Robert DeBirk

Salt Lake City

If the right-wing wackos are now trying to push us into the only reform which will deliver lower costs, better health outcomes and increased public satisfaction, I say, more power to them!

Darrell Prows

Murray

No one wants to deal with the man involved. Could there be a reason for this?

Douglas Reilly

Logan

If it is wrong on the federal level, then it is just as wrong on the state or local level.

Joe Bycroft

Cottonwood Heights

Sorry, we were asleep at the switch and didn’t learn that eBay had successfully conned Utah for the third time until this timely letter by Larry Wolfe, for which we are grateful. Corporate beggars (or con men, whatever you prefer) play state governments against each other and citizens of all states get beat up time and again. When will we put a stop to this charade?

Isn’t it great that socialism is alive and well in Utah?

Larry E. Wolfe

Kearns

oil and gas, $116,650;

waste management (nuclear), $51,900;

securities and investments, $233,850;

commercial banks, $130,725;

finance/credit companies, $61,900;

insurance, $182,700;

food processing and sales, $28,900;

defense aerospace, $39,000;

defense electronics, $16,000;

health services/HMOs, $17,750;

pharmaceuticals/health products, $104,044;

telecommunication services and equipment, $815,250;

lawyers/law firms, $110,900;

lobbyists, $157,186;

automotive, $16,997;

chemical and related manufacturing, $11,200.

Given all this special-interest support, it seems Bennett does not serve his constituents.

Bennett shows no shame. It must be nice to receive a salary of $174,000 per year, and have the government pay 75 percent of his health care costs for life — both bankrolled by “We the People” taxpayers. Most of us, including retirees, can barely make ends meet, and many are without an adequate health care program, or none at all.

George J. Mierisch

Salt Lake City

Where was his concern when Bush couldn’t find the weapons of mass destruction, even as he searched the Oval Office for them in an attempt at humor. Why doesn’t Hatch express to those who lost family in Iraq how bad he feels now that the facts are irrefutable: Iraq was a war of choice, packaged and sold by individuals who wrapped themselves in the American flag and questioned the patriotism of those who saw things differently?

It’s time for Sen. Hatch to go, just as he said it was time for Sen. Frank Moss to go when Hatch ran against him all those years ago.

Alan Peterson

Mayfield

Gil Iker can hammer nails at my house. He hits ‘em right on the head.

Right-wing predators in the Utah Legislature are again on the prowl to restore the most regressive tax of all — the sales tax on food, which hits poor people hard but is little noticed by the rich.

A fairer, smarter way to replenish Utah’s recession-impacted bank balance is to increase our severance tax on extractive industries. The theory of severance taxes is that since a state’s mineral wealth is owned by all its citizens, mining companies should pay us for it. Especially since the wealth of metallic ores, oil, gas, coal, gravel and rock is irreplaceable.

Severance taxes are a small percentage of the selling price of the extracted minerals. Utah’s rate is low, and for coal, it’s free — we give coal away untaxed. In 2006, neighbor states Wyoming and New Mexico collected severance taxes of $683 million and $588 million; Utah collected $50 million. Is it a coincidence that our legislators can legally accept unlimited campaign contributions from corporations? Utahns desperately need an ethics law with teeth, but our legislators will never pass one.

We’re in a recession and Utah needs money to operate. The corporations turn a profit on what they sell. Poor people need to eat.

Gil Iker

Salt Lake City

So, citizens will bear the brunt of budget shortfalls no matter what. The question is, which citizens? Well, if we don’t raise more money from those who have it, and we slash assistance to those who don’t, we shift the burden to the least fortunate among us. That hardly seems the right spirit at this time of year, let alone any other time.

It costs money to have the society we all seem to want, and there is enough money out there to make it all work. When times are tough, those who “have” need to pitch in a bit more for those who “have not.” That’s just how it should work, unless the game is only about “me.” That’s the only explanation for the selfish senator’s sentiment and those who think like him.

Kendall Robins

Sandy

My only question is: If it isn’t dangerous, why would Italy go to such expense to get rid of it?

Tom Parrish

Sandy

Due to their religious beliefs about the “sanctity” of marriage, many feel that same-sex marriage should not be allowed. That view elevates the establishment of marriage to one above the law, above the reach of the average lay person seeking such a union, and above any deviation from the holiness of this union.

By this logic of “sanctity,” the rules of marriage must be strictly enforced. Divorce and adultery absolutely offend the sanctity of marriage. The next step for those opposed to same-sex marriage is to propose legislation to abolish divorce and to require hard time for engaging in any extramarital affair. If this course is not pursued, we can deduce that the sanctity of marriage is really not the core issue, and it should not be used to justify denying civil rights to fellow Americans.

The true issue is that the Constitution protects the rights of all the people. Marriage is a legal status free of any religious affiliation. This right cannot be denied to a group based on sexuality. This is akin to denying women the right to vote simply for being women. It is un-American to deny legal rights to anyone.

Heidi Moore

Salt Lake City

Gov. Gary Herbert threw a bash where business interests “contributed” more than a million dollars to his campaign fund (”Gary’s glitzy gala: Herbert raises $1M in elaborate fundraiser,” Tribune , Oct. 31). Why? Is there any chance he might lose the election?

In politics, money is power. If some legislators balk at some bill a “contributor” wants passed, the governor can give them a few thousand dollars from his fund to help change their minds. Or he may create political debts by giving money to broke Republican candidates.

Does the governor expect us to believe the “contributions” were pure generosity, nothing expected in return? Face it: $100 is a contribution, $10,000 is a bribe, $50,000 buys a guarantee. The governor put up his services for auction and sold them for $1 million. He didn’t even conceal it, confident that Utahns won’t care.

This is why Utah needs ethics reform. The governor and the Legislature oppose any real reform. The swamp can only be drained by an initiative. If you want better government, sign the ethics reform initiative petition. Otherwise, you will continue to be governed by whoever pays top dollar.

Brooke Jennings

Salt Lake City

Updated: 11/06/2009 05:21:07 PM MST

I am sad that voters in Maine repealed the state’s same-sex marriage law. Don’t they see that “equal” in the Constitution’s guarantee of “equal protection of the laws” means equal and not “only if I like it.” Sexual identity is almost as immutable as one’s sex or skin color, so why don’t people tolerate differences and treat gays as political equals, like they do for blacks and women?

Ay, there’s the rub — the treatment of blacks and women. Even after the Civil Warconstitutional amendments guaranteed that “The right of citizens … shall not be denied … on account of race,” it took another century, a later amendment, many court rulings, strong laws and then another a generation for the older, die-hard racists to die hard before blacks obtained their “inalienable” equal rights. Similarly, it is stunning that men in the 19th century did not include women in the Constitution’s “persons” and “citizens.”

So I take hope. The votes in Maine and in California were close. Soon, as the younger, more tolerant generation rises and people like the 77-year-old LDS Apostle Dallin Oaks pass on, the votes will be reversed. Still, such willful bigotry makes me cry.

Jens Hammer

Brighton

Updated: 10/30/2009 07:10:50 PM MDT

We live in a state that prizes education. We even added driver education to keep our children safe. Yet, in one area we are steadfast in keeping our children ignorant, illiterate and under control: sex.

Here in Utah, we apparently think that our children’s friends who are as confused as they are, their parents who are almost as ignorant as they are, television, movies, the Web, newspapers, magazines and predators, plus Sen. Chris Buttars and the Legislature, are the most appropriate instructors of sex education for our children. But the stakes are too high. By just saying “No” to sex education, we render our children helpless, unprepared and unarmed in a struggle against disease, unwanted pregnancy, predators and death.

When taught by professionals, sex education is more than plumbing, more than repression. It is a reasoned, age-appropriate, sequenced open forum of ideas that allows for challenge and choice. Our children will be stronger and safer for it. First, we must face our own fears, so we will set our children free to know why and when they say “No.”

Suzanne McKenna

Salt Lake City

Ummm … Has he read his own scriptures lately? Like verse 9 in Doctrine and Covenants 134: “We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied.”

Julie L. Taggart

Draper

Updated: 11/02/2009 02:58:43 PM MST

I disagree with MoveOn.org. Sen. Orrin Hatch has not been bought by insurance company lobbyists. Instead, Hatch is blinded by his rigid ideology. Americans are dying because they don’t have health insurance — 3,732 every month, according to a Harvard study. Medical bills are forcing people into bankruptcy. Insurance premiums are skyrocketing. This is a national crisis, and Hatch is wringing his hands about deficits and government involvement. He cannot possibly be that obtuse or cold-hearted. Health care reform is not some abstract math problem. It is a moral obligation. All Americans deserve access to affordable health care.

We couldn’t afford President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for wealthy Americans, but Hatch had no problem voting for them (another ideological blind spot). If he votes against health care reform, he will find himself on the wrong side of history. He should put away his calculator and open his eyes and heart to the fear and suffering of millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans. The free market is very nice, until it fails us. The insurance companies have failed us. It is time for Hatch to compromise his inflexible ideology and help pass a meaningful health care reform bill.

Carol Gray

Sandy

This letter of praise to the Tribune is spot-on. We also love the Tribune editorial page. It is always full of interesting observations from all sides of the spectrum. Our Watts Cookin’ Blog is full of articles from the Salt Lake Tribune because they are timely, informative, and crucial.

Everyone in Utah should subscribe to and read the Tribune, otherwise they are simply uninformed about what is going on around them.

The Tribune ’s Oct. 4 op-ed page was exceptional. First, Nicholas Kristof explained rationally why more troops are not the answer in Afghanistan, helping me change my position (”Sending more troops to Afghanistan a bad bet”).

Next, Ed Firmage Jr. takes on Sen. Orrin Hatch about global warming, explaining how the science the senator uses is fundamentally flawed and how Hatch is wrong (”Professor Hatch’s ‘Climate 101′ lacks science”). I hope Hatch sees this article; every Utah fifth-grader ought to read it. It’s simple and understandable.

Lastly, Karrie Galloway explains how some in the Legislature simply have no idea what Planned Parenthood does to help thousands of Utahns every year get the help and education they need (”Planned Parenthood given bad rap by legislators”). This is not some evil organization, as many of them believe; it plays a necessary and practical role in the lives of many Utah families. As a result, I’m joining PP and donating $100. I hope others do, too.

These are the types of articles that inform, educate and entertain. They are at the heart of the reason I subscribe to The Tribune . Please keep it coming.

Tom Love

Salt Lake City

Clearly the case against DeChristopher is not about seeking justice; it’s about seeking revenge. Since Noel has known interests in the development of energy sources in Utah, including oil drilling, it is unconscionable that Noel might have escaped the consequence of his illegal act due to his political influence in our state. Unless he is likewise prosecuted, in the name of equal justice, the case against DeChristopher should be dropped.

Susan L. Loffler

You can write to Sen. Orrin Hatch all you want about how he should vote on health care reform. You will get a nice form letter, but no matter what you say he will vote against President Barack Obama’s plan. Why? Blue Cross and Blue Shield is one of his largest campaign donors. (check it out on www.opensecrets.org.) If you have the same goal as Blue Cross and Blue Shield you have nothing to fear, right? Except that his top campaign donors are almost all health companies, and those companies do not have your best interest at heart.

Then there is Sen. Bob Bennett. He voted for the bailout, despite overwhelming calls begging him not to. Why? He received $23,200 from Citigroup, $20,000 from JPMorgan Chase, and $15,500 from the American Bankers Association.

Let’s get big money out of lawmaking, and then we can discuss the issues on their true merits and vices — not who will get the most money out of it.

Michelle L. King

Logan