Help choose Letter of the Month
Letters to the editor offer a significant contribution to the discussion of public policy and life in Tampa Bay. To recognize some of that work by our most engaged readers, the Times will select a letter of the month and the writers will be recognized at the end of the year.
Help us choose from the nominations for letter of the month for August by visiting the website listed below by Thursday. Read through the three letters and vote on the ballot at the bottom of the web page. We will choose the finalists each month based on relevance on topical issues, persuasiveness and writing style. The writer's opinion does not need to match the editorial board's opinion on the issue to be nominated. But clarity of thinking, brevity and a sense of humor certainly help.
To see the three August nominees and vote, go to www.tampabay.com/opinion.
Live on-air horror | Aug. 27
Show the video
The horrific shooting of the Virginia news team prompted me to find the video that was deemed "too graphic for the general public." After viewing this senseless act of violence against television journalists, it has become an image I cannot remove from my mind.
We should draw a lesson from the very effective Centers for Disease Control campaign against smoking, which uses graphic images of cancer to discourage tobacco use. In this context, the images are not too graphic. They should be broadcast on television and placed on the front page of the Times. As this story becomes truly visual, public opinion regarding the importance of gun control and community mental health will be galvanized.
Nanxing Li, Tampa
Expanding Medicaid would have been wrong Aug. 28, column
Argument off base
The moment that I read this headline I scrolled to the end of the column to see who the author represented. I was not surprised to see that he is the Florida state director of Americans for Prosperity. Why not call it what it is: Already Wealthy Americans for More Prosperity.
He rattled off the same nonsense about the cost of extending health care to more than 800,000 Floridians by accepting federal Medicaid expansion money. But his concern is the cost to him and his ilk. His "free market" sales pitch is simply a method of further milking the medically disenfranchised of more money to siphon upward.
We have all the snake oil that we need from our own elected officials in Tallahassee. Thanks, but no thanks. Let's accept Medicaid expansion money and give the people of Florida what our representatives already get: affordable health coverage.
Christopher J. Gerber, Gulfport
The definition of wrong
The columnist tries to defend the indefensible: denying health care to a large segment of our population when we have the means to provide it, and supporting the immoral actions of the Florida House of Representatives that has ignored the will of the majority of the citizens it should be serving.
Denying health care to those in need in the richest nation on Earth is immoral. Can anyone imagine, for example, Jesus ignoring people in the most dire need with specious arguments about the cost? Of course not, especially when we can afford it and should be working to improve it.
That is the definition of wrong.
Paul Burnore, St. Petersburg
Conservative columnists
First there were recurring columns by former Republican U.S. Sen. George LeMieux. Now there is a column by Chris Hudson from Americans for Prosperity. Did I miss something? When did the Tampa Bay Times become a subsidiary of Fox News?
Charles N. Stewart, New Port Richey
Presidential race 2016
The power of the vote
Over the last few elections, most Americans have voted for the lesser of two evils. They have not voted for the candidate who will lead us with candor and honesty but the one who will do the least harm to the country. As a middle school teacher in social studies, each day I look out at my students who do not seem to understand what is going on in the real world. They have been sucked into the vortex of mindless opinion news media giants.
As this race for president begins, all Americans should listen to the candidates and not be fooled by false promises and lack of vision. If America wants to be great again, we should use the voice of our votes to wake up Washington and let them know what kind of leaders we need to survive the next millennium. Our choices are not very promising on either side. I hope that the American voters can see past the smoke and mirrors of bullies and career politicians and find a candidate who will lift America back to its once-proud status in the world. We need a leader with courage and fortitude to pull ourselves out of the economic and political rut that we have we have been in over the last 30 years.
Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln said that it is the power of the people's vote that rises above the din of rhetoric. Have we become blind to the problems that surround us each day; have we lost all hope for future generations?
Jim North, Tampa
Time to rein in rideshares | Aug. 30, editorial
Make taxis adapt
Anyone who believes that taxis are safer and cleaner than Uber cars clearly has never experienced Uber. I would much rather get in a car where the driver has been rated by previous customers than get in a taxi that has the seal of approval of regulators who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
I also find it interesting no one has ever claimed in the newspaper that taxis are more dependable, efficient or cost-effective. Perhaps rather than encourage Uber and Lyft to conform to existing but antiquated regulations, the Times should encourage taxis to adopt the vastly superior Uber business model.
Scott Stolz, Tarpon Springs