Letters to the Editor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
‘Gaza Disengaged’
The recent article on “Gaza Disengaged” [R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., Opinion, August 18, 2005] well summarized the conflict over Gaza. Unstated, however, is the fact that the Palestinian Authority, let alone other clear terror organizations, has never accepted a two-state solution and Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state within secure borders. Consequently, in return for spending $3 billion to remove $2 billion of infrastructure that serviced 9,000 citizens, Israel is getting nothing in return. In reality, Israel is simply making a grave strategic error that is a gift to terrorism that will allow its enemies to move closer to its borders, thereby setting the stage for another war another day, but with a smaller buffer zone. Within months, the Israeli public will realize that its government, with the active encouragement of the American government, has initiated the largest strategic error since the Trojan War.
KENNETH S. ABRAMOWITZ
Manhattan
Food Stamp Vetoes
Re: “Council Overrides Bloomberg Vetoes on Food Stamps,” New York Desk, August 23, 2005. The City Council’s attempt to eviscerate the safeguards in the application process for the federal food stamp program in New York City is gratuitous and outrageous. By overriding the mayor’s veto of this legislation, we have taken a giant step backward – back to the time when the welfare roles were bulging and little was being done to control its growth. The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 and the anti-fraud measures taken by the state and city have transformed public assistance from a program long ridiculed for its ever-expanding waistline into a program that encourages a productive work ethic, integrity, and independence. The numbers speak for themselves – in 1995 the state of New York had a welfare caseload of 1,643,032, and today we are at 602,993. The dire predictions of increased homelessness and hungry children in our streets simply never materialized. The debate is over – welfare reform works.
The City Council legislation interferes with many of the commonsense safeguards already mandated by state and federal law. The bill would essentially allow anyone to apply for food stamps by using their personal computers, fax machines, or their best friend down the street. City Council Int. No. 615-A allows for numerous loopholes that would virtually eliminate face-to-face interviews. The bill presumes that details of everyday life: transportation, work, and training schedules constitute “hardships” that make a trip to the food stamp office impossible. A face-to-face interview ensures the integrity of the application process. It allows the case worker to verify the applicant’s true identity and documentation, to fingerprint and photograph the applicant to prevent “double-dipping,” and to inform applicants of their rights and responsibilities with regard to their case. Doing away with these controls would once again open the door to fraud and abuse. With the recent revelations of the millions of dollars in Medicaid fraud and the growing problem of identity theft, now is clearly not the time to retreat from commonsense guidelines that have proved so successful. It is important to balance the need for ease of access for applicants to these programs with the need to prevent fraudulent activity by those seeking to exploit the system.
PAUL BALUKAS
Albany, N.Y.
Mr. Balukas is the New York state welfare inspector general and served as president of the Association of Inspectors General from 2003-04.
‘Investing in Unity’
In Colbert King’s plea for Jewish organizations to engage the current leadership of the Presbyterian Church USA in dialogue, he fails to mention that Presbyterian leaders paid a visit to Hezbollah in Lebanon in October 2004 [“Investment in Unity,” Opinion, August 15, 2005]. Encouraged by their meeting with those who pioneered car bombings and have kidnapped and killed Americans and Israelis, one church elder said that we “treasure the precious words of Hezbollah and your expressions of goodwill towards the American people.” Rather than worry about the state of Jewish relations with the current leaders of the Presbyterian Church, Mr. King should call for the rank and file to disencumber themselves of a leadership rife with terrorist appeasers.
STUART ROSE
Fresh Meadows, N.Y.
Nonprofit?
In his real estate column of Thursday, August 18, 2005 [“Sales by Nonprofit Groups Quadruple Over Three Years”], Michael Stoler described sales in the hundred million-dollar-plus range by groups designated as “nonprofit.”
Given that a very hefty percentage of their assets, including these properties that they’ve just sold off for very hefty profits, are courtesy of their tax-exempt status (and, in many cases, tax-supported grants), can we hope that they might consider giving a bit of a donation to the New York City taxpayers – who don’t get all these advantages?
DANNY BURSTEIN
Manhattan
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