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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 15, 2009

Buoys Valuable

Regarding "Gulf Will Be More Deadly If Data Buoys Are Deserted" (Our Opinion, March 12):

The data buoys in the Gulf of Mexico are being removed because it costs $1 million a year to operate them. Last week $1.6 million was spent searching for four young men, and an article March 9 states 1,300 rescue missions occurred in 2008. The large number of boaters helped by the buoys' data is unnumbered.

If the buoys are removed, how many more rescue missions will be needed because boaters cannot get the information about conditions in the gulf?

Beyond the obvious help to boaters, information collected by these systems has gone into many models to help predict how major hurricanes would affect our region, and the results of these models have aided in the planning of how our local emergency operations departments will react to these threats.

This $1 million a year is a drop in the bucket compared to the vast benefits the data from those buoys generate.

SHERYL HENLEY

Temple Terrace

Market Rules Air Waves
Regarding the letter "Equal Air Time" published on March 1:

The writer wants radio stations to provide equal air time so that other than the right side of discussion is presented. Offenbach apparently must think that these programs are being broadcast on public radio. In reality they are on commercial radio stations.

The right-leaning programs are more prevalent because they are able to sell commercials. Left-leaning programs do not have such a following with the business community. Most left-leaning programs have gone off the air due to a lack of revenue caused their inability to sell advertising. The marketplace is determining what programming we are listening to.

ALAN KENT

Sebring

Liberal Air Waves
Interesting letter by Russell Offenbach in Wednesday's Tribune bemoaning the lack of equal air time for the poor, abused left side of the political spectrum. I assume he would want the "fairness doctrine" to apply equally to PBS, NPR, NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNBC CNN, Comedy Central, CNBC and Air America.

By the way, just who are all these qualified voices who are now being silenced? From what I've seen, it's not hard to get the liberal left to talk, but it is hard to get them to stop.

DAN GILLER

St. Petersburg

Fetal Stem Cells Useless

Private research on embryonic cells has not delivered a single treatment or cure. Fetal stem cells have proven completely useless in any medical procedure, but there have been breakthroughs on over 80 diseases using adult stem cells. This begs the question: Why do you want to kill human beings when promising results can be achieved without the destruction?

Is there anyone you would not sacrifice for your own ends?

SHARON DIPIAZZA

Seffner

The Best Gun Control

If a bad guy with a gun enters a room holding 100 people who do not have guns, then they are at his mercy. I ask you, would the bad guy try this at an NRA meeting? Only if he had a death wish.

DONALD DUNNUCK

Valrico

Arrest Barney

Barney Frank deserves a prison cell right next to Bernard Madoff.

His decades of resistance to federal oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led to the severe downturn in our economy. How many millions of dollars did investors and 401k retirement account holders lose because of the mortgage crisis?

Because he is a government official, he may never be held accountable for his actions.

CATHY STARNES

Plant City

Tragic Fate

Regarding the untimely death of the teenager and his experienced aerobatic flight instructor: Sadly, from time to time these accidents do occur.

There was a best-selling novel by Ernest T. Gann called "Fate Is The Hunter."

(Gann was a military-commercial aviator who also wrote the screenplay for the popular movie "The High And The Mighty.")

Once in a while such incidents do occur, and it matters not or little how experienced, capable, careful, etc., the pilot(s) may be. Thus, in this case too, the book's title is most apropos.

JOSEPH P.CORELL

Clearwater

Auto Solution

Apparently, there is a relatively simple solution to the auto industry problem - something communist China has figured out using capitalistic principles. While the Obama administration wants to spend billions of dollars bailing out the auto industry, China has decided that cutting taxes works.

It has decided to cut taxes on new cars. China has cut in half the retail taxes on certain cars and drawn up plans to give out vehicle subsidies in rural areas to revive demand after auto sales rose at the slowest pace in a decade last year. The result: Auto sales in China went up 25 percent in February. In fact, even General Motors will gain from this action. GM has revised its forecast to double its forecast for growth in the China auto market.

JAMES J. PIRRETTI

St. Petersburg

Insurance Outrage

The American health care system is a crime against humanity. Every year Americans with insurance die or go bankrupt because treatment is denied or delayed. This is the only civilized country in the world with no universal health care.

Socialism and Canada have nothing to do with this argument, and I'm sick of hearing about those two. I'm a registered nurse with 25 years experience in hospitals, and I know the nature of the beast - insurance.

When you need a cop, you call 911, and he doesn't ask for your co-pay first. When you need the fire department, they don't ask what insurance you have.

Health care should be the same.

Just go to any doctor you want. Get any treatment you need at once. Walk away without a bill because your taxes already paid for it. What about the cost in taxes?

It will be less than you think by removing the insurance companies' profit, no matter the cost.

That's the price of living in a civilized country, like all the others with universal health care.

CHARLES KORMOS

Tampa

User Taxes

I looked up user fees in the dictionary and could not find it. Is this a newer version of taxes? I'm just kidding. Please call it by what it really is: taxes. The people this hurts are not our government officials but the working class.

Gov. Charlie Crist seeks user fee (taxes) increases that will impact truckers, teachers, bottled water, state parks and we the people

I remember when government gave away or charged very little for cigarettes for military personnel. Now that many of us are addicted to them we have to pay a user's fee (taxes).

P. FIORE

Tampa

USF Gang

With the "Gang of Four" at the University of South Florida taking all the money, do you think that there should be some type of investigation as to why? In these tough economic times, it cannot be justified, under any conditions.

CARL METOFF

Sun City Center

Default Woes

If the United States defaults on its loans with China, can China foreclose on the United States? Just kidding. Uh, I hope.

JOE CULBREATH

Riverview

JOIN DISCUSSION

The Tribune welcomes letters and e-mails from readers. The text should be original and no longer than 150 words. By making a submission, you agree the Tribune may edit the letter for length and clarity, and publish it in any medium.

Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Mail to: P.O. Box 191, Tampa, FL 33601-0191. Or e-mail without attachments: tribletters@tampatrib.com.

Also, read and participate in the Tribune editorial board's blog, "Thinking Out Loud," at www.tboblogs.com/index.php/thinkoutloud/categories....

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