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Saturday's letters: Enforce traffic laws, punish offenders

 
Published Nov. 4, 2016

Who is going to protect us from ourselves? | Nov. 1, John Romano column

Enforce the law, arrest offenders

In his column, John Romano rambled on quite a bit but did not appear to suggest any answers regarding all the reckless drivers these days on the interstates. Perhaps I can offer a suggestion: Get law enforcement officers to enforce the laws currently on the books.

Does anyone remember the old saying, "Where are the cops when you need them?" We come from New York state, and I remember seeing high-speed reckless drivers on the New York State Thruway. It became a game to see how many miles down the road we'd see the reckless driver who had passed us pulled over by a state trooper who was writing out a high-cost ticket.

The only time I see the cops on our interstates lately is when they are at the scene of an accident. Romano mentioned Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who couldn't get to a reckless driver due to interstate barricades. How about using that Motorola radio to call it in for another law enforcement officer, or don't we have enough officers to patrol the interstates these days?

Susan Grosskopf, Sun City Center

U.N. General Assembly

Move to ban nuclear arms

A historic event happened last week in the U.N. General Assembly, where two-thirds of the world's countries voted to begin negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

Dr. Bob Dodge of Physicians for Social Responsibility says, "Nuclear weapons are the greatest threat to our immediate survival. Their continued existence threatens us every moment of every day. It is a matter of sheer luck that a nuclear accident or nuclear war has been avoided, and ultimately luck is not a security policy."

Of course, the United States and other nuclear-armed states voted against this treaty. Instead, the United States plans to spend $1 trillion over the next three decades to modernize its entire nuclear arsenal. The rest of the world is finally standing up to this threat to their survival and refusing to be held hostage by the nuclear nations. It's time the United States lived up to President Barack Obama's 2009 pledge to "seek the security of a world free of nuclear weapons" and next time around vote yes on a treaty.

Lynn Ringenberg, Tampa

Amendment 1

Firefighter ad disturbing

I was dismayed and saddened to see the ad endorsing Amendment 1 by the Florida Professional Firefighters. I was a career firefighter in Indianapolis for 35 years. I spoke with the president of the union, and he told me it was a safety issue that firefighters are not being included in tactics on how to handle fires involving solar panels. I get that. Safety first. But I told him in all of my time on the job, I never encountered a fire involving solar panels. I did have more than a few power pole and big electrical fires due to accidents and weather-related incidents.

I hope Floridians don't fall for the ruse of Amendment 1 being good for us. If the power companies put up $29 million to get this passed, do you think they are doing that for you?

This is a black eye for firefighters everywhere who have worked hard to be good citizens. We are taxpaying citizens, too. Don't let the decision of an executive board cloud your view of firefighters everywhere. Vote no on Amendment 1.

Joseph Kraeszig, Belleair Bluffs

Clinton emails

No sign of successful hack

For all the withering criticism Hillary Clinton has endured over the use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state, most people don't realize that there is no actual evidence that classified information handled by Clinton or her staff under this arrangement ever fell into the hands of nefarious hackers.

In July, FBI director James Comey rebuked Clinton's handling of classified information as "extremely reckless," yet the FBI's own investigation revealed that the server was scanned and a few hacks were attempted, but none actually got through Clinton's security system. Meanwhile, WikiLeaks posts reams of hacked emails from supposedly secure government and commercial email servers every day, including recently those of Clinton confidants John Podesta and Sidney Blumenthal.

Clearly, Clinton should not have skirted State Department information management rules simply to protect her own personal privacy, and she has acknowledged this error in judgment. However, the facts show that Clinton's private email server was no less secure than the government servers she would have otherwise used, and actually may have been more secure.

Doug Robison, St. Petersburg

Campaign 2016

Focus on health insurance

One of my biggest frustrations with this election has been the lack of focus on policy. While our presidential candidates are squabbling like children and being exposed as crude and corrupt, we've heard little of substance about getting Obamacare's spiraling costs under control.

Health care cost is something very important to me and my family and has all but been ignored on the campaign trail until now, with the disturbing news that Obamacare monthly premiums will likely rise between 14 percent and 19 percent for Floridians.

We need politicians to focus on fixing health care and ensure Floridians have access to quality care at an affordable price.

In the remaining days ahead of the election, I ask that my fellow Floridians demand that our elected officials address health care issues, including reining in increasingly high costs while ensuring access to quality care.

We need to have the security that medical decisions will be made between a patient and a doctor, not with the intervention from government bureaucrats or insurance companies.

I only hope after this unpredictable presidential election that politicians can finally focus on the real issues impacting voters' lives and do something meaningful to truly address Obamacare and make the Affordable Care Act actually affordable.

Charbel Barakat, Tampa