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Costly contract error could have Big Oil's fingerprints on it

Re: Big Oil gets a $10-billion giveaway, editorial, Sept. 26.

As a former government lawyer, I may have a smidgen of insight into how the Interior Department omitted a $10-billion term in a bunch of important offshore oil lease contracts.

Interior, in our names, leases out public resources, usually on terms grossly profitable to the private lessee. Look at private grazing or timber cutting on public lands, let alone oil and other mineral leases, for some pretty outrageous giveaways.

Interior's staff members, from the political appointees on down to the staff lawyers, technical experts and analysts, make up the faceless machinery that grinds out these deals. The bad deals (for the public) result from a comfortable and invisible corruption that oozes from all the people involved, whether Big Oil or some lowly staffer seeking a revolving-door job with Weyerhauser or BP.

And despite the usual private party's defense that the government has infinite resources and should stick by its contracts, you can bet that Big Oil has infinitely more high-priced talent doing most of the actual drafting of these leases. Cutting a term that would have required royalty payments if oil prices go above $34 a barrel may look like government incompetence, which under this administration should be no surprise. But I would bet that the deletion was fomented by the private parties' counsel, with a sneer and a wink between $3,000 suits getting paid $800 or $1,000 an hour.

Basic contract law provides remedies for fraud, mistake, unclean hands, overreaching and other ills arguably applicable here. One might hope that our government would go to war over billion-dollar giveaways with the same fervor being applied to the "war on terror."

Jon McPhee, St. Petersburg

What about immigration?

Re: Charlie, Jim: Time for answers, Sept. 24.

Tim Nickens missed one huge question for Charlie Crist and Jim Davis to answer:

The state of Florida will be severely affected by the immigration bill passed this year in the U.S. Senate with the help of Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson. Florida will need billions of extra dollars to support Martinez and Nelson's amnesty plan for illegal immigrants.

So I believe the voters of Florida will demand to know where Charlie and Jim stand on pending legislation for illegal immigrants. It could cost this state a fortune. (The current lack of federal enforcement is already costing Floridians a pretty penny.)

Well, Charlie and Jim, where do you stand? National party contributions got your tongue?

Kevin L. Konkler, Palm Harbor

More exemption calculations

Re: Charlie, Jim: Time for answers.

Again, your newspaper seems to be against the Save Our Homes 3 percent tax cap. Who is it that pressures you folks to keep harping on this? County employees? The teacher unions? And just how does it "make things worse" when the counties have reaped a windfall in taxes in the past few years?

The only fair solution is a higher homestead exemption. When I bought my house 28 years ago for $40,000, the $25,000 exemption was 62.5 percent of its value. Now it's closer to 10 percent. Since homes are averaging $245,000, it's more fair to have $150,000 exemption on a quarter-million-dollar home. One of your readers the other day suggested a $61,000 exemption. That's way too low. But he was correct that the exemption should rise.

I don't think we need a million-dollar study to figure this one out. Just some common sense and high school math.

Elinor Wencka, Tampa

Immigration ineptness

We have German friends who live in Kentucky. They have been in this country for more than 30 years. The man owned a business and has had race horses and has lived continuously at the same address, so he hasn't exactly been "low profile."

Five years ago his wife became a U.S. citizen. He wanted to also, but could not because his records had been lost. He had to wait another five years to become a citizen. He has lived here and paid taxes all these years and they couldn't find his records.

What does that say about our immigration system? How could we possibly track undocumented aliens when a person who has lived here for 30 years and wants to become a citizen can't do so because the government can't find his records?

Jonell Jones, Tampa

Tampa Bay needs to shape up

It is not surprising that the Republican Party chose Minneapolis-St. Paul for its 2008 convention. As hard as it is to admit, this area is decades behind most major metropolitan areas in growth management, mass transit, pedestrian-friendly areas and eco-friendly philosophies.

Minneapolis-St. Paul has done an excellent job of providing a good quality of life. The people there are very progressive and proactive in their approach to urban problems and solutions. They have a great infrastructure, a beautiful network of green areas and functional mass transit.

When will we learn that we cannot continue to pull a veil over our city's shortcomings? Start focusing on improving the quality of life for those who call Tampa home and less on orchestrating these special interest visits.

Thomas Silver, Tampa

Corrections staff held to high standard

Re: Behind bars, sex charges the air, Sept. 24.

The title gets your attention and that's what readers want to read, but frankly it is not something that just popped up. More than 99 percent of all Bureau of Prisons staff are law-abiding law enforcement officers. Just like any profession or group, there are those rare occasions when individuals cross the line. On those occasions, the individuals are dealt with in accordance with the law.

Your reporter, Tamara Lush, tries to paint the picture that women behind bars are preyed upon by corrections officers. This is just not true.

She quoted me in her article that staff are not searched for contraband, but she left out the whole quote. Staff members are not criminals; they are highly trained federal corrections staff that are held to a higher standard. We, as officers, are not held to the letter of the law but to the spirit of the law.

How many of your readers get pat-searched as they enter their work ? How many airport staff are pat-searched on the job?

I commend Ms. Lush on trying to bring to light the allegations of current or former convicted felons. It just seems to me she would use credible sources, who are not retired and are not afraid to state their name.

Daniel Bethea, national union representative, Bureau of Prisons Corrections Staff, Summerfield

There's some real dying going on

Re: Democrats are to die for, really, by Andy Borowitz, Sept. 24.

The only thing more boring than someone telling you about his dream - you know, the thing that never happened - is someone trying hard to be funny who isn't funny and probably never will be.

A more real article would have the headline: "Republicans are to die for, really." In fact, I think there's a ring of truth there somewhere, don't you?

Russ Kelley, Largo

[Last modified September 30, 2006, 19:34:07]