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Hernando Today

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2008

Ignore Earl, Rall

A suggestion for those who find the columns of Frances Earl and Ted Rall objectionable: Ignore them!

If you continue to write in about them, Hernando Today will continue to print them.

Rall and Earl are showoffs. If you stop paying attention to the showoffs, Hernando Today will stop paying attention to them, too. I hope.

Give it a try.

Tom Troyer

Brooksville
Lesser of Two Evils
It's really too bad that so many good, fiscally conservative, hard working, taxpaying Americans choose to exclude themselves from having any influence in the direction of our country. So many disheartened and disenchanted voters protest the direction that both parties have taken by choosing to register themselves as independents.

Many don't even bother to register at all, because they feel that it doesn't matter as the crooks will only get in, anyway. Others choose not to bother getting to the polls until it's the national election. By then it's too late; the damage has already been done.

Have you ever noticed that we always have to pick from the "lesser of two evils?" There's a reason for that. You can bet that government workers, their families and friends, nearly all of them, are registered to either one of the two parties. I'll bet you'll discover that very few are registered independent. That is because they know their jobs depend on controlling who is allowed to hold office. They and their families will always vote for the person they know will give them raises and more benefits, all at your expense.

The primaries are the most important election to get involved with. Runoffs are secondary, and the national elections are the least important. By then, the Democrats will have selected the worst their party has to offer, and the Republicans will have selected the worst their party has to offer. Thus, we are left having to choose the lesser of two evils.

If Blaise Ingolia and Linda Hayward really want to become "giant killers" and see real change in local politics. If serious challengers really wish to unseat the incumbents of both parties, they need to start a campaign that educates voters and gets them excited to switch from independents to either of the two parties. Get them back into the decision-making of who's allowed to hold office and the direction of the two parties. Quit allowing the teachers, firemen, police, all other government workers and their families to make all the decisions at election time.

Ordinary, fiscally conservative, hardworking, taxpaying Americans must learn how important their vote is in the primaries. Then maybe we might have a chance to select the best from the best that the two parties have to offer for a change!

Lorne DeWitt

Brooksville

Government Needs

More Watchdogs

I had promised myself that I would not beat the dead horse that is THE Bus anymore. But since it is still running and apparently still has some life in it, the following comments would be in order.

I read with great interest in the Sept. 10 edition of Hernando Today the article on the budget and the slimming being done by County Administrator David Hamilton. One item caught my eye. His statement that while the county is paying $200,000 less for THE Bus, there won't be any cuts in routes or services.

I find this commendable, but if $200,000 can be cut with no loss of service or routes, doesn't this suggest that in the past THE Bus has been mismanaged? Apparently we, the taxpayers, have been paying $200,000 more than we should have been paying. Where was this money going?

This past performance is another example of inept management and poor oversight by county commissioners. Of course, when THE Bus was created, money was pouring in by the truckload and little regard was given to how it was spent. But as the folksong says, "times are a changing." That isn't only a presidential campaign slogan but one that applies directly to Hernando County. The trucks filled with money have stopped coming, and those who are the stewards of the taxpayers' money need to spend our hard-earned dollars wisely.

In this election year, I strongly encourage voters to attend county commission meetings, go the fire board meetings in Spring Hill, learn how your government is operating or, in far too many cases, is not operating with the interest of the taxpayer in mind but with the self-interest of a career politician.

Harry Chamberlain

Spring Hill

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