LTE - Over and out

Regarding “Era of deducting $65 dry-aged steaks may end” (Page B2, Sunday), the news that businesses may no longer deduct meals with clients from their tax bill is a welcome development. Forcing taxpayers to subsidize any meals for business people — much less obscenely overpriced ones — has always been wrong.

The big news, however, is the elimination of the deduction for entertainment expenses, including golf outings and concert tickets. That includes tickets for the likes of the Texans, Rockets and Astros. This is a game-changer. Not only does the law further prevent billionaire owners and millionaire athletes from exploiting taxpayers, it also destroys the incentive for corporations to buy season tickets, which account for up to 90 percent of stadium capacity.

Overpriced tickets depended on three things to survive: a government granted monopoly, exemption from anti-trust laws and taxpayer subsidies. President Trump’s tax reform law has destroyed the most important of the three. This may well be the demise of the season ticket and the return of more reasonably priced tickets available to the common fan.

Pete Smith, Cypress

LTE: Sinclair plants flag

Regarding “Separating the fake from the real news” (Page A17, Thursday Outlook) columnist Kathleen Parker sounds the alarms about the conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group having its “193 local television stations read an identical script on the air denouncing other traditional news organizations as producers of ‘fake news.’ ”

Parker is right to view Sinclair as a threat, but they are not a threat to free speech, as she suggests. They are a threat to the comfortable monopoly that the liberal, mainstream media has had for decades. She better get used to the idea that she operates in a marketplace instead of crying “the sky is falling” just because some competition shows up.

Pete Smith, Cypress