Solutions for poverty

Re Jan. 30: [``Ronald Reagan's unique opportunity to wage peace''] by Jim Wright and [``The poor -- invisible and otherwise''] by Melvin Maddocks should be framed and displayed by the office door of every United States representative and senator, at the front of every social studies classroom in every secondary school, and in colleges in America. Combined, the two articles contain the necessary ingredients for making our planet into a safe place for the human race. Both Wright and Maddocks seem to be saying that through cooperation by the US and the Soviets we could reduce the arms race enough to pay for feeding, clothing, and housing those on our planet living in poverty, and do it in a few years' time.

If enough of us demand that the forthcoming arms reduction talks focus on such cooperation by the US and the Soviets, we should be able to put an end to the madness of our current arms race -- which can have no winners, only losers. Gerald L. Kincaid Tucker, Ga.

Re the Jan. 25 editorial and Jan. 28 article on cities: Six years of exposure to and research into the workings of one California county (population about 500,000) and two cities (populations about 90,000 and 6,000) indicate that thousands and even millions of dollars are being wasted or misspent by these entities.

Initiated by entrenched bureaucrats, federal revenue sharing and grant funds are being committed to actions and projects neither needed nor desired by the majority of the citizens. The frightening aspect is having to assume the same conditions prevail in 3,152 other counties and about 40,000 US cities. No wonder we have massive federal overspending.

Priorities are questionable. There should be more specificity and selectivity for federal transfer of funds, closer monitoring, and full accountability required. Edward W. Barnes Sebastopol, Calif.

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