The HMOs, CEOs and M.D.s that tell us our children are too fat come from the same group that have made their millions off making those children fat (“Drive Now, Pay Later,” Back Page, May 7). The same oil companies that pushed the crude down our throats for the last 150 years now tell us we’re addicted, so just become unaddicted.

Is there a 12-step group for that?

The American people need to hold “them” accountable once and for all. Maybe that’s the symbolic value of the gas-tax holiday: that we’re tired of those who have no problem blaming the poor, hardworking consumers but who are OK giving a free pass to the billionaires who created the situation in the first place.

M.C. Evans
Richmond

In reply to Randy Salzman’s “Drive Now, Pay Later,” yes, the gas tax holiday was indeed a noteworthy episode of pandering on the part of Sen. John McCain. It was equally noteworthy that Sen. Hillary Clinton copied McCain, and that Sen. Barack Obama refused to do so.

Where, Obama asked, will the money come from to maintain our nation’s highways without any revenue? Score one for Obama, by virtue of his refusal to pander.

Chris Wiegard
Chester