Harry’s clout hasn’t done much for Nevada

To the editor:

The new Hoover Dam bypass bridge will be opening soon, and 18-wheeler drivers will rejoice at the shortened route to Las Vegas. But Boulder City folks will be protected from the onslaught because their senior senator, Harry Reid, the most powerful man in the U.S. Senate, in a timely manner provided funds for a bypass highway and hurried the environmental impact studies.

Oops, didn't happen. Harry failed us.

And, we were told, as soon as Barack Obama was elected, Sen. Reid would see to it that the Yucca Mountain Project was summarily terminated. But, alas, the project is very much alive, and Mr. Obama has proposed construction of new nuclear power plants.

Oops. Harry failed us.

The most powerful man in the U.S. Senate will shortly introduce cap-and-trade legislation to control the awful toxic gases that pollute our atmosphere. But consider for a moment the thousands of cars that spew exhaust gases along Interstate 15 every day as they trek toward Las Vegas, the 18-wheelers that belch black clouds of carbon into the sky. This could all be alleviated with an Anaheim-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail. Our U.S. senator, in conjunction with Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both California Democrats, have set aside funding for the project and expedited the environmental permitting.

Oops, didn't happen. Harry failed us.

Where is all this advantage we Nevadans supposedly enjoy from having "the most powerful man in the U.S. Senate"? The reality is that there is no advantage.

Sen. Harry Reid is little more than a yeoman for Mr. Obama and Nancy Pelosi. After the upcoming election, any power he now has will surely be lost.

It's definitely time to retire Harry Reid before he does any more harm to our grandchildren with his fiscally irresponsible legislation. This enormous debt will kill our wonderful country.

T. WALLACE

HENDERSON