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Gasoline in Brunswick area higher than neighbors
2/3/2012
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I would like to know if anyone else in our community knows, or cares, why the local gasoline retailers in Brunswick have for the last couple of years priced our gasoline at 15 to 25 cents per gallon higher than Savannah.
Also during the same period it is equal or higher than Jacksonville (Florida has a 5 cents higher state tax than Georgia). Could it just be price fixing?
C. Spivey
Brunswick
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Commentary page needs more balance in columns
2/3/2012
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Webster's defines the word "balanced" as: "Being in harmonious proportion." Can that definition be applied to newspaper commentary columns?
I have read all comments from your syndicated columnists for January. I list them by (my) classifications: Very left - zero. Left - zero. Centralist - Murphy, Gerson. Right - Lambo, Parker, Sowell, Will. Very Right - Buchanan, O'Reilly.
Should not print media allow all points of view to be expressed? Then readers can ponder the full spectrum of ideas. The word "balanced" can then be applied instead of the word "tilted."
William W. McDermet III
St. Simons Island
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DUI legislation needs to be rejected
2/3/2012
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Contrary to the Jan. 30 editorial headline, Rep. Kidd's DUI legislation does not need a lot of thought; it should be rejected.
As a Georgia State Representative in 2008, I authored HB 336, Georgia's felony DUI law, which has been in effect since July of 2008. Not enough time has passed to determine its effectiveness, and Kidd's bill (HB 799) would be counterproductive.
Prior to passage of the law, Georgia was one of only five states in the country that did not have a felony DUI law. Kidd's bill moves Georgia in exactly the wrong direction, vitiating much of the progress that was made in the fight against drunk drivers by passage of HB 336. Judges, employers (especially those hiring drivers), insurers and the public (through public court records) have a right to know about prior convictions for DUI. Moreover, no other crimes "drop off" as is proposed by HB 799. Crimes such as shoplifting, public indecency and battery become punishable as felonies after a certain number of repeat offenses. If you steal a lighter from a store in 1997, a pack of gum in 2000 and toothbrush in 2005, subsequent offenses are punishable as felonies for the rest of your life.
DUI poses a much greater risk to the public health, safety and welfare than shoplifting and is deserving of having no expungement window. By the way, it might be interesting to investigate whether district attorneys are using HB 336 to prosecute serial drunk drivers to keep Georgians safe.
Kevin Levitas
Atlanta
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Corruption is common at all levels of government
2/3/2012
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Proving that political positions don't have to be in Washington or Atlanta to benefit the holder, James Brooks stands accused of selling his influence in Brunswick. The only difference with a U.S. senator, a big city mayor or a state governor would be the costs of the influence and the return for its corruption.
Our political system seems to have degenerated into those politicians who use their offices to enrich themselves and the rest of their colleagues who pretend that it is not happening.
What does the voting public do about legal and illegal corruption? Probably nothing! In a public education system where teachers and supervisors receive bonuses for doctoring test results, generations of students are prepared to accept corruption as the norm. Our political system is defined by the James Brooks and his counterparts in most town, county, city, state and federal levels of government.
If you think that is a harsh generalization, then you need to spend some time in the local library reading our nation's newspapers.
There is nothing as attractive or obtainable in our economy as public monies. A mugging of a private citizen may be a crime, but a mugging of the public is just politics. Our political arena has become a swamp inhabited by charlatans using second rate talent to steal first rate returns.
There is only one cure for corrupt political systems, strict term limits and the return of citizen politicians. As long as politics is considered a career opportunity, corruption will be its name.
Pete Richmond
St. Simons Island
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