Re: Randy Wheeler's Nov. 21 letter, "Star should lean to the right":
Wheeler's letter is wrong in many ways.
A local newspaper should present all sides of an issue, not cater to a particular political view. The Star has published "liberal" and "conservative" editorials and opinions; I commend it for its balance.
The Star's financial difficulties are the same as newspapers and magazines across the country. The Internet and other media advances have led Americans away from newspapers and magazines, regardless of their political bias.
Wheeler's claim that "liberals" seek handouts while "conservatives" pay their own way, is equally false. My parents came to this country from Italy in 1956, seeking greater opportunity than existed in their war-ravaged homeland. They spoke no English and had little money. Like other immigrants, they worked hard, went to school at night to learn English and became citizens. Early on my mother was a seamstress and worked on an assembly line, and my dad had many odd jobs, including washing cars.
In 1970, they bought a small delicatessen in Thousand Oaks. In 1978, they built a larger store in Westlake Village. In 1996, they built a third store in Moorpark. Over the years they employed thousands of people and paid millions of dollars in taxes. They never once asked the government for a handout. They are also very liberal, believing that wealth imposes a duty to help others.
My parents are no different than millions of other hard-working "liberals" across the country. As our president-elect has said, "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America."
Let's stop the "liberal" versus "conservative" nonsense and work to better this country.
-- Paul Bauducco, Moorpark