A New Kind of Reading Experience

Feeding the Hungry
I share Anna Quindlen's disgust with our religious and political leaders for their failure to solve the problems of hunger, poverty and homelessness in America ("Blessed Is the Full Plate," Nov. 26). It is a moral outrage—indeed, a crime and a sin—that millions of our fellow Americans must Dumpster-dive and live in cardboard boxes while leaders fight over philosophical issues and the rich cry because their tax rates might increase to the levels of secretaries and janitors. We should all hang our heads in shame for allowing this to be.
Steve Metzger
Barnstead, N.H.

Anna Quindlen's piece on the Church of the Holy Apostles was sobering, moving and painful. Where I live, two organizations have been feeding the poor for years: Glide Memorial Church and St. Anthony's Dining Room. They do yeoman work. The day I see any candidate or those in office, particularly on the federal level, behind a table doling out food to those in need, they will get my support and my vote. The problem seems to be that with all the cant and rhetoric, we ultimately don't care. And that goes for the excessively wealthy and those who could afford to contribute more but ignore the problems facing us.
Colin Thurlow
San Francisco, Calif.

Time for a Revamped GI Bill
The federal government has once again shown its true colors in how poorly it is treating our returning veterans. These men and women deserve the best opportunity to pick up where they left off when they volunteered to serve their country, and shouldn't have to incur large debt or choose not to attend college due to financial constraints ("A Learning Disability," Nov. 26). I am also disappointed in our colleges and universities for not picking up where government has left off and offering these vets a reduced-price or free education. Who better to have on campus than smart, mature, dedicated young people who really want an education? They deserve much better than what they are getting from us. I have two sons in college, and we get little financial aid. Still, I have no problem with having these schools offer our veterans a "free ride" for four years. Are there any university administrators out there with enough guts to start this ball rolling?
Gail Meyer
Saranac Lake, N.Y.

The GI bill was never meant solely for education. For all intents and purposes, the GI Bill (the Servicemen's Readjustment Act) was a way to prevent a depression after World War II. Throughout U.S. history, an economic slump had occurred at the conclusion of every war. FDR was adamant that it not happen again. As a result of this act, and a confluence of events, America saw great prosperity from the end of the 1940s through the 1950s. According to studies on the GI Bill, the country has continually benefited. The government has received a minimum return on its investment at an 8:1 ratio, which has often climbed to 10:1. Service members who use the GI Bill advance to a higher tax bracket, create businesses (which create jobs) and are more stable members of the community. I was a Marine for 22 years and used the GI Bill to get a bachelor's degree; I am now working toward my master's. My brothers, one an Air Force veteran and the other a retired Marine, have college educations similar to mine paid for by the GI Bill. Americans need to view education as an investment in our country. Service members have already shown they are willing to serve and defend America. It's about time Congress served our military members by updating a dysfunctional GI Bill.
Frank Buday
Swansboro, N.C.

Of Two Very Differing Opinions
In reading Karl Rove's laundry list for beating Hillary Clinton, I noted that missing were his usual tactics of spreading misinformation, eviscerating opponents, disenfranchising legitimate voters and outing CIA agents ("How to Beat Hillary [Next] November," Nov. 26). As the disgraced puppeteer behind a corrupt and increasingly irrelevant administration, he doesn't deserve yet more exposure. Shame on NEWSWEEK for giving him a voice.
Joanna C. Rodriguez
Jacksonville, Fla.

A national opinion forum for Karl Rove? It will take a generation to undo what Rove and his minions have wrought on the United States. Editor Jon Meacham absurdly compares Rove to George Stephanopoulos in defending his decision to include him in the magazine. Stephanopoulos has always been a decent, hardworking public servant. Rove has always been a manipulative operative who will lie at every turn to serve himself and a political party gone mad. Then there's the weak, "balancing" defense of having Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos represent the opposing political view ("Make the Bush Record the Issue"). Outside of the progressive blogging community, Markos is barely known, while Rove has had a high profile for nearly a decade. On your Web site, Meacham says his goal is to "illuminate" by hiring Rove. Will readers be illuminated as former White House press secretary Scott McClellan was when he said Rove misled him in the Valerie Plame affair? Your choice of Rove is a disservice to decent Republicans and Democrats and contributes nothing to the national dialogue.
Dennis Shreefer
Lima, Ohio