YOUR VIEWS

Worth reprinting

The Oklahoman should republish Rep. Kevin Calvey’s “Tax increases help cover up problems” (Point of View, Nov. 8) and put it on the front page in bold type so no one will miss seeing it. It shows what a bunch of crooks we have in office, which I’m sure every state has, but Oklahoma’s crooks have got to the be the worst.

Richard Price, Moore

Aquifer concerns

“Rural areas at risk as levels drop in aquifer” (Associated Press, Nov. 15) reported that the Ogallala aquifer that underlies portions of eight states is “drying up.” Regretfully, Oklahoma is one of those states. We have been pumping water from the Ogallala at a faster rate than rainfall can recharge it. What will we do when irrigation is no longer possible?

Compounding the problem is the absolute necessity for irrigation of the prairie land that nurtured the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. I fear we are facing a return of those terrible dust storms and I hope The Oklahoman will do an indepth analysis of the dreadful situation and report it in an “above the fold,” front-page story. The public must be alerted and we have no time to waste in trying to find a solution

Stanley Newman, Oklahoma City

Time for something different

I see a constant drumbeat of calls to throw out all the incumbents in state government. Considering their poor performance — from the Legislature’s ongoing bipartisan failure to provide any solution to the budget crisis to the legal troubles of lawmakers, agency

heads, and state executives — Oklahomans have every reason to throw the rascals out. But the obvious problem is that replacing the scoundrels with more of the same sort will do little to effect real change. It’s clearly time to try something different.

Every Oklahoman who visits a polling place next year should consider the fact that every vote for a Libertarian sends an unmistakable and unequivocal demand for change away from the failed power politics of the two establishment parties. We Libertarians are going to provide you many opportunities to elect individuals who will stand for economic and personal liberty. You will have the choice and responsibility to vote for something other than the same stale old offerings; take advantage of it!

Chris Powell, Bethany

Lame GOP tax plan

The Republicans are pushing a plan to “simplify” taxes, so you’ll be able to file your return on a postcard. What a quaint notion — quaint, for the 1980s anyway. The IRS says more than 90 percent of taxpayers now file electronically.

Please, Repubs, it’s 2017! Get with the new millennium, and don’t have too many of those postcards printed. And, update your talking points.

Kent A. Mauk, Oklahoma City