Tax subsidies to oil industry are to blame

I am so tired of Republicans blaming this Congress for high gas prices. The facts are that for seven years George W. Bush and congressional Republicans have been giving tax subsidies to oil companies and wealthy hedge fund managers. In August 2005, President Bush signed energy legislation providing another $5 billion in new financial subsidies to oil companies.

Three times in 2007, the Democratic-controlled Congress tried to eliminate tax subsidies for oil companies and hedge fund managers. They used stand-alone legislation and amendments. All three times, Republicans voted with Bush and blocked Democrats' efforts. Why are Republicans so protective of tax subsidies for oil companies? Campaign contributions?

CAROL BOE

Decatur

Cheap gas essential to who we are

When the more sanctimonious of us write in to tell us $4 gas is good for our society, that we must adapt and transform, reduce our dependence on the automobile and eliminate unnecessary trips, I shake my head.

America, thanks to Henry Ford, was designed by the automobile. Our whole society depends on reliable, economical personal transportation. Essential? To the restaurant owner, your trip to dine is essential. To the motel and miniature golf course owner, your family vacation is essential. To the automobile dealer, gas station owner, campground operator, theme park, movie theater ... the list is endless. And when all these people suffer, you, whatever your employment, will suffer too.

And forget not: Only the lucky are able to decide between a steak at Longhorn or a trip across town to watch Bobby play in the regionals. The unlucky get to decide if $20 worth of gas will get them to work and back or if $40 worth will mean no groceries on the table. Adapt? Sure we can adapt, but not when the price of this essential commodity doubles in a year.

We are not Europe, Asia, Africa or South America. We are the home of the road trip, the Christmas trek to Granny's, the "Let's run up to Helen for the day." We are America, and the agony has just begun.

BILL McNEW

Fayetteville

Save fuel, money by driving 55 mph

I've been driving 55 mph on the highway lately, thinking it my patriotic duty to stick it to OPEC a bit, not to mention saving a bit of money. After all, we spend 20 cents per gallon extra for every 5 mph we drive over 55. Guess what? I'm virtually alone in the right lane.

What do I gain? A bit of comfort not worrying about cops or maneuvering at fast speeds, enjoying the view a bit more. Oh —- I also gained about $1.50, a marginal benefit.

What do I lose? About 10 minutes on the 95-mile trip between here and my mother-in-law's in Columbus. But what if everyone joined in, slowed down a bit and saved a bit of money? Particularly those SUVs and high-performance cars that get a lot fewer miles per gallon than my Corolla. It doesn't take sophisticated math to know that this could really add up. What have you got to lose?

MOSHE R. MANHEIM

Atlanta

FairTax

Responses to Jay Bookman's column "Farcical FairTax anything but fair," @issue, June 2

Politicians devoted to the status quo

Jay Bookman doesn't often say anything I agree with, but I do have to agree with him that the FairTax is not really fair. Any tax that doesn't tax all equally is inherently unfair, and human nature will take advantage of unfairness given the chance. Our present tax system is an unholy prime example and the FairTax would be another.

A 10 percent retail sales tax that everyone pays, no exceptions and no rebates, would be a truly fair tax. But as Bookman points out, it will never happen because our beloved politicians will not relinquish control over us by allowing the income tax to slip through their greedy little fingers.

So plan on continuing to have the money you earn taken from you at the point of a gun and given to those who haven't earned it. Does that make you happy, Jay?

DAVID A. PAUL

Sandy Springs

Rebate addiction already a fact

Thanks to Jay Bookman for revealing what really "drives conservatives nuts." Bookman states that people would become "addicted" to the rebate check and that they would come to "depend on the generosity of dear Uncle Sam."

He's right, but it is already happening. Millions of Americans have for generations been addicted to their monthly welfare checks, food stamps and other entitlements born of the "generosity" of dear Uncle Sam. So why is that a reason to not implement the FairTax?

Beyond that, my "momma" did teach me that figures can lie and liars figure. This is one of the most flawed articles that I've ever seen from Bookman.

LEN CAYCE

Suwanee

Income, payroll taxes would end

Jay Bookman's never letting the facts get in the way of his opinion has reached a new low with his hysteria on the FairTax.

It is obvious that Bookman has done no research nor read the book on the FairTax, which is well-referenced and supported by noted economists such as Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, Harvard economists and other experts who have predicted a sustained boom in the American economy once the consumption tax (FairTax) replaces income taxation.

The FairTax will not be a "sales tax" of 30 percent but is pegged at 23 percent and built into sticker price of the goods. The cost of these goods will be reduced approximately equal to the FairTax due to elimination of all taxation on their manufacturing costs.

Bookman fails to mention that workers would receive their entire paycheck; there will be no income tax (approximately 25 percent for most Americans) nor payroll taxes (8 percent) deducted. The 67,000 incomprehensible pages of the IRS tax code will be eliminated, along with the billions of dollars spent on professional tax advisers. The current tax evaders will now be paying their fair share by purchasing retail goods.

RICHARD ERICKSON

Marietta

Judges' salaries

5 percent raise is deserved, and good for state

Rarely do I disagree with my good friends Gov. Sonny Perdue and Jim Wooten ("Judged fairly, pay packages cost us dearly," @issue, June 1). However, when it comes to the modest 5 percent increase in judicial pay for Georgia judges (the first in nine years), the governor and Wooten are just wrong. If our target was staying at the top of the bottom in judicial pay, then the Mercer study might be relevant. But we have to shoot higher in setting the bar for where we want things in Georgia to be.

Leveraging the commitment of public servants should never be an option in budgeting reform. Neither the governor nor Wooten would be too thrilled if someone limited them to doctors who had not received a pay increase in nine years. But that is what is happening to Georgians when it comes to justice. Meaningful pay and budget reform are not mutually exclusive options. Judges deserve better, and so do Georgians. The governor should have signed the increase in pay for our judges.

RANDY EVANS

Evans is general counsel to the Georgia Republican Party.

Judges already taken care of via supplements

Regarding the column "On the merits, judges deserve decent pay raise" (@issue, May 28) by Gerald M. Edenfield, I contend Georgia taxpayers deserve the complete picture of salaries and supplemental incomes of members of the judiciary prior to any legislated increase.

The taxpaying public probably hasn't a clue as to how judicial salary levels are set and most likely has never heard of supplements. Those good citizens who pay taxes and otherwise support law and order would be amazed at how quietly and quickly bills providing judicial salary supplements are drawn up and submitted by their elected representatives (county delegations) and how easily such bills sail through a complicit state Legislature.

I surmise no elected state representative or senator will ever openly object to an increase in judicial salaries or supplements because s/he may have to argue a case in a particular judge's court in the future.

Full and honest disclosure is only right. I applaud Gov. Perdue for his veto of HB 119.

DON CASE

Mableton

CRCT students not taught test subjects

In reference to Sonny Perdue's essay, I beg to differ ("The right road for schools: Challenging tests need no apology," @issue, June 1).

I am outraged over the CRCT results. My daughter is an honor roll TAG student who just finished the sixth grade. This past year, she opted out of TAG social studies, even though she qualified for it. All year, she received stellar grades in social studies, often achieving 100s on her report card. When she sat for the CRCT, she came home upset that she hadn't been exposed to much of the material.

I am not blaming her school or teacher. However, had she been taught the appropriate information according to what the state expected, she would have passed with flying colors. I have often questioned why Georgia doesn't try to emulate other states' successful programs.

Before you criticize others, Gov. Perdue, let's get it straight. Tests scores went from an 80 percent pass rate to about 20 percent on your watch. What does that say about you?

CAROLE PETZ

Alpharetta

Government foreclosure help is socialism

Regarding the article "No rush on debt relief in Georgia" (Page One, June 1): Where is it written in our Constitution that it is government's job to assist homeowners in making loan payments they cannot afford? It is simply not the role of government to make house payments. What will the government be asked to do next —- make car payments? Boat payments? Big-screen-TV payments? What happened to personal responsibility? Taking taxpayer money and giving it to distressed homeowners is socialism, not capitalism. Government regulation in the form of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1995 required banks to loosen credit, contributing to today's mortgage crisis.

Foreclosure, while sad, is a free-market process that corrects irresponsible borrowing and lending. Government interference will only encourage future irresponsibility and prolong the market correction already under way. There is no right to homeownership in our Constitution. The simple and effective market solution for people who cannot afford homes is called renting.

FRANK O. BENNETT

Atlanta

Patients treated appropriately

I agree with most of the AJC's editorial ("Primary-care predicament," @issue, June 1) concerning the new policy regarding medical screening in the emergency department. However, I do wish to clarify one position. Patients are screened in our emergency department to determine whether they have a life-threatening or urgent problem. They are also screened regarding conditions that may lead to a more complicated or life-threatening condition and, if deemed to have one, are seen regardless of ability to pay.

Patients sent out without a complete physician evaluation via medical necessity are patients who have a condition that will not cause them to return to the hospital with a more serious condition (or one that would require more expensive treatment). These include ailments or conditions such as hay fever, medication refills (of nonessential medications), chronic joint pain, benign rashes and similar conditions.

It should be noted that patients who choose not to seek care at our facility are given a "community resource guide," which includes a list of multiple locations patients can choose from that provide free or less expensive care.

Dr. KENT COHEN

Cohen is chief of the department of emergency medicine at Gwinnett Medical Center.

Clayton superintendent embarrassing

Let me get this straight. John Thompson, Clayton County's schools superintendent of a month, had 3,000 high school diplomas that were to be given out shredded because they did not include his name and signature? ("School chief makes a name shredding Clayton diplomas," Page One, May 31). Instead they were signed by former superintendent Gloria Duncan, who was in charge for all but the last month of these graduates' time there.

I thought Thompson was brought in to rescue the troubled Clayton County school system, not to embarrass it nationally. If these are the kinds of ego-driven, irresponsible decisions people like Thompson are going to continue modeling for America's students, then God help us all, especially the people of Clayton County.

CARL CLIFFORD

Atlanta