Florida should require auto safety inspections

Require auto safety inspections

The cost of auto insurance is getting out of sight, with nothing but excuses from auto insurers.

I propose a safety inspection for cars two years and older before anyone gets a new license. Applicants would also be required to take a one-hour driving safety course to ensure they know the current rules of the road.

Also, people renewing their licenses should be made aware of new rules of the road, especially how to navigate a roundabout.

Saul Feldman, Sarasota

Save democracy from ‘American Taliban’

Former President Donald Trump made an appearance at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, during which some attendees openly called for the end of American democracy.

This is an exact quote from another CPAC speaker, Jack Posobiec, a well-known, right-wing influencer:

“Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely.  We didn’t get all the way there on Jan. 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it …”

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There has long been near unanimity in America in being highly critical of countries with theocratic governments, like Iran and Afghanistan. Our founders wisely went to great lengths to keep religion out of our government. (For the specific details on this subject, read “The Founding Myth,” by Andrew Seidel)

It appears we now have what amounts to an "American Taliban."

Those who truly understand the principles our country was founded upon will recognize this Republican extremism as falling somewhere between un-American and treasonous. It must be stopped at the ballot box.

Peter Burkard, Sarasota

Trump admires Orban’s dictatorship

Former President Donald Trump recently said he admires Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán because when Orbán says, "'This is the way it’s going to be,' that’s the end of it."

Apparently, Trump is OK with the fact that during the past 14 years Orbán has curtailed freedom of the press, weakened the courts, taken over universities and changed the constitution, allowing him to declare martial law at will.

“Free” elections in Hungary are run by Orbán loyalists, and LGBTQ rights have been trampled.

Scholars have described the evolution of Hungary during Orbán's reign as having taken a U-turn away from an economy based on the rule of law and private ownership. As noted by the late Harvard economics professor Janos Kornai, Hungary has become a symbol of the "systematic destruction of the fundamental institutions of democracy.”

But Trump believes Orbán's leadership equals good governance.

Geraldine Denecke, Englewood

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida must require auto safety inspections to cut insurance costs