In response to the letter "How can official justify tobacco use?" (Sept. 7), it is ridiculous to compare Ohio tobacco farmers to "crack dealers or pot growers who get 100 percent of their income from their trade."

Tobacco is a legal substance that has provided for many families, not only in this area but also all over the country. Tobacco also provides a big chunk of the economic base for property tax support of southern Ohio schools.

April Baker, Georgetown, Ohio

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Cheney's wrong: Deficits do matter

In the article "Deficit heads for record, but ...," Sept. 8) the Congressional Budget Office reports that deficit will hit $422 billion this year, with a forecast 10-year deficit of $2.3 trillion.

Vice President Dick Cheney has said, "Deficits don't matter," referring to the deficits that didn't keep President Reagan from being re-elected. Cheney is not considering the economic impact on the average citizen, but to President Bush's chances for re-election.

Economists say deficits result in higher interest rates for consumers. The average household in America owes $8,000 in credit card debt. Most of the middle class will be directly affected. On our behalf, will somebody please tell the vice president that deficits matter?

Kathleen Carter, Milford

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Nobody's perfect; leave Allen alone

I can't believe people blasting Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen for making a mistake. If Christ were here today he would say, "Go and sin no more."

Allen is a good prosecutor. He is paying in ways that I don't even want to imagine, as well as his entire family. It will be much better to have an experienced prosecutor in office than someone without the experience that he has.

Ann Stewart, Hamilton

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Allen must go, and not on our dime

So now Mike Allen expects the taxpayers to foot the bill (legal expenses) for his fling with his subordinate.

Does he really believe that anyone, let alone a court of law, would interpret his behavior as being "in the performance of his duties," while being paid $110,000 per year as Hamilton County prosecutor?

His legal and moral judgment is flawed. We deserve better. Allen must go.

Ralph J. Lowenstein, Blue Ash

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Allen, unlike Clinton, admitted affair

I cannot believe people have the audacity to demand Mike Allen's resignation. He admitted he engaged in a 31/2-year extramarital affair with a co-worker and made public apology.

Yet former President Clinton denied such allegations, and the taxpayers spent millions of dollars proving that he lied under oath and perjured himself before a grand jury. Clinton remained in office.

Therefore, why should Allen resign his position as Hamilton County prosecutor?

Dennis M. Luken, Mount Washington

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Bill would aid reservists, businesses

Howard Wilkinson's article "Family wasn't ready for this: Dad recalled" (Sept. 7) illustrates some of the difficulties facing reservists called into active military duty. Thousands of Ohio families face hardships as family members are activated to serve our country. Businesses also struggle to make do by hiring temporary employees or operating short-staffed.

I recently introduced a bill offering tax credits to reservists and another easing the burden on their employers. While nothing can be done to fill the void left when reservists are called into active duty, we should look for ways to support them and the small businesses holding their jobs until they return.

State Sen. Mark Mallory, D-Cincinnati, Columbus

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Executives don't talk like Bush

President Bush talks like an executive? Because he "is used to acting and taking the consequences"? That may be your reporter Carl Weiser's ("Bush oratory less equivocal," Sept. 8) personal, amateurish opinion about CEOs. But Bush's swagger is a comic book impression of an executive.

For more than 20 years as a corporate communications executive, I worked with chief executive officers of American corporations - from Fortune 500 to small, over-the-counter companies. Not a single one of these leaders acted with the simplistic "right or wrong" attitude of Weiser's "executives." The most decisive of them were also the most concerned with the nuances of policy and action.

Scott Aiken, Mount Lookout