Who's 'extorting' from whom?

Watching Fox News, I couldn't believe what I heard. Newt Gingrich and Sean Hannity were saying President Obama was "extorting" $20 billion from British Petroleum.

An excerpt from an article by Kim Geiger and Tom Hamburger of the Tribune Washington Bureau ("Oil companies have a rich history of U.S. subsidies"):

" ... under President Reagan, the industry has received ... billions in tax breaks and subsidies, including exemptions from royalty payments, the fees due when a company extracts resources from U.S. ... property. The ... program was established in 1995, when oil was ... $18 a barrel and deep water drilling was thought unprofitable without a subsidy. Today, oil sells for about $70 a barrel, but the subsidy continues. The Government Accountability Office estimates the ... waiver program could cost the Treasury $55 billion ... in lost revenue ... Congress ... intended to provide royalty relief only when oil prices were low. But an Interior Department error in drafting the contracts in the 1990s led the industry to argue against pegging the relief to oil prices."

So ... we subsidize the petroleum industry with tax dollars; the oil companies pay almost no royalties for depleting our oil reserves, and we pay the price at the pump. ...

So Fox News, exactly who's "extorting" from whom?

Ramona Maiman

Solana Beach

Blame the Republicans

Re: Dan Ryan's letter, "The party of blame," June 23: Dan writes a letter to complain about President Obama and begins by crying about his "golfing (and) shooting hoops ... "

His letter is typical of why it's impossible to have an intelligent conversation with a Republican. They can't discuss issues with facts. They have to get their insults and personal attacks in. Just like a child.

President Obama goes golfing; President Ford went golfing. Did that bother Mr. Ryan? Obama shoots hoops; President Clinton jogged nearly every day. Did that bother Mr. Ryan?

While I'll never be president, I can believe that the pressures of the job would require that whomever has that job would need some down time every now and then. Bush Jr. spent a large percentage of his time as president at his ranch in Texas. I'm guessing that didn't bother Mr. Ryan either. On his handling of the Gulf oil spill, does "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," ring a bell?

I do agree with Mr. Ryan on one point of his letter. I don't like the way things are, and there is only one party to blame: the Republicans.

Peter Principe

San Marcos

Too much government is destructive

How is America ever going to survive as a productive nation with all the radical governmental policies that are diminishing our strength and economy, as well as our ability to compete in the world?

At present, our government owns (about) one-third of all the land in the United States. For years now, using environmental reasons, the government has taken over millions of acres of land in the Northwest, which has eliminated countless jobs in the farming, logging and fishing industries that are essential for Americans' lives and our economy.

Now the Obama administration's cap-and-trade plan to tax industrial emissions (which have already been reduced effectively by the Bush administration) will not only put many energy and other industries out of business and cause more unemployment, but would cost consumers 30 percent more for energy, according to economists. Besides, recent facts (show) that (some) tests for global warming were exaggerated and consequently not conclusive or accurate.

These policies are eroding the very principles of our limited governmental systems and threatening our financial and national security. We need more independence from governmental controls if we are to spur our economy and survive as a prosperous nation again.

Marcy Young

Oceanside

How is California's law different from Arizona's?

I received information that California has a similar immigration law to Arizona's. I learned through some rather embarrassing times to not pass things on until I checked them out. I typed "California Penal Code 834b" into my search browser and there it is. Nothing there states it is not in effect or is unconstitutional. If so, why is it still listed in the Penal Code?

Through further research, now that I have been questioned in the June 8 Community Voices, I found out Penal Code 834b is/was a part of Proposition 187 that a judge questionably ruled unconstitutional after the people of California voted it in. I wonder how constitutional this judge's action is.

Reading further, certain California law enforcement agencies now run checks on arrestees and inmates using a federal databank source that alerts the INS. If appropriate, the INS puts a hold on the detainees and picks them up once the local law enforcement agency is through with them. From October 2009 to February 2010, 21,556 arrested persons nationwide were detained by the INS for being in this country illegally.

If this isn't similar to what Arizona is doing, please enlighten me further. Thank you.

Walter Jennings

Oceanside

Where's the outrage?

Once again, I have to ask, where is the outrage? Three headlines on page A3 of the June 12 issue of the North County Times once again announce violence against foreign citizens: "Gunmen kill 39 in north Mexico." "11 Afghan civilians, three troops die." "Kyrgyz rioting kills 45, injures 600" (World Briefs).

Where are the upraised fists, the angry protests, the calls for international investigations? I'll tell you where. Nowhere! Nada! Not a peep from any of the civilians or authorities in any of those areas.

Yet let even one of our bullets nick a civilian from any Mideast country or closer, over our southern borders, and there's rioting in the streets, angry voices screaming for retribution and international phone calls demanding investigations.

Hypocrites! Absolute ... hypocrites! That's what I'm calling all those who criticize the U.S. They need to clean up their own houses first before they start throwing stones at ours. Maybe then, they'll experience a modicum of peace without the U.S. military first having to spill its blood and guts all over their supposed sovereign soil.

Tom Di Roma

Oceanside

NCTD needs to wake up

Re: "Contracted bus drivers undergoing new checks," June 18: I write again because of the June 1 incident with the bus driver arrested for driving under the influence.

First, how can the North County Transit District let someone drive and not tell they were drunk? I have ridden the bus with drunks who are three sheets to the wind. Drunk riders are not hard to pick out. They slur their words and act up, walk funny, urinate and grab people.

I have an idea: Put NCTD Director Matt Tucker and Supervisors on the bus to ride with new drivers. Let them get freaked out. We like the safe drivers we have now. They are the best. They won't endanger us.

NCTD needs to wake up and really do checking on these new drivers. Some can be pedophiles, drug addicts or, like Mr. David Costello, drunk. NCTD is putting them out there not knowing who they really are. Matt Tucker needs to give his raise up for the money to do a full background check. Give all to the real bus drivers who deserve a raise and lots of benefits.

Jennifer Knapic

San Marcos

Deport, baby, deport

I just read that Mexico is joining in a lawsuit against Arizona's new law ("Mexico asks court to reject Ariz. law," June 23). What gall. We, as true Americans, must push our representatives in California to stand up for us. We must demand that the INS, the Border Patrol, U.S. marshals, Minutemen and Mighty Mouse do their jobs: Deport, baby, deport.

"Jobs Americans won't do"? What a crock. We should pass a law that if an American applies for a job and a non-American is there, (the company) should lay him off and hire the American.

You can stop me and question me any time, too. I'm Latino and American and proud of it. I fly the red, white and blue. MEChA, El Grupo, Olga Diaz and the rest don't speak for me or a lot of other true Latino Americans.

Does this letter sound hateful? Yeah, but it's how I feel. I hope my letter gets printed in its totality. As an American, I have a right to be heard. And where can I sign up for one of the anti-illegal immigration groups?

Joe Sisneros

Oceanside

Military/industrial complex is destroying nation

It is so sad to see our country in such disarray. When will our leadership realize that a war is only winnable when you have a specific enemy? Ever since World War II, this country has forayed into territories it doesn't belong in, only to run with their tails between their legs. Korea, Vietnam, incursions into Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many historians believe that the beginning of the downfall of the Soviet Union was their amazing costly and humiliating defeat in Afghanistan. I believe that Gen. Stanley McChrystal wanted out of this fiasco. Also, President Obama doesn't believe it is winnable, but he will never admit this.

When will the citizens of this country rise up and declare that the military/industrial complex is destroying our nation? A culture that declares that its only mission is to change the world is doomed.

Joseph Kraatz

Oceanside

Time will tell where truth lies

Dan Ryan's (Community Voices, June 23) criticism of Jeanne Aguirre's letter (June 20) needs less smoke and a few facts itself. Presidential actions can be seen differently, and many differences are legitimate. Time will tell where truth lies.

Some of us think the president has done much good: prevented a depression, began a recovery, increased available jobs, fostered sensible regulation, created respect for the U.S. around the world, made health care available to all Americans, began a push towards energy independence and led us to respect differences. I hear the guffaws. Has he been perfect? Taken care of everything that needed care? Has he been able in 18 months to accomplish the change he advocates? No. Is he trying to make capitalism work for the middle class? Yes.

Liberals want absolute perfection, as they define it, and they want it yesterday. The Republican leadership seem to want nothing but the end of Obama. It is feasible to view many of the president's actions as leading to socialism. It is equally feasible to see him using presidential power to limit the ability of corporate greed to destroy the middle class. Time will tell.

Less anger and more reasoned and truly informational media would be all-around helpful.

Pat Wallace

Oceanside

No more funding the war in Afghanistan

It's time for Congress to vote no on funding the war in Afghanistan, except to bring the troops home.

It's not a "war," it's not a winnable war. Al-Qaida is in Pakistan, at least from what we know. The government of Afghanistan has not collaborated with the U.S. and allied forces; corruption prevents it from being a reliable, stable government; the overwhelming presence and use of opium by the population and by law enforcement makes it impossible to get any result.

Let's tell Congress to stop funding this war — let's end it!

Alessandra Colfi

Oceanside

Who dictates pro-Liberty quarry letters?

When you see a pro-Liberty quarry letter in the newspaper, do you ever wonder if it actually comes from a "grass-roots" supporter, or is it simply "paid advertising"?

Several recent letters aroused my curiosity, so I managed to gather 15 of these letters and read them carefully. With a few exceptions, I noticed an interesting pattern. One could even say the phrases and words chosen were like those you would see in, say, marketing brochures, speeches, or "consultant's reports" –– in other words, professional correspondence.

Suspicious, I found a book titled, "Words That Sell." I found it quite interesting that, as I searched the chapters on "strategies to sell yourself," I was not surprised to find phrase after phrase that had appeared in these letters, some duplicated in several letters.

Is this a coincidence? Could the people writing in defense of a quarry all work in "professional" fields? Lawyers, consultants, or the like? Have you heard of public relations? What did those people writing the letters have to gain? Think about it.

Go to www.nogravelquarry.com and find out what real "grass-roots" support is. Then, become a part of it!

Jerri Arganda

Rainbow