Congress. Instead we have someone supporting big business and their pockets are full of money for his election.

I would like to invite Stutzman to spend a day as a volunteer at RSVP and see what the government is getting for its money. The cost of this agency is like taking a cup of water out of a full bathtub; you would not even notice the difference except in the lives of those who depend on it.

BOB SMITH Churubusco

Flooded family shabbily treated

After reading Frank Gray’s article about the home damaged by a breaking water main (“Old water main creates a flood of trouble for family,” Feb. 5), I would think the city would have at least a minimum amount to help cover a homeowner’s cost to repair damaged property. Surely there could be money found somewhere in the budget. An All-America city can do better for its citizens.

REX ALTENBURG Fort Wayne

‘Sanctity of life’ a limiting concept

The Journal Gazette, reporting on the 38th annual March for Life (Jan. 29) coordinated by the Allen County Right to Life, noted that Mayor Tom Henry officially proclaimed the march as “a day to recognize the sanctity of life.”

I doubt neither the expediency nor the good intentions of the mayor’s proclamation. But the rally belied its stated purpose and stoked instead a narrow view of life that is dangerously partisan. “Sanctity of life” is a common cause worthy for all to cherish. Yet when glazed with a toxic blend of religious zeal and political extremism, it becomes life-denying. A lot of folks get left out.

The March for Life has been a fixture in Fort Wayne for years. March organizers are unquestionably sincere and clear: They are intent upon restricting reproductive choice, reintroducing the criminalization of abortion, limiting the availability of contraceptives and hampering the access of women to any reproductive health services faintly associated with Planned Parenthood. The march trumpets a narrow agenda detrimental to public health and mistrusting of women to make decisions in the most profound and personal moments of life.

The march merits reporting. But its moral treachery, intent upon curbing life’s liberty and diversity, should not go unnoticed. The peril of being narrow fails the test of serving the common good.

REV. JOHN P. GARDNER Plymouth Congregational Church of Fort Wayne, UCC

Prayers answered, even in death

Thank you to all the churches and others who prayed for my granddaughter, Nevaeh Oswalt, last spring and summer. Nevaeh, who was only 8 1/2 years old, lost her fight to live on Aug. 5, 2011 from an extremely rare disease called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. She received a bone marrow transplant in June, and it was a success; unfortunately, it was too late. Soon after she was placed in a medically induced coma until her death.

After her death Nevaeh was brought back to Marion for a large and beautiful funeral. Nevaeh was a very vibrant and courageous girl who never complained and was always smiling.

Nevaeh was healed, just not in the way we had hoped. God decided he needed her. I know that she is in a much better place where she will never suffer again, and for that I am very grateful. She is a “little angel” in heaven now, talking to Jesus.

Thank you again to everyone. Prayers do work!

RUTH LAUER Fort Wayne

Illogic shows in editorial

I was amused to see the Christian Clergy Project deny creationism and affirm a Creator in the same editorial (“Creationism is bad science,” Jan. 30). I was also amused that The Journal Gazette found their statement a compelling argument against creationism, in spite of the obvious self-contradiction. But wait, I forgot, it’s those who believe in creationism who are illogical.

WENDELL BRANE Markle

City Utilities policy is costing it money

In a Feb. 3 article about local water rate increases, Kumar Menon, director of City Utilities, said people are finding ways to conserve water, such as using efficient appliances and watering their lawns less frequently. I used to water my lawn in the summer, but I stopped after being annexed into the city.

When I became a City Utilities customer, my sewer bill became based on the amount of water use each month. That means that if I water my lawn, my sewer bill goes up. As a county resident, my sewer bill was totally separate from my water bill. I know that I can purchase a separate water meter for about $300, but I don’t want to do that. Most of my neighbors must feel the same way, because most of them have also stopped watering their lawns in the summer.

If the sewer bill were only based on how many times I flushed my toilet and not on the total water usage, then I would go back to watering my lawn in the summer and City Utilities would end up making more money. As it stands now, I will continue to conserve as much as possible.

KRISTI ARCHBOLD Fort Wayne

Spotlight on family of senator unneeded

On Jan. 19 an article appeared in The Journal Gazette about a state senator from Fort Wayne and apparent difficulties he is experiencing with his son. After reading the article I asked myself: “What was the purpose of exposing this issue and placing it in print for general consumption?”

For the record, I do not know the senator; nor do I know his son. My question is this: Why do the media cover family issues of a well respected state senator differently from those of us who are not involved in politics? If you want to report on the voting record of the senator or proposed legislation he or she sponsors and submits to the Indiana Legislature, then that is fair and expected. But private difficulties within the senator’s family are off limits in my opinion.

It is difficult enough to find qualified and talented individuals to serve in public office. Your article only makes the process more challenging.

CASEY MILLER Fort Wayne