Omigosh! Only $62-billion in net profits last year? How ever do insurance companies manage? Interesting to note that 27 states suffered losses. So it's not just Florida that has catastrophes? What a surprise! And the reason the insurance companies can't spread the risks across all 49 states is … ? What was the definition of "insurance" again? "Pigs at the trough" comes to mind.
G.G. Williams, St. Petersburg
Publix's purchase of Albertsons stores
Grocer's sale not good for public
I believe the article announcing this purchase of several Albertsons stores asked for opinions from customers about it. Well, my opinion is that it is terrible. First of all, Publix likes to think of itself as the be all and end all of stores, but it is far from it.
For one thing, the prices are outrageous in its bakery department, and its cookies can't compare to Albertsons cookies in quality or taste. At least Albertsons has sales that make sense and the quality is good.
What we need is competition, not this overrunning of it all by Publix. And individual stores won't stock certain items. Well, guess what, the customer's likes and preferences are what are important, not the store's idea of what we should buy and eat.
It is sad that Publix is taking over the market in Pinellas County by forcing other stores out.
Constance Spinney, Largo
The economy
Fed Reserve has failed in its duty
An old fairy tale especially relevant today is the one about the King having no clothes, yet no one daring to make that observation. The economic problem we have is basically very simple. The Federal Reserve, the man behind the curtains, is printing too much money and creating too much credit, causing the purchasing power of the dollar to shrink at an exponential rate.
It is worth roughly half of what is was 5 years ago and 2 percent of what it was worth in 1913 when the Fed was created. The dollar is not a static entity in terms of buying power. Oil and gold are not going up; the dollar is going down. However, the Fed must inflate the money supply if the U.S. government is to remain solvent. It is a matter of creating money out of thin air or having the country default on its debt and liabilities.
The Federal Reserve is a private banking consortium, disguising itself as part of the U.S. government. It is far past time to get rid of it and return money and credit creation to the U.S. Congress as noted in the Constitution.
Christopher Dowling, Largo
What's behind State Farm's rate demand? | July 18
Lawmakers, don't trust insurers
When will our legislature learn not to trust insurance executives and their army of lobbyists? Perhaps when voters oust them from office. State and national media have covered State Farm's request for an average rate increase of 47 percent, with some indications that they could be as high as 70 percent for some.
With consumers already having endured rate increases for the past several years, there is something very wrong with State Farm's request. Florida has suffered zero hurricane losses the last two years. That means State Farm, and every other carrier that sought and successfully gained rate hikes in the state, are raking in the cash.
State Farm is one of the largest lobbying organizations in Florida, and the country. Its management wields an unprecedented amount of power in our lives through governmental ties as it uses our premiums to obtain legislation based on its monetary goals. The bottom line is that it should be illegal for any company to influence laws that solely benefit its own pocketbook.
How long are we going to allow this corporate behemoth to control the decisions of those we elect to office? After all, it is people, not pieces of paper, that are the reason laws are made and government exists.
William F. "Chip" Merlin, Tampa, managing partner, the Merlin Law Group
Federal Reserve and inflation
Inflation is new form of taxation
During his testimony to Congress on July 16, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke admitted that inflation is a tax. Why did the St. Petersburg Times not even comment on this momentous admission by the Fed? Isn't this strange that not only are we being taxed by the IRS, but now we have been told that we are being taxed by the Fed, too. Is this even legal? I don't believe it is, and I urge everyone to ask their congressman about what is going on.
Scott Rush, St. Petersburg
Federal Reserve and its role
This agency isn't people's advocate
Why do we know so little about the Federal Reserve? Because that's the way it wants it. The Federal Reserve is not a part of the federal government or a federal agency. It is a private banking cartel formed in 1910 to remove competition and pass bank failures and financial losses on to the American taxpayer. Don't be fooled: Its stated goals are not its true goals. A review of our economic history since 1910 and the role played by the Fed proves that point. It is the federal government's money creators.
If you want to know why the rich are getting richer and you are getting poorer, start learning about the Federal Reserve and FDIC. The banks and corporations want to keep their profits, while the taxpayers eat their losses. And our Congress, which is owned by these same corporations, is part of the system that allows that to happen. Who do you think will pay for Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac, and IndyMac Bank's financial assistance? The American taxpayer, that's who.
We have gone from residential mortgagees requiring established verified credit and income, a 20 percent down payment and a realistic valuation to 105 percent loans based on an inflated appraisal, with no down payment and no verified income or credit history. And we wonder why we have a mortgage crisis. Why don't the corporations and individuals who made their fortunes creating and selling these loans pay for the losses? The answer is: Why be responsible for your own greed when you can instruct the Congress to send that bill to us?
If we don't become informed and politically active, the America we know is going to collapse like a house of cards.
James Crumley, Dunedin
Without 'Big Ideas,' stagnation sets in, column | July 20
Foresight needed on energy issues
The job and duty of the president is to lead with "big ideas" — to be ahead of the curve. We've heard only one big idea during the past eight years, but it has cost a fortune in treasure and lost lives. Hoping that I might be able to catch the president's ear, I wrote to his adviser Karl Rove a long time ago, suggesting that Mr. Bush lead by proposing the development of a "national water supply grid" and by setting forth a master plan whereby all of our electricity would be generated other than by oil, gas or coal within 20 years. I never received a response. Former Vice President Al Gore halved my suggested 20-year time span on the electricity part. Good for him.
Here's a prediction: Al Gore will be our next secretary of Energy.
William Kurtz, Palm Harbor
Great thinkers can make change
I agree with the "big idea" concept, which has resulted in countless benefits for all mankind. But, it is always the exception that rises above the norm of the broad average. When the great thinkers focus on the problems that beset us, new methods and inventions will free mankind from the harness of fossil fuel dependence and other energy doors will open. A myriad of societal problems can end via the brains of big-idea specialists.
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