Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 5, 2001
Re: Rep. Fasano whips up waves of discontent, May 26.
I wanted to personally thank columnist Lucy Morgan for pointing out what I believe was one of my biggest successes of the 2001 legislative session -- upsetting a high-paid, South Florida lobbyist and a 30-year bureaucrat. I wish, however, that she had pointed out that I also angered lobbyists for the big drug companies and private utilities.
I make no apologies for taking on Tallahassee lobbyists and bureaucrats. My job, as I see it, is not to worry about how they feel, but to concern myself with the needs of the people of Florida and especially Pasco County.
I upset the private utility lobbyists when I pushed an amendment that requires them to quit charging consumers for legal fees once they've been collected. I upset the big drug-company lobbyists when I pushed a bill that allows consumers to purchase more affordable generic drugs, and ended one company's monopoly on a popular blood-thinning drug.
By offering an amendment that would have closed a loophole in Florida's tax laws, I forced a high-paid, South Florida lobbyist to choose between his personal business, which exploits that loophole, and another of his clients, whose goal was to help keep the Florida Marlins in Miami.
And finally, I passed an amendment that would require a yearly review of the bureaucrat in charge of the Florida Retirement System. Our teachers, police, firefighters and our state, county and city workers depend on the FRS for their retirement security. I don't think it is too much to ask that the one person in charge of close to $100-billion in retirement investments be held accountable to the people whose fate he holds in his hands.
Again, I appreciate Lucy Morgan shining a spotlight on my conflicts with lobbyists and bureaucrats. I will continue to challenge them, and I will continue to fight for what I believe to be in the best interest of the real people who have elected me as their Representative in Tallahassee.
-- Mike Fasano, state representative, District 45, majority
leader, Florida House of Representatives, Tallahassee
Thank you for your editorial of May 21, Looting public schools. It is heartening that the Times is a champion for our schools and their students.
I am a recently retired educator who has spent 36 years as an elementary teacher and administrator in both public and private schools. I thank God that I no longer have to endure the criticism and bureaucratic nonsense that our politicians in Tallahassee heap upon our public schools. It is no wonder that many of our most capable and idealistic teachers are leaving the profession. We need more support of public schools; they are the backbone of our nation.
Sadly, it seems our country does not really value children. We advertise to them and buy our own children scads of toys and games, but we spend too little time with them. Our president repeatedly promises he "will leave no child behind" but chooses not to support them with proper funding for education, health, day care, prenatal care and parental training.
According to the May 28 issue of The Nation, one in six children is raised in poverty. Eleven-million children lack health care coverage, and 14-million attend schools in dire need of renovation. Despite these obvious failures of a wealthy country to provide for the young, President Bush's budget shows actual cuts in funding for children's health, school repair and after-school programs.
If we would take the $555-billion earmarked for tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent and spend it to really keep children from being left behind, we could begin to solve the myriad of social and educational problems caused by the widening income gap between the poor and the wealthy. Not only are too many of our children being left behind, they are being left behind hungry, sick and alone.
President Bush says that his monstrous tax cuts are being met from "surplus funds" left "after we've met our needs." Evidently he doesn't include our poorest children as being in need, just as his brother ignores the needs of the public schools in Florida.
The Bush brothers are very adept at talking the talk, but they fail to walk the walk. They should stop putting political payback ahead of our little ones.
-- Roberta Redding, Tampa
Re: Measure furthers competition in state purchasing, Jeb Bush's May 29 letter.
In his response to an editorial on competitive bidding legislation, Gov. Bush wrote, "If the Times had taken the time to contact my office and ask to have the language explained . . . etc., etc.
My feelings are that no one should have to have the language explained! We all start to learn in grade school the importance of stating things so that they may be understood. That's the whole idea of both speaking and writing. To convey one's thoughts and ideas so that they may be clearly understood to all readers/listeners. What earthly good is any written or spoken idea that can only lead to confusion and misunderstanding?
It appears that Gov. Bush has lived in and with the "body politic" for so many years that his only language is political double-speak, purposely created so that no one really understands what, exactly, is meant, thereby always giving one an out in case trouble should arise. They can always fall back on, "It's your fault for misunderstanding my words".
Wouldn't it be nice if everyone, including politicians and insurance companies "said it like it is"? Just think of the misunderstandings that could be avoided!
-- Arlene Lindsay, St. Petersburg
Re: Bush daughter again in trouble over alcohol, May 31.
I have heard many comments dismissing Jenna Bush's "trouble over alcohol" as a teen thing that every kid goes through or how hard it is to grow up in a political family. I was not surprised to see her make the front page of the May 31 St. Petersburg Times with more problems concerning alcohol.
Many of us have lost loved ones to a teen with "trouble over alcohol" when he or she gets behind the wheel of a car and there is a deadly accident.
The first paragraph of your article states that the president and first lady are "fiercely protective of their 19-year-old daughters' privacy." I hope her parents break their silence and help educate the public by talking about it.
-- Kim Jeffers, Holiday
Re: Attorney's plea deal lifts some eyebrows, May 27.
Why do we bother to have laws? It has been my understanding that we have some "set" laws for DUIs. Apparently there are two sets of rules, one for the average citizen and one for the person who knows someone or has a "good friend" in authority who can "pull a few strings" so they can be treated by a different set of rules.
Most citizens charged with any alcohol-related reckless driving charge face up to a year of probation, including community service, a fine of approximately $500, and they are told to attend one or two Victim Impact Panels (where they hear victims tell of the loss of a loved one or about their own injury by a DUI crash.) If they refuse the Breathalyzer test and/or the field sobriety test, I believe they are to receive an automatic one-year suspension of their driver's license. Our law enforcement officers are well-trained to do their job and are only trying to make our streets and highways safer for everyone in the community.Attorney Anne Borghetti is no better than any other citizen. She claims she was not shown favoritism, but how many ordinary citizens would have been treated the way she was? I also find it difficult to understand why anyone would refuse to take the test if he or she had nothing to hide.
When people call to ask me what to expect if they get a DUI, I feel I can no longer tell them "there are laws." Instead, I think I should tell them, "I really don't know. It seems like it all depends on who you know." It looks as though this is what our justice system has finally come to.
-- Vicki Gilbert, co-founder, RID-Tampa Bay (Remove Intoxicated Drivers), St. Petersburg
Re: Puppies and kitties for debt, May 29.
Finally I see it in writing! When are the banks that promote high debt going to be held accountable? It's obvious that as the rate of unsolicited credit card offers increases, so do bankruptcies. And we are supposed to feel sorry for these companies?
There may be a need for bankruptcy reform, but it should involve much less protection for credit card issuers. These companies claim their losses are too great. They're not too great to spend millions lobbying Congress to help them out of their poor situation. Not to mention the mail costs they must incur with their constant barrage of credit offers to the consumer. Consumer credit counseling? Give me a break. By most lending guidelines, this is as damaging to your credit as a bankruptcy.
When I became overloaded with debt, I contacted CCC as a last ditch effort. I was told I didn't make enough money to qualify for the plan! Some help. I ended up filing bankruptcy, because there was no other way! Did my creditors offer to work with me? No. At the time, I had never even had a late payment. But that doesn't matter to these bloodsuckers.
When was the last time your credit card company lowered your rate because you make your payments on time or pay off balances monthly? What has your credit card company done for you, other than charge obscene rates and fees and then shove new offers in your mailbox every day?
Enough is enough. Can't someone in Washington do something that does not "protect" the money-making banks for a change? The consumer has had enough abuse. I say the credit card companies should take their lumps, improve their business practices and quit whining.
-- J. Bickett, Largo
In October 1996, the U.S. Congress passed the Commemorative Coin Act authorizing the U.S. Mint to strike a commemorative coin honoring each of the 50 states of the union.
In January 1999, the U.S. Mint released the first commemorative coin into circulation. It was for the state of Delaware. From 1999 to 2008 the U.S. Mint will release quarters from each of the 50 states.
That is when I decided to start a collection of these quarters for some of my great-grandchildren. As I started collecting, I realized I had to have a suitable receptacle to display my collection before I sent them north to my "kids." I searched around and found just what I was looking for in Wal-Mart.
Imagine my surprise when I turned over this collector's album with the big American flag on the cover to see the back. It said: "Made in China." I can't believe that there isn't a single printer in the United States who couldn't have furnished us with a folder like this.
I am 86 and refuse to buy anything unless it is made in the United States of America.
-- Dorothy Wilson, Clearwater
Letters for publication should be addressed to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. They also can be sent by fax to (727) 893-8675.
They should be brief and must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Please include a handwritten signature when possible.
Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length. We regret that not all letters can be published.
For e-mail users: Letters can be sent by e-mail to letters@sptimes.com.E-mail messages must be text only and cannot include attachments. If you're using a word processing program to write the message, you must use its "Save as'' function to save it as a text file, then import it into your e-mail program. Please include your return e-mail address, as well as your name, mailing address and phone number, in the text of the message.