Voters

Thank you for your excellent discussion about the unseemly role of "special interest money" from developers, lawyers, unions, political action committees and trade groups in the financing of the campaigns of at least five of the Democrats running in this week's primary for Baltimore County Council seats in the 1st, 5th and 6th districts ("Buying influence?" Sept. 8). Fortunately, in November the people of those districts will have the option of voting for Republican candidates beholden to nobody but them: Steve Whisler in the 1st, David Marks in the 5th and Ryan Nawrocki in the 6th. Gloria Murphy, Catonsville

Baltimore's process for filling City Council vacancies provides no formal, structured or official manner for the voters to have a meaningful influence over the process ( "Candidates for city's 9th District answer questions, tout issues," Dec. 5). The current system on the books erodes the public trust by placing a decision that affects the masses in the hands of a few, and in this case in particular, compromises the perception of impartiality of some of the remaining members of the council.

Editor: The 2012 elections are over and the voters have spoken. We have four more years of Class, Race and Gender warfare. I hope the Mayan calendar is right because our country won't be recognizable after the next four years. We will look like a third world Banana Republic, aka Cuba and Venezuela. Obama can complete the Communist takeover of the executive and judicial branches of the Federal Government. When Obama and his czars get done we won't have any God given freedoms left.

Supporters say the measure will professionalize the so-called “Orphan's Court” which oversees estate disputes.

I am genuinely puzzled by the bewilderment of people like Dan Rodricks who do not understand the anger of voters and the source of that anger ("At long last, it's time to cast our votes," Nov. 6). They are angry about the augmented intrusion of government into their lives at every level — national, state, municipal. It is an intrusion that, almost without exception, is expensive and ineffective in advancing any social or fiscal progress. It is not the bailout of Wall Street, the auto industry, and other TARP beneficiaries — although that bailout is an indicium.

Marylanders should not complain about what is going on in Annapolis. They keep voting in the same people every election no matter how bad they are. They don't listen to the people, it's their way or no way. Take Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold ("Judge agrees to delay in Leopold misconduct trial," Aug. 3). My God, what a joke. The only time you see him is when there are cameras around, and he sends people out to see where they're at. Is it true that he doesn't use computers?

I beg to differ with the premise set forth by columnist Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in his article concerning Jewish voters and President Barack Obama ("Can Jewish voters be sure of Obama's commitment to Israel?" Sept. 2). I care deeply about Israel, and I believe that Mr. Obama has been and will continue to be a good friend and supporter of Israel. However, as an American, I will vote for the person who has saved our country from a great depression and will work on behalf of middle class and poor people in spite of the lack of Republican cooperation.

The voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America pitched a shutout in this year's Hall of Fame election and delivered a not-so-surprising repudiation of baseball's tawdry steroid era. Maybe that was the right message to send to a sport that was awash in illegal performance-enhancing drugs during the 1990s and early 2000s, but it also came with a few ounces of injustice for those borderline candidates who were not implicated in...

Now that we are seeing huge numbers of dollars being provided by Congress for financial aid to victims of Sandy's destruction, it would be nice to see the list of all the "pork" in these bills and the names of the legislators who added the "pork" ("House agrees to emergency aid for superstorm victims," Jan 16). The Sun has the opportunity to let the taxpayers know who is causing the increases in government expenditures. Surely, this information is available and it would seem to me to be your job to print the facts.

Several voters have complained that Republican Anne Arundel County Councilman John Grasso bullied and berated them as they waited in line to cast a ballot, according to the county elections board. In one case, a voter said Grasso yelled at him and jabbed a finger into his face while his children stood nearby. The voter said he'd cracked a joke about reaching the electioneering boundary where Grasso could no longer talk to him. "Mr. Grasso then acted in a very unprofessional and degrading manner and began to resort to childish and loud name calling as he verbally accosted me," Lorne M. Young of Glen Burnie wrote in an email to election officials obtained by The Baltimore Sun. Grasso acknowledged that he had been in confrontations while talking with voters, but he said the actions described by Young were in response to rude behavior.