Letters to the Editor

Double standard
I found the venomous spew from our uber liberal up in Appleton, Brian Wojtalewicz, to be somewhat interesting. Being a socialist I’m sure Mr. Wojtalewicz knows what the term “strawman” refers to. He denigrates retirees and others for attempting to recover what they have paid for.

Some taxpayers, myself included, that were forced by law to contribute to our retirement and health fund, would much rather have invested this money privately but, we had no choice.

I wonder, if when he goes to the grocery store and takes to his car what he paid for, would that also be considered hypocritical and selfish? Maybe what he should do is to leave several bags of his groceries sitting behind for others to enjoy.

I’m beginning to see a double standard here. Just recently I, and most other homeowners in our town, and I suppose Mr. Wojtalewicz’s town, just paid for most of our government provided services in the form of property tax, income tax, sales tax, and on and on and on. But I suppose he considers it selfish and hypocritical to recoup some of what we paid for.

As far as the war that he likes to whimper about, if memory serves me correct, his party also signed off on that war, along with one in Somalia, Vietnam, and a myriad of other places.

Mr.Wojtalewicz couldn’t be a true left wing liberal if he didn’t shriek occasionally about Bush-Cheney. People like Mr. Wojtalewicz also go totally apoplectic when it comes to Sarah Palin. What I find most interesting is this comment: “The reality is that they don’t really want government out of their lives; they just don’t want government helping people other than them.”

I thought this man had a modicum of intelligence until I read that comment.

Moving on to his repeated reference to tea partiers as “tea baggers,” I’m sure someone like Mr. Wojtalewicz knows full well what a tea bagger is. What Mr. Wojtalewicz should do is dig down deep in his pockets and pay for the health care, food, clothing and housing of a needy family … kind of like the Adopt-a-Highway program, except you get a family instead of a roadside. In other words Mr. Wojtalewicz, put your money where your mouth is.
—Corky Freeman
Montevideo

Questions for the president
Mr. President, how do you allow 113-octane ethanol futures to trade at $1.57/gallon on April 27, 2010? While 85-octane gasoline futures traded for $2.33/gallon or a 76/cent per gallon price differential? Yet U.S. consumers pay dearly for every pint of octane they buy.

Then how do you allow futures traders in Chicago to set or direct the ethanol price on volume of only 35 contracts or about 1 million gallons traded on that day? When government EIA data shows that the U.S. ethanol industry actually produces over 34 million gallons/day? Can you have Congress include this in their derivative hearings?

This price differential, combined with the ethanol blender’s credit of 45 cents/gallon, means the following:

For every 8,000-gallon truckload of ethanol entering a pipeline blending terminal, like here in Alexandria, someone in the fuel distribution system has an opportunity to profit from this combined $1.21/gallon lower ethanol price, compared to gasoline or almost $10,000/truckload. All while gasoline actually needs the ethanol to enhance the octane level to get to the consumer grade of 87-octane at the pump.

What is really disturbing about these market distortions are the drop in ethanol profitability and production, while gasoline prices and profits soar. These distortions actually lower the price of corn and threaten to end the boost ethanol economics have delivered to rural areas. All while consumers truly need this alternative fuel supply and clean air additive.

Mr. President, I would love to show you what the 45-cent per gallon blenders credit actually pays for. I’m a strong supporter of corn-based ethanol, as should all American consumers be.

It’s time to put 10 percent ethanol in all American gasoline just like we do in Minnesota and address rising gasoline prices for consumers with ethanol.
—Alan Roebke
Alexandria