Letters to the Editor
curmudgeon2
Published Letters: 414 Editor's Choice: 64
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President Pelosi...
[Read the article: Why Bush hasn't been impeached]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is the main reason why there will be no move to impeach Bush. If Bush and Cheney are impeached and convicted, she will be the temporary president. And she will be unbeatable in 2008. Hilary will have lost her chance, as will the rest of the Democratic contenders.
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Who owns the oil companies?
[Read the article: Black gas-price Monday?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A new refinery for the US was recently announced, to be built by the Saudis. The Saudis are in the process of buying GE's plastics division. How much of Exxon-Mobil, et al, do the Saudis own? Where have they been putting some of their obscene profits? Why, in the businesses they know best, oil and oil service. So a lot of those huge profits are going back into the Saudi Royal pockets. Those who go along with the huge transfer of wealth, like Bush and Cheney, get a cut to maintain their loyalty to the Royal family.
Ultimately, however, it is up to the American public to reduce their dependence on oil. The oil industry is finding out that it can make a lot more money with those high prices, and we'll just keep on buying. I used tho think it would take gas at $4-5 to reduce consumption. It might take $7-8, or more.
I'm sure that all those gas hogs roaring up and down the highways are making lots of unnecessary trips. High prices will find out how necessary some of those trips are.
Don't piss and moan about the poor, it's only a red herring put out the auto companies who are scared of losing their gas hog market.
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Insurance(?)
[Read the article: "We need to learn to share"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Universal health "insurance" is exactly what the rich and well-connected want. It essentially imposes a highly regressive tax on the middle class, while letting the wealthy avoid their responsibilities. Insurance has two purposes, one to allow us to avoid risk we cannot afford, and two to have a mechanism for judging risk. We should always assume as much risk as we can afford, and buy insurance to protect us from expenses we cannot afford. The cost of insurance is always based on the actuarial risk. Health "insurance" fails both these requirements.
That said, there are people in our country who cannot afford to pay to cover their risks. The government should provide these people with subsidized major med insurance, which is paid for by the general fund.
The 80-90% of the rest of us who can afford to cover their own risks, should be doing so on an actuarially calculated cost basis. That will give a powerful incentive to those of us who have poor health habits to improve them.
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The Great Dieback
[Read the article: Who killed the honeybees?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I used to think that I'd be gone by time the Great Human Dieback occurred. The bee problem exemplifies our dependence on nature, of which few of us are aware. The real carrying capacity of the world is probably a few hundred million humans, whether technology is high or low. Gaia is on the verge of teaching us a lesson.
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Way out West...
[Read the article: Ask the Pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We used to be served by two airlines, one using 737's, with a few flights a day to Salt Lake, and the other using a small turboprop to BOI. You then went to your next hub, and finally another big plane to your destination. Now we have five airlines, all using "commuter" jets to MSP, SLC, DEN, Las Vegas, and the turboprop to BOI. We are also about to get a direct flight from IDA to Bozeman. Out here the smaller jet is a Godsend. My wife can visit her relatives in Minnesota in an under three hour flight, on a single airplane. So in a city of just over 50,000 we have service by Delta, United, Northwest, and Alaska. Plus Allegiant Air that only flies to Las Vegas.
The airlines are about to lose the first class passenger to the VLJ's, and they are doing whatever they can to inhibit that development.
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IDA-DCA
[Read the article: Ask the Pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When I worked at the Idaho National Laboratory, I went to DC fairly often to explain how we were wasting the taxpayers money. Oops, I mean how our advanced research was benefiting the American People. I had to fly a 737 to SLC, then a larger plane to CVG, then finally some other 737 or larger to DCA. Enough people fly from IDA to DCA every day to justify a direct connection, on a "commuter" jet. That is probably true for many other city pairs. As the fleet of smaller jets grows there will be more direct flights. And more planes in the air, and more congestion at some airports. And a lot more travelers who like the idea of not spending 8-9 hours on what should be a 4 hour trip.
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Owned by Big Oil...
[Read the article: Ron Paul is blowing up real good]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ron Paul is probably the only candidate who is not owned by Big Oil, so he has no chance of winning, let alone being nominated. You silly-ass liberals who really believe that the government is doing something for you are living in a dream world. Roosevelt established SS because he knew that a revolution would not benefit his class. The Big Oil Oligarchs in Texas never believed in SS or any government program that would benefit anyone but them. Even Eisenhower knew them for the fools they were; but rich and powerful fools. The vaunted Texas Rangers were formed to protect first the Beef Oligarchs, and then the Oil Oligarchs from the rabble, especially non-white rabble. Now we have the Patriot Act and other rules to make sure that the middle class masses can be controlled and intimidated, and those who are a threat to the Elite can be defined as "enemy combatants" and sent to Guantanamo Bay.
If you manage to elect a Democrat along with larger Democrat majorities in the Congress you will find that the Iraq war will continue. The only difference is that Democrats recognize that they have to throw a few sops to the middle class masses to prevent a revolution.