Reading all of the accounts about Ohio's budget crisis has been amusing. Many include a statement that unless the legislature raises more taxes, Gov. Taft "threatens" to cut school funding or some other portion of the budget believed to be politically untouchable.

This is, of course, calculated to send soccer moms into such a state of frenzy that they will happily submit to this extortion. Blackmailing recalcitrant taxpayers in this fashion has become the first refuge of political scoundrels.

My fondest hope is that future news accounts will substitute promises for threats. The Enquirer could perform a valuable public service by listing total state spending, revenues, inflation rate and population growth for each year of the Taft and Voinovich administrations. This would clearly demonstrate that Ohio suffers from a spending problem, not a funding crisis.

By the way, I enjoyed the picture of Govs. Bob Taft and Jeb Bush (Fla.) at the National Governor's Association meeting. Does Taft still caucus with the Republicans?

Dan Veddern, Western Hills

Westin guest gives thanks in evacuation

As a guest of the Westin and fan of Phish, I would like to thank the hotel and the city of Cincinnati for the very effective evacuation of the Westin Hotel Saturday morning. In addition, I believe the hotel guests should be commended for both their calm and cooperative actions and attitudes. Cincinnati is a first-class town that attracts first-class people.

Steve Fex, Lansing, Mich.

Higher wages won't guarantee better care

Regarding the article "Ohio ponders tough law for abuse or neglect of mentally retarded" (Feb. 15), Sen. Bob Spada stated: "I think part of the problem is sometimes you don't get the highest caliber of people willing to work for the wages being paid."

Please realize that although higher wages will mean more of an incentive to become and remain providers, this solution will not guarantee that individuals will receive a higher quality of care.

Secondly, to say the problem is "sometimes you don't get" persons of higher caliber is a slap in the face to those who do provide quality care regardless of the pay. When I began working as a CNA in a long-term care facility 15 years ago, I earned little more than minimum wage. As years passed, my hourly rate increased and I eventually began earning an adequate salary. However, the lerel of care I provided never changed. It was always the very best. I consider myself, and those I worked with, to be of the highest caliber.

Quality care-providers are either born with the capacity to care for others or they are thrust into a situation where they learn to care. Caring cannot be taught and it cannot be bought.

Higher wages don't guarantee quality care; quality-care providers do.

Lois Wright, Mount Healthy

Ky. lawmakers should seize chance

It's not too late to reverse the unfortunate decision of the Kentucky House, which mistakenly approved a budget bill that fails to adequately fund the legitimate and pressing needs of Kentucky's citizens.

I fail to see how sensible and sensitive legislators can make a nonsensical pledge like "no new taxes," and then use that unthinking ideology as a reason to dishonor public policy pledges made in legislative acts over the past 15 years. Cutting back on higher education, especially in Northern Kentucky, where economic and educational growth are so tightly tied together, is nothing short of irresponsible.

This is the time when expansion of funding can pay off over the next generation in ways totally unexpected. Requiring higher educational institutions to cut back, when they are already underfunded, even by the standards of the rest of the Commonwealth, shows a remarkable misunderstanding of public policy priorities.

And it's not as if there were not readily available sources of funding that affect relatively few citizens, but promise substantial revenue enhancement. Maintaining Kentucky's cigarette tax at the second-lowest level in the country cannot be a source of pride for anyone in budgetary tight times. Both economic and public health arguments for substantially increasing this tax are all around us. How can you even consider cutting necessary expansion of public education and other public services while leaving smokers untouched?

Equally, the prospect of increasing gambling revenues should not be a problem in a state that already has racing and lotteries. It's hard to argue that the Commonwealth can have moral objections to gaming at this late date. Virginity once lost is not restorable by political rhetoric.

With this kind of easy, non-oppressive revenue readily at hand, I hope and pray that each of you will do the responsible thing and vote to maintain and enhance the educational climate of Northern Kentucky now, when the need is upon us. Don't let significant human investment opportunities slip away for the sake of an unsupportable ideological slogan.

Hugh Stocks, Cold Spring

Hello, Reds: Local folks are your market

Paul Daugherty's column "Seeing red instead of cheering for it" quotes Reds public relations man Rob Butcher as saying of limiting sales to local fans, "From a marketing (standpoint), that would be really stupid for us to do." I have news for Butcher: The Reds are a small-market team. They are not the New York Yankees or the Atlanta Braves. The local fans are the support for this team.

How much ongoing support does he expect from the ticket scalpers and other opportunistic buyers from New York, Europe and Asia? Does he believe they are going to take the massive profits from their eBay.com sale of Opening Day tickets and reinvest them in the Reds?

Steve Griffen, Montgomery

A fruitless wait for a fruitless team

I, like many others in the area, tried to get Opening Day tickets Feb. 22, but couldn't get through via the Reds' Web site.

Can somebody please explain to me what a virtual waiting room is? Why did I get kicked out of the room? Why, when I finally got through, did I get a message that read: "We do not have four tickets in your desired area?"

The ironic part of this whole mess is what exactly are we trying to get tickets for? A team that traded its best pitcher for a backup infielder. A team whose biggest free agent signing was a Tampa Bay retread. A team whose former owner is suing the current owner. A team whose star center fielder acts like he's 12 years old.

My guess is come August and September, when the Reds are 12.5 games out of first place, we will all be able to get tickets. Congratulations, Reds, on finding yet another way to isolate your fans. Have a nice time in last place.

Andy Kroeger, Bridgetown