Traverse City Record-Eagle

Your Views

January 10, 2012

Letters to the Editor: 01/10/2012

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A critical issue

Whether you were happy or sad to see Newt Gingrich plummet in the polls and finish fourth in the Iowa Caucus what is most important to grasp is what was behind his electrifying collapse. Gingrich was the hapless victim of the dark work of new SuperPacs which spent millions mercilessly pounding him through TV ads.

Due to the 2010 Supreme Court Citizens United ruling, corporate donors can now combine into SuperPacs that completely overshadow the influence of the more familiar Political Action Committees (PACS).

The millions raised by these unprecedented SuperPacs can eviscerate or deliver victories to favored candidates and make a joke of the concept of fair elections.

What can the ordinary citizen do? Let's add an amendment to the Constitution outlawing these anonymous SuperPacs. On Wednesday, Jan. 11, the national chairman of the nonpartisan Move to Amend will be speaking at Milliken Center at 7 p.m. The forum is free, the issue critical. Come learn how we the people can fight back.

Celeste Crouch

Glen Arbor

Support clean standards

Michigan citizens should speak up to help reduce our dependence on oil and to help revive Michigan's economy.

Recently, the Obama administration proposed new fuel efficiency standards for lightweight vehicles sold between 2017 and 2025.

These standards would require all car fleets to reach an miles per gallon average of 54.5.

The United Auto Workers, 13 car manufacturers and environmental groups alike support these standards as they will be the largest step the U.S. has ever taken to get off oil and help to revive auto industry in our state.

The Obama administration wants to know what people from Michigan think about the new standards, and they're holding a public comment period through Jan. 30 to find out.

I urge citizens to make their voices heard by submitting a public comment to a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov (include "Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0799" in the subject line) in support of strong clean car standards.

Christina Bourassa

Charlevoix

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