LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Put bounty on carp to fight them

9/8/2012

Why do we ask our government to use billions of borrowed tax dollars to build impediments to Asian carp ("Keep the carp out," editorial, Sept. 3)? The federal government cannot control these fish, no matter how many dams or electric cables or gates are built.

The answer to the carp problem is easy: sportsmen. There should be a $2 bounty on each Asian carp caught and delivered to designated checkpoints. Game wardens could check licenses, identify fish, and issue bounty tickets that would be mailed to the government for reimbursement.

Imagine the trickle-down economy that would result: bait sales, fishing supplies, boat fuel, overnight accommodations, and restaurants.

The federal government could benefit by taxing the reimbursements. The fish could be hauled off and processed for food or fertilizer.

The $9.5 billion suggested by the Great Lakes Commission to be spent hydrologically separating the Mississippi and Great Lakes watersheds should be enough to cover the bounty program. That would be a good use of stimulus money.

Jim Brower

Oregon

 

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GOP's behavior on early voting childish

The discord surrounding the issue of extended early voting hours in Ohio is amazing ("Early voting days extended by judge; Ohio attorney general plans appeal," Sept. 1).

What is the Republican Party afraid of? Is it that more people may be able to vote, and if they do, the GOP won't be able to hold onto its political jobs?

Extended voting hours help all voters. The stupid bickering and partisan politics should stop. This makes Republicans look like spoiled children who. when they don't get their way, make everyone else miserable.

Josie McConnell

Sunset Boulevard

 

Election kerfuffle threatens voters

It is a shame when suppressing the other party's vote seems more important than assuring access for every voter, no matter which party. Limiting access to the polls appears to be the goal of the two Republicans on the Lucas County Board of Elections and Secretary of State Jon Husted.

Locating Lucas County's early voting site in Maumee may work fine for people with cars and those without disabilities. But it would disfranchise many elderly, poor, and disabled people in central Toledo. These people vote more often for Democrats.

These officials also want to limit the hours the early voting center is open, and to close it the last three days before the election. This stacks the deck against the same group of potential voters. The goal should be more participation in voting, not less.

Nancy Beadle

Marblehead, Ohio

 

Election outcome in hands of few

A recent CNN poll says 87 percent of likely voters have made up their minds about how they will vote for president. The same poll says the race is nearly even.

That means about 13 percent of likely voters -- who will be mostly influenced by mudslinging, political pundits, and slanted hearsay politics over the next two months -- will decide the country's direction for the next four years. That's scary.

Tim Richard

Sylvania