Letters to the Editor | If we pay for half of the Rays’ new stadium, can we get free tickets?
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Waste of money
It has been shown over and over that these stadiums don’t pay for themselves. Let the billionaires pay for their own stadium. No new assessments or shady taxes, please.
Maybe I would be for a taxpayer-subsidized stadium if everyone who had to pay taxes one way or another were guaranteed a $10 general admission ticket for their suffering.
Frank Nockels, Land O’ Lakes
Florida Republicans expose Second Amendment hypocrisy | Column, Feb. 1
Seriously?
I truly don’t understand why the Times keeps giving opinion space to the former president of the Palm Beach County Young Republicans. Mary Anna Mancuso’s column reads less like analysis and more like political cosplay. Mancuso seems shocked — shocked! — that Florida MAGA Republicans failed to speak up after the killing of Alex Pretti by ICE agents while he was lawfully carrying a firearm at a protest. This assumes, of course, that today’s Republican officials possess either independence or a spine. They do not.
Someone should gently explain to her that Florida Republicans will never, under any circumstances, break ranks with MAGA orthodoxy. They will always defend armed federal agents over armed citizens, authority over liberty, and loyalty to Trump over the Constitution they claim to worship. The hypocrisy she describes isn’t a revelation — it’s the operating system.
The Republican Party of limited government, civil liberties and principled disagreement is gone. Forever. Buried under red hats and loyalty oaths. Publishing columns that pretend otherwise doesn’t expose hypocrisy; it perpetuates a fantasy. And Florida voters deserve better than fairy tales about a party that no longer exists. Wake up, girl!
David Burg, Tampa
Fla. DMV: Exams will only be given in English | Jan. 31
Good idea
This new rule, requiring department of motor vehicle exams to be taken in English, is absolutely necessary to prove that those taking the test can read all the signs and fully understand and obey the rules of the road.
Paula M. Keith, Tarpon Springs
Fla. DMV: Exams will only be given in English | Jan. 31
Racist policy
Florida has done the most racist thing it could think of by forcing English-only driver’s tests. Institutional racism has no business in our state. What is next, English-only ballots?
Florida has a diverse population that speaks many languages; English and Spanish are predominant. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, uses a lot of Spanish. Are they now excluded from driving in Florida because they speak Spanish?
Eugene L. Wells, Tampa
Open borders led to this problem | Letters, Feb. 1
‘Fantasy world’
The letter writer is living in a fantasy world. ICE agents aren’t shooting people on the streets of Minneapolis because of President Joe Biden’s non-existent “open borders” policy, or even because of illegal immigration. They are shooting people in Minneapolis because the Trump administration wants to punish any and all push back against their policies — punish your enemies, a classic authoritarian move. They are shooting people in Minneapolis because the Trump administration told them they have complete immunity from responsibility for their actions — protect your allies, another classic authoritarian move. They are shooting people in Minneapolis because President Donald Trump lost in Minnesota three times and is too insecure to accept that he has ever lost any election. That last one is not a classic authoritarian move; it is just immaturity.
I hope the letter writer’s fantasy world is comforting to him. But he should remember, in an authoritarian world, no one is safe.
William Carroll, St. Petersburg
Every Florida Congress member to Trump: Keep oil drilling away from our coast | Dec. 5
Missing the mark
A recent article about offshore energy in the Gulf misses the mark for Florida families and our energy future.
The Gulf already supplies nearly 15% of America’s crude oil, which fuels everything from flights to family road trips. The new draft leasing plan from the Department of the Interior includes areas 100 miles offshore (areas that are far from Florida beaches) with strong protections for viewsheds, tourism and national security, developed in coordination with the Department of Defense.
We all care about clean air and water. But stopping safe, responsible energy development doesn’t make energy use disappear. Instead, it shifts production to countries with lower environmental standards and higher emissions. That hurts the environment and raises costs for everyone.
Offshore energy production helps fund conservation efforts here at home. Through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is largely supported by offshore revenues, Florida receives millions to protect the Everglades and expand outdoor recreation.
Floridians are already dealing with soaring food and energy costs. Blocking offshore energy will only make that worse. It’s time to support affordable, realistic energy policies that protect both our environment and our wallets.
