Letters to the Editor
aveutter
Published Letters: 198 Editor's Choice: 32
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Still worth a shot
[Read the article: Antipoleez: Breath mints that mask drunk driving? (No!)]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Probably half of all arrests for DUI are made secondarily, through routine traffic stops, or at SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS. At the Checkpoints the officer has nothing to go on, but your breath, your demeanor, and your response to his questions. If you are inside a car with the windows rolled up the odor of alcohol can permeate the passenger area. If you arrive at checkpoint with all the windows down the air conditioning running full blast, he has another reason to suspect you of drinking.
DUI levels in California are ridiculously low, and cops will tell you they cannot tell a .08 driver from anyone else. The penalties associated with a conviction are so severe I am surprised a whole cottage industry hasn't grown up, like fuzz buster radar detectors. A speeding ticket is only a couple hundred bucks. Cops are always going to catch the impaired driver, that's only half of where it's at.
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This has nothing to do with trade
[Read the article: Bush's dumb move on trade]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Come on people, Bush wants to help Columbia because of the recent dustup with Venezuela. Like the failed Dubai Port deal this has nothing to do with trade, or free markets. The Bush plan was to put troops in Dubai along the Straights of Hormuz, and the plan here is to put US troops in Columbia. I suggest you read the text of Bush's remarks
"We can show a watching world that America will honor its' committments, we can provide a powerful rebuke to dictators and demagogues in our backyard, we can expand US exports and export related jobs, we can show millions across the hemisphere that democracy and enterprise lead to a better life.."
by the way the Iraq economy is improving according to the war lord in chief. Maybe we need some regime change.
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Floating debt
[Read the article: The decline and fall of the American empire of debt]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Is it true Debt has to be repaid, or merely that debt has to be serviced?. This is a rather large distinction, especially if you can control the lending rate.
Did America take on the role of the world financial center willingly, or because the pool of labor and the centers of manufacturing moved offshore due to currency exchange rates?
Additionally the BRIC countries have enjoyed investment based on the advantages found in America's financial products.
To be fair most of Wall Street hoped that the benefits of economic developement would turn the third world into replicas of the US 100 years ago. The possibilities were much too enticing, (China is Post War Japan) and allowed the financial engineers to forget all the differences which prevent a smooth transition.
In the final outcome America was overly ambitious, just as it was militarily after WWII. The question of fixed debt instruments is equally arcane. Is it time to simply admit that all debt should be repaid at a fair value to our current economic conditions?. (Yes when the economy improves, you may owe more on that loan, and conversely when the economy tanks you should get a reduction in rates)
Fixed income investors, (who are being cheated by most accounts) are really being paid a fair rate of return based on real economic growth. Why shouldn't debt holders be subject to the same rules?
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Which is why MasterCard will soon have GSE status
[Read the article: The American way of debt]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There is no reseasonable way to slash consumer credit rates across the board without government intervention. When you consider where consumer rates are and where they could go, you have to think there is another bubble yet to be inflated. Central bankers have never seen a bubble they could refuse to inflate.
Among the lessons learned from the housing debacle, one, there is no way to lower consumer credit rates selectively, those who are least able, should not be forced to pay higher interest rates. Secondly as long as the Congress agrees there is no bottom to the toxic cesspool of bad loans, Freddie and Fannie, and maybe Mastercard and Visa. If taxpayers are going to bale anyone out, low income mortgage borrowers deserve just as much help as the investment banks, and probably more.
Thirdly the risk of default is really quite a bit less for credit card holders, than for mortgage banks, where the borrower leverages up to a half a million dollars in assets. Consumers are much more protective of their CCs than their mortgages, since these cards put groceries on the table, no matter if you have to eat them in the park.
And finally what CC company would mind making government backed loans at half the current rate? Not many probably.
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McCain joins the FGEP (free gasoline for everybody party)
[Read the article: McCain-onomics: Cheap gas in every tank]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Actually the Republican Congress wanted to give consumers a $500 tax credit ahead of the midterm elections. What really frosts me is the McCain suggestion that the government should manipulate gasoline prices ahead of the election, (like who gets credit for that?) The Bush team did an end run in the 2004 midterms, including jiggering the GSCommodity Index, and juggling SPR inventories. Truth being it only infuriated the electorate to a greater degree, not that the Democrats have a clue. Cheap gas or free gas, come on John, don't hold back.