Letters for February 28, 2013

Gold standards

Re “Back to the Gold Mine” (Left Foot Forward, Feb. 14):

In Sheila Leslie’s column, “Back to the Gold Mine,” regarding Barrick’s newly constructed mine in the Dominican Republic, she creates an off-base, apples-to-almonds comparison when she directly compares Barrick’s contributions in a sovereign nation to those in Nevada, one of 50 states within a larger nation.

While using the Dominican’s federal tax rates for comparison, Leslie fails to mention that Barrick also pays federal income taxes on its Nevada mines in addition to paying all the same state taxes paid by every Nevada business. On top of these taxes, Barrick pays a 5 percent net proceeds on minerals tax that no other Nevada industry pays, which was prepaid in the amount of approximately $150 million in 2012. When combining various federal, state and local taxes, Barrick pays an overall tax rate of about 43 percent—not far from the 50 percent the Dominican government will receive from the Pueblo Viejo Mine—and expects Nevada mines to generate $2.6-3 billion in revenue over the next five years.

The Dominican Republic operation is distinct from the United States in that it was acquired through auction and an agreement with the government as the owner of the company that owed the existing mine and offered the known reserve of 20 million ounces of gold for future development. The agreement with the Dominican government allows recovery of the capital investment before certain payments kick in.

Ms. Leslie draws a failed comparison. If we want real progress in Nevada, all of us need to work thoughtfully toward a compromise that serves all Nevadans.

Michael J. Brown
Barrick Gold, North America

No worries

Re “Back to the Gold Mine,” and others (Left Foot Forward):

Please accept my sincere appreciation and congratulations on the needed and insightful political contribution to your paper made by Sheila Leslie. I believe many of us greatly miss her presence in the legislature and look forward to her early return. You have at least provided a needed forum for her honest insights. Please convey my thanks to her.

Gary Horton
Reno

Our pleasure

Re “Back to the Gold Mine,” and others (Left Foot Forward):

Thanks for carrying Sheila Leslie’s column each week. It’s the best column in your paper, and it becomes a topic of conversation for me and my friends. We appreciate her common sense approach to Nevada’s problems, and we are glad to have a link to other sites for further information. Keep up the good work. You have a great little paper.

Janice Flanagan
Reno

Not exactly

Re “Killer ex-cop causes justice re-evaluation” (The Liberty Belle, Feb. 21):

Let me see if I have this correct: Chanelle Bessette is at least acknowledging that it is understandable for Christopher Dorner to act in the manner he did because he claims to have been unfairly terminated by the Los Angeles Police Department. Ergo, anyone who feels unfairly treated should seek retribution through violent means.

I believe that Ms. Bessette has already stumbled on her own slippery slope.

Walter Prendergast
Reno

A win-win

Listening to the President’s rhetoric about the catastrophic consequences of sequestration, I’m struck by the inconsistencies in his comments. First, the sequestration was his idea, one that he promised he would not allow to be changed. Now he doesn’t seem to be able to take yes for an answer.

Next, this sequestration will not involve any budget cuts. While the President plays the scare card with threats of draconian layoffs of teachers, prison guards, air controllers and border patrol, along with criminals not prosecuted, military equipment not repaired, and children not fed, a little research shows something quite different.

The only cuts here are to the increases over last year’s spending. Read that sentence again. The budget is going up, just not as much as the president wants.

So are the president and the liberals consciously lying to us? Or are they just so incompetent that they really can’t make ends meet with 3,500 BILLIONS of our dollars? In either case, it’s pretty clear we have the wrong people leading us.

Robert R. Kessler
Las Vegas

Total BS

Re “Going soft” (Film, Feb. 21):

“Anybody who whined that the previous chapter Live Free or Die Hard … will discover that film, which I happened to like a lot, was a party compared to this one.” No way. That is total BS. A Good Day to Die Hard is light years better than the total crap Live Free or Die Hard. A Good Day to Die Hard is most certainly a weak Die Hard, but at least his relationship with his son humanizes John McClane. In Live Free, he was a total superhero with no sense of humanity sleepwalking through the film. Neither film is great, but if one needs to choose between the two, choose A Good Day.

Joe Fargus
Philadelphia

You’re welcome

Re “The Game” (Feature story, Feb. 7):

I want to thank you for this story. I am the mother of the two teenage girls, 12 and 14 years old. I planned to start a program in Reno when I read this story. I plan on dedicating my life to taking a stand against pedophiles and pimps. I want [to show] other parents they’re not alone and help the girls and get them off the street. My 14-year-old wants to tell her story and inspire others like this story did for her. It has been a very hard road, but we have had a lot of support from agencies in Reno. I would like to thank the Reno Police Department street team and gang units for doing a great job.

Name withheld
Reno

Word of mouth

I am 76 years old and enjoy reading Reno News & Review very much, but please instruct your advertising department to not print ads with a black background and small red letters like the Fresh Bakin ad in your latest edition. I am old, but I challenge an 18-year-older to read it. Also, I know times are tough now but how about just a teensy bit of bolder, and maybe a little larger print on your main articles. From an old fart who still wants to stay informed.

Dan Archuleta
Sparks

Blue all over

Re: “Game change” (Feature story, Feb. 21):

For many years, the Democrats have said that they represent the workers. The Republicans have avoided saying that they represent the rich and the super-rich, but their actions show that they do.

GOP candidate for president Mitt Romney didn’t hide the fact that he has fortune here in the states and more in Switzerland, more in Bermuda, and even more in the Cayman Islands. The millionaires, the billionaires and the wannabes voted for him, but the rest of us said, “Hell, no!” More and more people, not just in Nevada, but across the country, are recognizing that the Republican Party has nothing for us.

Look at the gridlock in Washington, D.C. I have reached the conclusion that the true meaning of GOP is Greedy Obstructionist Plutocrats.

Brad MacKenzie
Reno