Traverse City Record-Eagle

Your Views

June 15, 2008

Letters to the Editor: 06/15/2008

Lies from party of spin

Republicans have blocked the windfall tax proposed to limit record profits by oil companies. We are told that the price of gas will go up if that happens. This, of course, won't happen because if oil companies raise prices to offset their loss, then the windfall tax will pull this gain right back out of their pockets.

Add this to the list of lies from the party of spin when John McBush asks us for his vote in November.

Terry Frysinger
Frankfort

Short sighted, greedy

Astounding! Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP and ConocoPhillips made $36 billion the first three months of the year, gas prices have soared far above the inflation index to a national average of $4.04 a gallon ($4.19 in Traverse City; tell me it doesn't hurt), Exxon profits are the highest for any corporation in history, and the GOP blocks windfall oil taxes.

To add insult to injury, Republicans then blocked extending tax breaks for alternative energy development and promoting energy efficiency and conservation. Notice a pattern here?

Though Michigan senators Levin and Stabenow voted in the best interests of their constituents, 51 Republicans did not. What do these 51 think we'll do for energy in 51 years? One hundred fifty-one years? Write the 51 senators and insist on long-term vision.

Oil is a finite resource. Allowing record profits for the few while not securing the future for the many by insisting that a large percentage of profits fund development of new energy sources is short sighted and greedy, and not in the best interests of the American people who are left with a collective gas gauge on empty.

Sarah Johnson
Lake Leelanau

Torture awareness

You may have noticed some yard signs around the city saying, "Torture is Wrong," or the banner on the Friends' Meeting House at Fifth and Oak, "Quakers say Torture is Wrong." It is all part of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which more than 140 religious organizations representing most denominations have endorsed.

It makes me sad and outraged that our government believes torture is justified. More than 43 of our retired generals and General Petraeus have rejected Bush's argument that torture is useful or necessary in the fight against terrorism.

Torture doesn't work. Torture is immoral. Torture contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Torture degrades all of us who permit it.

We are allowing it to happen if we don't take a stand against it. If you and/or your church want to take a stand, visit www.tortureisamoralissue.org and sign the petition.

Margaret Patchin
Traverse City

Veteran enjoys reunion

I am writing this letter to share what Mr. Del Corner has done for all the World War II Veterans.

I enjoyed very much the reunion at the resort on a recent weekend. I didn't meet anyone I knew, but I did meet several Marines who were in the 3rd Marine Division when I was there. We were in the landings at Guam together. Also we landed on Iwo Jima several days after the 4th and 5th Marines had landed because they needed our help.

Mr. Corner made it possible to meet these new friends and share part of our lives together.

I know that Del Corner is going to have major surgery soon. Our prayers go out to him and his wife for a speedy recovery. We are grateful for having him as our friend; this kind of person doesn't enter our lives very often.

Edward "Ted" Stagman
Traverse City

Proved his patriotism

Mark Walter is running for sheriff of Leelanau County.

Mark proved his patriotism by serving his country in the National Guard at Guantanamo Bay.

Mark has demonstrated his competence as an officer, as a sergeant and now as a lieutenant in the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Mark has taken an active interest in our community by serving as county commissioner.

Above all, Mark is a family man -- the faithful husband of one wife and, with her, the father of three children.

Finally, Mark's roots, in Leelanau County, descend for generations.

Please consider giving Mark Walter your vote.

Leonard Dezelski
Traverse City

The most unsafe road

I have a major concern regarding road conditions and the safety of drivers and pedestrians who drive and walk up Holiday Road off Five Mile Road.

This road is very dangerous and very unsafe. It has many potholes from Holiday Village condos down to the railroad tracks, as you're going down the hill to Five Mile Road. The right shoulder on each side of Holiday Road that pedestrians use to walk or jog and to walk their dogs puts them at a dangerous risk.

It is no secret that the people who live in East Bay Township are well aware that this road needs a complete overhaul. It is the worst road, and would rank as the most unsafe in Traverse City.

Other questions for public concern that raise red flags are what, if any, action is going to be taken with input to the Grand Traverse County Road Commission to fix this dangerous road. Time has passed too long for Holiday Road. It is time to act for the safety of drivers, pedestrians, Bay Area Transportation Authority buses, school buses, school children and the community as a whole, to have Holiday Road overhauled and fixed.

The sooner the better.

Rick Dembinsky
East Bay Township

Questions to ponder

This is in response to Darryl S. Burkhardt's June 8 letter, "Where do I apply?" I would like Mr. Burkhardt to ponder a few questions before he so eagerly applies to become a police officer.

Does he want to be the first on the scene of a fatal car accident and then go to a home to notify parents or relatives that a loved one has been killed? Does he think that he can go to a fatal house fire and view bodies that are burned beyond recognition?

Does he think that he can interview a parent who has abused their child? And does he want to constantly be reminded by irate taxpayers that they "pay your wages." Would he like to go to bed at night and not be able to get some of these images out of his head?

If he can answer "yes" to the above questions, then by all means, he should apply as soon as possible and see if he can do a better job than the fine men and women who currently hold these positions.

Debbie Donick
Traverse City
The writer's husband is a retired lieutenant of the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department.

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