Ticketed drivers have only themselves to blame Re: “D.C. rakes in $80m in parking tickets,” Dec. 29
I say, “Good for them.” This is a way to generate revenue and contribute to the city budget without raising taxes. There were no attributions from drivers claiming they were improperly ticketed; only that they were ticketed aggressively.
If you risk the fine by breaking the parking rules, you can’t really complain if you get caught every so often. Much of the same could be said about speed cameras.
Vernon Mallu
Washington
Occupiers are part of Obama’s re-election army
Re: “Obama should give the boot to Occupy DC squatters,” Editorial, Dec. 29
He should, but he won’t. The Occupy movement is really about President Obama’s class warfare theme of the wealthy not paying their fair share.
Occupy protesters from at least 10 states are expected to disrupt the Iowa Republican primary caucuses. Concerned, discerning voters surely know that naive and indoctrinated college students and union activists are at the core of the Democrat Party Left, acting as an army for unopposed Obama’s campaign to get re-elected and regain power in Congress at any cost. However, if that happens, the economy will worsen and government will consume the declining middle class.
Democracy cannot exist without a large, healthy middle class, broad freedoms, and limited government. My state, California, is clearly an advanced example of socialism, which thrives on more regulation, less freedom, big government and a bigger underclass of dependents.
That’s why voters’ decisions in the 2012 elections will certainly be the most important of our time.
Daniel B. Jeffs
Apple Valley, Calif.
Speed cameras trade safety away for money
Re: “Md. to add more speed cameras,” Dec. 28
The only way that speed cameras can make significant profits is if the posted speed limits are set well below the 85th percentile speed of free-flowing traffic under good conditions, the method that almost always produces the smoothest traffic flow with the fewest accidents.
The use of artificially low posted speed limits, as found on most main roads in D.C. and nearby Maryland counties, just facilitates the use of predatory speed traps or speed cameras for revenue purposes. Improperly low limits are profitable for governments willing to reduce safety to make more money.
James C. Walker
National Motorists Association
Ann Arbor, Mich.
