Letters

CORPORATE WELFARE: A SYSTEM EXPOSED

"To say that 'companies are manipulative' is an understatement. They are practicing thievery. May all the fat-cat CEOs rot in hell." KATHERINE NEWMAN Cedarburg, Wis.

Your report on corporate welfare, the tax breaks and subsidies that companies get [SPECIAL REPORT, Nov. 9], represents the best kind of journalism. Unfortunately, government giveaways to corporations have a long, rich history in the U.S. Mining companies can still take advantage of laws enacted in the 1800s that allow special privileges. The only difference between this and the corporate welfare you reported on is that today the federal and local governments are selling off our future at bargain rates. DAVID BROOKS Fox River Grove, Ill.

You said that while corporate welfare is a financial boon to some companies, it is unfair to companies that do not receive equal public tax dollars. But this misses the target. The greatest flaw is that for every dollar given by local and federal governments to coddle rich corporations, there is one less dollar to support programs for workers or alleviate the plight of America's poor. The political system is part of the problem, but America's economic system, based on competition for profit and primarily serving the needs of the wealthy, dictates the behavior of both the politicians and the government. Unfair tax breaks and subsidies for the rich are an essential by-product of the U.S. economic system. Its handmaidens in the political system put this into practice whenever they can get away with it--and that is most of the time. JACK A. SMITH Highland, N.Y.

You presented an unbalanced and inaccurate picture of ABB Instrumentation Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., in the portion of your report titled "When Factories Become Fixer-Uppers." In fact, the local area has benefited financially as a result of the support we were given by Monroe County, N.Y. It is true that the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency issued $21 million in bonds to support the building of a new plant. However, the company repaid this in full upon the passing of title. It is also true that the company accepted $2 million in tax abatements. These have since ceased. Instead of losing revenue, as you implied, Monroe County has gained additional income. Even with the abatements, our property and school taxes over a 10-year period will be almost $4 million. That's $4 million more in collected taxes than there would have been if we had left the area. In fact, it's some $800,000 more than we would have paid at our old location. And 400 local jobs have been preserved. HADJ AMARI, PRESIDENT ABB Instrumentation Inc. Rochester, N.Y.

Our schools are falling apart, urban centers are deteriorating, and children go hungry while the government haphazardly showers money and tax breaks on incredibly wealthy corporations. I am outraged that I have to mortgage my firstborn to get a loan or credit, buy a home or a car or fund an education for my children, while all corporations have to do is just start a rumor that they want to "relocate" and the government falls all over itself to help out. CHRISTINE HUBLER Bear, Del.

In figuring out how long it will take a company to pay back lost tax revenues, you should take into account the extra benefits created when the money is spent by the employees of the companies that have benefited from tax breaks. Each dollar pumped into the local economies via grocery, gas, real estate and other purchases is also taxed in a variety of ways. Therefore, the amount of time it takes to "earn back" the original tax incentives given to a company will be considerably less than you indicated. The creation and saving of jobs through corporate welfare, no matter the cost, may seem unbalanced and unfair, but think of the severe economic consequences when jobs are lost or transferred out of the area. BLAKE GUSTAFSON Olympia, Wash.

The stories you told of local and state governments' ignoring people's needs in the pursuit of low-wage jobs reminded me of how important my vote is at the local and state level. Where I live, we've elected a city council that has taken a pledge to allow no more corporate tax breaks to attract new business. EDDIE SNIDER Austin, Texas

Your article implies that Bagcraft somehow took advantage of Kansas citizens [in relocating a paper bag-making factory]. You said the incentive program didn't pay off because "zero new jobs were created nationwide." Let us give credit where it is due. Kansas officials helped win federal support to stimulate growth in the economically depressed southeast Kansas area. There are now 350 jobs in Baxter Springs, Kans., and there are 150 new employees--not transfers from other facilities. Baxter Springs' economy has grown, and the town has attracted even more new business. Everyone appreciates the added potential for future growth. ALDEN M. COHEN Vice President, Communication Bagcraft Corp. of America Chicago

Your shocking but courageous expose should rouse all Americans to what is going on in our country. The shame is that these powerful corporations and ambitious politicians could have decided to advance justice and decency, but instead they chose greed and corruption as their standard. VIRGINIA WEBB South Royalton, Vt.

GLENN RETURNS TO ORBIT

I was in the launch control center 36 years ago, when John Glenn made his first orbit of the earth [SPACE, Nov. 9]. I spent 20 years in manned space flight, and am now 65 and retired. When I was 48, I applied to become a mission specialist, but, alas, was deemed "too old." Glenn's second space trip has given me new hope! Maybe in 12 years, when I'm 77 like he is now, space travel will be available to anyone with the health and determination to go. If that happens, we'll look back on this mission as the milestone that made it possible. MARCUS GOODKIND Sewanee, Tenn.

In the past few years the law of diminishing returns has certainly applied to NASA. But not to worry. To rejuvenate a failing mission, the agency is granting larks to aging Senators in hope of securing future budget approvals. The Glenn trip is much ado about politics. ROBERT LUCE North Muskegon, Mich.

We've gone from the best and the brightest to "Geezers in Space." Where have you gone, Chuck Yeager? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. DAVE DYEHOUSE Frankton, Ind.

PAVING THE WAY IN SPACE

I don't think the space flight of John Glenn was only an exercise in nostalgia, as Charles Krauthammer seems to suggest in his commentary "What Happened to Destiny?" [ESSAY, Nov. 9]. Today travel between North America and Europe is not considered dangerous or particularly adventurous, but to draw on Krauthammer's analogy, 500 or even 200 years ago, it was quite an enterprise. Perhaps in another 36 years, when I am 69, I will benefit directly from a medical discovery made in space, or even be able to go to the moon on a commercial airliner because of people like Glenn who are paving the way for space travel for anyone of any age. DAVID A. BROOKER Willowdale, Ont.

When John Glenn and the other Mercury astronauts began their probing of space, the whole world went nuts over how brave and daring these men were. Everyone overlooked the brave and daring pilots who were flying and dying in rocket planes in America's deserts. Now once again the media are telling the great space story, while the memories of the true rocket- and manned-flight pioneers fade away like desert shadows. CHARLES A. STORIE Sachsenheim, Germany

Although I heartily agree with the gist of Krauthammer's Essay, I think it is important to consider the consequences of colonizing the moon before we rush to fulfill our "lust for the frontier." For some of us, the moon still represents dreams and romance. How would we feel if it were covered with golf courses, motels and fast-food joints? CRAIG HANSEN Fujishi, Japan

A WRITER'S AGE DOESN'T MATTER

Re the commentary on America's cultural obsession with youth [SPECTATOR, Nov. 9]: for the record, we at the Felicity television series did not fire writer Riley Weston when we "learned she was 32 years old instead of 19, as she had claimed." In fact, a full two weeks before she revealed her actual age to us, we chose not to renew Weston's contract. All our writers are in their 30s or 40s. Had Weston been the right fit for our show, regardless of her age, she would still be here. Next time, if your writer does even less research, he'll be writing complete fiction. In which case he's invited to come work on our show. We don't care how old he is. J.J. ABRAMS Cocreator and Executive Producer Felicity Los Angeles

VIBRANT EXPERIENCES ONLINE

At last, through extensive use of the World Wide Web, we have found the ultimate electronic hallucinogen [TECHNOLOGY, Nov. 9]. When enough computer-stoned Americans are floating through the neon-hued "planetwide sprawl of loosely interconnected chat rooms" called palaces, the criminal drug trade might just dry up for lack of demand. No one really needed opium after commercial television came along. Now it looks as if the Web will provide everything in the way of new experiences that Timothy Leary promised. JAMES ALEXANDER THOM Bloomington, Ind.