Copyright 2002 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.  
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
July 26, 2002 Friday Five Star Lift Edition
SECTION: EDITORIAL ; Pg. B6

LENGTH: 1470 words

HEADLINE: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

BODY:
Politicians reject drug benefit plans

The politicians have done it again. On Tuesday, the Senate defeated two rival Medicare prescription drug plans, sabotaging a health policy crucial to America's seniors. Key lawmakers acknowledged that a compromise would be a difficult balancing act, possibly creating a hybrid that could merge public and private-sector approaches to this benefit.

Unfortunately, neither plan addressed the real issues regarding prescription drug benefits for the elderly. In their haste to garner critical senior votes in an election year, both Democrats and Republicans rushed to announce their enormously expensive plans, but were very careful to avoid jeopardizing their lucrative relationships with the drug companies that fund their campaigns.

It should become obvious that the only two proposals that have any chance to really be successful are: (1) Revise the current laws regarding generic drugs and allow them to come on the market much sooner, and (2) establish a form of cost control on the drugs themselves.

It would also help if the drug companies were not allowed to deduct their costs of marketing from their taxes. This might discourage their hugely expensive marketing campaigns. I feel that these proposals would cost much less than the billions currently being discussed in the Senate.

No wonder we don't trust politicians. They have been arguing this issue for about five years, and no significant progress is on the horizon. Mark my words, seniors of this nation are going to be mad at both parties.

Larry Lieberman

2nd Vice Chair

Governor's Advisory Council on Aging

University City

Nazi camp guard

I read with dismay Teri Nickinello's July 21 letter regarding the lawsuit against Adam Friedrich, the 80-year-old former Waffen SS concentration camp guard. The Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations accused him of misrepresenting his wartime activities when he applied for a U.S. visa in 1955.

Nickinello states, in part: "Whether or not he was a concentration camp guard serving his country in World War II is irrelevant. He volunteered and served his country as many young men did all over the world."

Far from being "irrelevant," Friedrich's service as a Nazi concentration camp guard is central to the case against him. The SS overseers of the concentration camp system, like their counterparts in the notorious Einsatzgruppen, were hand-picked for their brutality and dedication to the business of Nazi ethnic cleansing. The torture and murder of the prisoners in their charge was their daily business.

Nickinello is at least accurate when she says that Friedrich voluntee red for such duty. Service in the SS guard units and Einsatzgruppen was strictly voluntary. As Daniel Goldhagen records in his excellent book, "Hitler's Willing Executioners," such men believed that by murdering innocent men, women and children they were contributing to the Nazi war effort like any other German soldier.

To compare the butchery of these Nazi thugs with the courageous self-sacrifice of the millions of Allied and Soviet troops who gave their all for the liberation of Europe from Nazi oppression is a gross disservice to the men and women of the "greatest generation."

As for former Nazi guards like Adam Friedrich and Michael Negele, age should have little bearing on their cases. Lawsuits like those brought by Eli Rosenbaum of the Office of Special Investigations, far from being "Salem witch hunts," are the only way in which the victims of the Holocaust can finally be given at least the tiniest measure of justice.

I can think of no better use for my tax dollars than that.

Skip Schmidt

Maplewood

No apology by Israel

Israel, under universal criticism for the attack on Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh because civilians also were killed, has little to apologize for. Hardly a week had passed since Palestinian terrorists blew up a bus and fired on the survivors with automatic weapons as they fled the burning vehicle.

Now the Hamas spokesman says "there will be no more respect for a Zionist child or ... civilians," as if there ever had been.

Surely, the public does not regard Israel's act of self defense, whatever the unintended casualties, as the moral equivalent of Palestinian acts of terrorism. The unhappy fact is that civilians die in war. But it is the Israelis who have called repeatedly for a cease-fire and the Palestinians who have refused one, targeting non-combatants instead.

In its fear of world opinion, Israel is going about its battle in the wrong way. First, instead of issuing apologies, the Israelis should publicly announce that though they will never target civilians, they will be unable to spare those in the vicinity of the war against terrorism.

Second, they should make it their policy to provoke militants out of hiding. Arrest Yasser Arafat, search mosques for explosives (they are sure to find some) -- anything that will bring armed men into the streets. The army should be ready with snipers and attack helicopters, and should shoot at anyone bearing a weapon or wearing a mask.

Of course, the world would howl as it always does whenever Israel defends itself. Israel's answer, indeed its mantra, should be: "We are willing to participate in a mutual cease-fire at any time."

Allan R. Shickman

University City

The consumer pays

I am continually amazed at the letter writers who say they want the trucking companies to pay more highway taxes.

It really isn't the trucking companies that pay taxes. In fact, they are really a tax collector, as are all businesses. We the people are the only taxpayers. When we go to the store, the price we pay has the company's tax burden figured into the price.

So when taxes are raised on a business, it simply increases its prices to cover that expense.

Ray Grimes

Ballwin

In response to John Wilke's July 17 letter, "Trucks get free ride under Proposition B": Apparently he has never heard of a fuel permit. This is a permit that is required for trucks to travel in Missouri or other states.

Trucks must have this permit even if they don't stop for fuel in Missouri.

Jim Bailey

Valley Park

"No" to college tax

Every time a political subdivision suffers a reduction in state funding, it turns to the real and personal property taxpayers to bail them out. East Central Community College is no exception.

The annual revenue the college receives in real and personal property tax increased from $2,383,531 in 1995 to $3,243,527 in 2001 -- an increase of 58.95 percent.

The taxpayers in the Community College District have paid their fair share. I say vote "no" on Aug. 6 to the requested increase levy of 14 cents for the East Central Community College.

Jack L. Koehr

Sullivan, Mo.

Rebuild the towers

Several decades ago, a group of American investors decided we should have a World Trade Center in New York City. And so it was built.

Last year, a group of insane terrorists decided to destroy our World Trade Center. And they succeeded.

Sept. 11 was not merely a one-day victory for the terrorists; it was a victory that will continue so long as the World Trade Center doesn't exist. The gaping emptiness in the sky where the twin towers once stood would serve as a perpetual monument to the terrorists.

The only way to deny them a permanent victory and permanent memorial is to rebuild the World Trade Center exactly as it was. The whole world will be watching as the twin towers inch their way back up into the sky, and when they are once again standing tall and proud, they will constitute the most eloquent and defiant statement we can make that the United States will never allow insane terrorists to prevail.

John Egley

Kirkwood

Teaching compassion

In his July 24 letter, "Muppets and HIV," John W. Mitchell ignores a large group of AIDS victims: the people infected through no fault of their own.

Ever since the AIDS epidemic began, there have been a large number of innocent victims of this terrible disease. Children have been born with AIDS, passed on by their infected mothers. Both children and adults have been accidentally infected through medical procedures such as blood transfusions.

Is it so wrong to teach our children that these people deserve compassion and to be treated normally, rather than as frightening social outcasts?

Sam Reed

St. Louis

A Twist of justice

I was very pleased to read that the Missouri Court of Appeals ruled in favor of cartoonist Todd McFarlane on Tuesday. Our judicial system does occasionally work the way it was intended to.

Tony Twist brought not only a ridiculous but an arrogant lawsuit against McFarlane in 2000. I am satisfied that he did not prevail. Asinine lawsuits like this are one reason our courts are backlogged for years.

J.R. Thomas

O'Fallon, Mo.

GRAPHIC: GRAPHIC GRAPHIC GRAPHICS
Graphic , Illustration - (of trucks on a highway)

LOAD-DATE: July 26, 2002