Dear Editor, there has been a huge amount of effort and argument both pro and con regarding the proposed and incredibly expensive high speed rail system. It is time to wrap it up.
The price tag has now grown to the range of $100 billion. The cities are broke, the counties are also, and the state is totally busted. Therefore we will try to buck the full cost up to the taxpayers of the USA. This is pure nonsense.
First, the government should never be permitted to conflict with free enterprise, the government will win by hook or crook. The competition is with the free enterprise concept of flying between S.F. and L.A.: it can be done in less than an hour, at competitive prices. With multiple airlines, you can be sure that the ticket cost is realistic.
With a government owned rail system the only thing you can be sure of is that it will be a money loser and the fares will never pay for the cost of running the rail line, the taxpayers will carry the difference, ad infinitum. Per recent declarations from Sacramento, they don’t seem to care what the cost is, the taxpayers will pay for it, one way or another.
Second, if the people in Sacramento want a rail line that badly, the rail companies such as UP or SP should be asked to build it and do their own financing.
Again, the government should never compete with free enterprise, let the railroad experts try. If they fail, there is no cost to the taxpayers, either the rail lines or the airlines will succeed, the winner takes all.
When you look at all of the factors, you aren’t going to get it any faster or cheaper than an airline can accomplish.
Let’s get Sacramento and the taxpayers out of the High Speed Rail discussion and let private enterprise argue it out. If it won’t operate at a profit, it should not be built in the first place.
W. R. Blakley, Morgan Hill
Dumping oil into storm drains not only pollutes, but it is illegal
Dear Editor,
After reading in the “Red Phone” section of the Jan. 19 edition regarding the witnessing of the illegal disposal of motor oil in a storm drain by a concerned neighbor, I felt compelled to provide some additional guidance as to the proper course of action one should take in such a situation.
The intentional disposal of used oil into a storm drain is a crime and should be reported accordingly. California Penal Code Section 374.8 (b) states the intentional illegal disposal of a hazardous substance to the ground or a waterway is punishable by up to three years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
If one witnesses this type of activity they should phone 911 immediately and report the crime. This will set into action a course of events that will include a response by the fire department to help mitigate the environmental and property damage caused by such a spill and also will begin an investigation into the crime that can result in the prosecution of the responsible party.
Used oil is easily recycled and can cause a great deal of harm to our waterways if released to a storm drain.
The Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste Program (www.hhw.org) provides free disposal of hazardous waste to the citizens of the county making the illegal disposal of materials like used oil an inexcusable activity that should not be tolerated in our society.
Michael Benjamin, Morgan Hill
