Gas gouged

Re “Pinched at the Pump,” July 16

The gouging that Americans are experiencing at the gas pump is simply scandalous. No American should ever have to sell a family heirloom simply to be able to get to work. To alleviate the pain, the state or federal government should create a program to pay lower-income drivers to retire old vehicles and provide them with low-cost leases of more fuel-efficient vehicles. The burden of a century of policies that make us slaves to the sheiks of Saudi Arabia should not fall on those who can least afford it.

CHARLIE CARNOW

Northridge