LETTERS: Public should watch its wallet on high-speed rail pursuit

Train talks

I get chills up and down my wallet every time I see "rail" and "Las Vegas" in the same sentence ("Rail board takes high-speed action," Sept. 30 Review-Journal). It seems the politicians, opportunists and special interest advocates insist on reinstating passenger service to Las Vegas, even though we've survived and grown without it for more than 18 years.

Prior use of "rail" and "Las Vegas" in the same sentence also resulted in the monorail, which weaves past the alleys and backroads behind the Strip, carefully avoiding the tourist corridor, airport, major properties and downtown Las Vegas. Let's not forget the other rail fantasies conjured up by these folks, including the Victorville Express and another iteration whose name I can't recall, probably due to its short shelf life.

If all the relevant matters involved in this scheme can be resolved in a 25-minute meeting, one cannot help but wonder how the open meeting law could be disregarded. Oh, I forgot, as the article noted, "The authority isn't allowed to allocate funds or obligate any government entity to do so." So NRS 241 may not apply. It should.

Please also note the escape clause: "Debt would be secured by a pledge of property ... a public or private company or a governmental entity that signs an intergovernmental agreement with the franchisee and the authority." Joe Six-Pack, the taxpayer, might discover an extra hand in his pocket if this scheme isn't watched by an eagle-eyed public.

Remember, the public pays for this, as government has no money unless it extorts it from those who have it. Only 10 people attended this important meeting, from an involved population of 2 million.

Kenneth F. Hines

Las Vegas

Protecting Big Pharma

Incensed with the decision of pharmaceutical company CEO Martin Shkreli's price hike on the HIV drug Daraprim, Hillary Clinton has promised to place blanket controls over prescription drug prices through government hurdles ("Drug company rolling back cost of $750 pill after controversy," Sept. 23 Review-Journal). The problem with price controls is the results are capricious and become a magnet for legislative and presidential pandering. In other words, a politician's paradise.

Mrs. Clinton also favors the prevention of replicating established drugs unless they prove to be a substantial improvement over the existing product. This is supposed to encourage superior drugs. What she is guaranteeing is that giant pharmaceuticals will grow stronger and competition will be crushed. A more sensible approach is to relax the laws on patent strength and openly report political contributions.

Imagine if we treated other industries the way we treat drug companies. Our choices would be severely diminished. Yet because we are told patents and the FDA are our protection, we need strict enforcement. Again, this only protects the giants. And even with all these protections, faulty drugs still make their way to market.

We don't need more government control. We need greater competition, the miracle of capitalism's supply and demand. Where government has a responsibility is legislating penalties so severe and expensive that they will discourage malfeasance.

Tom Hoover

Las Vegas

Mass shootings

There is a simple solution to stem the tide of mass shootings at schools: Don't print the name or picture of the murderer. Do not show this person's picture or name on any television station. Anyone who is mentally unstable and seeking notoriety will not get celebrity status from the media, period. As soon as these unstable people see that they won't gain any notoriety, they will stop. Can the Review-Journal comply with this solution?

Carolyn Bradley

Bullhead City, Ariz.