LETTERS: Schumer, Lyme disease and more

Schumer should let market forces work

Is there anything that Sen. Charles Schumer would exempt from federal funding or regulation ["Getting out of Death Valley," Business, April 19]? Recently it was a Senate bill to dictate what fees an airline can charge. Now he wants to give taxpayer money to small businesses to market products that have been developed with federal research and development money, if the businesses are unable to secure further private investment.

If no venture capitalist is willing to risk his money on a new product, why should the senator, or more accurately, some government bureaucrat, decide to put my money at risk? Does Schumer not understand the basic principles of capitalism, or does he simply choose to ignore them for political expediency?

Whenever a politician proposes a government grant, let's emphasize that this is taxpayer money, collected from citizens and only redistributed by the politicians.

Steve Sullivan

Wheatley Heights

People before deer

Although I am strongly in favor of humane treatment of animals, I have no patience with those who place the welfare of deer, no matter how cute, above that of us humans. Lyme disease on Long Island is caused primarily, if not solely, by the deer population, which harbors the dangerous tick that transmits Lyme disease ["No changes on Lyme plan," News, April 23].

I may seem cruel, but the health and well-being of my children and grandchildren are far more important to me than the deer. We must rid ourselves of them. If the birth-control medications that have been tried aren't having a significant effect, I would strongly favor the humane execution of these creatures.

Parenthetically, it seems to me that there are more of these "cute" creatures on Fire Island than there are people.

Dr. Jay Federman

Dix Hills

Arizona law won't fix complex problems

The idea that illegal immigrants are the cause of the expanding drug trade is nonsense ["Anger grows over Arizona's immigration law," News, April 27]. The market for illegal drugs would not exist if Arizonans and others stopped buying the drugs.

Racial profiling brought about by this new law will lead to increased violence and more crime. While the federal government needs to step up to resolve our arcane immigration laws, blaming the immigrant for this mess is just plain wrong.

We have two opposing attitudes about our most recent immigrants. One says, "Welcome! We need you to fill jobs no one else will take," and the other says, "Stay away, we don't need your 'kind' in our country." Whatever the outcome of the Arizona law, one thing is certain: Immigrants will still come to our shores to seek a better life, just as our forefathers did.

Edward J. Thompson

Farmingdale