Letters to the editor

Government amok

Harry Riley's letter to the editor about the new regulations for renewing a driver's license ("The ultimate disrespect," Letter of the Day, Feb. 11) should be on the front page. My 76-year-old neighbor, the widow of a U.S. Army veteran, was in tears yesterday because the Land O' Lakes license office refused for the second time to accept her 50-plus-year-old original marriage license from Ohio as proof of her legal name change.

Perhaps it's time for natural-born citizens to "just say no" to the oppressive demands of a government that sees itself as "over the people" instead of "of the people."

RAY MCEACHERN

Land O' Lakes

Drill here and now

On Saturday a group named "Hands Across the Sand" is staging demonstrations at Florida beaches to raise awareness of the supposed dangers of coastal drilling for oil. I oppose this well-meaning but misguided display because I believe the benefits of offshore drilling far outweigh the risks.

I am a strong supporter of domestic drilling for oil and gas in a responsible way, offshore as well as onshore.

Modern technology allows safe drilling even in great ocean depths. There are literally hundreds of drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. There is a much greater possibility of oil spills coming from the transportation of oil in tankers than from drilling.

If we are to remain a strong and independent nation, we must use our own energy resources instead of sending trillions of dollars to nations that don't like us. Exploiting our own oil resources will provide badly needed, well-paying jobs for Americans, vast tax revenues for our state and federal governments, reduction of our foreign trade deficit and relief for our military, which now spends many billions of dollars per year protecting foreign oil producers and transportation routes.

While we delude ourselves into thinking that we are protecting our beaches, we are actually undermining our economy and giving away our country. We might just as well stick our heads in the sand as hold hands at the beach.

The Cubans and the Chinese reportedly are planning to drill for oil near Florida's southern coast. I trust our technology to prevent spills far more than I trust theirs. Are the Cubans joining hands on their beaches?

I say drill here and drill now. Don't look for me at "Hands Across the Sand."

ANDREW SCHULTZ

Tampa