Letters and comments for March 15, 2011

Don’t waste resource

To the Editor:

The United States government has given subsidies or tax breaks to these industries (and many others) over our history.

Transportation: railroads, airports and airlines, highways, seaports and river systems, mass transit, automobile companies and bicycle lanes.

Agricultural: grain crops, forage crops, oil seed crops, fiber crops, sugar crops, livestock, timber, fruit crops, row crops.

Energy: coal-mining and plants, dams and hydroelectric plants, solar plants, natural gas plants, nuclear plants, oil and gas industries and electric distribution companies.

However, less than half the registered voters in Union County want us to believe that giving tax breaks and subsidies to the wind power industry in our county would be the beginning of the end of our society!

I have a weather station at my home in Union. Since the beginning of the year, the wind run has been more than 15,300 miles. If you release a balloon that could stay afloat, it could have traveled that far on the wind that has passed my gauge.

How can we even consider wasting this resource?

Damon J. Nash

Union

Draw the line

To the Editor:

State Sen. David Nelson is among sponsors of a bill (SB 742) that would provide in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants.

Current estimate for the illegal immigrant population in Oregon is 150,000 to 175,000. This bill would not only increase the flow of illegal immigration into Oregon but would provide incentive for remaining in Oregon until educational opportunities have been fully exploited, at which time, if successful, they would not be able to legally use the degree in these United States. This scenario plays out at the expense of Oregon’s resident students, documented non-resident and the taxpayers.

Current state budget deficits will increase to cover additional costs — both direct to the higher educational system and indirect to the myriad services required to support an illegal population equivalent in size to Eugene. The indirect costs are elements that deserve your scrutiny. (oregonir.org is a good reference source).

This bill would establish a discriminatory policy allowing for a valuable benefit to be offered to one population while disallowing the same benefit for all others.

It is time Oregonians “draw the line” on illegal immigration and demand our tax dollars not be used to support this activity. Elimination of this drain on our state’s financial resources would ease many current budget problems, while providing quality of life enhancements gained through heightened sense of safety/security and lowered criminal activity.

I urge you to call your representatives, especially Sen. Nelson’s office, to tell them you do not, in any way, support  SB 742, nor do you want to continue aiding and abetting individuals in illegal activities through misappropriation of our tax dollars.

Charles LeBold

Union