Don't tax America's big oil and gas companies' excessive profits or ask them to give up that $17 billion in tax relief. Instead, ask them to help their fellow Americans by reducing the profits they take from producing each gallon of diesel fuel. This support would help reduce the cost of farm products and food stuff in general, not to say how it would help to reduce the cost of busing our kids to and from school.

Surely the leaders of big oil could establish a cost-reduction figure easily understood that would be a significant advantage to their fellow citizens in this time of crisis. This effort would show their compassion and thanks to the American people for allowing the sharing of our national resources for the betterment of all.

William T. 'Nick' Smith, Wilson

Start somewhere

I appreciate humor, and the June 25 cartoon of the SUV with Sen. John McCain in it, stating that "If he says it's a hybrid, then it's a hybrid" was funny. However, I have also listened to Sen. Barack Obama and heard him say that any offshore drilling wouldn't get us any closer to energy independence except perhaps in the year 2017. Doesn't Obama know that you have to start sometime? Perhaps if politicians had started 10 to 15 years ago looking for domestic oil, we wouldn't be in the mess that we currently find ourselves.

At least McCain is proposing a plan, which is more than I can say for Obama. I find it ridiculous that Obama is saying "no" to everything that McCain proposes. Perhaps Obama should be called "Senator No." Now, where have I heard that before from liberal North Carolina Democrats?

David Burton, Raleigh

Real ramifications

The comment from Wake Board of Commissioners Vice Chair Betty Lou Ward in the June 27 article "Wittig not yet in the clear" that "in the private sector, I guess this would not be such a major deal" highlighted how out of touch our officials can be with the real world.

Having worked in the private sector for over 30 years at a Fortune 500 company, I can attest to the fact that personal responsibility for the use of company funds and effective procedures to authorize expenditures are standard practice. Profligate expenditure as seems to have occurred in this case would in my experience have resulted in dismissal not only of the individual concerned but probably his superiors who have exercised such poor financial judgement.

The provision of credit cards to employees is obviously a policy that should cease immediately because of an environment in which controls are inadequate and repercussions for misuse negligible.

Ed Davis

Chapel Hill

On to education

I wish I could say I was surprised by Craig P. Wittig's supervisor's approval of his inventive travels: whale watching, a casino trip, Disney World. But after working in public education for close to 15 years, I have grown accustomed to seeing supervisors condone many people who get paid for not doing their job.

Kudos to Joe Bryan and the Wake County commissioners for their newfound desire to cut out the chaff in the county. Maybe we won't need to raise taxes so often if we find out where the money is really being spent.

For years people have declared that the money is not the issue in government and in education. After reprioritizing government spending, let's move on to education. Once the county commissioners figure out how to make those government folks earn their paychecks or find another locale, they can move on to public education.

Nan Danehower

Raleigh

Gas guzzlers unite

There is no end to the kvetching about high fuel prices by everyone who drives a car or truck. But I would guess those doing the loudest kvetching are those who drive the gas-guzzling SUVs and pickups.

I have tried to lower my fuel costs by keeping highway speeds between 60 and 65 mph. This, however, is a dangerous way of driving out on I-440 and 540, especially during rush-hour, where 70 to 80 mph seems to be the norm, as does tailgating and swerving from lane to lane in order to arrive at your destination five minutes sooner.

So I would suggest, for all of you NASCAR wannabes who are in such a big rush to go nowhere, don't complain when you need to drop another $100+ into that very useful and practical Escalade, Tahoe, Expedition, Hummer, etc. Just keep your foot on the gas pedal and your mouth shut about the high cost of your 75 mph ride to work!

Greg Beauchaine, Raleigh

Oil's many uses

Thank you for your June 23 editorial "Here's the drill?". In addition to the excellent reasons you gave for abstaining from drilling for oil and gas off our coast, there is another huge reason for being very careful with our resource management.

Crude oil should be considered an endangered species. While it is used primarily as an energy source, petrochemicals are also the raw materials that we must conserve for modern daily existence. From car parts to medicines or from home construction components to life support technology, no viable alternatives, in the quantities to which we are accustomed, exist for materials made from hydrocarbon chemistry. Depletion of our finite oil supply will mean more than no plastic for credit cards; it will mean no electronics, synthetic fibers, cosmetics, paints and thousands of other products we depend on. It is just a matter of which generations will be around when the last drop is pumped out.

A quicker way of helping the energy situation would be government stimulus incentives to automobile customers based on a new miles-per-gallon usage. How about an instant rebate at the time of purchase based on mpg of the vehicle?

Phil Wood

Winston-Salem

McCain's gas gimmick

Regarding the June 23 article "McCain plugs better batteries":

Some things are just too obvious. The latest John McCain big idea -- a $300 million prize should be awarded for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars -- is a classic blunder. McCain previously stated in December in New Hampshire that "the issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should." His latest stunt proves him right.

While the omnipotence of market forces is usually overstated, in this case the free market will generously award anyone who can fulfill McCain's challenge. What he forgets is that the government already has an award mechanism for brilliant innovation: the patent system. The search for a better battery hasn't been limited by a lack of awards but by a shortsighted failure to invest in research by gluttonous oil companies and an inept, inattentive government.

The time for real change in Washington is long overdue. Please ignore campaign rhetoric and distractions parroted by the news media and invest your vote in an articulate president with a grasp of economics who sees this gimmick for what it is.

John Yoakum, Cary

Dole and drilling

The June 27 article "Dole shifts on drilling" reported that Sen. Elizabeth Dole had changed her mind and now believes that oil drilling off the coast should be permitted. Once again, she proves herself to be among the most loyal of the Bushbots, as her shift coincides with that of her dear leader.

Dole regards this as a reasonable response to this year's run-up in gasoline prices. Perhaps one of her staff members should tell her that all the oil-drilling ships in the world are now booked for the next five years. Or that it would take 15 to 20 years before large amounts of oil would be produced by these offshore wells. Maybe then she could answer the question of how this would affect the price of gasoline today.

Stewart Johnson, Durham

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