Columbia Gas is trying to stick their failure to manage onto rate payers asking for a 23 percent increase to be used for maintenance which should've been budgeted over many years by reinvesting. I'm guessing the real reason is over-investment in fracking, oversupply and demand destruction due to the economy.

America's sense of fairness has been stolen through what the government terms "deregulation." There's no such thing as "deregulation," just regulation in favor of other parties. By snipping a bit here and there, our regulations to stop corporate abuses, created mostly by years of courtroom decisions, have been eliminated. Both parties have brought us back to the same battles we fought since the days of Morgan, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Carnegie.

Democracy suggests fairness, fairness requires laws that protect the workers from employers, consumers from suppliers, the environment from those that exploit it and our political system from corruption.

Similar to Europe, austerity is coming to America. The federal government has continued to reduce their revenue, indirectly forcing increased property taxes onto those least able to pay, which will cause even more home losses especially for retirees and those already struggling.

York city residents are well aware of last year's 17 percent tax increases even though our properties have lost 35 percent of their value and similarly the increasing cost of food and shrinking packages. If we don't stop Columbia, it will affect us just like a hidden tax and cause us to pay 23 percent more on the cost of goods. This could cost Pennsylvanians even more jobs as employers try to stay afloat.

Let me note that the Massachusetts attorney general has filed a brief in opposition to Columbia's request for what she suggests are corporate extravagances.