NDOT needs some major reforms

To the editor:

Thank you for Sunday's article "Widening of U.S. 95 not done; just pausing." As a homeowner in northwest Las Vegas, count me as one of those who is unhappy about the need to endure more construction work on U.S. 95. But I'm certainly not surprised.

A few weeks ago it was pointed out that given 10 years and half a billion dollars, the Nevada Department of Transportation failed to build adequate lanes for the merge from eastbound Summerlin Parkway to southbound U.S. 95.

Now we learn more widening is needed at the Rainbow curve? "Improvements" are needed at three interchanges from Cheyenne to Durango? I believe those at the Nevada Department of Transportation call this "job security." I call it a waste of tax dollars and a nuisance.

If Gov. Jim Gibbons is serious about trimming $285 million from the state budget, here are a couple suggestions: First, NDOT Director Susan Martinovich and chief engineer Scott Rawlins should be fired. With all due respect, failing to adequately plan the Rainbow interchange can be only be explained by incompetence.

My second suggestion: NDOT's annual budget of $674 million could easily reduced by at least one-third by placing a two-year moratorium on any new highway projects in the valley and by immediately pink slipping many of the department's 1,700 employees. These people are easy to identify. They're the guys standing by the side of the road munching doughnuts and sipping a Starbucks while you and I are cussing at the creeping traffic with three lanes of drivable pavement coned off.

I'm willing to bet that implementing these modest proposals would actually have a positive impact on our commute times. By getting rid of the "work zone slowdowns, endless stop-and-go traffic, confusing detours ... and never-ending lane shifts" the average driver will have a faster, safer commute.

Mike Davis

LAS VEGAS

Clown act

To the editor:

I watched the alleged debate between Democratic candidates for president on Thursday. I was dismayed at what I saw and heard on the UNLV stage. The backbiting and endless blaming was relentless.

With the exception of Sen. Joe Biden, I believe that the Ringling Bros. could not possibly find a greater array of clowns in any open audition. Not one of these clowns was any more worthy of a future title of "president of the United States" than Bozo the Clown and Clarabell of the old Howdy Doody TV show.

Virgil A. Sestini

LAS VEGAS

Economics lesson

To the editor:

There have been many letters, stories and editorials on how government should not tax or regulate industry X. Generally they are of the form that industry X already pays its "fair share" and that if it had to pay more there would be an adverse effect on society.

Let us take two examples.

The first is mining. Some people say that if mining had to pay more, or were more regulated, it would be less profitable and would employ fewer people. They might even go out of business.

Well, suppose that a mining company's profit level, or even its profitability, was dependent on the fact that it must dump into the environment literally tons of toxic materials such as cyanide, heavy metal toxins and mercury. Also, it must desecrate the land, leaving numerous hazardous holes in the ground for your children to fall into. Seriously, how many of you think that such a situation should be allowed to continue? Is business profit to be purchased at the cost of our health? I would say no.

If the only way a business can make money is to poison people as a byproduct, then that business should not exist.

Now let us look at gaming. Its leaders make similar arguments. They already pay "enough." And yet they thrive in other locales with much higher tax burdens.

Yes, the gambling and entertainment industry does pay a lot in taxes. But what costs do they put upon the citizens of this area?

There are the costs of providing all those people with government services. Many of these people are low-wage service workers. They cannot afford homes, but their children go to schools. They need to ride on ever-more expensive roads. Lower-income people are more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system.

I do not have access to the numbers, but I am sure that, given the shortfall in government revenues needed to service all of these people associated with the gambling industry, I would be willing to bet that gambling is not paying its fair share.

The social toxic wastes it throws off, as well as the needs of low-paid service employees, are not covered by the taxes that the gamers pay.

There exists zero evidence that the above statement is false, and there exists much numerical evidence that the statement is true.

Doug Nusbaum

LAS VEGAS