Letters to the editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

DMV office not very handicap or vet-friendly

Federal law requires all businesses to be handicap-friendly. Our disabled veterans and senior citizens have knee and back issues. Yes, we need an edge, myself included.

Now we have the local DMV office. I’m observing people in line, standing motionless for way over one hour, outside in 100-degree heat, praying not to fall down.

The lobby has chairs, but not for the unfortunate fighting the law of gravity. Be aware, the doors are open wide, the a/c is running all the while. Once upon a time, you’d pick a number and sit down.

Is the DMV trying to intimidate us? They are! I get older and meaner, so I complain upon witnessing runaway stupidity!

John L. Knapp

Separating real facts from ‘experts’ difficult

We always seem to be relinquishing our opinions and indeed our power to the “experts”. From the scientists, economists, the press, to the most powerful experts, to the politicians that make the rules that affect our lives. Way too many of us either don’t have time or don’t want to make our heads hurt by listening to opposing views from other experts, trying to get some semblance of factual truth on complicated issues.

For example, I totally agreed with then-Senator Barack Obama chiding then-President Bush as being “unpatriotic” for placing our children and grandchildren under the burden of a massive ten-trillion-dollar debt.

Or then-President Bush telling us during the 2008 financial crisis, “we must abandon capitalistic principles in order to save capitalism.”

Then back to Obama after his previous frugal stance becoming president, doubling the national debt to 20 trillion, more than all the previous presidents, 43 of them, combined. That’s really easy when you have the power to tax and own the printing presses. This would be totally illegal to anyone else.

We could very well be at a tipping point for many freedoms we’ve enjoyed by turning our responsibilities to the “experts”, especially the freedoms of our children and grandchildren.

It is difficult to separate all the experts’ hyperbole from real facts, but it is possible. The first step is blocking out the most powerful tool in the “experts’” toolbox, especially the skilled politicians’. That tool is human emotion. We’ve all heard not to make major decisions based on emotions, but in reality, most of us don’t heed this wise advice on many important decisions we make.

David Jaronik

Nevada needs legislation to limit government control of Internet

On July 12, many companies participated in a Net Neutrality Day of Action. As a local IT professional, I strongly believe the role of government in the Internet needs to be as limited as possible for our economy to reach its full potential. Since its earliest years, policies that encouraged unbridled innovation helped online businesses and technology companies prosper here in Las Vegas and across the country.

That is why I was alarmed when the Obama administration took the unprecedented step of regulating the Internet as a public utility a couple of years ago. I think most Nevadans would agree that the Internet is not just another utility service like the electric company — so it should not be treated like one. This move was implemented under the banner of net neutrality, but the misguided regulations were not needed to truly preserve an open Internet. In my view, it was government overreach and micromanaging the development of new technologies in a manner incompatible with the realities of the dynamic Internet marketplace.

I am glad to see that the current Federal Communications Commission chairman is working to review these regulations and the potential harms caused by them – billions of dollars in lost investment according to some reports – but it’s now time for Nevada’s congressional delegation to act. What is really needed is legislation to settle this issue that will preserve net neutrality without the consequences of utility regulations once and for all. I know there are many issues facing our country, but this one should not be forgotten.

Leo Bletnisky

Reader says Nevada DMV is unnecessary office

Decades ago, I relished (OK, a stretch) visiting the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, located on the southwest corner of Sahara at Mojave. I didn’t walk through the front door, with the hairs up on the back of my neck. They were very pleasant, in their manner of business. After 15 minutes of business, we would get around to swapping tales. I learned a lot about the history of Nevada, and Las Vegas. I enjoyed those visits.

All of that would change, in 1973, when NDMV would move into the new ‘whiz bang, super computer’ office building, located at the northeast corner of Sahara and McLeod. The instant that building was opened, a level of arrogance and contempt that I had not expected, surfaced, and was directed toward the ‘ignorant, unwashed, lackey louts’ that paid for the new building to be graced by the elitist public servants. No longer would they respect those that provide the cushy, slow-paced, soft, easy jobs. Paper cuts would become their prime concern.

After all of the disrespectful antics demonstrated by the NDMV, my wife got a notice of her driver’s license renewal. The notification stated, “If you will be 71 years of age or older at the time your license expires, you need to have your physician complete the Physical Evaluation form on page 3 of this notice (missing punctuation by NDMV). You must submit the form within 90 days of your physical examination.” I sat down and calculated this latest idea from our NDMV.

There would be 230 miles traveled, to our physician, to conduct the examination. There would be 230 miles traveled to retrieve the examination, plus a $35 fee for the examination paperwork, plus the doctor’s fee for the visit. Then, there would be 130 miles traveled to get to the NDMV, or 40 miles traveled to the United States Post Office to mail (return receipt required) the paperwork. Then there are the many taxes levied against her to pay for the license. As you all may have noticed, the number of and the costs of all of those taxes have increased as fast as their imaginations can create them. All monies paid to the government, regardless of level, regardless of name/description, are taxes that fund the operation of our government. We would have 500 miles, or 590 miles traveled, in addition to the $150-plus costs in cash.

I noticed, some time back, the addition of the ‘technology fee - vr $1.00’. They are paid quite handsomely, to do that which they have added another tax, to perform that required task. After giving careful thought, and reviewing the history of the NDMV, I feel quite comfortable in stating, “We Nevadans, could get along just fine without the NDMV.” The tax collection could be accomplished by the Nevada Tax Commission, and all of the unnecessary, fanciful, imaginary, expensive rules and regulations could be eliminated. There is nothing that NDMV does that we could not survive without. NDMV provides no increase to the economic wealth of our nation. To the contrary, NDMV is an expensive, frivolous government office that wastes our tax dollars.

Wayne P. Brotherton, Sr.