Letters to the Editor

Doing well by Shore's well-to-do

It's really good that Gov. Christie emphasizes that dune replenishment work by the state won't include adding parking lots, restrooms, outdoor showers, or anything else along the beachfront area of Long Beach Island in Loveladies and North Beach, where about 30 property owners for years have refused to grant access easements ("Christie says dune easements must get OK," May 1). The last thing that we want to do is to provide beach access to the New Jersey taxpayers who pay for beach maintenance, right?

George M. Dick, Eastampton

Special rules for rule-makers

A bill that would have limited the ability of congressional officeholders and their staffers to profit in the stock market as a result of pending legislation has been watered down. In the private sector, this would be known as insider trading. It's illegal for the rest of the country, and this legal theory has resulted in notables like Martha Stewart going to jail. Yet, by an anonymous voice vote, Congress has limited any accountability for elected officials. There should not be separate rules for a small segment of society.

Vincent Gregory Naughton, Glenside

Warehousing addicts a waste

Dwight D. Eisenhower, mastermind of D-Day, wrote that, "Every gun . . . made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed." To that, I would add that every addict warehoused in prison, every alcoholic locked behind bars instead of treated, every dollar spent on our dysfunctional prisons instead of warning the public of the true dangers of drugs (most crime is drug-related) is a theft of people's potential, a distraction of valuable police resources, a waste of talented lawyers' time, and a senseless plundering of citizens' tax dollars.

Let us truly reform what has become a prison-industrial complex by addressing effectively the thorn in the criminal-justice system: the so-called war on drugs - one costly, misguided, and hugely failed policy. Parnershipfordrugfree.org offers the sensible solution.

Ken Abraham, former Delaware deputy attorney general, Dover, kenabraham3138@gmail.com

Can't handle transit failure claim

Transit operated by the private sector ("Just fix the roads, and that's it," April 29)? SEPTA once was run by three private firms, which provided filthy, uncomfortable, unreliable, and antiquated operations richly deserving the epithet failed. By comparison, SEPTA today is a brilliant success.

John McFadden, Philadelphia, jjmcf@aol.com

On Syria, some first principles

Before we drop one bomb or fire one bullet in Syria, members of Congress should vote on a declaration of war, levy a tax to pay for it (rather than borrow from China), reinstate the draft to bolster our war-weary military, and ask themselves if they would be willing to send their sons and daughters on this mission.

Ronald Miller, Folsom, ronfish2002@yahoo.com