Modern transit makes Illinois more competitive

The Conference of US Mayors' recent high-speed rail study shows how transportation investments, such as high-speed passenger rail service initiatives now underway, can create a better business climate in Chicago and Illinois.

Transportation modernization makes our state more competitive globally, stimulates new investments and creates thousands of private-sector jobs.

The study finds a robust Midwest rail system will create $3.6 billion in additional gross regional product for Chicago, the hub of the Midwest network. It reports that Chicago can anticipate an increase of 40,000 jobs each year by 2035. Employment gains will spread throughout many industries, including tourism, finance, insurance, technology, construction and real estate.

High-speed rail also will be a boon for the downstate economy as growing businesses will have better connectivity to Chicago's services and resources. Modern facilities already have proven to be a magnet for community development as demonstrated in Normal, Ill., where more than $200 million in private investment has occurred within a half-mile of the city's new passenger station.

Thousands of workers will be needed over many years to plan, supply and construct the Midwest network. Domestic requirements for rail equipment will ensure opportunities for Illinois manufacturers to supply parts and assemble products.

A visionary and aggressive transportation investment strategy is necessary to keep Illinois a world-class business center and a model of transportation innovations for the 21st century.

Douglas Whitley • Chicago President & CEO, Illinois Chamber of Commerce

Irreparable damage

A special session benefits business. State employees get hosed again. In tough economic times, the governor called a special session to bring legislators back to do the job they failed to do in the regular session. What a waste of money that the state doesn't have.

Creating jobs is an important part of the state's financial picture, but how long is the state going to rely on tax incentives to businesses and cutting services to citizens as the solution to the state's budget woes?

Two factors must be addressed when facing an unbalanced budget: reducing expenses and increasing income. Missouri politicians have chosen to consider only cutting services to the citizens of the state. Politically, that's the easiest and safest thing to do. No one, including me, wants to pay more taxes. But when you reach the point that the cuts have inflicted irreparable damage on the citizens, it is time for politicians to become statesmen and make difficult, unpopular decisions.

Kansas is not a tax-and-spend state, yet its legislature realized it could not rely on cutting services alone to solve its budget woes and instead chose to raise taxes, a courageous but unpopular decision.

If our politicians aren't willing to make the tough decisions they were elected to make, they shouldn't run for office.

Unfortunately, in Missouri, from the governor on down, there isn't a statesman to be found. Harry Truman would be ashamed. We as citizens should be outraged. We deserve much better.

Ron Harris • Jefferson City

Contingency plans

Regarding "Heat puts area in June swoon" (June 22): The executive director at the St. Louis Housing Authority said that a part needed to fix an air conditioner at the Cochran Towers was "delayed in the mail."

This is simply not acceptable. If you need one part to fix an air conditioner that is crucial for the well-being of hundreds of elderly people in a heat wave, you do what ever is neccesary to get that part there, up to and including driving and picking it up.

I am sorry for all the folks who had to swelter. I hope contingency plans are made.

Dennis Williams • St Louis

Exempt APOs

As of June 29, the U.S. Postal Service no longer will accept tobacco for mailing unless it is sent express mail. Some APO (military) addresses are exempt from this new prohibition. My son's and many others' are not.

Every week I send a package to my son who is stationed with the U.S. Army in rural Afghanistan. The usual contents of the package are a cake, four or five cans of smokeless tobacco, a couple of pounds of coffee and a few books. These boxes usually weigh eight or nine pounds. The mailing cost is $12.50. A five-pound package sent Express Mail is $40. That's quite a difference.

Military personnel where my son is stationed rely on packages from home. The entire Afghan province where they are located has only one PX and no traveling ones. This new regulation appears to have been arbitrarily drawn and imposes a hardship on some of our men and women in uniform and their families.

Some of our G.I.s either will get no more tobacco from home or family and friends will be forced to pay an exorbitant amount of money to send them packages that contain tobacco. Neither of these options is good.

I appreciate that the motivation behind this regulation is to stop the mailing of tobacco products from low-tax states to high-tax states. However, to place the burden on some of our military personnel and impose a financial hardship on the friends and families of some our servicemen and women is both arbitrary and discriminatory.

If enough citizens stand up for our servicemen and women on this issue, quite possibly the regulation may be amended to include all APO addresses, particularly those in a war zone.

Molly Stanley • Canton

Leading to disaster

Almost every week, Paul Krugman's column is a perfect example of the difference between wisdom and education. His latest diatribe," Spend now, save later" (June 22) would have us get out of our present economic hole by digging ourselves deeper without realizing that his strategy created the hole in the first place.

The name of his strategy is "Keynesian Economics," which creates 'stimulus" by massive government spending with the help of the Federal Reserve's creation of money out of thin air. So far, his government buddies have created about a million jobs by spending about $1 trillion. This sounds good until you realize that it cost $1 million per job — not very stimulating to those of us who are stuck with the bill. A byproduct of this system is inflation, which steals value from your paycheck and bank account. Politicians love Keynesian economics because they are told that deficit spending is good.

You don't need a Ph.D. to realize that this scheme will lead to disaster — deficits and debt even larger than our current unbelievably high numbers. How do we plan to pay it off? Probably by massive economy-destroying taxes and having the Fed create more money, which will cause more inflation in a never-ending spiral. All for a fairy tale economic scheme that has never worked in the first place.

Jack Bruns • Crestwood

Balanced budget

Paul Krugman says "Spend now, save later" (June 22). He elaborates on this philosophy in great detail. It is alarming that so many people can agree with this thinking. It is precisely the reason that our nation and economy is in the mess that currently exists — plummeting into bankruptcy.

If this thinking and current government perpetuation of the philosophy persists, we will see the end of our nation as we have known it for more than 200 years. Yes, the end is in our time, not the time of our children and grandchildren.

Can't our leaders wake up and save us with a constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget?

Bill D. Burlison • Advance, Mo.