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THE INDEPENDENT Q Traveler Watchman
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EDITORIAL New Year, Same Problem Once again, reporters, town officials, organization leaders and civilians alike spend hours waiting outside of the ironicallynamed “People’s Room” at Southampton Town Hall for the board members to end their executive session and move into the regularly scheduled work session. Executive sessions in these parts are notorious for dragging on and on, sometimes for two hours beyond the time allotted. As the frustration mounts, the hope for a new year and a new way of doing things quickly diminishes. Starting on time is obviously not a priority for these who advocate for fiscal responsibility and good, sound government. Making those scheduled for discussion, with some traveling from dozens (sometimes hundreds) of miles away, to only sit and wait goes beyond unacceptable and moves into just plain rude. The press is put in an awkward position. On one hand, it is our job to cover the board meetings. On the other, times are tight, and a reporter has little idle time during the busy work week. Time spent waiting on the town board could be spent researching another story. Some advice for the town board: either start when you say you’re going to start or provide some coffee and bagels for the suckers who are waiting outside. Deer Hunting We get, and we appreciate, that hunting is part of our
Independent VOICES
Who Pays What Dear Rick, I have a question for Democrats and Liberals: “How much do the rich have to pay in federal income taxes in order to satisfy you that the rich are “paying their fair share?” I would like to hear a specific number. Is it 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent?
heritage and some kind of thinning of the herd is a necessity. Tracking down and killing a warm-blooded animal is enjoyable to some people. We know, we know, it puts food on your table. We can’t help but wonder, though, how many of the taken deer really end up in the mouths of our little ones, and how many fall prey to hunters who long ago abandoned the practice of killing, dressing, and distributing the meat. Maybe there are statistics – we don’t know any. The day is coming, for good or bad, that discharging a rifle, or even shooting an arrow for that matter, will be disallowed. As the population rises, hunting safely becomes an increasingly difficult task, though we acknowledge our hunters do so safely. We need to come up with another way of thinning the herd. Better still, find a way to co-habitate. Big Blue TV ratings don’t lie – the New York Giants (yes, they are based in New Jersey) have a huge following and a lot of diehard fans in this neck of the woods. No matter how jaded one becomes with the beer-drinking jock mentality that the league caters to, there is something magical when a team comes out of nowhere and makes a run at the Super Bowl. This team has Cinderella written all over it, and part time Montauk resident Eli Manning is driving the wagon.
Another question. Is it “fair” or more importantly, good, for our country that 47 percent of us pay no federal income taxes at all? In other words, almost half of us have no “skin in the game” and therefore, could care less that Washington spends too much money. Further, is it good for our country that half of us could care less about entitlement reform because it is not our money that Washington is giving away? While who gets taxed and how much he pays is an important national policy question, a far more momentous national issue is the reality that Washington has
been overspending for decades. That overspending has put our nation in great peril by mortgaging our future and making the present, well, uncertain. The overspending must stop, fair reader, it must stop. BILL JONES
The Real Airport Dear Rick, Let’s get real about East Hampton airport. It’s not a public facility – it’s a private club that wants to run without
January 11, 2012
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any outside interference. For example, to avoid any opposition from newly elected board members, the East Hampton Town Board rushed a vote to take FAA funding. This wasn’t in the interests of the greater population – any reasonable and just approach would dictate that the Town delay such action for a couple of years and move toward greater control of the airport. This approach was advocated by many, including Kathy Cunningham, former chair of the East Hampton Noise Abatement Committee. Ms. Cunningham pointed out that “there are so many conflicting opinions and the price tag for taking more FAA money and continuing to develop this airport is so much greater than the hundreds or thousands of dollars needed to repair a deer fence.” She called for a cost benefit analysis before the town moves forward. The airport is self-sufficient and is not in financial trouble. So losing control of the airport to the FAA wasn’t necessary. The proponents of this loss of control must have been afraid that there would be no excuses for not bringing noise relief to the vast majority of East End residents once the FAA agreement expired in 2004. The pressure to restrict the open skies policies now in place that benefit a tiny few at the expense of the vast majority would be too great. But the FAA agreement provides a shield against this pressure. The Town claims it has noise and pollution fixes such as a control tower and increased altitude. But in reality a control tower will not stop noise or air pollution. The aircraft will still come, but they’ll be assigned to holding patterns that will spread them out over us. The holding patterns will keep the aircraft in the air longer, increasing the misery. Altitude? The FAA did a study of nonmilitary helicopter urban noise in Continued on page 12.
In 2003 the FDA considered lifting a ban on silicone breast implants, and did so in 2006. Fast Forward: December 2011. Over 300,000 defective silicone implants, ditributed worldwide, burst at alarming rates, and may be tied to breast cancer. Several European governments are urging women to have them removed. Taxpayers will foot the bill. In the noble spirit of “I told you so” . . . here is this week’s cartoon.