It must be nice to get Ely discount when flying

To the editor:

Having taxpayers subsidize up to $3,700 per passenger the cost of a flight from Ely to Las Vegas is why the government should not be regulating the airline business and why this country is going broke (Sunday Review-Journal).

It would be hard to imagine that the citizens of Ely would actually expect fellow taxpayers to foot most of their airline bills. I don't know if any of the Ely residents were forced to live there, but it is always a good practice before you move to another city to find out what services it has.

My wife and I retired eight years ago, and we sure do not expect the taxpayer to foot most of our airline bill when we fly. But from now on, I will ask if there is an Ely discount.

I applaud the Republicans in Congress who are attempting to cut this outrageous welfare program. And to the members of the Nevada congressional delegation who are fighting for this pork expense, shame on you. You will be remembered at the voting booth.

Michael O. Kreps

Las Vegas

Join up

To the editor:

It has been suggested by multi-billionaire Warren Buffett that Congress should commit to "shared sacrifice" and raise taxes on people earning more than $1 million per year.

Mr. Buffett also expressed in a recent New York Times commentary that, "While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks."

Taxes in this country are not voluntary. However, military service in the United States has been voluntary since 1973.

I suggest that Mr. Buffett and his like-minded friends voluntarily pay any amount of taxes they wish above their current obligation.

And, while they're at it, they should also volunteer for military service -- or at least encourage member of their mega-rich family to do so.

Dennis Rich

Las Vegas

Road art

To the editor:

So the powers that be saw fit to drop nearly a $1 million into the "beautification" of the on- and off-ramps at Eastern Avenue and Interstate 215 (Review-Journal Sunday). Now we have large boulders and walls all over the place so that a driver who loses control of his vehicle for whatever reason has something to stop the vehicle and increase the likelihood of damage and injury -- or even death to those in the vehicle.

And all these years I thought the idea was to mitigate the potential for damage and injuries by eliminating roadside barriers.

All this money spent and yet we cannot seem to do anything about the deplorable state of the pavement on these ramps. Even better yet, that $1 million could have been directed to the much-needed Boulder City bypass.

How is the public benefiting from these "beautification" projects? Artwork on sound walls and overpasses. Concrete turtles in the medians. Artwork adjacent to the roadways. What a total waste of taxpayer money. These are little more than distractions to the driving public.

Give me simple, safe, functional motorways and leave the art to privately funded institutions.

Don Dieckmann

Henderson