Bailout beggars now sponsor Rose Bowl

I'm more than a little upset that Citicorp/Citigroup is the corporate sponsor of the Rose Bowl.

A company that had to beg for billions of dollars to stay viable should not be allowed to sponsor anything, not even a little league team.

Citigroup had to belly up to the bailout trough because of their own malfeasance and bad business decisions, and they now get to put their name in front of one of the premier bowl games.

Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I'm having a hard time getting past this.

-- James Butcher, Madison

Ballot is what gives workers 'free choice'

Do we really have to make the case again that a fair election requires a secret ballot? I thought that was settled in the 19th century, yet the unions are trying to change the law to unionize a company on the basis of signed cards by a majority of the workers.

The obvious problem is that union organizers know who has signed and who has not. Those who haven't will receive special attention, perhaps as mild as peer pressure, but given the history of the unions in this country, it could be worse.

Consider what it means that the unions are even asking for this travesty. They have seen that they sometimes lose the elections when workers can make a genuinely free choice. So they want a different process which gives the union more advantage.

But then the union can't honestly claim that they represent the wishes of the workers. Further, the union's advantage in the check card process is precisely the ability to pressure and coerce reluctant workers.

The so-called "Free Choice Act" is really a license for intimidation.

-- Wayne Shockley, Brooklyn

Employee act offers a good balance

The Journal's Dec. 8 editorial on union organization missed the obvious good benefit to the proposed bill.

What the Employee Free Choice Act does is set the process in motion for workers to negotiate wages, work rules and benefits as a group. Any negotiated proposal after that proceeds to a secret vote by all the workers.

The public process of obtaining signatures to organize is like registering to vote in a state election -- transparent and open for all to see.

Is there a risk to the organizers? Sure, but keeping secrets at the registration stage allows for mischief or worse on both sides of the bargain.

You fell prey to a "patriotic election" argument promoted by some anti-union employers to keep everything secret. The EFCA sets a good balance, with open registration first, then secret ballots on the negotiated deal.

-- Jim DiUlio, Madison

Patriot Act works, like hammer on a fly

In a recent letter to the editor, a writer stated "The Patriot Act has saved more American lives than its critics are willing to admit." First, there are very few people (probably even in the U.S. intelligence community) who have real, firsthand knowledge as to whether or not the Patriot Act has saved any American lives, and I'm certain that the letter writer is not one of them.

Second, I don't remember lack of effectiveness as a counterterrorism tool being a primary complaint against the Patriot Act. The main complaint is the violation of civil liberties that the act allows -- suspension of habeas corpus is a biggie.

I'm sure the Patriot Act is a very effective tool, just an unnecessarily harsh one. It's like using a sledge hammer to kill flies when it would probably be better to use a flyswatter.

-- Steve Janisch, Madison

Neglect an insidious form of elder abuse

The State Journal has brought to our attention the plight of older persons who suffer, many silently, from abuse. Statistics tell less than half the story. We can count events, financial abuse, physical abuse and cases of neglect when the consequences include serious losses or even death.

We should applaud efforts by advocates to increase government resources and raise public awareness of abuse, and the extent to which our governments -- local, state and federal -- are responsive.

Journal reporter Dean Mosiman's excellent articles on Sunday provided disheartening information about not only the reported frequency of abuse, but also the fact that resources needed to combat this social disease are inadequate.

However, readers should be aware of an insidious fact: Neglect is abuse. Adult children, neighbors and concerned citizens can act to relieve neglect.

For the elder living alone, neglect is often more abusive to the soul and spirit of the forgotten person than overt acts of abuse. Feeling neglected is a chronic condition, but one that can be overcome by frequent visits, phone calls or a ride to one without the means to get about.

As winter arrives, it is important for children and neighbors to invest their concern and be the solution to a vulnerable person's neglect.

-- James T. Sykes, former chairman, Wisconsin Board on Aging and Dane County Board of Public Welfare; senior adviser, aging policy department, UW-Madison Population Health Sciences