LETTERS: May 24, 2008

newsroom@newsandtribune.com

May 24, 2008 01:35 am

— Reader: Make police checkpoints mobile

The sobriety checkpoint that took place in Southern Indiana last weekend will serve to funnel limited state and federal grant money away from measures that have proven to be most effective in combating drunk driving.
Because they are highly visible by design and publicized in advance, roadblocks are all too easily avoided by the chronic alcohol abusers who comprise the core of today's drunk driving problem.
Conversely, the number of DUI arrests made by roving patrol programs is nearly 10 times the average number of DUIs made by checkpoint programs, according to testimony by a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation official.
By focusing scarce law enforcement resources on roadblocks, the State Police Sellersburg Post will strip Indiana’s roadways of their most valuable tool for catching drunk drivers. Southern Indiana residents and taxpayers would benefit from employing the most effective tactics to catch drunk drivers: roving police patrols.
— Sarah Longwell, Managing Director, American Beverage Institute, Washington, DC

There is so a free meal

After school on Monday, May 19, we were eating at the Golden Blossom Buffet in Jeffersonville to celebrate a friend’s birthday. As we prepared to leave, the waitress told us that there would be no check since the gentleman that had been sitting nearby had paid it for us. Because he had already left, we had no way to thank him for his generosity.
We hope that he is a reader of this newspaper and will accept our thanks for his kind gift to us that day. What a terrific thing to do for a group of Jeff High students, thank you so much.
— Andrew Shelly, Nicole McCormick, Lauren Lorance, Allison Boettcher, and Nicole Wilson, Jeffersonville

What we should memorialize

Monday, May 26 is Memorial Day. It is not a day for a “Memorial Day” furniture sale, “Memorial Day” clothing sale, “Memorial Day” car sale etc.
Let us remember what it really is. This Memorial Day let us honor our fallen brothers and sisters who gave their lives so that all of us can continue to live in freedom.
We will never forget their pride, courage, honor and their ultimate sacrifice. We salute them this Memorial Day.
Remember them this Memorial Day. Attend a Memorial Day Service in your community. Memorial Day Service in Sellersburg is at 1 p.m. at Wilkerson Veteran’s Park.
— Tim Sells, PR, American Legion Post 204, Sellersburg

More oil, plus less consumption, does not equal lower prices

For years now the mantra that has been beaten into our psyche has been, “Use less oil, get cheaper gas,” ”Use less gas, get cheaper gas” and ”Get more oil, get cheaper gas.” Well, it just is not so, and the events of the last week proves it.
First, recently it was announced that our supply of crude was to go up, a little. Saudi Arabia agreed to increase production by 300,000 barrels per day and the President agreed to stop filling one of our federal oil reserves by an unknown amount per day. True, this is only a drop in the bucket relative to total usage, but it’s at least 300,000 plus more than last week.
The day of the announcement crude hit an all-time high.
Second, Indiana announced that for the last fiscal year it is on track to come up $12 million short in excise taxes from gasoline sales. That’s a 3 percent reduction or 60 million gallons of gas not purchased just in Indiana.
Now Indiana is a typical state. If we estimate all states have cut back as much as Indiana, it means last year Americans used approximately three billion less gallons of gasoline than the year before. In anybody’s vernacular that’s a lot of gas not being purchased. When you are talking about the oil market, three percent up or down is a very significant number.
You may ask: If the refineries are maxed out, as they say they are, where did all that gas go?
The answer is either they’re not maxed out or they have cut back due to no storage facilities, or they are selling the gas outside the country, which is more likely, or all of the above. The sum total is Americans have done, like it or not, what was asked to lower gas prices — use less.
Why then have the prices been steadily rising the last few years?
I believe there are two basic reasons. One, greed promoted by speculators and hedge fund operators in the market who are bidding the price up using borrowed money to do it. Hey guys, this is not an estate auction you’re playing with, it’s the world economy!
Second, I believe our enemies in the Middle East have been restricting supply as a means to help their war efforts by hurting Americans in their wallets. They cannot win on the battlefield, but they can take away our standard of living and that is what they are doing.
We must do two basic things to fix this. One, we must stop the radical environmentalists from preventing us from using our own oil supplies and building more nuclear power plants.
Two, we should have a law preventing market speculation on the necessity for life as we know it, oil.
It also would not hurt a thing to say a prayer once and a while for the United States and the civilized world. Remember, God is still in ultimate control of everything, including oil. After all, He made it for us to use. He only requires we ask His help.
There are evil forces around the world trying to destroy our civilization and move us back a thousand years. If we loose our ability to purchase energy, in all forms, we will be well on our way back. Unless we turn things around, prepare for non-stop price increases at the pump and everywhere else.
— Ron Cates, Sr., Georgetown