LTE – Russ Franko – 6-5-2013
What is the matter with us American people? First the criminals take away your mineral rights, then they sell your oil, your sand, your everything and keep the profit while they have us taxpayers paying for the roads. They trample and deteriorate, as we also do, and then we have to pay for it.
This needing more oil is a bunch of crap. A friend’s parents live out east and the oil has been drilled and capped on their land for their whole lifetime. No money from it. When they get disgusted and sell the land to some “big interest”, you can bet they will uncap it as they will probably be the ones that drilled it, anyway.
Every American owns the mineral rights under all national lands. It’s yours.
Are these frac sand places going to pay for and keep up the roads? Are your taxes on your farm or house going to go down to $200.00 per year and stay there, so that if there is a raise, the frac sand people pay for the raise? It’s your sand, it’s your oil, it’s your copper and all the rest. Wake up!!
If I come into your house or shed and start taking whatever I want and you let me do that? You would have to be crazy. So why are you letting these people have the right to take your gas, sand, whatever and sell the gas to other countries without you getting 25% or 50% of the selling price for your gas? I have to put it that way instead of saying 25% of the price because they can up the expense so much with figures that you could end up owing them money. Are you paying $200.00 a year taxes? Why are you paying more? Couldn’t you use the money from the sale of the sand? Guess you’d rather have them have it, right?
Sali Mounce said in the Letter to Editor that she could see the dust and the strong lights while driving by one of the mines. You want that dust on some neighbor’s property, if not yours. Don’t you care? Are we so lazy that we can’t drive by other mines, etc., whatever, to see what the environment looks like now that a mine is operating? What’s the truth? We have to look to see and find the truth. We can be like an ostrich and hide our head in the sand and have the attitude “If I can’t see it, it can’t see me.” If you don’t look at your tax statement and don’t pay it, are you safe? Can you live there forever if you don’t look? C’mon, let’s change this country toward real justice and fairness. In real business transactions there has to be an exchange. There has to be something of equal value for some product or service of equal value. A business or a worker must get money of equal value for their work or product in the form of money so they can exchange it for something they want to have that has value to them.
Being an American does not mean that we are the only ones who pay taxes, but even foreigners have rights to our medical system without paying for it. Or even generations of welfare getting food stamps and housing all at the workers’ expense. Their housing is always there but the taxpayer doesn’t pay his taxes and he’s out in the street. Justice doesn’t mean “I’m justice good as you are, even if I’ve never worked a day of my life.” Giving something in exchange that has value to someone for something that has value that I receive in exchange is what this world is about. Not getting something of value in exchange is criminal exchange. When a valuable product is not exchanged for the same at the other end, somebody is getting cheated. Money was the item used to make the exchange easier. Then people learned how to cheat and get more money than it was worth for their item, and now we’re all in trouble. It’s called inflation. Old people retired on $20,000 or $30,000. My first convertible was $1,500. My ‘62 Chev 3/4 ton truck (not 1/2 ton) was $1,867.00. When you retire, you young pups, what will you have to pay for a truck or car? $100,000 or $150,000? We old timers have to pay the same price for food, gas, etc. that you do. Yet we only made $40.00 a week to $300.00 a month. How will you secure your life? By allowing all of your minerals rights, gas and oil reserves to be taken from you and your taxes not even being drastically lowered. Then the gas can be sold to foreign countries and the companies keep all the profits? Look at the waste of the Yellowstone fire, 1.2 million acres while we buy our logs for log homes from Canada. No firebreaks in Yellowstone to stop it. That’s called conservation? Or should it be called destruction? How many homes could have been built with 1.2 million acres of logs? Who owns this country? You or just certain people? I thought all American citizens do. I could be wrong. A Florida friend of mine said some people in one country must really be interested in the presidential election that was held, as 105% of the people voted. Whee!! Oh, honesty is such a good trait!!
If you want something done do it yourself, is the saying. Yes, but we have to form together as groups and have a strong voice. There is safety in numbers but also power. One cannot fight for freedom and justice by yourself. You have to form large groups and unite. This is called the United States for a reason. So let’s prove it. The politicians serve us. We don’t serve them. We need to impeach some and vote others out.
There is no crime in making money. There is a crime in falsifying things or product or work and charging the higher price for it. Yes, no one forces you to buy. So buyer beware, but wouldn’t it be nice to be able to trust again?
I believe 90% of the people are good. Let’s swing back to the good that people talk about in “the good old days”. Let’s show truth. Like my hero, president Thomas Jefferson said, “If the people do not have the information to wield the power correctly, do not take the power from them. Give them the information.”
God Bless America and keep the people united.
Russ Franko
We are the government. We own it.