Government help appreciated

I want to say two things for our government:

First, last fall I booked a flight to attend my sister’s funeral. When I arrived to board the flight on Oct. 6, we were told that all flights were canceled due to tarmac construction. I spent the next five and a half months trying to get a refund, only to be stonewalled by corporate America. I finally contacted the FAA, which contacted the airline, and I got my refund within a week.

Second, the antitrust division of our Justice Department, along with 16 state attorneys general, has filed suit charging five publishing houses with conspiring to drive up the price of e-books by $3 to $5, in order to guarantee Apple a 30 percent commission on each e-book sold, costing consumers tens of millions over the past two years.

As reported by Sharis Pozen of the Justice Department, Apple Chairman Steve Jobs told the publishers: “Sure, the customer pays a little more, but that’s what you want anyway.”

If Justice prevails, e-books will cost $9.99 tops. I’m not talking ideology here; I’m talking my wallet, which is where most of us live. As for the knee-jerk, government-hating tea partyers, bah, humbug!

Bill Leong

Spokane