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Minimum wage hike is in doubt, but lawmakers' pay will rise

Taking care of their business

Re: Minimum wage, June 14.

Should it be any surprise that members of the House of Representatives accepted a $3,300 pay raise, that will increase their yearly salaries to $168,500? Obviously, they feel entitled. Meanwhile, a House panel voted Tuesday for a hike in the minimum hourly wage, from $5.15 to $7.25 - the first in a decade. Brother, can you spare a dime?

P.S.: My guess is that members of the House would really raise Cain, if they (like the rest of the little peons) had to wait an entire decade before receiving a cost-of-living raise.

JoAnn Lee Frank, Clearwater

Interest rate increases don't help

There was an interesting comparison on your Business page Wednesday. The headline at the top of the page said Bernanke lauds Americans on finances. Below that is the headline: Sinking feeling spreads globally, with a subhead reading Fears of further U.S. interest rate increases rattle investors worldwide.

Most Americans have their savings in stocks or mutual funds - especially in 401(k)s - and both stocks and funds are showing losses so far this year due to the Federal Reserve Board, now led by chairman Ben Bernanke, repeatedly raising interest rates.

If he would stop raising rates, the financial world would stabilize and Bernanke could allow Americans to continue to manage their debts and actually save some money for retirement. Me thinketh chairman Bernanke speaketh with forked tongue.

Thomas Vath, South Pasadena

School Board can't be pleased

Re: Improve on good job, Wilcox told, June 14.

Good luck to Pinellas school superintendent Clayton Wilcox in trying to please all the members of the School Board. From what I've seen of the telecast meetings, none of the board members have an interest in educating our children or making this a premier school district. Their only interest is in getting to talk on television or play with their laptops. I have yet to see them do anything but try to one-up each other.

Wilcox will never please them, no matter how hard he tries, so he should continue to devote his time to improving the education of our children. Pleasing those women is not worth the time or energy. Educating our children is of the utmost importance, and from what I see, Wilcox is making a difference.

Sylvia Fies, St. Petersburg

Drug bill should be signed

Your recent editorial Track prescription drugs misleads your readers. As the sponsor of the landmark 2003 Prescription Drug Protection Act, I can authoritatively say Florida currently has the safest, most secure drug distribution system in the country.

The new bill, HB 371, strengthens the law - it doesn't "soften" it. With the passage of HB 371, the current system for the 34 most "at-risk" drugs would be expanded to all prescription drugs sold in Florida. Since the 2003 law, there have been no diverted, diluted or counterfeited drugs in more than 150-million orders filled through direct purchasing.

Without the passage of HB 371, the 2003 bill called for additional changes beginning July 1 that are unprecedented, untried and are now not needed since the 2003 law has been so successful in securing Florida's drug distribution system. If we change what we are doing now, we will be the only state in the nation with laws that would isolate us from the rest of the nation should we need prescription drugs quickly in an emergency. With the hurricane season upon us, it would be foolhardy to rely on such untested measures with respect to our prescription drug supply - particularly since the post-2003 drug safety measures are working so well.

As a faculty member at the USF School of Medicine and a practicing orthopedic surgeon, I have a vested interest in seeing that my patients, my constituents and all Floridians get the safe medicines they need, when they need them. To ensure this, the governor needs to sign HB 371 to expand our current system of controlled, safe and secure delivery of prescription medicines to include all drugs, and not have Florida switch to an untried, potentially disastrous new way of doing business.

Don't take the easy way out and parrot one-sided sound bites that don't reflect the facts. Floridians deserve to fully understand such an important issue.

Rep. Ed Homan, MD, Florida House of Representatives, District 60, Tampa

Punish fraudulent aid recipients

Re: Your FEMA cash at work: NFL tickets, erotica, June 14.

I have read a lot of articles recently about how FEMA aid has been spent. While this makes for catchy articles, to my knowledge there are NO laws about how FEMA aid must be spent.

However, I rarely read articles about FEMA prosecuting people who apply for aid when they are not due aid. I think this is the real problem. Fraudulent applicants are rarely prosecuted. If FEMA slows down the distribution of aid to ensure the applicants deserve it, we see all kinds of protests in the press about how slow the aid is being distributed. But when FEMA gives the aid quickly because it does not investigate applicants first, we get all kinds of articles about how the aid is spent.

And while we may not like how applicants spend aid money, we should be more concerned about prosecuting those who receive aid fraudulently. Heavy prosecution and jail time for fraudulent applicants would cut down on how aid is misapplied.

James F. Smith Jr., Tierra Verde

Cheaters are like terrorists

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were devastating because of their destruction and the physical hardship the caused. Nevertheless, we now learn that countless American folks hijacked their own government for millions of dollars. The abominable actions of these citizens who are cheating the taxpayers of our country are shameful.

These cheats acted like terrorists who selfishly struck our nation's treasury and caused havoc because of greed. These frauds are a disgrace. They must be captured and brought to justice.

Kevin B. Kamen, Palm Harbor

Open the way to doggie dining

Re: Doggies dine out ahead of the law, June 12.

I am all in favor of a law being passed by our county commissioners as of July 1 to allow dogs in outdoor areas at restaurants. I think they should see it "on their radar" right now.

I have a few comments for Fred Punzo, the biology professor from the University of Tampa. I would much rather take my chances on getting a stray flea or mite from a dog than lice or a cold virus from a sick child dining out with his parents. Or be seated at a table next to one with smokers who spread their smoke all over my food and into my lungs.

I have found most pet owners are very responsible for their pets. Kudos to those restaurant owners who support these people and welcome them to dine on their patios with their pets.

Eyvonne Connelly, Largo

Minimum wage hike is in doubt, but lawmakers' pay will rise

On Page 3A Wednesday there was a tiny blurb that said a House panel voted for an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25, which would likely be "stripped out" when it came to the House floor. This possible increase would be the first in a decade.

On the other side of the page was a much larger article, House says yes to $3,300 pay raise. The story said this raise will produce a yearly salary of $168,500 for lawmakers and, in spite of record-low approval ratings, this is the seventh straight cost-of-living raise for members of the House and Senate.

Wouldn't it make more sense to tie lawmaker raises to performance, as it is done in most employment? Where's the incentive to improve?

It also numbs my mind to think of our military personnel dying, getting maimed, etc., for pennies on the dollar compared to those who send them to war.

The minimum wage now, in the current "perfect storm" of rising prices, is simply ill-disguised slavery. Much of America is not far behind.

Lynn Proctor, Gulfport

[Last modified June 16, 2006, 11:52:02]