Safety concerns

In his Nov. 4 letter, “ ‘Piling on’ recalls,” Peter Kultgen of Bird-Kultgen Ford sounded like a corporate crybaby. Would he prefer that the Tribune-Herald print auto recall notices in obscure pages buried in the garage sale ads where few readers would notice them? Does he want the surgeon general’s warning removed from cigarette packs because they’re conspicuous? That sounds suspiciously like Wall Street ethics to me — you know, profit above all else.

Didn’t corporations learn a lesson in 1982 with Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol scare? Don’t we have that partly to thank for our modern tamper-resistant lids on medicines? Tylenol took responsibility for protecting their consumers, which earned them respect and, after a short period of decreased sales, long-term profitability. So it’s hard to believe that, if a manufacturing error might endanger lives or affect the reliability of a product, some corporate board managers would weigh whether it is more expensive to wade through a series of lawsuits or recall a product.

So it was helpful to readers to learn about a class-action document, as was detailed Oct. 29 in a story the Trib published on the same page next to the recall notice.

Recent Japanese auto manufacturer problems simply underscore the necessity of continuing safety watchdog efforts to monitor and publicize safety hazards.

Auto safety issues should be front-page news for Trib readers. And I’m thankful for publications like the Trib and Consumer Reports for attracting attention to these problems, which can endanger our lives or health. If the brake shoe fits, the auto company should wear it.

Mike Miller, Hewitt

Repeal health care

Regarding Armand Ott’s Saturday letter advocating not to repeal health care, I can only assume that Ott has been out of the country for six months or has been living under a rock.

It was apparent to everyone else that a major part of the Republican groundswell we just witnessed was to repeal the monstrous health care bill that was rammed down our throats by the Democrats. I would remind him that the Republicans did sit down with President Barack Obama and went over the plan, and every single idea they had was summarily dismissed by him. Then the Democrats shoved through the bill, completely ignoring Republicans. It seems their idea of bipartisanship — when they have the power — is to do what we say or get off the bus.

Jobs should have been the main priority of Obama two years ago, but he ignored it to push his socialist agenda. Stopping Obama and creating jobs are the two main objectives now, and both will be difficult as the Democrats still hold the Senate and the presidency. Let us hope we maintain the momentum and can change that situation in 2012.

Kenneth Pflanz, Elm Mott

Jobs for everyone

Regarding Tuesday’s letter, “VA call center,” by Clay Brown, I would find it amusing if it weren’t so sad.  He thinks that government jobs are the same as private-sector employment. If this is true, then our troubles are over. Just put everyone to work for the government.

There seems to be just one small problem: the law of diminishing returns.  

Richard Thompson, Gholson