Business Letters
Re: Michael Hiltzik’s column “Plug-in hybrids have miles to go before widespread use,” Dec. 7:
I’m always irritated by the frequent reference to electric vehicles as being “green.”
Because only a small percentage of electric power in the U.S. is generated from renewable nonpolluting sources, any large-scale shift to electric vehicles will necessitate burning of additional fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil.
True, the electric motor in the vehicle emits no carbon dioxide, but the increased power output at the coal-fired power plants near the Grand Canyon will provide the electricity to charge the batteries. So where’s the green?
John Ovnick
Chatsworth
Protecting rich kids’ inheritance
Re: “House approves lock on estate tax,” Dec. 4:
The Republican Party preaches that every American should be responsible for his or her own financial status -- that every one of us should work hard and work smart to earn our own financial security. In my opinion, great ideas.
Unfortunately, the tune sure changes when it comes to those kids who, through no effort of their own, just happen to have rich parents.
Now the Republicans want to help the rich in their “hope of handing their nest eggs down to their children” by eliminating the estate tax. Either you are for everyone earning their own way, or you are not.
John Williams
Hermosa Beach
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Buried on Page 4 of the Business section was an article that should have been on the front page with a bold headline reading, “Government Grabs Zygote Gold.” The House voted to make the current inheritance tax of 45% permanent on anything over $3.5 million.
It is a travesty. It is an assault on the work ethic, the lifeblood of our capitalist system. It is an insult to those who pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get up early and work late. It is a slap in the face of those who risk and never give up and pick themselves up after they fall and do it over and over again until they succeed. Inheritance taxes are tantamount to stealing the wealth of the hardworking unborn.
“We need to reward people who work the hardest and work the smartest.” That’s right! Because those heirs must have earned their millions the old-fashioned way, with long hours of hard work and diligence.
The next time you feel the misguided urge to disparage an heiress like Paris Hilton, remember, Paris undoubtedly worked long and hard, before she was conceived, to be able to retire so comfortably at birth.
Mitch Faris
Orange
A way to save on commissions
Re: “Cutting your agent’s cut,” Dec. 6:
When I listed my home for sale this year, I chose a discount broker who charged a 0.5% commission. I was not counting on him to sell the house but knew he would put the house in the multiple listings, Realtor.com, and so on.
I know that a lot of buyers view houses for sale on the Internet. I also knew that when these buyers like a home they see online, they would call either their Realtor or mine.
My house was on the market for six months before it sold, for $18,000 less than my asking price. I paid a commission of about $3,500 to my Realtor. I would have paid a $22,000 commission to a full-commission -- 3% -- Realtor.
Orrin Turbow
Chatsworth
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