As is usually the case with your opinion, your column, titled "Ignorance is bliss for most Americans" in the Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1998 edition of The Citizen, is a thoughtful statement of a scary, and dangerous condition of the body politic today. Especially if one believes the so-called polls taken by such as CNN, NBC, and US News Today.

Your example of the fake claim of a budget surplus, using funds that are already obligated to so claim (not only are they already obligated, but they are non- existent, except as IOUs by the Treasury, the funds having been long spent on other social programs) was an excellent one, but you had a better one you could have used.

The leading article on the front page of the same issue of The Citizen in which your editorial appeared was given the headline: "Fayette is 1st County in Ga. to go electric." The article was written by [Dave Hamrick] and was well-written as a report of the facts as stated by the Mr. Lackey, and as discovered to be an act of the Mayor and Council of Fayetteville.

It is an example of a play on the ignorance of, and as I have previously written, the dumbing and numbing down of our citizens, similar to and party to the presentation to these same citizens the budget surplus you used as an example in your editorial.

Just as the spin of a budget surplus appeals to and makes the citizens feel good, the apple pie and mom of the purchase of electric vehicles by the city for the environment, and at a bargain at that, appeals to and makes the citizens of Fayetteville feel good.

But the fact is, there was no bargain price, nor do I believe the vehicles can do what other pickup trucks can do.

The use of the three trucks are limited in mileage, and in service. These trucks, according to the article, will actually be used mostly as courier vehicles, but not loaded with dirt, machinery, equipment, and other materials usually hauled by trucks over dirt roads, and rough terrain.

The trucks, according to figures [in the article], cost $34,000 plus $5,000 for battery chargers, or $39,000 at retail. But it was proudly stated that Fayetteville "took advantage of a state grant," and only paid $14,000 apiece for the three electric trucks.

Isn't that nice. But the taxpayers of Georgia, and probably the United States (as I suspect Georgia also got a grant from the federal government) still paid $20,000 for Fayetteville's trucks. And Fayetteville citizens are also citizens of Georgia, and pay state taxes. But, people all over Georgia helped pay for the grant to Fayetteville.

Of course, practically every municipality in Georgia, or any size, has a department whose sole purpose is to secure grants from the state and the federal government. It makes the local authorities appear to the public that they are getting an awful lot for their tax money. They and legislators brag about getting their share back from the higher governments.

Facts: each legislator of the House and Senate, and each mayor or county commissioner in Georgia gets grants to get their share also. But, if the taxpayers would look at their telephone, water, sewer, gasoline, cable, clothing and grocery bills, to name a few, and their pay checks, and ad valorem taxes, their state and federal income taxes, and tag fees, park fees, probate fees, deed fees, and excise taxes on many purchases, besides sales taxes, they would find that the grant from the federal government, state government and county government come from the same place. It comes from those taxpayers.

That citizen pays 48 percent ($.48) of every dollar he or she earns or receives as income to those federal, state, county and local governments. So, those three vehicles cost $117,000 to taxpayers, even though Fayetteville only paid $42,000 for them.

This letter does not deal with the merits, advantages, or disadvantages, of the purchase of the vehicles. That was the province of the elected officials and their bureaucrats. It deals only with the true costs of three electric vehicles, and as another example for the editor's editorial.