Bush regime ends, at last

Remember all that wild cheering and all-night partying in our country, in fact all over the world, during the week after the election? Guess what? It wasn't because Barack Obama was the new president-elect.

It was the signal that finally, at last, our eight years under the Bush regime were coming to an end.

-- Roger Braun, Middleton

I was delighted to read that serious attempts to curb drunken driving have been initiated by UW Health and the All-Wisconsin Alcohol Risk Education coalition.

Drunken drivers in Wisconsin have been coddled far too long, thanks to the all-powerful alcohol lobby, particularly the Wisconsin Tavern League. Our state has a culture of excessive drinking and record rates of alcohol consumption, resulting in deaths, injuries and misery for thousands of our state's citizens.

Other nations have laws that impose severe penalties:

In Canada, the first drinking and driving offense warrants loss of license for one year and the equivalent of a $600 fine.

In Australia the punishment includes fines, suspension of license, imprisonment and medical assessment before a driver's license is reinstated.

In France, drinking and driving is punishable by the equivalent of a $1,000 fine, imprisonment for one year and loss of license for three years.

Finland and Sweden automatically sentence drunken drivers to one-year jail sentences including hard labor.

Even Russia has tough laws against drinking and driving. Drunken drivers simply lose their license for life.

Stricter penalties for driving while drunk must be enacted. Let's hope that the recent groundswell of concern will result in such action.

-- William H. Tishler, emeritus professor, UW-Madison

Worthy goal to bring teens home safely

Regarding Tim Belleau's Friday guest column, "Supporting teen use of alcohol never OK," after identifying his organization and lauding Dave Bongiovani's Teen Safe Ride program, he states he has "grave concerns over a program that uses teens to give rides home to other teens..."

This ignores the elegant simplicity of the Safe Rides premise -- to bring people home safely.

Safe Rides does not seek to change laws or end drinking. In fact, Safe Rides serves many people in non-drinking related issues.

If you believe Belleau's argument, then any program offered to help alleviate a problem but that doesn't deal with all ancillary issues could be attacked.

His statements ranged from the unsupported (Safe Rides teaches it is OK to be irresponsible) and the irrelevant (health risks associated with drinking), to the accusatory (warning volunteers about the guilt they should feel for leaving anyone behind).

The author exposes his lack of perspective about ordinary people who do extraordinary things by coming together to get kids home safely.

-- Bill Koster, Sun Prairie

Kindle font size can adjust for older eyes

Regarding Doug Moe's Tuesday column, I share John Roach's enthusiasm for the Kindle wireless reading device as well as Moe's love for long-standing book clubs with older readers accustomed to paper books.

The Kindle feature that will bridge that gap and attract many older readers like me is that you can adjust its font size to be comfortable for aging eyes.

-- Tim Size, Madison

Premise of bus fare hike edit questioned

Regarding your Nov. 10 editorial "Boost city bus fare 50 cents," if I understand your position and assuming you deplore hypocrisy, all government services should be paid for, at least in part, with a service recovery fee. This is one way to hold down property taxes.

Extrapolating a bit, you would argue that fees shouldn't necessarily bear the full cost of the service provided, but should at least impose a burden commensurate with the value received.

Therefore I expect support for the following new or increased fees: 50 cents for use of a library or entry to a city park. How about $1 to use the public beach or a playground admittance fee of 25 cents.

For calls to police, false alarms, bystanders, victims and criminals would all be liable for a service recovery fee. Or $1,000 per semester for students in public schools. Try a $1 per axle per day toll on all motor vehicles entering and leaving the city limits, or place parking meters on all streets (even the suburban residential areas) at 50 cents an hour.

After all, if one doesn't use a service or public infrastructure, the editorial seems to argue, why should real estate holdings dictate they subsidize the city service?

-- George J. Perkins, Madison

Madison drivers, OK to use turn signals

Saturday guest columnist Tom Bechler makes some good points about driver behavior at intersections. However, his examples -- Regent and Speedway, and Monroe, Spooner and West Lawn -- were not particularly helpful.

Both are oddly-shaped intersections where simple application of the basic rules does not always solve the problem, even for those of us who drive through them often. Also, any other driver may be a newcomer, trying to figure out the puzzle for the first time.

Bechler is right that courtesy is essential, but common sense and flexibility are also necessary. And I do not share his aversion to using turn signals in situations where it is not strictly required by the rules.

If it helps make your intention clear and predictable to others, then signal away. Safety and the free flow of traffic will benefit.

-- Ken Doran, Madison

Best advice is to cooperate in traffic

I chuckled at the frustration about Madison drivers expressed in Saturday's guest column. I drive for a living in Madison.

At work we long ago reached the conclusion that the only real way to teach Madison drivers is to take them down to Chicago, drop them on the Dan Ryan expressway on a Friday afternoon and see if they live to reach Indiana. Then they can drive in Madison.

But the author lost me at his complaint about drivers who stop when the light turns yellow. My copy of the Wisconsin Motorist's Handbook, revised in February 2007, says that if you reach a steady yellow light, "you must stop if it safe to do so." The drivers he complains about are driving lawfully.

Finally, the real point in negotiating traffic is that no one crashes and everybody lives. The sensible and safe driving behavior is to cooperate in traffic, yield whenever it is the safe choice, regardless of the punctiliously correct choice, and get on with your life.

-- Jim Wold, Madison

Nix power line for alternative energy

Friday's Dane County power line article states that it could cost anywhere from $200 million to $500 million to bring more electricity to the county.

I can understand the transmission line companies pushing this, but can Dane County really afford to lose more land for this boondoggle, much less a potential $500 million, with the economy going south?

A better use for this money would be to use it for installation and operation of solar panels in the county. Transmission lines would not be necessary because the power would be generated here in the county where it is used.

With a $200 million investment in solar energy, Dane County could easily produce enough electricity to reduce demand for more transmission lines, not to mention the reduction of air pollution.

Certainly an investment of this kind is the motivation the solar industry needs to move to the next level, to make solar energy affordable to all.

I urge the Public Service Commission, Madison Gas and Electric, Wisconsin Power and Light and Alliant Energy to consider the investment in alternative sources of energy that will reduce the need for more polluting power plants, and the forced land acquisition that is currently on the table.

-- Randy J. Erstad, Madison