Paul dupes disenfranchise many GOP voters

To the editor:

Well, the Obama camp can certainly take heart. Ron Paul and his single-minded – no, narrow-minded – supporters have handed Barack Obama a near-term victory that may blossom into four more years of power for our faltering liberal-in-chief (“Paul wins most delegates,” Monday Review-Journal). And how did the Paulines do it? By disenfranchising me, by disenfranchising my wife, by disenfranchising my family and friends. Trickery in Sparks at the state GOP convention erased my primary caucus vote for Mitt Romney, erased my stumping for Mitt Romney and erased the successful case I and like-minded Republicans made at our local caucuses.

Do these lemming-like Paul supporters think they have advanced Rep. Paul’s agenda in Nevada? The stink of Sparks fills my nostrils and turns every word Rep. Paul has uttered into poison.

Worst of all, these Paul dupes will take their visceral commitment to Florida, breeding dissension that will embarrass Mr. Romney and cost him votes in what may be a very close race. From such disarray will we see Rep. Paul emerging as a third-party candidate, ensuring that Mr. Obama is snugly installed in the Oval Office for another term?

And what a term that will be. Anybody notice this week’s left turn in France, Greece and Italy? A second Obama term will make those European welfare addicts look like Horatio Alger heroes.

Yes, wayward strangers, you’ve disenfranchised me and my family. In your stubborn unwillingness to compromise, what further damage will you do?

STEVEN GLADE

Las Vegas

Job killer

To the editor:

Barack Obama has killed more jobs and small businesses than he has killed terrorists. I wonder when we’ll start seeing his campaign advertisements asking whether other presidential candidates would have done the same.

Gerry Lock

Las Vegas

Zoned out

To the editor:

Spend 15 minutes in any school zone and you’ll wonder why more children aren’t hit by cars. Illegal parking, illegal U-turns, and road rage are all the norm now. These are parents who are not using the crosswalk or shrieking at their children to run across the street. These are parents who are buzzing by the school bus with its flashing lights on. These are parents who are arguing and swearing at school staff who try to enforce safety.

If parents can justify and excuse this arrogant behavior in their own child’s school zone, what can be expected elsewhere?

Marcy Griffith

Las Vegas

Meter reader

To the editor:

In response to Jennifer Robison’s April 29 and May 2 articles on the installation of so-called “smart meters” by NV Energy:

I am one who has opted out. I was able to do so only after obtaining a postponement due to being out of town the week they intended to install. We rescheduled for when I would return. I was told I had no choice in the matter. But after I did some research online and after trying to contact the Public Utilities Commission (not user friendly) I was able to have someone at NV Energy admit to the opt-out option.

My objection to these meters is a matter of control. I do not want NV Energy officials to have the ability to shut down my power at their discretion without sufficient notice – whether it is for a few minutes to conserve energy, a non-payment disconnect or an error.

Mike Hazard’s May 2 letter to the editor rightly questions NV Energy’s motives. When it is 100 degrees outside, can we really expect consumers to go online and see what their current usage is to determine where to set their thermostats? Or even to turn the air conditioner on? People know when they are running up their bills. In fact, according to Gary Smith, the utility’s director of consumer energy solutions, of the 56 percent of registered ratepayers, “only 0.8 percent have clicked through to look at detailed data” (April 29 article).

According to the press releases by NV Energy and the PUC, approval for these meters was given more than two years ago, without much publicity. Just as quietly, NV Energy has been installing these meters. They also state that the new meters will save an estimated $35 million a year in operating costs. But I see no mention of what will happen to that money. Lower rates? Larger bonuses? You decide. It obviously cannot be used to defer the costs related to us opt-outers, like replacing our current functioning dumb meters with less smart meters that can be electronically read by high-priced meter readers.

Now NV Energy has requested the PUC permission to charge opt-outers for that privilege. What are the chances that will be denied?

Jerry Andreoli Jr.

Las Vegas

Energy prices

To the editor:

David Adams wrote a great defense of the federal government’s clampdown on oil drilling permits (Sunday letter). He carefully points out that our oil production is increasing, but he may not recognize that almost all the increase is due to drilling and “fracking” on private property.

Mr. Adams properly noted that the United States is exporting some refined hydrocarbons. But he misses the important point that the federal government has greatly distorted the workings of a free market. If oil companies in the United States were free to drill offshore and onshore we would have even more oil and oil products, which would help satisfy U.S. and global demand.

Oil prices have been reacting from increased demand from emerging economies worldwide, and if there were more supply the free market would drive prices down. Some 250 years ago, Adam Smith explained how free markets work. So, in order to bring down the price of gasoline, we must “drill, baby, drill.”

Richard N. Fulton

Henderson