Much was made during the George W. Bush presidency regarding safety and privacy. Those opposed to Bush policies frequently invoked Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
I've read enough of the founders to be certain that they would apply the same sentiment to domestic programs with altruistic goals -- for example, "universal" healthcare.
If the federal government succeeds in seizing that portion of healthcare that it does not already control through Medicare and Medicaid, government-controlled rationing will replace "essential freedom." A two-tiered healthcare system will ensue. Politicians, the politically connected and the wealthy will get first-class medical services. The rest of us will get rationing at the whim of bureaucrats.
Those who support government-run healthcare must believe the American people are incapable of taking care of themselves and each other unless coerced by force of law.
Those of us who oppose government intervention into healthcare share a deep abiding faith with the Founding Fathers that we the people are capable; that government meddling outside those powers enumerated in Article I, Section VIII, of the United States Constitution is dangerous to individual liberty.
The simple facts: The federal government -- before cap and trade and before "universal" healthcare -- confiscates approximately 20 percent of gross domestic product. State and local governments confiscate about 10 percent more. In simplest terms, that means 30 percent of each and every American's earnings must be confiscated by direct taxes or indirectly by taxes hidden in the cost of goods and services. Current proposals will increase that confiscation to nearly 50 percent.
When this "reform" passes, your healthcare will be rationed and your cost of living will increase. That is, you will lose "essential liberty" regarding your healthcare.
-- William Burke, Thousand Oaks

If you have been following the letters concerning the proposal to build high-density housing in the Santa Susana Knolls area, you might ask yourself, "Why should I be concerned about this?"
Here are several very important reasons:
-- Safety. Even if you are not a resident of the Knolls, your safety is still at risk. Besides fire safety, pedestrian safety would be severely compromised, including students who walk to and from nearby Knolls School. A possible 1,000 extra cars will be using Katherine Road, Christine Avenue and beyond during rush hours and all day long.
-- Community. Back in 2004, when this issue first went before the County Board of Supervisors, residents in our area collected more than 2,000 signatures on a petition opposing this high-density development. Simi residents who live both in and outside of the Knolls area expressed their strong opinions regarding the negative effect that overdevelopment would have on our community. Our unity was apparent when more than 300 residents attended the Board of Supervisors meeting on a workday afternoon.
-- Take notes. Many residents wait until a week before Election Day to do their homework and scramble to try to figure out who the best candidate is for any elected position. I remind voters that now is the time to take notice of how your elected officials are representing you by how they vote on issues that directly affect you!
It is important that all Simi residents be aware of the outcome of this issue!
-- Susan Selvaggio, Simi Valley

Re: Janet Willingham's July 31 letter, "Getting the message," a response to Bob Jackson's July 29 letter, "Bumper-sticker rage":
Willingham is absolutely correct in saying my service to the country was in defense of her "right" to free speech. What my service was not in defense of was her, or anyone else's, right to slander millions of hard-working liberal Americans who've spent absolutely no time on welfare with arrogant, ignorant and inaccurate bumper stickers painting anyone who doesn't vote Republican as a "deadbeat slacker." For one thing, it's just not so, period! But more importantly, it's a right she, or no one else, conservative or liberal, is accorded anywhere!
-- Bob Jackson, Simi Valley

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the state budget into law last week, he utilized the line-item veto to make nearly $500 million in horrific cuts from the budget. Included in these cuts are $80 million from child welfare programs; $61 million from county funding to administer Medi-Cal; $52 million from AIDS prevention and treatment; $50 million from Healthy Families, the low-cost health insurance program for poor children; and $6.2 million more from parks, which could close 100 of California's 279 state parks.
He also eliminated funding for the California Conservation Corps, cut $16 million for domestic violence shelters and programs, slashed $50 million from services for developmentally delayed children under age 3, cut $6.3 million from programs for the aging and eliminated funding for the Williamson Act programs to preserve farmland from development.
The governor's constitutional authority permits him only to "reduce or eliminate one or more items of appropriation" when signing legislation into law. The aforementioned cuts were not for funds appropriated in this bill, however. The funds were appropriated in an earlier state budget passed in February of this year and therefore do not qualify as new appropriations.
Because these line-item vetoes were used inappropriately, they constitute an unconstitutional legislative act and are illegal and void. I urge our state legislators to reconvene immediately and override the governor's vetoes.
-- Bruce Little, Camarillo

Re: your July 30 article, "More motorcyclists roaring to ride":
The reported statements by Tom Cass, president of Simi Valley ABATE, in this article are incredible.
Calling it "part of our culture," Cass said, "we feel it's an infringement on our right to be able to do what we want with our motorcycles," in response to legislative attempts by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, to address motorcycle emissions.
The fact that a "recent Air Resources Board survey found 85 percent of Southern California motorcyclists have modified" their exhaust systems shows the prevalence of his "culture's" arrogant disregard of any consideration to others, let alone of the law.
It is part of my culture to believe that I am entitled to the quiet, peaceful enjoyment of my home. My rights are infringed upon every single time a motorcycle with a modified exhaust thunders past my home or my car on the road.
California Vehicle Code section 27151 prohibits the modification of motorcycle exhaust systems. Period. The enforcement of this section is apparently non-existent, however, given the statistics and statements in the article. It should be strictly enforced, thereby providing a service to the community and resultant fees to government coffers, as well as Pavley's desired improvement to our air quality.
My rights are also infringed every single time a motorist's amplified bass-heavy music rattles my windows and my nerves as it passes by. California Vehicle Code section 24007 prohibits the broadcast of amplified sound that can be heard 50 feet from the vehicle. I often hear these nuisances approaching from blocks away. The enforcement of this section is also apparently non-existent, given the current booming (pun intended) business in car stereo amplifiers, sub-woofers, etc., (on a par with motorcycle exhaust modifications), as well as the frequency of the inconsiderate noise attacks by this "culture."
This code section also should be strictly enforced, thereby providing a service to the community and resultant fees to government coffers, as well as improving the extant noise pollution.
Perhaps a better solution would be to make the penalties for these violations consistent with the penalty for equipping a vehicle with "whistle-tips" CVC27150.3, i.e., $1,000. The modified motorcycle exhausts and the amplified "boom-boom" car stereos are every bit as annoying, if not more so, and much more prevalent.
-- Ross A. Nideffer, Ventura

I have come up with a way the legislative and executive branches of government can sell the American taxpayers this healthcare bill.
The legislative and executive branches and their families go on a two-year pilot program -- exactly the same program proposed in the healthcare bill. After two years, a nonpartisan group would evaluate how the plan worked and report if the groups were satisfied with the plan. The reports would be available to the American taxpayers.
If the plan is good enough for legislative and the executive branches of our government, it is good enough for America. How can you tell Johnny to eat his broccoli if you won't eat it?
This makes a lot of common sense to me. Do I think it will happen? No, but let's challenge the groups that work for us American taxpayers to give us the same benefits that they enjoy.
-- Bettye Wingate, Ventura

Re: your July 26 article, "Feeling the pinch of public pensions":
It's important for the public to realize that although firefighters and police share public safety responsibilities and may deserve generous pensions, the county nurses are also a vital force in public safety.
The swine flu could wipe out a lot of our nation's work force, and, as first responders to natural, biological and chemical disasters, nurses should be recognized as public servants who deserve pensions that least keep up with the cost of living.
When the article referred to "rank and file employees outside of the public safety area," was it referring to nurses as well? Let us not forget that registered nurses in the military are commissioned officers and not part of the rank and file.
It is taking nurses decades to reach a level of recognition for the work that we do. It's high time that our nation's nurses, after years of dedicated service, can retire without worrying about living in poverty.
-- Brenda Gray, R.N., Ventura

Re: your July 19 article, "$1 million in fines can't halt the leaks":
Your recent article on Ventura County oil exploration and production created a misleading impression of the petroleum industry's record of safety and commitment to environmental protection. Specifically, the statement by D-Santa Barbara, Assemblyman Pedro Nava's statement about the petroleum industry is not supported by the facts.
The men and women who live and are employed in Ventura County's petroleum industry work hard to minimize risks to the environment and themselves. Despite difficult conditions, the safety record of U.S. oil and natural gas exploration and production workers is significantly better than that of the U.S. private sector overall, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2007, exploration and production workers experienced job-related injuries at a rate of only about two-thirds of that for all private sector workers.
Our industry's commitment to the environment is reflected in the $175 billion spent by the U.S. oil and natural gas industry since 1990 on improving the environmental performance of its products, facilities and operations. Ventura County is an important source of vital energy supplies, and our industry's goal every day is zero spillage/leakage.
Petroleum is a major contributor to the economic prosperity of Ventura County and Southern California. In 2007, petroleum industry activities created more than 143,000 direct and indirect jobs in Southern California, generating $11 billion in total labor income.
Finally, statements in the article suggesting the petroleum industry is "self regulated" are incredibly misleading. California's petroleum industry is one of the most highly regulated and scrutinized activities anywhere in the world. The Star's article clearly is an example of the constant monitoring and examination we embrace.
We welcome the scrutiny because we are proud of the work we do and the contributions we make to California and Ventura County.
-- Joe Sparano, Laguna Niguel
(The writer is president of the Western States Petroleum Association. -- Editor)

Re: your July 30 article, "More motorcyclists roaring to ride":
Citizens, start your engines and show your solidarity with Tom Cass, president of the Simi Valley motorcycle rights group, ABATE. Remove your mufflers, turn up your stereos, honk your horns, tie burning tires to your bumpers and start cruising Simi Valley. It'll bring tears to Mr. Cass's eyes -- and to thousands of others, as well.
As The Star reported, ABATE is opposed to a bill that would require motorcycles to undergo smog checks. The Star quoted Cass as saying, "We feel it's an infringement on our right to be able to do what we want with our motorcycles." Specifically, the bill would infringe on a biker's so-called right to make his bike illegally loud and polluting. For illegally loud bikers, the issue is freedom -- the freedom to decide when other people may and may not sleep, have conversations or enjoy peace and quiet in their own homes.
I am sure that, on principle, ABATE wants everyone -- not just bikers -- to have the same freedom to make whatever noise or pollution they want, whenever and wherever they want to make it.
So have at it, folks. Get loud and dirty in Simi Valley. It'll be so cool.
-- Chris Habecker, Thousand Oaks

An absolute no on the current government plan for healthcare. In fact, we must say no to any government health or pension plan.
Medicare is going broke. Social Security is trillions of dollars in debt due to unfunded liabilities. Government must allow the private sector to compete for lower costs and higher quality. Governments monitor and regulate -- they don't compete. The federal monopoly has already failed with Medicare and Social Security.
Adopt the fair tax by repealing the 16th Amendment, the income tax. Citizens will be able to pay for their own basic needs without government involvement for most Americans.
Citizens, unable to sustain the cost of healthcare premiums as an individual or for a family, may perform community service to earn the necessary premium expense. Citizens should be allowed to select a medical plan from the private sector, never a government plan. Further, the citizen shall be required to retrain for a higher paying position within a six-month period. Staying forever on retraining programs is not an option. The work and training can take place one day a week, for example, a Saturday, Sunday or a weekday. The "something for nothing attitude" must be discarded, except for the truly disabled.
Allowing entitlement programs, like Medicare and Social Security, to fade away within the next decade or so would pave the way for private health and pension plans, similar to what members of Congress currently enjoy. It would also mean that 60 percent of the federal government would be eliminated.
Discretionary spending may not be completely eliminated. The giving of gifts or earmarks would be replaced by applying for low-interest and long-term loans. Our current politicians love to give constituents the benefit of a governmental grant or gift (earmarks) to assure their re-elections. Americans fully realize these bribes -- Oops, gifts or earmarks -- is coming out of their taxpayer dollars. Common sense dictates the U.S. Treasury remains healthy when these loans are repaid and the sweat of American labor is respected.
For more information, see the Web site: Watchdogforcommonsense.net
-- Sal Terrusa, Camarillo

Re: your July 26 Opinion pieces, "Universal healthcare for all: Mandate whose time has come," by six local physicians; and "Beware Big Brother healthcare" by Carla Bonney; and Randy Alcorn's July 28 piece, "National healthcare: Oh, the horror":
The Star published two very divergent opinion pieces on July 26.
The motivation of the six physicians seemed to be the fact that our current system does not work, with 45 million Americans without health insurance. Their concern is that people of all ages are suffering, going without medical treatment, resulting in thousands of deaths each year. The physicians cite the administrative costs of Medicare of 9 percent versus 31 percent of premiums by private insurance companies, as a cost savings of $400 billion annually. This article described the problem and offered a solution, mostly sticking to facts.
The piece by Bonney was more difficult to follow. She begins by saying the health care initiative (a draft in the House of Representatives, not the plan proposed above by the physicians) would be run by a commissioner, who, along with "the person under him, will be given authority to carry a gun. I am not sure how this became part of the healthcare act, but it is in there." I have no idea what Bonney means by this. Surely she knows that any separate federal agency is run by a commissioner who is responsible for its functioning. This commissioner would be overseen by a committee headed by the U.S. surgeon general, and there would be a healthcare ombudsman.
Bonney writes, "Another bit of wording I found concerning is that this is a national system. They are keeping in mind that, in the future, it will most likely be part of a worldwide system." How in the world did she connect a "national system" (simply meaning it affects all 50 states) with a "worldwide system," something unheard of?
Alcorn presented both conservative and liberal views on the healthcare issue in a balanced manner. He concludes, "The debate on this issue has quickly degraded into unproductive, time-wasting political bloviation. Better that we have an effective dialogue that results in the best universal healthcare plan in the world." Alcorn presented facts and opinions, and he called for a solution.
Thanks for a most interesting series of articles.
-- Bill Mead, Oak View

Re: Gareth Neumann's July 29 letter, "Get rid of pensions":
As a retired police officer living on one of those CalPERS pensions, I take great offense at the whining that continues regarding police and fire pensions.
First, let me say that I paid into that pension. That fact never gets mentioned in any article or letter. Yes, for 30 years I paid for that pension, not the taxpayer.
Yes, it must be said that the taxpayer pays public safety salaries. When I started in the early 1970s, I made $6 per hour, less than current minimum wage. So I never got into that profession for the money. The reason I did get into police work was an overriding desire to serve the public.
As far as responsibility that Neumann mentions, I had that, too. To be given a gun and badge and have the authority to take a human life if necessary is a responsibility that no "small business" owner can even fathom. To be assigned to protect the president of the United States is no small responsibility either. To have to tell a mother that her son will never be coming home again, or a son that he will never see his father again, is also an awesome responsibility.
As for working long hours, how many Christmases with my family did I miss? How many birthdays of my children? How many milestones in their lives did I miss? How many all-night shifts did I work so that you could sleep safely in your bed at night? How about the Los Angeles riots when I didn't see my family for three weeks, or the Northridge earthquake for two weeks? So don't tell me about responsibility and long hours.
Do you know what the average life expectancy of a police officer is after retirement? Five years. That's right, five years. Most police and fire personnel retire with injuries and disabilities that you can't imagine. That includes myself. Never again will I be able to run and chase my grandkids.
Cops and firefighters run into problems, not away from them. Thank God that some people still want to do those jobs. And to hear the ungrateful whining of the loud minority chaps my hide.
Next time you need a cop or a fireman, try calling a "small business" owner.
-- Joe Lombardi, Oxnard

I continue to read and hear horror stories in various U.S. media about Canadian healthcare. The only way to confront these lies is with the truth.
I have personally spoken during my visits to Canada to about 20 people who live in Canada. They are either satisfied or very satisfied and would not consider trading their healthcare system for the U.S. healthcare system. As a matter of fact, many of them had very derogatory remarks about U.S. healthcare.
If U.S. citizens want to know the truth about Canadian healthcare, they have to speak to Canadians.
-- Paul Leveille, Ventura

All the talk today is about healthcare reform. I have a few questions.
Who should pay for your healthcare if not you? If someone else has to provide something for you, is it really a right? Why should the "rich" have to pay for your healthcare, or your employer? Do they get a say in how you live your life? Does it really matter how much "we" pay for healthcare compared to other countries? Is it anybody's business?
How does reducing my cost for healthcare help someone who can't afford it? For instance, if my wife and I go out to eat four times a month, spending $400 (100 per time out) but my neighbor can't afford to go out to eat, how is my reducing my eating-out cost by 25 percent help my neighbor afford to go out?
Should the "rich" or my employer be forced to buy me life insurance if I feel I can't afford it? After all, I'm just one untimely death away from my family's finances being devastated!
Here are some suggestions for real reform.
• Everyone buys catastrophic health insurance individually with a high deductible with a minimum of $5,000.
• Tax credits are given to individuals for purchasing health insurance.
• It's not tied to your job, but group rates could be applied for different types of jobs, countrywide.
• Premiums would be cheaper if you choose a higher deductible. Doctors and hospitals take monthly payments to pay off your deductible at low interest, say 3 percent.
• Health savings accounts could pay for doctor visits if you so choose. Interest would be tax-free, not tax-deferred.
Ideally, I would like to see a shift from Medicare and Social Security to private ownership of retirement and healthcare, over time, in a tiered system, where, eventually, the money that is put in is actually for you, not someone else. This would get it out of the hands of thieving political hack politicians and bureaucrats.
-- Brian D. Schwan, Ventura

President Barack Obama sent an e-mail about health insurance reform. He said we need to drive down costs and guarantee security and stability.
However, the current healthcare reform proposals in Congress do neither. Instead, they focus on universal healthcare, which will accomplish neither goal. It will likely kill some insurance plans in favor of a less featured government-run plan. It will drive up costs, plus cost more in taxes and unfunded mandates to employers.
Obama said that we need no discrimination for pre-existing
conditions. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was supposed to do just that. It has not accomplished that goal.
My wife cannot get insurance because of pre-existing conditions. She has very expensive insurance. Since she has current insurance, HIPAA says she is supposed to be able get other insurance without exclusions for pre-existing conditions. We have tried to get less expensive insurance, but the insurance companies just decline to offer her insurance.
Is Congress looking at why HIPAA has failed to make health insurance truly portable and trying to fix what is broken? Not that I see.
I don't often agree with what Obama is trying to accomplish, but I believe that he is more on the right track. Let's fix what is broken. Health insurance portability is broken.
The number one thing that is broken is healthcare costs. Insurance, doctors, hospitals, etc., are too expensive because of lawsuits. The way to fix that is tort reform, which will bring down malpractice insurance premiums and reduce costs for defensive testing. But Congress doesn't seem to want to touch that one. Maybe there are too many trial lawyers in Congress and we need to fire them all so that we can get legislators who are not afraid to enact tort reform.
-- Darryl J. Roberts, Ventura

Lately, Bill Maher has been blasted by the right-wing media for saying America is a stupid country. These same critics are, for the most part, very critical of President Barack Obama and consider his political agenda stupid. If America is not a stupid country, then how did Obama, by an overwhelming vote, win the last presidential election? You can't have it both ways.
-- Rick McGrath, Ventura

Well, the Democrats caved in on the state budget. It was: Give the Republicans what they wanted or drag the state into heck. It was like the mother who told Solomon to give the baby to the other woman rather than cut it in half.
Congratulations, Republicans. The budget will be balanced on the backs of the poor. I don't understand people who don't know the meaning of, "There but for the grace of God go I."
The Republicans claim that taxing the rich would be bad because the rich create jobs. It is true that the rich do hire servants, housecleaners, maids, gardeners, etc. They also have the ability to pay off congressmen.
I claim that most jobs are created by the need to satisfy customers. Businesses do not hire people out of charity. They hire people when they need assistance in satisfying the needs of a paying customer. It is the customer who keeps the economy going.
Businesses do not print money. They gather up money by providing goods or services to others. And they do not do it alone. They are protected and encouraged by a government that they didn't create. Their schooling required many teachers. They couldn't have invented the widget if it hadn't been for the centuries of inventors before them. They have many industries supplying them with raw materials. Nor could they have made many of them without employees. And it all would have come to naught if it wasn't for customers.
Many thanks to the investors who loaned them money to get started. They appreciate the capital gains income bracket because they would hate to have to pay as much income tax as the rest of us.
-- Leo Bowman, Ventura

Re: your July 30 article, "More motorcyclists roaring to ride":
Three cheers for Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills. She is right on the mark by introducing legislation banning the removal of catalytic converters.
The converters are factory installed and are there for the purpose of noise reduction and reducing pollution. On numerous occasions while enjoying the activities along Main Street in Ventura, noisy Harley-Davidsons have disrupted conversations. The riders are only thinking of themselves. They are rude, inconsiderate and discourteous to pedestrians and other motorists.
Now I know why Ventura Police officers have been reluctant to issue citations for noise violations. Without a decibel meter, officers say, the courts dismiss the violations. Making it mandatory for catalytic converters to remain on motorcycles will reduce noise pollution and keep our air cleaner.
I support SB435, and motorcycles should be required to undergo smog checks every two years. What's to prohibit automobile drivers from removing their catalytic converters if motorcyclists can?
-- Lin Howe, Ventura

Re: John Sherffius' July 30 Opinion cartoon:
Perhaps the depiction of a skeletal California Golden Bear (Ursus arctos californicus) on the California flag is as true to life as to its analogy to the ongoing economic crisis. After all, the last member of the species of our majestic "mascot" grizzly bear was shot to death somewhere in Tulare County in 1922.
-- George Welle, Ventura

Who should decide the question of healthcare in America? I believe that "we the people" should decide.
The problem with reform is that the cost of reform will harm very powerful interests in this country: the pharmaceutical industry, the health insurance industry and the political right wing. These are mighty foes.
The debate in Congress is over cost and access. The debate is framed over cost rather than who will be helped and who will benefit. The drug industry sees it as a massive attack on their profits. The insurance industry perceives it as an attack on its existence as the middleman in the healthcare system. The Republican Party claims this will create socialized medicine. We have socialized medicine. It is managed by insurance companies that take a 20 percent cut.
The real question should be what happens if we do nothing. Costs keep escalating to the point of unaffordability. More people will lose care because of insurance companies' policies of denial of care, changing jobs, pre-existing conditions and coverage clauses.
The economic crisis caused by the cost of employee benefits to business is well documented. Healthcare benefits to employees and retirees account for up to 50 percent of the cost of operating. Business cannot continue providing employee healthcare and remain competitive with the rest of the world who have removed medical costs from their bottom line. Either we reform it, or all of us will lose that which we have.
Now is the time to stand up and demand a universal access public option.
-- Jack Crow, Ventura

I have been struggling to find out just how the proposed healthcare plan is going to work. At first, I thought, as a senior, this isn't going to affect me at all, but now that some of the details are coming a little into focus -- not much, just a little -- I am worried this plan could affect me and many other seniors.
I have read Sen. Ted Kennedy's writings and listened to Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, so I think I have a balanced view.
Let's review a bit.
When Medicare was put in place, the idea was that employees would contribute a small percentage of their wages that was matched by employers. This money would go into a trust that would be used to pay for our healthcare when we reached age 65 -- or later, if we cared to continue to work.
Now that is a myth, but the concept should still be recognized. So when I hear that the new plan will be paid for in part by cutting Medicare costs, I get very upset because the funds that I and all other seniors contributed are going to be used to pay healthcare costs for people who have made no monetary contributions. And it is very likely the quality of healthcare for seniors will be degraded.
So we pay two ways: less care, and someone else getting the benefit of the money we contributed.
Our president says he will not sign a bill that increases the national debt. That's a fine sentiment, but he plans to pay for it in part by hurting seniors. It's another example of wealth redistribution that I cannot support, and I hope you can't either.
I also pray our Congress takes its time to pass legislation. To demand passage of a 1,100-page bill in two weeks is irresponsible and dangerous.
-- Jerry Lewi, Thousand Oaks

Re: your July 28 editorial, "Gone, not forgotten":
Congratulations to The Star's editorial board for the short hit piece on Sarah Palin. Terms describing her recent public behavior -- "polarizing, "impulsive," "mysteriously," "stunned the political world," "warned against a heretofore unknown villain," "nonsequitur for the media" -- should be embarrassing for even The Star's low-bar standards, but it meets The Star's transparent agenda.
The Star might wish to give coverage of her upcoming speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library next month to determine whether she has "immerse(d) herself in national and international issues." It would be a step up from "makin' things up."
-- Bob Paul, Newbury Park

Many people have said that it was World War II that brought an end to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Yes, when the United States declared war on Germany and Japan, they hired every able-bodied man into the U.S. military. Then the federal government paid the manufacturing companies to build ships and airplanes and tanks and uniforms. These companies hired everyone they could, including many women, to meet these commitments. The employees got paid, and the companies made profits.
How was this financed? According to a government Web site, http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/ustax.shtml, the maximum marginal tax rate was raised to about 90 percent. Also, the government raised money by selling United States bonds.
When the troops returned home, the tax rate stayed about the same. What did the United States do with that money? Besides retiring some of the debt incurred during the war, they provided healthcare for the veterans, the G.I. Bill for education and low-interest loans for purchasing homes and businesses. It paid for the Marshall Plan to help Europe recover from the devastation of the war. It paid for the interstate highway system and putting a man on the moon.
Because the citizens were willing to pay for it, for a short time the United States had the best economy in the world with a highly educated work force and widespread home ownership.
The rate was lowered in 1964 to a maximum marginal tax rate in the 70 percent range, and eventually, in the 1990s, to below 40 percent.
We now have wars that are causing more national debt, but no one has talked about raising taxes to fund them. Care for our veterans is not what it should be, but no one is talking about raising taxes to fund it. The argument is that those who have the money already pay most of the taxes. Of course! They have the money!
Perhaps we need to look again at what a reasonable increase in our federal taxes might do to create a healthy economy.
-- Barbara Durand, Thousand Oaks

Since letters on the subject of using hand-held cell phones while driving were published, my awareness of this blatant disregard for the law and public safety has grown tremendously.
How dare these self-import idiots endanger the lives of others on the road with their "toys of destruction." Is it too much to at least use a hands-free device?
I see police officers just cruise on by these scofflaws, not wanting to be bothered with a "trivial" misdemeanor citation. At this point in time the fines should be raised astronomically, starting with the first offense. If an accident is deemed to be caused by cell phone to the ear use, automatic prison should be awarded.
This state has such financial problems. Just enforcing the cell phone law would cut a huge swath of it and save many lives.
-- Dr. Alan Forrest, Thousand Oaks

Have some fun with words. Read anything -- newspapers, magazines, online messages, even advertising -- and count the number of times you see the adjective "iconic" appear.
It has been applied to Michael Jackson ("the iconic entertainer") and to Walter Cronkite ("an iconic voice"). I have seen it used in describing the "iconic" Golden State Bridge and the "iconic" Corvette automobile.
OK, here's the fun part. Ask yourself what "iconic" means. How does it enhance the word(s) or name to which it was applied? Would the meaning of the sentence or phrase change if the word "iconic" were removed? (Answer: No!)
An "icon" is a symbol (an analog) for something else. "Iconic" is defined as "being like an icon." Both words are dependent upon something tangible. If not put into context, neither word has significant literal meaning.
In the heyday of my technical writing career, my personal word-extermination campaign targeted "provide," the engineers' all-purpose expression that they plugged into proposals, manuals and reports. "To provide for greater angularity, the provided assembly gizmo provides a signal that provides guidance for the vehicle, enabling it to provide near-automatic operation."
It is a sad fact that hack writers, weak journalists and otherwise word-challenged people glom onto useless or hackneyed expressions. They then painfully inflict those upon us in their text to try to give the appearance of intelligent writing. Sigh!
-- Vince Nowell Sr., Simi Valley

Re: Bob Jackson's July 29 letter, "Bumper-sticker rage":
I believe I am the bumper-sticker lady of this letter. In response, I must send Jackson a big LOL!
I thank Jackson for his military service to our country, which gives me the freedom of speech to express my feelings about the welfare state that our current non-military president is pushing for so strongly. I somehow doubt that when Jackson was serving our country that he was fighting for socialism. Why is he now? His service answers his question, "How dare you!"
Nonetheless, how very affirming of him to be so upset by my bumper stickers -- my family always says, "No one pays any attention to them." Thanks to you I now know they were wrong -- my family, not the bumper stickers.
As to the tea parties, I confess I have co-coordinated two of them for Simi Valley. (If interested, look for another the Saturday before Labor Day at same place, the corner of Tapo Canyon Road and Alamo Street.) For the uninformed, the tea parties stand for "Taxed Enough Already parties," not, "I don't want to pay any taxes." I, too, proudly pay my taxes; I just don't want our current non-military president to tax my children and yours into oblivion.
-- Janet Willingham, Simi Valley

Re: Wendy Dager's July 30 column, "Do airlines know? Flying is awful":
I agree, flying is not what it used to be. However, to say that it is expensive is ludicrous. Expensive compared to what? When you can travel from the West Coast to the East Coast for a couple hundred dollars, and in some cases less, that is a good deal.
Look at airline fares 10 years ago and you will see that with inflation, these fares are low compared with what they should be. Besides, there is no constitutional right for anyone to fly for free!
Airlines have been losing billions of dollars over the last few years. Should a business be allowed to make a profit? What happens to a business that continually loses money? That business goes under, and with less competition, they can raise their prices. Maybe that's not a bad idea!
How much do you think a new airplane costs? Maybe it starts around $50 million and goes up to $200 million per plane. What do you think happens to airline costs when oil goes up to more than $140 per barrel? Even at $65 per barrel, costs go up.
I do have two suggestions for Dager. The first one was her idea. She should take the Greyhound bus. It may be a little cheaper, and as long as she has three or four days to go from coast to coast, she can enjoy the scenery.
The other idea is to charter a private jet starting at only $2,000 per hour. She will not have anyone sitting next to her or have body parts hit by drink carts. She doesn't have to stand in long security lines. She can even order the meals she likes.
So, will her next trip be on an airline, a chartered jet or Greyhound?
-- Craig Kronfeld, Oak Park

Will someone please explain what is happening to Ventura County's insect life?
My backyard and garden should be literally teeming with life right now, and I have yet to see a butterfly light! Every year around this time we are swarmed with beetles, bugs, bees and butterflies, yet I've spotted nary a one in my little eden!
Where are they? Does anyone know? Is there spraying going on that we, the public, are unaware of? I miss the morning cloaks and painted ladies! I have seen two larvae-seeking beetles in the last month and I used to see at least two an hour! Can anyone tell me what's happening here?
-- Valerie A. Polacek, Oxnard

Re: your July 26 article, "Feeling the pinch of public pensions":
I am not a fan of blogs, where people can post inaccurate or misleading information anonymously. My name is Cyndi Hookstra, and I am the wife of a retired police officer and the daughter of a retired police officer.
My father limps to this day from a knee injury he received while responding to a call of people fighting in a bar. That injury was 29 years ago and cost him his career. My husband has had his knee replaced, his hip replaced and recently a stint placed in his heart. They were all job-related injuries incurred while serving the residents of Oxnard, without hesitation, for 30 years of his life.
Whether it is police officers or firefighters, many public safety professionals suffer from diseases or injuries due to the daily stress and demands of these honorable professions they choose. For those of you who think public safety professionals do not deserve the pensions they receive, think about this.
In no other professions on earth, other than combat active military, do men and women get up go and to work knowing there is a chance they may not be coming home to their families at the end of the day. I have thanked God every day of my life that there are still men and women who choose to place the communities they serve above their own lives and families. They deserve every dollar of the salaries they receive and the pensions they earn. How many of you would make that same sacrifice for a perfect stranger?
Think how you would feel if you called 9-1-1 and no one came? It could be a man with a gun or a burning building -- we call and they come! We should all thank God for that.
-- Cyndi Hookstra, Oxnard

Re: the incident involving Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley and President Barack Obama:
In the Gates-Crowley-Obama tango, the conclusion is simply no harm, no foul to any party. I see them as victims of their own experiences, as well as knee-jerk reactors to stimuli.
Gates was a victim of his own latent but always percolating persecution complex aggravated by an insurmountable ego. How dare this white cop trample on the rights of a revered academic heavyweight!
Crowley was a victim of a mindset predisposed to statistics tilted heavily against blacks and minorities and got confirmation from the professor's obscenity-laced harangue.
They are either truant or arrogant.
Obama, after refusing to immerse himself in delicate racial matters since he ran for office, suddenly and instinctively waded in. The result? This tsunami with a longer shelf life than expected. Bad move.
However, I am pleased that Obama has come up with the perfect solution to this imbroglio. After all, as Benjamin Franklin muttered a while ago, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us all to be happy."
I predict the next argument would be choosing between light or dark beer.
Surely, I jest. I'll drink to that.
-- Maya Teague, Camarillo

Re: your July 28 article, "Restoring steelhead upstream battle":
I read, with great interest, the front-page article regarding restoring the habitat for Southern California steelhead trout. This quest has a high moral element to it. Keeping species from becoming extinct should always be considered.
For this, I applaud Chris Yates, director of Protected Resources National Marine Fisheries Service for his research and blueprint for recovery. Nica Knite of the Sacramento-based California Trout organization applauds Yates' effort. And Ron Bottorff of Friends of the Santa Clara River has a list of the big projects he'd like to be tackled. Yates believes the steelhead trout have a 50/50 chance of recovery.
All of these people would be applauded if they took money from their own wallets to pay for their altruistic wish in this venture. Admittedly, Yates said all this effort may not bring the population of steelhead to a naturally sustainable population. Yates also said this will cost millions. How many millions we may know possibly by January 2010.
You probably can predict what I'm going to say next. Where will this money come from, and what existing industries will be negatively affected by these efforts?
The State of California, and our nation, is in the most precarious economic battle we've been in for years. To ask taxpayers to pay for these projects is uncontainable. To ask taxpaying industries to accept being put out of business is equally uncontainable. California voters resoundingly voted down any new taxes.
If this project were funded by donations and no business negatively affected by it, there would be acceptance of this 50/50 gamble. Spending millions on a gamble is only good when it's done with other people's money, not mine.
There will be public meetings to review a draft management plan on this project. I suggest that businesses that may be negatively affected by this plan review http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/recovery/so_cal.htm.
-- William Hicks, Newbury Park

Re: Mike Kohl's July 28 letter, "Fight teachers union":
While I'm not a teacher or any particular fan of the teachers union, I respectfully disagree with Kohl's letter supporting the idea that teachers should be evaluated based on the test scores of their students.
The idea sounds good in theory, but in practice it cannot be fairly applied. California has a significant percentage of students who are not natural English speakers. While English immersion usually eventually results in non-English speakers catching up, initially these students cannot be expected to score well on standardized tests written in English.
Additionally, some teachers are assigned to schools in areas where students are generally higher achievers. Other teachers may be assigned to schools with a higher percentage of non-English speakers or in areas where students simply may not be as academically motivated or successful.
Regardless of the level of performance of our teachers, not all students will achieve at the same level.
The only fair way to evaluate teachers based on the performance of their students is to have them teach on a level playing field. This is impossible to achieve in our California school systems and, as a result, it is an unfair way to evaluate the performance of our teachers.
-- Don Brunson, Simi Valley

Forty years ago "Buzz" Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.
Not many people know that Aldrin had brought bread and wine to offer communion, because mainstream media omitted it. He quoted from the Bible John 15: "I am the vine, you are the branches... Whoever lives in Me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from Me, you can do nothing." He then proceeded to pour the wine in the chalice and eat the tiny host.
He intended to share this with the world, but at the last minute was requested not to. It seems that NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew's reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas.
Aldrin reluctantly agreed. He partook and gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. He said, "It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements."
While the earth below never heard these immortal words, I'm sure that God and all the heavenly hosts rejoiced. It's too bad the world missed out on this wonderful gesture of thanks, but that's the way the story goes.
-- Dorothy Campagna, Newbury Park

OK, so California has a way to make money without taxes, and the legislators bow to special interests because they don't want to believe that oil drilling is safer. Special interests are in control of California, not the people.
-- Claudia Satori, Newbury Park

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is wrong. Killing healthcare legislation will not be President Barack Obama's "Waterloo," but it will be America's.
At a time when individuals and small businesses are being strangled by the rising costs of healthcare, the GOP has proven that it is much more than the obstructionist "party of no." It is the party of corporate interests over American citizens' interest. It is the party of "party before country" and, perhaps worst of all, it is the party of racial division.
I find it odd that the "right to life party" refuses to try and find solutions to our healthcare crisis that would help expectant mothers by offering them prenatal and early child care benefits to help influence their decision towards life.
This "party first" mantra was clear as the GOP walked in lockstep with former President George Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney on starting wars and condoning torture, and this same moral-less, uni-mind has consistently sought to undermine every effort our current president has been making to help the American people -- not because they have a better plan, but because they want him to "fail."
For some reason we tolerate the GOP openly and verbally wishing failure on our president -- and by extension our citizenry -- when any rational criticism of Bush's rush to war in Iraq was met with cries of anti-Americanism and treason.
Could it be that this sits well with the GOP because of the racial differences? Because Bush was a "real" president for "real Americans," and Obama is a fraud? Perhaps that's why, when Americans are starving for healthcare, the only bill the GOP wants to sponsor is the "birther" bill.
The GOP's agenda is clear: Take down Obama at any cost, even if it means tearing down this country and its populace at the same time.
-- John Loprieno, Westlake Village

What if the esteemed Harvard professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr., understood that the officers were there to protect him and his stuff?
What if he provided the identification with out a lot of attitude?
What if he thanked them for responding to the alert and realized that if it had indeed been a break-in, which it looked very much like it was, the consequences could have been quite dangerous?
What if he realized that blacks are not the only ones stopped because they fit a profile? My daughter and her husband were forced face-down onto hot asphalt with a gun in their faces because they were mistaken for a couple of felons who had been seen in the same phone booth they had just left. All were white.
Gates is a college professor, so I guess he's doing all right.
Gates needs to get over himself.
-- Dorothy Hage, Newbury Park

Re: your July 26 article, "Feeling the pinch of public pensions":
It's not a pinch. It's a knockout punch! No wonder the city, county and state -- taxpayers -- are broke!
Back in the 1950s, government said the salaries were to be low and the pensions would be good to make up for it. But over the years, the unions whined about the low salaries and they went up and up, and the pensions went up with them.
Now, public employees are making two to four times the wages of the private sector. This has to be changed now! The wages must be cut 10 to 50 percent according to pay grade, and pensions must be eliminated. Everyone must go on Social Security like everyone else who has to live on $500 to a few thousand dollars a month, and they can save their own money for retirement.
Every retiree who sees this article should be outraged that they are paying for some people to live high on the hog at $40,000 to over $100,000 a year when Social Security pays so little.
And then the public employees want us to make up their losses on the stock exchange? Hey, the stock exchange is just a legal gambling pit: You take your chances like everyone else! No one in the private sector was bailed out.
The article didn't mention it, but I guess there is a great health plan that no one else can afford -- whether you're working or retired.
I don't care what these people do in their public jobs. I work harder and longer hours in a small business than they ever have, and I have greater responsibility.
Since Sacramento will not do anything about these problems -- they are in the tank for the unions -- this must go on a ballot measure to be voted on by the people. Included should be an easy means to fire incompetent workers.
-- Gareth Neumann, Camarillo

California's schools are being subjected to historic cuts unlike anything we've seen since the Great Depression. With our students' education already woefully underfunded, we live in a state that ranks 47th in the nation in per-pupil spending -- and that's before the newest cut of $6 billion on top of the $11.6 billion in cuts that were enacted earlier this year.
When school opens next month, parents will see the profound impact of these cuts on the public education we are providing our students.
Here in Ventura County, the statewide cuts mean class size increases, Advanced Placement classes eliminated, arts and music cut, sports programs done away with, canceled bus routes and, in some cases, a shorter school year.
Though voters have said time and again that they want to protect education funding, our state's leaders have refused to make our students a priority. Although education represents only 40 percent of the state budget, our schools have been subjected to more than 60 percent of the cuts.
These cuts will cause lasting damage to the ability of our children and the state to succeed in the future. Schools create citizens who participate in our democracy and workers who participate in our economy. Without strong schools, the state's viability -- and the future potential of our students -- is at risk.
What the Legislature and governor have done is make a political choice, and it could have been a different one. Their refusal to consider any new taxes -- or close tax loopholes that benefit the rich and large corporations -- to solve the state budget deficit is more of what got the state into the hole in the first place. In the largest, wealthiest state in the country, we have the money and resources for good schools. What we need is the political will.
-- Susan Westbrook, Ojai

Re: your July 26 editorial, "'Race to Top' involves cash":
This editorial praising President Barack Obama's plan to further politicize K-12 education with stimulus funds doled out competitively reveals The Star to be as ignorant as the politicians on this issue. Data cannot be used effectively to evaluate teachers. Let me explain why.
Suppose a veteran high school mathematics teacher has three Advanced Placement classes containing highly motivated and advanced students, whereas his younger colleague is assigned basic "consumer math" classes, with struggling students who are "far below basic" skill level. Clearly, the veteran teacher, if he is competent, will garner favorable standardized test data for his classes, whereas the other teacher's student data will probably languish or, at best, flatline.
Teachers are not miracle workers. Yes, they should do their best to improve their students' performances, but even the best efforts will not always yield improved test scores for low-performing students.
In addition, how does one use data to evaluate the teacher of a subject such as foreign language, which is not tested?
The fact is, merit pay -- and Obama's wrongheaded scheme for the $5 billion -- can never work as an objective and fair way to reform education. If the data reflected a level playing field between teachers -- who would all ostensibly have equal proportions of struggling and gifted students -- then the data might be a good index, but only for teachers of core subjects that are tested. Of course, such is not the case.
In the meantime, having teachers evaluated by principals who rate their performance against set criteria for teacher effectiveness -- and having teachers who fall short work with their peers to improve -- remains a usable model.
-- Craig Andrews, Ojai

Re: Dan K. Thomasson's July 24 essay, "Cold War memories":
Memories about how then-President Ronald Reagan won the Cold War reveal the truth about Reagan's military buildup. Thomasson writes that a member of his staff recently wrote a book praising Reagan, stating that the president nearly bankrupted our country to outspend the Soviets militarily with Star Wars missile defense, and someone stated he "was the best poker player ever" and "pushed in all the chips."
So the truth reveals what I suspected all along: He was gambling with our safety and future. Gambling with an unpredictable result is not a smart diplomatic maneuver. A 50/50 chance says it could easily have gone the other way and escalated to a full-blown nuclear war. What a stupid foreign policy! It was dumb luck of the draw that the Soviets chose not to escalate. If Vladimir Putin had been in power then, do you think he'd "fold?" I don't think so.
Reagan gambled with our future and, dumb-luckily for us, won the bet. If it had gone the other way, we wouldn't be here now to talk about it.
-- Jeff Ross, Ventura

Re: your July 26 article, "Feeling the pinch of public pensions":
As a recent retiree from the County of Ventura, I wish to take exception to some of Supervisor Peter Foy's comments.
Foy refers to "the whole cradle-to-grave thing, where your employer takes care of you your whole life." Excuse me, but what part of "public employee" doesn't Foy understand? I worked for 23 years providing a valuable service to the citizens of this county. While working hard for my paycheck, I was also contributing a substantial amount of those earnings to the county retirement fund, as well as contributing to a 401(k) plan. I daresay to most people this would constitute taking "some personal responsibility," as well as saving and planning for decades.
Foy further stated, "To the other 80 percent of us who have seen our 401(k) take a dive, we just say, 'That's part of life, that's normal, join the club." It scares me that so many of our so-called leaders are willing to have all retirees rely on the ups and downs of the stock market. As we've seen this past year, reliance on Wall Street is a recipe for disaster. Marie Antoinette would be proud of Foy.
I know that Foy is fairly new to the Board of Supervisors, but he might want to take some time off from plotting his run for governor to educate himself about the work the employees of the county he helps govern do. Then perhaps he could appreciate that the workers take care of the county.
By the way, is Foy now participating in a defined benefit plan, a 401(k) with a substantial match by the taxpayers and a generous healthcare plan? Does he drive a county car or get a mileage allowance? If so, I'd like to suggest that he forego these benefits in order to avoid being labeled a hypocrite.
-- Jeanne Hunt, Ventura

The Housing Value Code of Conduct was generated by lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to enhance the integrity of the home appraisal process. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, hence nearly all real estate lenders in America, have implemented this protocol, effective May 1, 2009.
This was another great idea turned bad idea. The appraisals ordered and managed through this onerous system have hindered buyers from buying homes and sellers from selling their homes.
To be sure, the practice and procedures of protecting the consumer from unscrupulous lenders and appraisers has been in order. The appraisal and lending industries did not address the issue of appraisal fraud promptly enough. The HVCC was created in 2005 with the hope that lenders, appraisers and mortgage brokers would resolve the issue on their own. Unfortunately, they did not take care of business properly!
The non-accountability of the appraisers hired within the HVCC system has resulted in incorrect data, improper values and no timely method for addressing rebuttal with the cold hard facts. In effect, this has created a black hole that the consumer has no method to avoid.
I have seen families unable to buy their new homes because of the lack of professionalism and accountability inherent within HVCC. A call for its suspension is in order.
-- Bob Davis, Ventura
(The writer has been a real estate lender since 1977. -- Editor)

What a week to be a soccer fan in Ventura County! In the last week our very own Ventura County Fusion hosted a game with a team from the British Premier League and won two playoff games against teams from Los Angeles to win our division. They now have a chance to play in the regional finals in Texas on August 1.
My family and I appreciate the sponsors, coaches and players for bringing quality soccer to our town. I would also like to thank The Star for covering these exciting professional-quality games. I encourage more families to join us in supporting our team and sponsors next season!
Thank you, Fusion, and good luck in Texas!
-- Mark Urwick, Ventura

We live in a newer neighborhood of East Ventura, in the Mirasol development. While moving in, we were so happy coming into a brand-new house in a nicely developed property.
But soon the nightmare started. My neighbor barbecues right next to my house, and the gusty winds bring all the dangerous carcinogenic gases into my house. Repeated requests to my neighbor to barbecue at the other end of the property were ignored, as they do not want the barbecue smoke to go into their house. They are very selfish, to say the least!
After two years of putting up with this, we decided to buy them a George Foreman grill. But they refused to accept this, as they only want to use their old-style, smoggy form of cooking, with a ton of lighter fuel and other junk, like paper or such that seems to smoke up a lot.
The wind brings all the junk into our house, and they are now cursing at us, saying that we should put up with this or just stay inside our house and turn on the air conditioner if we don't like it.
It is my civil right to live in my house in peace, and in California, people are not allowed to smoke in public places as they are bothering others and forcing others to consume secondhand smoke. California allows one to use lighter fuel and other junk on one's private property at the cost of their neighbors.
We contacted the city, and they do not have any code for this nuisance. This is unfair!
-- Shekhar Iyer, Ventura

Lowering out-of-pocket expenses will help every single American. When out-of-pocket expenses continue to rise and personal income stagnates for the vast majority of Americans, we can't afford to let typical Washington politics derail what is so desperately needed. Please contact your senators and representatives and tell them you are behind them in changing the status quo.
-- Jeffrey Gaeta, Camarillo

Re: Joe Heller's July 24 Opinion cartoon:
Heller's tongue-in-cheek cartoon hit the nail on the head. Joe Six-Pack's family heads off on a camping vacation in their SUV while loudly complaining, "Public-option healthcare? That smacks of socialism!" How often lately have we heard the anti-federal spending segment of the public accuse President Barack Obama's administration of socialism -- "as they listen to talk radio on government-regulated airwaves, in a vehicle from a government bailed-out company, driving on a government-built interstate highway."
One size doesn't fit all, but it does point out that John Q. Public takes for granted the same services that it tags with a label of socialism.
-- Sharon L. Hillbrant, Camarillo

It appears to me that it was the Harvard elitist, Henry Louis Gates Jr., that proved to be the bigot in this incident. By all accounts, it looks like the Harvard professor jumped to the conclusion that the cop was a racist. It appears that Gates fell into a trap of racial profiling and a gross generalization about all cops.
The Harvard professor needs to own up to the fact that he initiated and escalated the entire racial tone of this encounter. But what else would you expect from a liberal elitist who has a narcissistic obsession with his skin color?
The cop was simply doing his job. Gates owes the cop an apology. Maybe he should invite him over for a beer. Everybody has a bad day now and then.
-- Sean Ragan, Camarillo

In a time when the economy affects everyone, we are being kicked out of our home by the City of Ventura Housing Authority.
I'm a 59-year-old disabled person on Social Security. We found out after we moved into our home in the La Paloma tract in East Ventura that these homes are designated "moderate income housing" and they are supposed to be owner-occupied, with no rentals.
Well, the owner of our home is 72 years old and almost blind. She lives in Salt Lake City with her daughter and is getting treatment at Brigham Young University. The Housing Authority has given her an ultimatum: Kick us out and move back in, or sell the house!
This house is her retirement. At one time it was worth $500,000, but now she would be lucky to get $200,000, forcing her to lose somewhere around $300,000 and put us out of a nice home.
I know there are many rentals in this tract, and if one family is kicked out and not the rest, is this not discrimination? The Housing Authority does not generate money -- they spend money! It amazes me that with the economy the way it is, that there is an agency that spends city money to displace families.
I had a phone conversation with Susan Everett, the Housing Authority officer, and she said it was her goal to seek out the families renting here and evict all of us.
-- Eddie Hoag, Ventura

I am a schoolteacher, and I am fortunate to have healthcare. However, we have many employees who are considered "part time" and therefore do not qualify for healthcare. They are usually the people who make the school run, and they are not as well paid (OK, teachers are not well paid!) as teachers. What choice do they have? Make up the difference by paying a large part of their paycheck for healthcare, or go without?
I feel it an abomination that anyone should go without healthcare.
-- Adrienne Denny, Camarillo

I was sorry to read President Barack Obama is giving up his battle to have a healthcare bill out of Congress next month. I'm about to lose my healthcare insurance because I keep hearing stories from providers that my carrier is unstable and up to its eyeballs in litigation. I can't believe I keep paying premiums and, little by little, fewer providers are refusing to accept my coverage.
I'm applying to Kaiser and Anthem, but so far it has taken two months for them to decide if I'm worthy because my doctor's office has failed to forward my records.
I'm not even sick! I haven't been to a doctor in nearly two years and that was for a physical so I could get my blood pressure prescription renewed. Yet, each day, while I'm getting ready to go to work, I look in the mirror and say to myself, "You gotta stay healthy today" knowing how unfair it would be for my loved ones to be saddled with healthcare costs because of me.
What do you think it's like for someone who really needs the services of healthcare providers? I would rather be dead.
-- Jay Berger, Camarillo

In 1999 our 21/2-year-old son was in an accident that left him severely brain damaged. As my wife and I held hands behind our backs, we listened to Trey's neurosurgeon describe the injuries of his brain using a CT scan. We had no idea of the dark road we were heading down.
In the past 10 years, we have experienced changing coverage, loss of coverage, COBRA coverage, HIPAA coverage, loss of doctors and refusal of treatment or supplies. We have threaded our way through private insurance, state and local agencies and providers and wondered if we would come out the other end at all.
The costs have been significant and will only increase in the future. Healthcare is the elephant in the room. More Americans will lose their coverage, more businesses will close their doors and rising costs will continue to explode our deficits.
Our son fights only to survive every day of his life, and we just want to help him do that. We can do better as a people and as a country.
-- Robert Cobbs, Oxnard

We need healthcare reform now. Support President Barack Obama's efforts.
-- Claire Dune, Ojai

As a retired professor from a community college, I receive excellent health coverage from Medicare as primary, and what was Blue Cross and is now Anthem as secondary. I also have a low cost for my monthly medications, which amount to about $30 a month.
The reason I still have good coverage is the hard labor of about 10 members of our retirees association, who negotiated for it from our employer, the Ventura County Community College District. We are grateful to them for their negotiation success.
But when I go in the pharmacy, I see the blanched faces of some of my contemporaries when they are told what they owe. I also know that we almost 500 retirees are not contributing at this time, while the new, brilliant teachers are not given this needed support.
Anyone with a smidgen of fellow feeling cannot but feel bad at the lack of national coverage. I vote for the "public option" as the President Barack Obama folks call it, or the extension of Medicare, as it is already in place. But all must be covered for myself and others to sleep well.
-- Diane Volz, Ventura

Re: your July 24 letter, "Obama's health reform delayed":
We were pleased to read about the delay in President Barack Obama's healthcare reform. We are extremely concerned that Obama is trying to rush the passage of a massive bill that will make drastic changes to America's healthcare system.
First of all, having the federal government take over the healthcare system is a huge mistake. If anyone takes the time to look at what has happened in Canada and other countries where socialized medicine has been established, it is very clear that to do the same in America would not only be very expensive for working taxpayers, but it would also severely deteriorate the quality of healthcare for all Americans.
Second, in the Obama healthcare plan, there are sweeping changes to which the majority of Americans are very opposed. To name only two: the provision that forces taxpayers to fund abortion services for women throughout the U.S.; and the provision that forces medical providers to perform abortions, whether it aligns with their personal beliefs or not -- a blatant attack on First Amendment rights.
Finally, in trying to "sell" his plan, Obama is using the tactics of a normal, run-of-the-mill salesman: Get people to think they need something by focusing only on positive aspects of the product and ignoring or covering up any negative information, and then striving for a "quick sale" so the customer doesn't have time to read the fine print and come to an understanding that the product is not all it's cracked up to be.
Americans deserve better than this! We need to know what's in the "fine print" before we decide to support this healthcare reform.
Rushing through passage of such a massive and comprehensive bill, without reading the "fine print," is naïve, irresponsible and dangerous on the part of our legislators and on our part as voters. Please contact your legislators and let them know it is not only OK to take their time, but that it's the only wise thing to do!
-- Chris & Lori Hooke, Ventura

My husband and I have owned a small business for more than 30 years. We have gone from having more than 12 employees to just our family. Economic issues have always been a concern. We always have provided complete healthcare for our employees.
In 2003, our cost with a national company was approximately $1,700 a month for four employees. In 2009, for two employees, the cost is more than $2,500 a month with less benefits.
My husband and I are covered by Medicare, and we are very thankful. Otherwise, our monthly premium would have been well over $3,000 a month.
Our increases have been anywhere from 8 percent to 15 percent a year during this time, while the insurance company continues to have profits of more than 20 percent a year.
We need healthcare reform now, not years from now. This is an economic issue as well as a health issue.
-- Barbara Teobaldi, Westlake Village

I am a lower income wage earner living in California. I can't even afford to live in my own home.
My employer is small and does not offer medical benefits. Due to at least four pre-existing medical conditions, I am unable to get health insurance. My only option is through the state at more than $600 per month, which is way more than I can afford. My prescriptions alone are more than $200 per month, which is money that could be helping my child out during his college years, but I am unable to do even that. I live in constant fear of getting sick, or of the fact that I am not able to have my existing medical conditions checked regularly by a physician.
On Wednesday I woke up to feel a lump in my throat. Imagine being uninsured and finding such a thing. You have no idea the panic and concern about how can I afford to see a doctor and have the tests necessary to diagnose the lump.
We need a health plan that will make health insurance available to all Americans. We should not be living in fear over a product that is so readily available yet impossible to afford.
-- Stacy Entis, Oak Park

I think President Barack Obama's health plan is very appealing -- to a person who is destitute. Certainly, something is much better than nothing. And during the election, Obama's most fervent supporters were the great unwashed, along with the well-to-do progressive types who were actually very well washed -- brainwashed.
That said, is the alternative any better? Does it seem likely that the average citizen can have much influence with the shadowy figures behind the scenes? For me, political commentary, as per our current players, is mostly futile. It's better to wake up the sleepwalking citizens. Yet even that is problematic.
With the dumbing-down of children by public education, how will it be possible to get enough informed people inspired to vote out their destroyers? In a democracy, it's all a numbers game. And enough of us will never, ever, get the word!
But, I digress. I was talking about Obama's health plan.
Do you remember a saying popular in the 1970s? "Live simply so that others may simply live."
Who would have thought that in the land of plenty we ourselves may soon be looking for a way to simply live?
My influence over the powers-that-be may be limited, but I can help me, mine and those who inspire and help me! Perhaps in this way, self-interest will ultimately be the most unselfish way to fix our fragmented society.
I can think of no more powerful force for good than the joining of good people in advocacy of common interests.
Certainly, despite their protestations of altruism, our destroyers are looking out for their own nefarious good. Maybe the answer lies in saying no to them and yes to ourselves.
-- Joe Mack, Newbury Park

The current health insurance plan isn't a great plan, but it is a starting point. If we could convince the Congress to keep it simple and vote on one section at a time, it would not get bogged down in political pressure points.
It's amazing how the naysayers have taken the stock media catch phrases and run with them. I've questioned at least 50 of those people, and none of them realized that people are dying under the current system. Rather than be accepted by health insurers, their coverage is declined. If accepted, some people get sick and the insurance will not cover their illness.
I work for an insurance agent who sells health insurance. There are so many upsetting stories about people dying, demoted to being homeless due to huge debt, applications being declined due to pre-existing conditions and people living a slow death with their families because they can't get treatment approved by the insurers.
Before making up your mind, study the facts, not the media hype. Get the full picture. Some forward movement is better than what we have now. The kinks will be a problem forever and ever and ever. Nothing is perfect. Stop looking for perfect. Let's save lives!
-- MarSan Friedman, Thousand Oaks

Knowing the hazards of "road rage," I recently experienced "parking lot rage" when confronted by a bumper sticker that read: "I'm a Republican. Not everybody can be on welfare!"
For the person on whose vehicle that appeared: I'm a socially liberal Democrat who's not spent a single second on welfare. How dare you portray me a bum!
For those of you on the right whose arch-conservative stance has been allowed to dictate county and city government, nestled as they are in the bosom of the Ronald Reagan Library, who think that bumper sticker cute and funny and want to know where you can get yours, I proudly pay my taxes, something your respected Tea Party people pout about and demonstrate against. How dare you portray me a deadbeat!
I proudly served in the U.S. military, something your recent president and vice president disdained. How dare you question my commitment to this country with your absolutely ignorant bumper stickers!
How dare you!
-- Bob Jackson, Simi Valley

As part of his program to improve education in America, President Barack Obama is pushing for the use of student test scores in teacher evaluations. The powerful California Teachers Association is opposed to this use of data to rate teacher performance. The union successfully pushed for the passage of a 2006 law prohibiting the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers at the state level. This law, however, does not prohibit individual school districts from using such data to reward good teachers and root out bad ones. A handful of districts statewide are doing this, but most are not.
Parents in Ventura County school districts should push school boards to fight the teachers unions' attempts to restrict data-driven evaluations. This would help California compete for federal dollars that will otherwise go to states that do use test scores to rate teachers as well as students.
-- Mike Kohl, Simi Valley

Re: your July 23 article, "Adoptive homes tough to find for dogs seized in raids":
I thank The Star for printing the article about the pit bulls seized in the dogfighting raid in Missouri.
Dogfighting is a barbaric and senseless sport. As a result, pit bulls get a bad reputation. In actuality, they are just as loving and gentle as any other dog that is given the love and care they need.
The article also reminds us about the importance of trying to adopt a shelter dog, rather than buying one from a pet store. Thousands of dogs are out there right now that need good homes. If you don't have time or money to adopt a dog permanently, try fostering one. Not only will he or she bring love and joy into your home, it will give that dog a second chance they deserve. But please remember that bringing a dog into your home is a big responsibility and shouldn't be done in haste.
-- Karina Carson, Moorpark

Why is our county supervisor wasting taxpayer dollars on studies and hearings to increase development atop the East County's most dangerous railroad crossing?
For many years, county planners have acknowledged the inherent danger of increasing development that would block Katherine Road, the Knolls' only emergency exit. So why has the supervisor now chosen to add the horse ranch property to the list of possible sites for building 422 units on a parcel that has already been approved for 26 units?
Supervisor Peter Foy has received a copy of a video made during the October 2005 fire, and it clearly shows bumper-to-bumper traffic creeping ever so slowly along the Knolls' narrow, winding roads as vehicles attempt to flee the oncoming fire. More, it offers a deputy's own observation that the additional vehicles from another 65 units would turn the evacuation into a death trap.
I hope that the video helps convince Foy that if the community is endangered by 65 units, there's no point wasting taxpayer money to see if 422 units will be any safer. Our supervisor could save the taxpayers money by resolving safety issues before allowing any costly rezoning proposals to move forward.
-- Gary Selvaggio, The Knolls

Will someone tell the president he is the president and not a local organizer? It's bad enough that he is throwing money at every problem without any real plan and rushing to change things, but now he is calling police officers stupid before he has any facts. That's so naive.
So far, I am not impressed with Barack Obama other than his speaking ability -- and talk is cheap.
Anyone can see that all this Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. had to do was calmly thank the officers for their response, identify himself and remain calm instead of seeing everything as racist. The man acted like an emotional jerk. Some professor. Is this the best that Harvard can hire?
Both need to apologize to the officer, and Obama needs to start thinking like a president before he speaks.
-- Clifton A. Hodge, Westlake Village

I urge readers to write to Dave Cox, vice chair of the California Senate Appropriations Committee, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA, 95814, Room 2068, regarding Assembly Bill 241.
This bill, if passed, will help fight inhumane breeding facilities that produce large numbers of puppies for sale in pet stores. It will limit the number of dogs or cats a person could own for the purpose of breeding to 50 animals. This will not affect pet owners and legitimate breeders, but it will help alleviate the cruelty that has been going on for years by the inhumane, unregulated, for-profit puppy mills. It's time for some action by our legislators. Please help!
-- Carol Conte, Westlake Village

Re: your July 23 article, "Jupiter bears new scar":
The article begins, "Astronomers around the world are all agog over an immense scar larger than the Pacific Ocean that has suddenly appeared on the face of Jupiter. Some unknown comet or asteroid must have just crashed into the giant planet's upper atmosphere to cause the scar, they believe."
This is as amazing as an article saying something like, "A junior Illinois senator suddenly appeared in the White House as president of the United States in January 2009. Political experts around the world think there might have been a presidential election to cause this event."
Apparently astronomers don't watch educational TV programs, even in their own specialty. A program aired on TV several days ago, on National Geographic, showing how NASA scientists were monitoring the giant comet before it hit Jupiter, using the Hubble Telescope in outer space for "real time" events.
I hope that the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, UC Berkeley and UCLA astronomers will all be awake if a giant comet or asteroid heads toward earth someday in the future.
-- Tom Novinson, Ventura

Re: Audra Strickland's July 19 commentary, "Genuine care means eliminating waste, fraud, abuse in government":
My, Assemblywoman Strickland is right! We must re-prioritize how our state money is spent. If the legislators honestly care about the people who are truly in need, they will cut that which is unnecessary and wasteful first! Unfortunately, they ignore this and spins their yarn: Illegal aliens and those who commit fraud on the system are more important than those who really need help.
-- Jan Edwards, Camarillo

As a former police officer, detective and academy instructor in the Cleveland Police Department, I think Sgt. James Crowley's actions in the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. were reprehensible and worthy of disciplinary action, especially in light of his public comments on WEEI radio that he "will never apologize."
Since Gates was ultimately released by Crowley's supervisors, what was the point of the arrest in the first place?
After having identified himself as the resident of the home, Gates had every right in the world to argue with Crowley and demand that Crowley leave the residence. I can truly understand Gates' consternation. After all, he was at his home, for Pete's sake! When identity was established, Crowley should have left the residence.
Despite Crowley's racial profiling training, he obviously did not exercise control in this situation and acted "stupidly," making a mockery of himself, his training and the Cambridge Police Department. This begs the question, "Are the other officers in Cambridge like Crowley?" If so, I certainly wouldn't want to visit that city.
If Crowley had been a black cop and Gates had been a white Harvard professor, would the outcome have been the same? I don't think so. "Contempt of cop" is not a statute in the criminal codes of any state in this country.
-- Charles Williams, Oxnard

The lawmakers in Sacramento can sure learn something from San Diego County.
It would be beneficial to our state to replicate San Diego County's "Project 100 Percent" and put a stop to the abuse in our welfare system. The government cannot tolerate fraudulent welfare claims. It does a disservice to the hardworking men and women of this state who fund services through their taxes.
Putting an end to welfare fraud and implementing a structured project to oversee statewide welfare abuse would generate over a billion dollars. I encourage Ventura County to follow San Diego County's lead on this issue.
I thank Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Moorpark, for shedding light on the waste that plagues our welfare system!
-- Jeri Cowley, Camarillo

Re: Laurie Rutledge's July 24 letter, "Embarrassing road":
So Rutledge thinks that Foothill Road between Victoria Avenue and La Fonda Drive is "an embarrassment to the nearly 1,000 homeowners who, along with their family and friends, must travel this mess daily" because "of weeds growing out of medians, weeds growing out sections of the asphalt street, weeds and disrepair of the quasi-asphalt curbs on the south side and the disgusting, overgrown, weedy mess of a flood control basin below Foothill Road."
Rutledge wants "city officials (to) please direct the appropriate street, median and sidewalk maintenance departments to correct the embarrassing poor condition of this section of Foothill Road."
And then she goes on to say that we should all drive on up there to view this catastrophe.
Has Rutledge read a newspaper, watched a City Council meeting or listened to a radio in the last six months? Where's the money for this type of upkeep to curtail this "significant detraction?" How about directing the city to clean up Poli Street in downtown? When was the last time that street was repaired?
Here's an idea for Rutledge: Have what she calls the "300-home Clearpoint Home Owners Association" take 30 minutes of their time twice a month and clean it up. Together, as a team, she and her neighbors could take pride in ownership over this.
Seriously, the city cut $11 million out of their budget and a "Realtor of over 16 years" wants to spend money sprucing up an area so she can sell more homes? Clueless.
-- Fred Barnz, Ventura

It's hard to disagree with claims by Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Moorpark, when you consider that the size of state government has grown by almost half in the last five years. While an increase that size might be justifiable for a population that has increased at the same rate, California certainly does not qualify. In fact, the population of our state has remained relatively stable during the same time.
Rational people should ask themselves why we need a government that is around 40 percent larger to represent the same number of people. The obvious answer is that we don't!
The other unmistakable certainty is that there must be waste in government. It permeates our state government and accounts for the colossal deficit we currently face.
The next time you hear someone cry foul when it comes to resistance to new taxes or "revenue enhancements," remember that there are countless examples of state spending that would make most of us cringe. Funding for the most deserving and needy among us isn't where we start cleaning house.
-- Patti Brotherton, Ventura

Re: Audra Strickland's July 19 commentary, "Genuine care means eliminating waste, fraud, abuse in government":
Assemblywoman Strickland, R-Moorpark, recently made a speech on the Assembly floor trumpeting the points she made in her commentary. It was shocking to see the apparent outrage of legislative Democrats to basic, common-sense ideas.
How long are we going to put up with our tax money going to the unions and people who break our immigration laws? Even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted that $4 to $5 billion of hardworking American citizens' money -- citizens who happen to reside in California -- goes to people who are here illegally. That's outrageous!
Why should the citizenry put up with the massive cuts for the disabled, elderly and children when the state wastes so much money on the unions, the good old boy network and people who break our laws, not to mention all the fraud, waste and abuse that goes on?
Since when is limited government, fiscal restraint and proper priorities an outrageous concept? How far gone are we as a state when the suggestion that we don't balance the budget on the backs of the sick, elderly and children requires an apology?
Kudos to Strickland for reminding us that there are still representatives who haven't lost all sense of what is truly important. We need fundamental change in state government. It begins by addressing the waste of which she speaks.
-- David Cramer, Camarillo

Re: your July 23 article, "Remedy for curing nation's healthcare woes":
In the middle of our national debate over the healthcare crisis, there's something funny going on, and it appears time and again in The Star's coverage of the story.
Republican members of the House of Representatives and Senate, spurred on by talking points provided by Frank Lutz and regurgitated by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, have been decrying President Barack Obama's "socialistical" proposals for a government healthcare plan because "unelected bureaucrats" will apparently be making medical decisions instead of doctors.
What's funny about that is that every Republican member of the House and Senate actually has a government healthcare plan -- which is weird because government healthcare plans are socialistical, aren't they?
And what's funnier is that not one single solitary Republican in the House or Senate has stood up before his colleagues and the television cameras and voluntarily given up that socialistical government healthcare coverage in favor of a purely private plan from the market. Not a one of them has said, "I will lead by example: I reject, I repudiate this socialistical government healthcare plan which is part of my benefits package and ask that its dollar value be returned to the people, whose money it is" -- which is weird because Republicans in Congress don't believe in socialism. So why are they saying one thing while doing another?
It's almost as if they just don't want everyday Americans to have the same options they do. Funny.
-- Russell Burgos, Thousand Oaks

Re: Elizabeth Uttley's July 12 letter, "Illegal immigrants costly":
When the economy turns sour, to whom do we turn to blame? We blamed Wall Street and the banks first, but secondly, it came down to the illegal immigrants.
We forget that most of the illegal immigrants do pay into Social Security, which they most likely will not receive in retirement years. Many do not get paid under the table, especially if working in the fields, so they have taxes withheld, which they may or may not see a return on.
A study done recently showed that illegal immigrants do not use our medical facilities that often. For one thing, they fear being reported. When people see Hispanics in these facilities, and especially if they are not speaking English, they assume many times that they are illegals, when they most likely are not.
No matter how many people tell me differently, I still believe that most Americans will not go out into the fields to pick crops -- not unless their unemployment runs out and they are truly starving. My late husband's work was preparing the payroll for several growers. None of the companies he worked for paid under the table.
We worry about illegals being paid "under the table" while many of our own citizens working as handymen and contractors many times will tell us, their customers, "just make the check out to me, not the company." That is getting paid "under the table."
I am not in favor of people breaking the law. We need immigration reform. Let's look for a win-win situation where we all benefit.
If you are interested in working to encourage our government leaders to support immigration reform, not illegal immigration, contact CAUSE at the La Mujer office on Saviers Road and come to meetings. For more information call 487-8984 or send an e-mail to Beatriz@coastalalliance.com. CAUSE is not about advocating for illegal immigration, but reform that will benefit all Americans.
-- Linda Calderon, Oxnard

I recently underwent a somewhat heated dispute with a local property management/real estate company, and the large financial institution they represented, here in Ventura. They had taken over the management responsibilities of the small apartment building in midtown where I lived, along with eight other tenants. Some had resided there for over 20 years. I had been there the least amount of time, just over 10 years.
My complaints specifically targeted events that occurred just shortly after they assumed the responsibilities of the building, in which they showed unprofessional conduct while undertaking a minor renovation project, then later agreed to settle in my favor during a subsequent court action I brought against them.
However, my biggest complaint was the arrogance they showed as they evicted all remaining tenants in order to impose rent increases the law would not have allowed them to impose had they not first evicted all remaining tenants.
In order to protect tenants in California from huge one-time increases imposed upon them by such companies, only a certain percentage increase may be imposed at one time in order for a tenant to either meet the higher rents or make plans to try to relocate to somewhere more affordable.
The loophole comes when the landlord -- the bank guided by a local property management company in this case -- is allowed to simply evict, claiming a renovation will take place, no matter the extent of the project, then immediately re-rent at whatever price they choose, which, in my case, would have far exceeded the limits California puts on landlords.
The new rental rates for the 400-square-foot studio-type units -- 16 of them tightly packed within two separate buildings where a single-family home once was located on Meta Street -- would be $950 monthly, plus utilities. Both first and last month's rent would need to be paid, and, in addition, a security deposit would need to be paid.
I believe, as do others I have spoken with, that this is the continued effort and action plan taken on by the consortium of real estate and property management companies here in Ventura to further inflate the property values, which is in part the reason for the recession this country is currently experiencing. Some say it will only be getting worse.
My frustrations led me to recently leave Ventura. I now reside in West Maui, in a newly remodeled 600-square-foot, one-bedroom condo, oceanfront, with swimming pool, utilities included, for $800 a month. My rent is month to month, not requiring me to pay for a last month's rent so that a management company can invest and profit from my hard-earned dollars.
-- Joel Vitt, Lahaina, HI

U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly has proudly declared his opposition to the bailout legislation. It seems he will vote against healthcare, too. His reasoning: too much debt and the long since discredited harvest mouse. I kid you not. It's right there in his e-mail.
It's telling that he voted for the Iraq war, the cost of which, to use his words, "submerged the nation in debt." He's not concerned with tax loopholes or tax breaks for corporations and the rich, which have submerged us in debt on a scale never before known in this country. That was unfair to working people.
Now, when it comes to the average, everyday American -- the 45 million Americans who go without health insurance, the 10 percent or so of our workforce who have lost their jobs and the 5 million adults who have lost their health insurance since September 2008 -- he is concerned about fairness, not about fairness to the American people, but fairness to the corporations that make up the managed healthcare colossus.
He voted proudly against the American auto industry and the jobs of its American workers. The plan represented the best that two administrations could muster in a time of financial crisis unseen since before World War II. His excuse, even today? The harvest mouse. He claims that he would have voted for something else. But there was nothing else on the table. He didn't have a plan. He barely had a pretense.
Let's just admit the truth here. Gallegly is willing to sell out the welfare of the American people and to put the entire financial and productive future of this country at risk of utter collapse so that he can avoid having to get along with a congressional majority and an administration he doesn't like.
It is not a patriotic thing for him to be doing. November 2010 is not that far away.
-- David Schwartz, Ventura

So, just what have our elected officials in Sacramento accomplished in this latest budget deal?
-- They have delayed actually fixing the situation that caused the crisis in the first place, at least until next year.
-- They balanced the state budget on the backs of the cities, which will be forced to cut vital services for their citizens.
-- They pointed fingers at the other party and called them obstructionists or worse.
-- They delayed paying our schools the money they legally are obligated to provide, shortchanging today's students while promising to make it up to tomorrow's kids.
-- And lastly, they managed to avoid cutting any of their pet programs that have brought us to the verge of bankruptcy and made a once-great California the laughingstock of the world.
-- Gary Marshall, Santa Paula

Re: your July 21 article, "Simi man claims $10 million SuperLotto jackpot":
The lottery winner's choice to take the option of $250,000 annually over 26 years doesn't add up.
In 26 years, he will receive only $6.5 million minus the interest the withheld money would earn.
A modest 3 percent return on $10 million would reward $300,000 per year, and after 26 years, the principal would still be intact.
-- Jack Weber, Oxnard

Foothill Road between Victoria Avenue and La Fonda Drive is approximately two-thirds of a mile long and is the gateway to approximately 1,000 executive homes (taxpayers!) in the Ondulando, Clearpoint and Cobblestone developments.
Foothill Road's current state of weeds growing out of medians, weeds growing out sections of the asphalt street, weeds and disrepair of the quasi-asphalt curbs on the south side and the disgusting, overgrown, weedy mess of a flood control basin below Foothill Road is truly an embarrassment to the nearly 1,000 homeowners who, along with their family and friends, must travel this mess daily!
I am the immediate past president and a current board member of the 300-home Clearpoint Home Owners Association and a Realtor of over 16 years. I can honestly tell you that our upscale housing stock in Ventura is suffering, and the condition of this "gateway" to more than 1,000 executive-type homes is a significant detraction from someone wanting to purchase a home in our city. I specialize in selling hillside homes and, quite frankly, we are consistently losing high-end buyers to Camarillo where the streets are well-paved, landscaped, maintained and trash-free.
On behalf of the East Ventura hillside homeowners, I request that city officials please direct the appropriate street, median and sidewalk maintenance departments to correct the embarrassing poor condition of this section of Foothill Road. Better yet, why don't those of you who seldom venture to East Ventura take a drive and see this disgusting mess for yourselves. I'm sure you will agree that it is currently one of the worst maintained areas in Ventura.
I would appreciate the city's prompt attention to this matter in the mutual best interest of the city of Ventura and the affected hillside homeowners.
-- Laurie Rutledge, Ventura

Our national goal should be to obtain abundant low-cost, non-polluting -- including carbon dioxide -- electrical energy using U.S. sources of nuclear power. Electrical energy should be expanded to include as much of our energy needs as practical. This would include transportation via automobiles, buses, trains, heating and cooling, operation of equipment, etc. This would also eliminate the need to purchase petroleum from other countries.
Nearly all costs would be kept in the U.S. for workers and corporations. Precious petroleum that is burned for energy would be saved for fabrics, paints, lubricants, etc., and also available for future generations. Combined with wind-generated, hydroelectric and other nonpolluting sources, we could use nuclear power to generate 80 percent of all the electrical energy we will need.
The fear of nuclear power generating radioactive wastes should be minimized if it were generally known that all of the waste generated could be stored in an area the size of a pinprick area on a map of the U.S.
There are currently approximately 103 nuclear electric power plants in the U.S. that have been operating for 40 years without a single fatal accident. The Three Mile Island incident had no injuries, and the subsequent redesign has eliminated the possibility of a re-occurrence. The 1959 Santa Susana Field Laboratory operated by Atomics International in the Simi Hills had an accident that may have ove exposed some of the workers. This was a research project.
Much has been learned about safety procedures and equipment since then. Also, the 103 nuclear electrical generating power plants are standardized and virtually accident-proof.
There are approximately 40,000 automobile accident deaths in the U.S. every year, and no one demands abolishing cars.
The construction of the new nuclear power plants would, in effect, be a stimulus package because the needed supplies, instrumentation, etc., required would come from a wide spread of U.S. manufacturing facilities.
France currently produces 80 percent of its electrical energy via nuclear power.
-- Warren Faue, Ventura

Re: July 22 letters about Terry Paulson's July 20 essay, "Time to pack up and leave":
It is obvious that the individuals who commented on Paulson's essay are the same liberal California voters who voted for the morons in our state Legislature and who are responsible for bankrupting this wonderful state.
As a senior fiscal conservative, I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat and certainly not a socialist. But since this new administration has come into power, I fear for my freedom and for the freedom of my children and grandchildren. I fear for my state and for this country.
Whether it is the leaders of our state or our federal government, we are all being led by a majority of weak politicians who pander to special interests. I pray the voters will finally wake from the ether they have been under and throw these politicians out at the next election.
-- Sheldon Dubow, Westlake Village

Re: Bob Conti's July 22 letter, "Some gun restrictions OK":
When I read Conti's letter, I first thought I was reading satire. No one could really think that any mainstream believers in the Second Amendment want everyday folks to have bazookas or F-16s, right? After re-reading the article, I'm not so sure.
Let's back up a bit. The debate in courts now is not if the Second Amendment is a fundamental right. Rather, the debate is whether or not the individual right to bear arms found in District of Columbia v. Heller by the U.S. Supreme Court also applies to states. Washington, D.C., is technically not a state. The smart money says the right extends to states as well.
There is also a debate about what constitutes reasonable restrictions. No right is completely unlimited.
No mainstream pro-Second Amendment organization thinks everyday folks should have ground-to-air missiles or bazookas. I should know. I'm a life member of the National Rifle Association.
The arguments against guns are usually simple. They use emotions and avoid facts. The arguments against guns may feel good, but they are wrong.
-- Ken Foerster, Thousand Oaks

I see that the President Barack Obama machine has Twittered all its junkies to get out in force and write letters praising Obama's healthcare reform. Too bad they didn't write about the biggest betrayal of the American people ever seen. It's no wonder Obama wants to ram this through as quickly as possible.
Obama's healthcare bill includes a new commissioner, who is authorized to carry a gun, and a health advisory committee, to be appointed by Obama, that will determine quality of care and allocate care based on population groups that include race, gender, income levels and location in the U.S. They will be able to make their decisions from a national database that will include every person's medical records. This group will have authority over hiring and firing of hospital staff, over scientific research and awarding of grants and over which prescriptions, treatments and surgeries will be authorized. Decisions will be made using considerations for racial and ethnic disparities.
There will be a cap of $5,000 per year on individuals and $10,000 per year for families. If you wish additional coverage, you will have to pay additional money.
How do you like that, Democrats? Here you thought your wonderful benevolent leader would make everybody else pay for your healthcare, and you will pay anyway. Or be denied care anyway. Or maybe you should read the bill first.
-- Patti Chiarelli, Thousand Oaks

Since 1914, there have been three major bull markets that propelled everyone's standard of living and three major bear markets that saw much less progress for all.
Government policies had a lot to do with these cycles. The strong economic times -- the 1920s, post-World War II to 1964, and 1982 to 1999 -- had several aspects in common, including tax cuts, more free trade, limited regulation and appropriate monetary policy. The weaker periods resulted from tax increases, trade restrictions, either credit restriction (1930s) or massive credit expansion (1960s to 1970s and now), plus a lot more government programs and regulations.
Look what's happening today with the current leadership. It's downright scary. They see an excessively government-stimulated economy that piled on too much debt, and they overstimulate it some more to the point that this year they'll break the old deficit spending record by 300 percent! They'll suck more resources from the economy through new massive energy and healthcare taxes, breaking their pledge not to "tax" those earning less than $250,000. They see healthcare costs rising, so they devise a plan to provide services for less than they're worth, creating unlimited demand and still not fixing the core problem that competition can't keep prices down because consumers only directly pay for about a tenth of healthcare. They see too much regulation, too many union restrictions, too much litigation, yet unwisely add to these economic drains.
Why do these smart folks ignore economic principles and history? Why do they use subjective words like "fair" and "just" to restrict economic liberty? And who decides what's "fair" and "just"? Why don't they realize that if the American worker and business aren't allowed to become more productive, there just won't be the money for all these giveaways? And why are so few folks holding them accountable?
Is it asking too much for the current leaders to take some economic and history courses and actually pass them? If they don't, that's what the 2010 elections are for!
-- Arnold Hockenmaier, Camarillo

I've been reading a lot lately about government bailouts. I never supported them. I never believed the fear-mongering that preceded them from either the George Bush administration or from the Barack Obama administration. I voted for Obama because he spoke of change. He spoke of hope and the courage to do things differently.
Yet I see that it's the same old game. Why has the Federal Reserve resisted opening their books for the entire nation to see? Why did Goldman Sachs turn a profit and dole out huge employee bonuses while the rest of the nation still struggles to pay the bills and the mortgage? Why did Obama bail out the failing banks that got us into this mess in the first place?
Why hasn't the Obama administration begun to talk about a new way of measuring progress, a new economic structure that is based on Main Street vs. Wall Street? Don't they all realize you can't make money out of nothing? We cannot be a prosperous society until we actually produce something of value. We cannot produce something of value until we actually account for its entire cost of supply and the real demand (i.e. necessity), not it's perceived obsolescence.
The president has let us down. What saddens me most is that I expected disappointment from the Bush administration, but I was caught off guard with Obama's rhetoric and eloquent oratory style. I actually did believe, as did the entire nation. Where is this change Obama spoke of?
I urge all Venturans and all citizens of the United States to push their representatives to stop doing business as usual, to break off their unhealthy relationships with big business once and for all and to finally work for the greater good, not for their own personal profit.
-- Jill Sarick Santos, Ventura

One of the proposals now being formulated by the California Legislature to balance future budgets is to perform surgery on the state constitution to undo protections for homeowners gained through Proposition 13.
Once the legislators open the doors that now limit taxation increases to a maximum of 1 percent per year, they will be able to increase spending and "balance" their increases by new taxes on homes of the poor, middle-class and wealthy at equal or unequal rates. What if they changed property tax rates to be equal to the cost of living rate each year? The homeowner who had bought a house for $300,000 in 1999 would have to pay a $11,743 tax this year at a 3 percent cost of living rate instead of $3,281 under Proposition 13. How would you handle a 300 percent increase in your property taxes?
Let your state representatives know that you will not let them undo the protections that Al Jarvis fought for and won for us.
-- William R. Lee, Ventura

Cheers to Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Moorpark, for pointing out some of the many areas where government is abusing our taxpayer dollars. The Democrats tried to force higher taxes on Californians knowing full well that there are many areas in this budget that are full of waste, fraud and abuse. I am appalled that we continue to pay millions of dollars for useless boards and commissions at the expense of funding police, fire and education. It is a disgrace to hear the Democrats clamor for new taxes when they won't even address the massive fraud in our welfare system. We must demand accountability from our elected officials, and I am confident Strickland is watching where our money goes.
-- Lisa Figgins, Camarillo

What I am hearing from the governor is excuses, not reasons.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger keeps saying we need to put a stop to the fraud, waste and abuse. When you hire someone to build you a house and something is wrong, do you go after the worker who's working for the person you hired, or do you go after the contractor? Schwarzenegger was elected to fix the problems of the past, not create new ones. These problems should have been handled way before we got into trouble. A head needs to roll.
The governor needs to be held accountable for the mess we are in. It was his job to see that the fraud, waste and abuse ended. Instead, he turned his head and looked the other way. Is summer school, college tuition and transportation the fraud, waste and abuse the governor is talking about?
When college students pay tuition, they are expecting to be able to go to class and get an education. Instead, there is a lottery to get into required classes that you need to transfer, or you find out the class has been canceled. I didn't know that I, as a student, was responsible for this mess, or that the 10-year-old who can't go to summer school caused all this mess. It is the people in the government offices that caused this. You can't run a state on promises you can't keep.
Try asking a state worker who has to take furloughs if they caused this problem. The people the governor is hurting are the people that keep this state working in the first place. Without the workers there is no money coming in.
Next time you go to out to dinner and there is a problem, try telling it to the dishwasher and see if anything gets done. Point a finger at the busboy because your steak is undercooked. This is what our state is doing. This is not how the world turns, and it shouldn't be how the state is run.
The governor must figure out how to do his job or show some respect for the people that his decisions affect and admit he is not the right man for the job.
-- Robert Zingery, Ventura

We always hear how it is the Democrats who are looking out for the poor, elderly and disabled in this state. I, along with Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Moorpark, am calling them to the carpet.
How can they say they care about the needy in this state when they refuse to address the abuse of our system by illegal immigrants? How can they say they care about the elderly when they continue to pay political cronies millions of dollars a year to serve on boards and commissions? How can they say they care about the cuts to the disabled community when they turn a blind eye to the obvious abuse in our welfare system?
It is time for someone to stand up for the taxpayers in this state, and I am glad Strickland is doing just that.
-- Debby Heron, Ventura

Re: Terry Paulson's July 20 column, "Time to pack up and leave":
Our tent has been ready for months now.
The current president of the U.S. has been on TV and radio just about every day, all day, since January. Often these addresses or speeches have been very strident and delivered in a shouting way. He actually hollers at us, and I'm sick of it. It's so unpresidential.
Unfortunately, most citizens didn't pay attention during the campaign when Barack Obama promised to "transform" America. America doesn't need "transforming." It needs fixing, where and when necessary, but transforming -- pretty much away from the Constitution? No! However, he is keeping that "transformation" campaign promise, to the fright of many of us, except those who think they would like socialism -- "free" stuff. The only ones to profit from socialism would be those in power (over the rest of us).
Other shocking annoyances delivered by The One are the shabby treatment of our allies and the apologizing for America as he globe-trots. Besides making us sound weak, what are the other purposes? How about the visual of bowing to the Saudi king? The president of the United States bows to no one. Obama's actions have been giving rise to much speculation.
Mr. Paulson: Our tent is very ready. Name the trail.
-- Helen Torkelsen, Camarillo

Re: July 22 letters responding to Terry Paulson's July 20 column, "Time to pack up and leave":
It's a badge of honor for conservatives to receive criticism from the leftists. The fact is President Barack Obama is a socialist and vast numbers of his supporters are socialists. Of course socialists would get all wrapped around the axle over a conservative and libertarian viewpoint. What else would you expect?
Obama and his supporters represent a post-American viewpoint. Conservatives and libertarians want to preserve American exceptionalism based on three simple virtues found on every American coin: "In God We Trust," "E Pluribus Unum" and "liberty."
Socialists want to change ("transform") America into a post-American civilization based upon secular humanism, racial identity politics and equality of results.
America is at a crossroads. The choice is between liberty or tyranny.
Keep up the good fight, Terry!
-- Sean Ragan, Camarillo

Avoiding reverse discrimination seems to be the highest priority in the effort to correct historic discrimination. A study of feedback control systems would show that this is not the fastest way to correct an error. A faster correction can be achieved by approaching the desired result at a higher rate and allowing some overshoot.
Equality could be achieved sooner if we had more tolerance for the possibility of creating some reverse discrimination in the process.
Who knows what lessons might be learned if we spent some time approaching equality from the other direction.
-- Ted Waddell, Port Hueneme

The proposed budget is certainly the most bitter pill Californians have ever swallowed. However, any responsible critic in the state Legislature is obligated to immediately come up with an acceptable alternate to any proposed changes.
For example, those who oppose early release from the state prisons must name an alternate budget cut -- in exact dollars, not generalities.
For those who believe in the budget tooth fairy, immediately start remedial education, first with Accounting 101. For this week, forget the unquestionable long-term budget problem. Resolve the current budget problem now, before we all descend further into budget hell.
-- Sherman N. Mullin, Oxnard

I am writing about the Relay For Life at Hueneme High School on July 11. These were the nicest and friendliest people we have had use the school field in the more than 30 years that I have lived here. They never disturbed any of us. They all were polite and friendly. They made sure that there was no mess on the field, grounds or in the streets. They took down all of their signs and posters. In fact, if you were not at home on the weekend, you would have never known they were here.
I am going to go to the one they are having at Oxnard High School Sept. 19 and 20, and I hope they have a chance to come back to our neighborhood again. It was a real pleasure having them here.
Hope to see you all there in September.
-- Claudene Nelson, Oxnard

Re: your July 20 article, "Heat reaches triple digits in county":
I love receiving a paper and am generally a big fan of The Star. Lately though, I've been wondering what's up with the wildly inaccurate weather reporting for Thousand Oaks.
Here's one example: On July 19, the AccuWeather map forecast a Thousand Oaks high of 82. On July 20, the Local Almanac reported a July 19 Thousand Oaks high of 83, when I experienced a high much closer to 103.
The July 20 article confirmed my experience, reporting that "Thousand Oaks was 98." Perhaps The Star could check with the reporter's source. It obviously wasn't The Star.
-- Lonna L. Boswell, Thousand Oaks

Way to go! Give the ax to the elderly, the poor and our children. They can't fight back.
Make education hard to come by! Heck, that only keeps our people in ignorance as well as poor.
But, heaven forbid we should ask the oil companies to pay their fair share to the state by paying extraction fees for the additional oil they can now drill for in our state. That could cut into their billions in profits! We can't do that, can we?
-- Gerda Fadden, Thousand Oaks

Here's The Star's idea of a balanced Opinion page. It's sort of the journalistic equivalent of bear-baiting. Since The Star's overall editorial bent is liberal, it has to show "balance" by occasionally running a piece (the bait) by a hand-picked member of the opposition. Once the bait is published, The Star can sit back and wait for all the two-bit local liberal pundits (the dogs) to pounce all over the original piece, and The Star proceeds to publish even their ad hominem attacks as examples of public opinion.
Of course, The Star doesn't want to select an individual with conservative opinions who can actually think profoundly about an issue and present a compelling argument. No, The Star wants a straw man type, known for spouting the right-wing clichés of the stereotypical conservative movement as it is routinely portrayed. So, The Star allows Terry Paulson to be the fall guy for all things conservative and points to his periodic outbursts as proof of its commitment to telling both sides of the story.
How about an essay by the likes of, say, Thomas Sowell, Victor Davis Hanson or Charles Krauthammer? Has The Star ever heard of these guys? Print an editorial by any one of them and see what the response is. In case The Star and its frequent-flyer local letter writers haven't noticed, Rush Limbaugh and his ilk are not the voices of thoughtful conservative opinion.
The Star, on the other hand, does print a political cartoon every now and then by Michael Ramirez, after having printed 100 -- including some truly offensive ones -- by John Sherffius and Steve Greenberg. That's real balance!
And don't bother writing a serious letter to the editor about a significant social or cultural issue. It won't get published. You need to limit your letters to inane local topics or participate in the conservative bear-baiting response outlined above. It works every time.
-- Gerald W. Arcuri, Thousand Oaks

I must once again remind Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy of the absurdity that is the proposal to rezone the horse ranch property in the Susana Knolls for high-density housing.
When the developer first came to the Board of Supervisors several years ago -- before Foy was elected -- with a proposal to put some 400-plus units on the property, not only did the community express outrage, but even our then-Supervisor Judy Mikels told him to go back to the drawing board and come up with something less dense and more compatible with a neighborhood whose total number of properties is somewhere around 350.
Since at the Board of Supervisors meeting on July 17 I didn't observe any overt effort on Foy's part to challenge the sneaky and underhanded last-minute attempt by the developer to put the property back on the state's list, I would like to remind Foy of the reasons his constituents and defeated predecessor found high density to be the wrong way to go in the Knolls.
First and foremost are our concerns for safety. This area is a "brush zone"-high fire danger. There are only two ways in and out of the Knolls, but during a fire, we all know that there is really only one, across a double set of railroad tracks over which 20 to 30 trains pass daily. That's not a lot of access in an emergency!
Add to this the fact that the area is served by only two sheriff's deputies who also serve Moorpark, the local school is already filled to the max, there is no public transportation in the area, the closest shopping area is not within walking distance unless you're training for a marathon, there's a water shortage and a building moratorium in the neighborhood, the property is in an area thought to be contaminated by Rocketdyne, and the air pollution from the diesel locomotives fumes will, I'm sure, present a new health hazard, and you have all the reasons that this piece of property should stay off the state's list for high-density housing.
I am sincerely concerned about the Ventura County farmworkers' welfare, but we need to provide housing for them near our agricultural areas, not in the easternmost part of the county that has no agricultural business. Why would the county build where commuting will create added financial burden for the very people it is intending to relieve of such difficulties? Whose financial health will really benefit here?
Let's get back to developing this property in a way that is consistent with the county's original plan.
-- Rochelle Lapides, Santa Susana Knolls

I applaud Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Moorpark, for sticking up for the California taxpayers and trying to root out the excessive waste, fraud and abuse in government programs. I find it truly astonishing that anyone, regardless of their political persuasion, can disagree with Strickland. I am very glad we have a representative who says no to raising taxes on the hardworking families while there is such rampant abuse and waste in our current budget. Thank you, Assemblywoman Strickland!
-- Ron Golden, Simi Valley

Re: Terry Paulson's July 20 essay, "Time to pack up and leave":
Usually, I read Paulson's drivel and then find some alternative repository for his column, perhaps the bottom of the bird cage or an immediate trip to the recycling container.
However, his column of July 26 was an invective-filled disgrace. He cites Robert Cialdini's statement, "People want to do what they think others will do," and then uses that as a basis for the landslide election of President Barack Obama, accusing the collective electorate as "others (who) joined the herd."
Paulson conveniently forgets that this country had a choice, and soundly rejected the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket, a duo that could only promise a continuation of those same George Bush policies that plunged this country into war, isolation and depression.
Contrary to Paulson's diatribe, it is not time "to resist Obama's manipulations and socialist vision," but rather it is time to resist giving any credence, much less a weekly platform, to this man whose lunacy is only exceeded by his arrogance.
-- William H. Waxman, Simi Valley

Socialism? Bah! Look at the trends in our economy: Any one of us could be next to join the more than 46 million uninsured Americans, simply by being laid off or having whatever benefits we do enjoy further limited or terminated.
And how many of us who think we have healthcare benefits are actually underinsured? I'm pretty sure I am, but my husband and I cross our fingers each month as we fork over more than $400 to our insurance company for a half-baked plan that we're lucky to get -- and pay for ourselves. And for those less fortunate than us, the potential for financial ruin in the event of a serious illness is a real threat. Medical expenses are implicated in half of all personal bankruptcies in this country!
The GOP lawmakers try to scare us with the specter of a "bureaucrat" sitting between Americans and their healthcare, but right now the private insurance industry is the worst kind of intermediary. So many insurance plans cherry-pick healthy patients, refuse treatments that are medically indicated, terminate members who actually use their benefits and underpay providers. How many of us have heard these stories or experienced them?
We need to ensure quality and affordable healthcare by improving efficiency, investing in preventative care and by guaranteeing choice -- including the option for public insurance. We must strike while the iron is hot and ensure that real healthcare reform passes before it's too late.
-- Melinda Pearson, Ventura

Based upon Page 24 of the City of Oxnard's 2006-2007 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the sale of the land referred to in a recent agenda of the July 21 Oxnard City Council meeting was reported as income to the Municipal Golf Course Enterprise Fund. The staff report for this item also indicated the proceeds from the sale were used primarily for capital improvements for the golf course.
In as much as the Golf Course Enterprise Fund was the primary beneficiary of the proceeds, the Golf Course Enterprise Fund should be the primary source of funding of the repayment of the refund. Proceeds from Measure O should not be used to pay back the debt. Measure O is designed to fund enhanced services; it was not passed to be used as a funding source for debt retirement of transactions that took place prior to the passage of Measure O.
The people who play golf at the golf course benefit from the $18 million in improvements that have taken place over the last few years. In as much as the golf course is an enterprise fund -- with users paying for services provided -- proceeds from the golf course should pay down the debt. People who do not play golf should not be forced to pay for the golfers.
The public subsidy of the golf course has been the subject of three Ventura County Grand Jury investigations. This facade of the golf course being an enterprise fund needs to be stripped away. The recently renewed contract with High Tide and Green Grass needs to be rescinded.
-- Larry Stein, Oxnard

Re: Terry Paulson's July 20 essay, "Time to pack up and leave":
I feel so much better now that Paulson has gone hammer and tongs against President Barack Obama. I'd been worried that maybe Obama's tactics had softened, his mission been abandoned, and that we were back to the same old policies we enjoyed under President George Bush. But with Paulson blaming Obama for everything but the last ice age, I'm confident that things have changed dramatically. And it took only six months.
The only thing I regretted was that the headline didn't mean that Paulson was moving to Iraq for the balance of Obama's stay in the White House.
-- Fred Rothenberg, Ojai

Re: your July 20 article, "A space odyssey":
I thank The Star for publishing the letters from (almost) all of us who remember July 20, 1969!
I remember it well. We were living in our little house in North Hollywood, where I was working at Lockheed Burbank as an engineer. I dragged my son, Mark, age 7, and all the neighbor kids, who were out playing baseball in the street, into the living room to watch on our big new 21-inch black and white TV "something you kids will be telling your grandchildren about someday."
Grumbling at the sight of Neil Armstrong setting a human foot on the moon for the first time in history was no big deal for them. They'd seen it all, and more, on their Saturday morning cartoons!
"But this is real!" I said.
"Aw, gee, OK, now can we go back out and play?" they asked.
"Sure, kids, have a ball," I said. "Just try to remember that this event was something that made all of us proud to be Americans."
The Sixties were a turbulent time, loaded with historical events, changing morals, mores and musical memories, but I don't think any of it was more important than completing President John F. Kennedy's challenge to use our good old American technology to beat the Russians to the moon.
God bless America!
-- Burt Smith, Camarillo

In my travels around Camarillo, into the San Fernando Valley, going through Santa Barbara, etc., it seems as though the recent laws passed about the use of cell phones held in hand while driving were a waste of time.
What is even more aggravating is to see an adult herding a large SUV on the streets, making turns with one hand, not taking the time to see if anyone is coming through a crosswalk -- and then seeing kids in the back seats! One wonders: Do we really care?
I would suggest that the Legislature increase the fines on the use of cell phones to $500. In that way, we can get more money for the schools and make those who misuse the cell phone pay more attention. If that does not work, increase the fine to $1,000.
It is bad enough to see those misusing the cell phone by driving with one hand, but to see them jeopardize their children is another thing. I know myself I have made it a habit to pull over or wait until I can get to an area where I can stop and use the cell phone. It is not that hard. Just try it.
-- John Adams, Camarillo

As a health care actuary for more than 25 years, I can tell you that the bill that the House committees have passed is de facto a single-payer plan. The House bill, which reimburses providers at 100 percent to 105 percent of Medicare, will lead quickly to a single-payer plan with no free market competition. Without free market competition, such a plan will likely be as inefficient as the Pentagon paying $700 for a toilet seat. Hospitals and physicians will not be able to survive on these low reimbursement rates and will soon lobby for increases in reimbursement.
I agree that the current healthcare system is broken and needs to be reformed. Those reforms should start with free market competition and add sustainable cost savings.
Where should we start?
-- Reduce the rapidly growing obesity rates by paying patients to get fit and paying doctors to help their patients get fit. Reduce the patient's coinsurance over time as their weight reduces.
-- Institute electronic medical records, which will lead to fewer wasted tests and procedures.
-- Increase the rate of pay to primary care physicians while lowering that of specialists.
-- Give doctors an incentive to avoid using hospitals unless necessary. Data shows that doctors treat patients differently depending on the supply of nearby hospital beds.
-- Develop best practices. Some areas of the country have more than twice the per capita rates of hysterectomy and back surgery than other areas.
-- Reduce end-of-life expenses by requiring plan members to use a living will at enrollment that will direct whether they wish to be kept alive at all costs or have a peaceful death through hospice care.
-- Significantly increase tax rates on sugary drinks, fast foods and restaurants that use too much butter and sugar in their foods -- which currently is most restaurants.
-- Stop subsidizing corn farmers, and remove use of corn syrups in processed foods.
-- Frank Partridge, Ventura

I watched the Judge Sonia Sotomayor hearings each day.
One of the issues being explored at great length and on which our country is greatly divided is the Second Amendment. Some interpret the wording of this amendment to be that the right to bear arms is a fundamental right. The definition of "arms" has never been legally defined.
A case is pending before the Supreme Court about this issue. There is a chance that the Supreme Court could agree that the right to bear arms is a fundamental right.
Can you imagine how life in this country would change? States and cities would not be able to pass laws regarding a citizen's right to possess weapons or to carry them. You could own a bazooka or a ground-to-air missile. You could walk the streets with an Uzi or AK-47. If you had enough money, you could have your F-16 fighter jet parked at your local airport.
I surely don't wish to see hunters lose their rifles, but there absolutely must be some restrictions on the possession and use of weapons.
Our Founding Fathers, in all their wisdom, could never imagine the arms that exist today and certainly not those yet to be.
-- Bob Conti, Thousand Oaks

Let me see if I have this correct. The district court and the appellate court follow the precedent set by the Supreme Court and thus "follow the law." The Supreme Court modifies the precedent.
Republicans, who oppose "activist" judges, criticize an appellate judge for not following a Supreme Court's precedent before it existed. Supposedly, these critics have served in the legal system and understand the law and the role of the various levels of federal courts.
Apparently not.
Then they have the gall to promote recognition of a merit system to justify a rise in ranks while they themselves fail to do so with a system based on seniority. For example, their senior leader once up for a judgeship failed due to a history of racial discrimination, the basis of the charge against the candidate. It may take one to know one, but more like projection occurs. Thus, how can one deemed unfit for a position find himself in turn deemed fit to judge that of another?
We had no public confirmation hearing prior to television. Perhaps we should return to that to eliminate showboating to a constituency and sticking to the business at hand.
My cup of Republican hypocrisy on this, as well as every other moral value they talk but do not walk, remains filled to overflowing. Perhaps my mother's early death kept her
in the belief that liars never prosper. I would not care for the confusion that she would have today.
-- Lynn H. Maxson, Simi Valley

Re: Ken Davis' July 17 letter, "Three kinds of people":
Davis is absolutely correct in saying society is made of people who make things happen, some who wait for them to happen and the clueless. However, we disagree on who is drinking the Kool-Aid, who is clueless and who is making things happen.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt created Social Security as an umbrella and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. so your money is now safe. President Lyndon Johnson passed Medicare with no complaint from retirees. Both were Democrats.
Although these social programs may have their problems, they will be saved because the majority of people want them saved. When President George Bush tried to kill Social Security by privatizing it, a huge percentage of the population said "no way," and then the market crashed, proving the government-run program to be the only viable option.
Now we will pass healthcare reform where people with existing conditions or who have lost their jobs won't have to go bankrupt because of a medical catastrophe.
Davis is right: Some people make things happen -- and they are us!
So perhaps he should continue drinking the conservative Kool-Aid. I hear Fox News is having a sale.
-- Françoise Dubois, Newbury Park

President Barack Obama has proven once more he doesn't measure up. His proposed government medical care is nothing more than socialism for those unwilling to work to pay for their own medical care, and he is stealing from the working people who finance government.
If anyone has had the slightest experience with the government medical care for military service personnel at Sawtelle Veterans Hospital in Westwood, you would understand perfectly what is coming down the pike!
And if you haven't the slightest idea what's in Obama's medical plan for you, may I suggest you find out pronto.
-- Ray Holm, Westlake Village

Well, the chickens have come home to roost, and guess what? Former Vice President Dick Cheney is in the forefront.
Let me explain. We now have a poor man in the hands of al-Qaida, and guess what? They can now claim they have the right to torture this poor fellow, since Cheney has said torture is OK. Let us hope and pray the man is not harmed, but what goes around comes around, and our wonderful congressman, Elton Gallegly, supports torture and has voted so many times to support it.
If this poor young man is harmed, I blame Cheney and Gallegly for this total repudiation of the American way.
Oh, we'll we still support Gallegly and his nasty ilk, but not me.
-- David LaTourette, Simi Valley

Re: July 19 Pulse page letters on healthcare reform: "Educate yourself," by Patrick Justus; "A new direction," by the Rev. John P. Fuller; and "Look at Canada's system," by Bob McCampbell:
After reading the Pulse page letters on healthcare reform, one title really stood out: "Educate yourself." To all those who offered their opinions, I would suggest they heed that advice. I felt as if I were walking though a minefield of the ill-informed.
I'm not sure where Fuller got his numbers, but according to CNN, the 2008 election was a little closer than the 80 percent landslide figure the reverend uses. The final tally was 53 percent to 46 percent, and I would give you odds that if America could be granted a do-over, the results would be somewhat different today.
I have but one question for McCampbell: If the Canadian system is so good, why do so many come south for their major medical care? I would suggest he speak to a few Canadians about the lack of comprehensive care they actually receive.
To all those clamoring for healthcare reform, I say, "Be careful what you wish for."
I would also say, "Let's get some facts straight." The 46 million uninsured number being thrown about on a daily basis is fictitious. According to CBSNews.com, of that 46 million, 10 million, or about 21 percent, are not even U.S. citizens, illegal or otherwise. Of the remaining 36 million, 43 percent, or about 16 million, are classified as non-elderly uninsured with incomes of at least 2.5 times the poverty level. What this means is that they are employed and healthy, could buy insurance if they so desired and for whatever reason have opted not to. This leaves about 20 million truly uninsured.
Compare that with the 253 million insured Americans, and it would seem that what Obama and the current Congress are trying to achieve may be a bit of overkill.
There has been so much rammed through Congress of late with little more than a cursory glance that we need to slow down and get things right before we bankrupt the entire country. That would not be good for any American.
-- Steve Sullenger, Thousand Oaks

During the campaign, Barack Obama and the Democrats promised to reduce the cost of healthcare. Who could be against such an effort? They were elected.
Now they are debating how they are going to pay for their plan to reform healthcare. If they truly reduced the cost of healthcare, there would be great savings in Medicare, Medicaid, etc. They would be debating what should be done with the money that was saved and not how to raise taxes.
But they are not planning to reduce the cost of healthcare. They are planning to raise taxes and have the government manage our healthcare. Their goal is socialized medicine. Then the government will ration and delay medical care like other countries that have socialized medicine. They will use our taxes to support government healthcare enterprises that will drive free enterprise out of the healthcare industry.
People from all over the world have been coming to the U.S. for the best healthcare. With the proposed healthcare reform, that will end.
Free enterprise and competition have always reduced the cost of things we need and want. Why isn't the government working to reduce the cost of healthcare by introducing more competition into the healthcare industry?
Why isn't government working to eliminate fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid systems? Private enterprise works hard to eliminate fraud because they would be losing their money. The government doesn't because they are losing our money. Government management of healthcare has a bad track record.
There are many services the federal government could provide that would streamline healthcare. The government could provide an electronic database containing all the health records of our citizens -- a database that could be accessed by healthcare providers. These government services would facilitate better and cheaper healthcare.
The federal government provides air traffic control for the airline industry, as well as other services for other industries. Why not do the same for the healthcare industry? These services would reduce the cost of healthcare.
We need a reduction in healthcare costs, not socialized medicine.
-- David J. Ameling, Newbury Park

Re: your July 16 article, "District plans hearing on $20.7 million parks budget":
I don't believe what I'm reading! Here is California in the midst of a financial crisis that so far has no solution and is threatening our schools, fire and police departments and helpless citizens, and these Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District "managers" are contemplating a budget that spends $20 million-plus for things such as:
-- Building three new miniature 18-hole golf courses, a pitch and putt course, a community room and parking for all this (Sinaloa Golf Course, $500,000).
-- A 1.4-acre expansion park, including lighted tennis courts and pickleball courts. (Rancho Tapo Community Park, $900,000 plus).
-- Create a new 52-acre park. (Chumash, $320,800). I thought the governor was closing parks to save money?
-- Complete safety-related upgrades to holes 4, 5, 6 and 16 at Simi Hills Golf Course. ($230,000).
-- Renovate mechanical room at the Rancho Simi Community Park pool. ($200,000).
-- Completely renovate the lagoon at the Rancho Simi Community Park. ($369,800).
-- Restore the historic Banaga Barber Shop and coordinate painting of historical mural on the Currier Apricot Pitting Shed at Strathearn Park. ($105,000).
-- Expand the Simi Hills Golf Course clubhouse to accommodate "kitchen storage." ($225,000).
-- Construct children's splash pad and off-leash dog run at Oak Park Canyon Park. ($675,000).
Wow!
These are just samples of what is on their plate at the moment. There are millions more in the planning for the next five years. Some $100,000 here, a million there, it adds up.
I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. Who is setting priorities for how our tax dollars are being spent? I am a huge fan of golf, and I love kids and dogs, but I can't see spending these monies at a "time of crisis" like we have now. These expenditures also help me to understand why my property taxes go up by 2 percent every year!
If they would give all the schoolteachers a raise every year, I wouldn't mind so much that my taxes go up every year, but "painting murals on the Currier Apricot Pitting Shed" is madness. And I would like to have my residence declared a "historic site" so I could get the taxpayers to "maintain" it, like we have signed on to maintain the Banaga Barber Shop.
Politicians beware: The elections are coming, and you're gone.
-- Fred Cordia, Thousand Oaks

Re: your July 13 article, "Legislators face tough choices in budget talks":
In making tough choices regarding the state budget, I recommend that the legislators utilize two approaches from the environmental field: conservation and sustainability.
We hear over and over again how Southern California has grown over the past years and yet continues to use the same amount of water. We can do the same with state services.
The water agencies achieved their reductions through numerous conservation programs. By implementing economic conservation programs that cut out fraud, reduce waste and improve efficiency, the state can continue to provide essential services with less money. Instead of passing more bills that will increase government spending, the Legislature instead should focus on passing bills that will conserve the state's economic resources.
When it comes to global warming and other environmental conditions, we have learned that sustainability is key to our survival. The same is true of government taxing and spending. We cannot continue to expand government services without making cuts in other areas. Private economic resources are not inexhaustible. We have to limit our services to what we can afford. We need to distinguish between the "nice to haves" and the "have to haves." We need a system that can function in poor economic times as well as good economic times.
To our legislators: Please pass a budget with meaningful reforms that conserve economic resources and result in sustainable programs so that we can eliminate having budget problems year after year after year.
-- Carolyn Casavan, Ventura

I was working a booth at the Camarillo Fiesta, and it was wonderful to see such a great turnout at the street festival. I am very troubled, however, at the number of dogs that were brought to the event in the extreme heat. People don't realize how hot the pavement gets during the day!
A gentleman present had an infrared thermometer that registers the heat emitted when aimed at a surface , and for the weekend, the street blacktop registered between 114 and 147 degrees! The bottom of a dog's paws are extremely sensitive and will blister if subjected to heat. Also, all of the dogs I saw were panting heavily and just looked plain miserable. They have fur, and their body temperature runs higher than humans generally.
Please, folks, exercise your common sense and leave your dogs at home when you attend outdoor activities in the heat. It's too hard on them. As one man at the fiesta said, "You shouldn't let your dog walk around on pavement that you couldn't walk barefoot on yourself."
I know it's fun to bring the dog along, but if you are truly concerned for your pet's welfare and comfort, don't bring it.
Keep in mind, too, that dogs should never, ever be left in a vehicle for any amount of time unattended. The inside of a vehicle superheats, and the animal can suffer heat stroke and even death in minutes.
-- Amelia Dodge, Camarillo

Re: your July 16 article, "UC panel votes to cut pay for employees":
As a UCLA sophomore, I can attest to the hard work of University of California employees. They range from the friendly dining hall staff to hard-working counselors and world-class professors that form the very foundation of our schools.
Yet, as pay cuts are implemented to make up for California budget shortcomings, all of these employees face the negative reality of pay cuts. No doubt, all those attending the UC system will face the negative effects of budget realities. As tuition increases in the coming school year from $8,027 to $8,720, students will also feel the financial impact. As we pay more for our public education, class offerings shrink, class sizes expand and our talented professors are faced with the decision between their students and the lure of private universities.
So why is it that while students and staff suffer, UC chancellors are virtually unaffected? Despite claiming to be for "students first," I find it quite ironic that chancellors are virtually unaffected by the UC financial turmoil. Rather, it seems that they are enjoying raises rather than any form of cutbacks.
Each of the 10 UC chancellors earns between $295,000 and $450,000. In addition to their salaries, chancellors enjoy free housing, lifetime healthcare benefits, travel reimbursement, and are allotted $9,000 annually for automotive expenses.
Incoming UC Davis chancellor Linda Katehi will earn an annual salary of $400,000, approximately $85,000 more than her predecessor. Further, she is also allotted $100,000 for "relocation."
Similarly, incoming UC San Francisco Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann will be earning 12 percent more than her predecessor, with an income of $450,000.
While UC regents and officials argue that such exorbitant salary hikes are necessary to attain the caliber of distinguished individuals serving as UC chancellors, I fail to agree with such reasoning. While I recognize that these chancellors represent the University of California, a huge responsibility, they also interact least with students. As my tuition expenses increase, my hard-earned scholarship and work money is not funding my talented teachers as much as it is funding the UC chancellors.
Students realize that these are trying economic times. And though the UC system is faced with the seemingly insurmountable issue of state budget cuts, I believe that the UC regents and chancellors need to rearrange their priorities. Pay cuts are inevitable, but the least our chancellors can do is meet us halfway. After all, I'm paying for them.
-- Lauren Roberts, Ventura

Here's another suggestion for narrowing the state's budget gap: Eliminate the entire state Senate. California does not need two dysfunctional legislative bodies. The state Assembly is perfectly capable of making dumb decisions all by itself.
-- Bill Brogan, Oxnard

Re: your July 15 article, "Sales tax measure to appear on ballot":
As usual, the Ventura City Council continues to waste money and has the nerve to ask for more.
It's time for the citizens of Ventura to vote these misdirected city leaders out of office! It's not time to give them a blank check.
How much did the city waste on the 9-1-1 boondoggle? Where did the $22,000 come from to pay for a study of letting the homeless sleep in their cars? Yet they won't pay for trash removal at the beach. Don't they think the beach is an attraction for the city? Isn't it important to keep this a pleasant tourist experience?
Enough already! No to the tax, no to the homeless sleeping in their cars on our streets, and no to re-electing this City Council!
-- Michael Machuzak, Ventura

Re: your July 15 article, "Ventura relaxes ban on sleeping in cars":
So the Ventura City Council has decided not to let any city parking lot or facilities be used as a place where the homeless in cars can park at night. They did not give a reason; they just said no.
The purpose of government is to serve and benefit the people, all the people. Apparently, you are only worth serving in Ventura if you have a home. Become homeless and the city won't even let you use the bathroom.
Homelessness in Ventura is a problem the city needs to address because it affects all of us as citizens.
The city could open up the City Hall parking lot and internal bathrooms at night for the homeless in cars, but they don't want to. Even though it would make merchants and homeowners happy to have a place the homeless in cars can park at night, the council says, "Too bad, not in my backyard! Let some church take care of it."
The city had considered using some city lot at one point, but only with portable toilets. Would Mayor Christy Weir let her grandchildren use portable toilets? I would park on the street to sleep and drive to Denny's for a bathroom before I would park in a city lot with portable toilets.
Portable toilets cost money, too. But the city would spend the money just so the homeless don't use the same bathrooms the City Council and employees use. It would not cost extra to let people park and sleep in the City Hall parking lot and use the inside bathrooms. The city could just change the cleaning crew to mornings instead of nights. They just don't want to.
The City Council does not even want to consider that public property belongs to the public. Why shouldn't the homeless in cars use the City Hall parking lot and bathrooms at night? No one else is. Denying the homeless in cars access to city bathrooms at night is mean, insulting, arrogant and uncaring. I thought our City Council was better than this.
-- Alison Carlson, Ventura

On a recent Saturday morning, my elderly mother and I took a walk around our neighborhood, near Bristol Bay Linear Park, to enjoy the fresh air and soak in some sun. To my dismay, we were almost plowed over by a "herd" of speeding senior citizens on bikes.
The greenbelt pathway has a sharp blind curve in one section. Just as we were strolling along at this point, I literally had to leap out of the path of the first rider. I thought to myself, "Whew, that was too close for comfort." As my mother and I resumed our walk, we had to dodge three or four more speeding riders. We were still on this blind curve, mind you, so it's obvious to me that these people were racing and couldn't have cared less if someone had gotten hurt or worse.
I estimate that 20 or more riders followed. The bikes were low to the ground and were three-wheelers.
While I admire these folks for getting out and having some fun, I certainly do not appreciate their lack of concern for anyone else who might be on the path. Just behind my Mom and me were three little girls on a walk. I feared for their safety as well, and I hoped that they would have the sense to get out of the way of this group, for they had no intention of slowing down.
If my mom or I had been struck by one of these bikes, we would surely have ended up in the hospital, if we even lasted that long, considering the speed of the bikers.
My advice to this group is that they should slow down on a blind curve in a public parkway. I might add that not one single rider slowed, or said, "Oops, sorry." There was one gentleman who was kind enough to say, "Good morning." Thanks go out to this man.
-- Donna Athens, Ventura

No one should be surprised by the callous display by two gang factions in a recent "shootout" on a school campus. No one should be surprised that these gang members hold life, theirs and others, in such low regard. And no parent of these people should be surprised at any of it.
Gangs have existed in Ventura County for decades but have evolved into a viciousness not shown in their early years. In my 33-year law enforcement career, I dealt with hundreds of these individuals, face-to-face and hands-on. I showed them "respect," and they returned it.
One of the most revealing facts was that one-on-one, these young individuals could be very personable, sometimes with an attitude, but always willing to talk. One-on-one, many would admit that they wanted out of gang life but were afraid of "ranking out" (leaving) and the consequences that would befall them. They feared that their fellow gang members would do them physical harm or even kill them. It is no wonder to me that when their families and friends mourn their being killed that they are remembered as warm, caring, and loving. That is the face they present to family.
But when put with fellow gang members, there was a total change. There would be more bragging, posturing, and yet more honesty in how they felt about life as members of a gang. When they were in a group of two or more, they displayed a hyper behavior and a tendency to become more vocal and act with a defiant attitude about life and death. They vocalized that life was not important, especially that of other gang's members. And they would not admit any compassion for innocent persons caught in their crossfire.
The public must not have a naïve attitude about gang members, nor should the district attorney or judges.
-- Leo Alvarez, Oxnard

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has finally come to his senses and realized that he can't work with the Democrat-controlled legislators who are controlled by big unions that want to bankrupt this state or raise your taxes so high that you'll have to leave to find work somewhere else.
I live at the marina in Channel Islands Harbor. A lot of new development going on right across the channel from us is million-dollar-plus homes with boat docks that sell for $200,000 -- and guess what? Half of them are empty!
It just shows you the rich people that can afford it are just staying away, and one reason is the high taxes we have here. Both businesses and people are leaving this state in droves!
Some of you say, "Good riddance, there are too many people here already!" But the problem is the big corporations stay way too, if they can't find a good workforce.
If California were a country, it would be the 18th largest economy in the world, and it pays more to the federal government than any other state in the union. I've heard as much as 20 percent of all taxes collected by the federal government comes from California. So how is it possible that we could be so broke? It's because we also became the biggest welfare state in the country, next to the federal government, which is getting larger by the day.
What happens when all the wealthy people start voting with their feet and leaving this country, along with our corporations? Then who pays the taxes? The same thing is happening to California. They used to say, "It happens in California first!" Ah, you finally got it!
-- Bob Moeller, Oxnard

Re: Bill O'Reilly's July 18 commentary, "Newsweek seeks to marginalize Gov. Sarah Palin":
I've just finished reading O'Reilly's column castigating Newsweek for its biased reporting, and I couldn't agree more! If only Newsweek would try to be "fair and balanced" like O'Reilly's employer, Faux News!
-- Ed Hopkins, Fillmore

My family recently had a wonderful experience buying a dining room set at Home Furniture in Camarillo.
A couple weeks ago, my wife, 4-year-old daughter and I went to the store inquiring about dining room furniture. The experience was so positive my wife and I knew we would be buying our furniture there.
Unlike other large retail furniture chains, we were not pressured by salespeople. They actually gave us time to walk around and see what we liked. As parents would attest to, going into a furniture store with an active 4-year-old means that your 4-year-old wants to sample the comfy sofas, chairs and beds. Our daughter was no exception. However, our surprise came by the reaction the employees gave us. Instead of scolding or demeaning looks, they smiled and came over and started a friendly and genuine conversation, and it wasn't the kind of conversation where they were just out to try to sell stuff to us. You could tell they were genuine and thoughtful.
My wife and I were quite impressed. We really appreciated the honesty and helpful advice the store provided when we did have questions. Between the time we purchased the furniture and when it came in, the set had gone on sale, and they gave us the sale price even though we bought it before it went on sale. While this type of quality service is harder to find now, it is so nice to see that it does still exist. Did I mention the delivery was free as well? Thank you, Home Furniture!
-- Layton Spracklen, Camarillo

It was blazing hot in Ojai on a recent Sunday afternoon when we went to see a production of "Hamlet," a clime and locale that did nothing to remind one of Stratford-upon-Avon. Yet we found that in that improbable setting, William Shakespeare was alive and well, or, should one say, "dead and well?" Not only is the stage littered with bodies at the end of the play but you, the audience, are right in the middle of the swashbuckling, sword-flashing finale.
It is wonderful theater, engaging, enthralling and moving. You owe it to yourself and to your children to see this intimate, cleverly staged and superbly acted "Hamlet." You may come away with a new appreciation of the power and eternal appeal of Shakespeare. Your children may find that the action and drama of a 400-plus-year-old play can be "awesome."
"Hamlet" runs through Aug. 8 at the Theater 150 in Ojai. Details can be found at www.theater150.org or by calling 805-646-4300.
-- Helmar S. Janée, Ventura

Re: Terry Paulson's July 20 essay, "Time to pack up and leave":
I hate to wake up on a Monday morning and become upset by reading another Terry Paulson essay in The Star.
Walter Cronkite passed away, and there have been unanimous tributes to his life across the board. Cronkite represented the "greatest generation," when America asked all Americans to sacrifice and turn away the greatest threat to our way of life when Pearl Harbor was attacked and Germany and Japan launched World War II. Now the greatest threat facing our nation is following the "advice" of men like Paulson and ignoring the very basis of why we are considered by many the greatest nation on earth because of our unique democracy.
After World War II, men like Paulson were born into a new American society that many called the "me generation" of selfish individuals who only cared about their own personal gains and supported a mantra of "no new taxes." We fought three wars that many Americans like myself felt were ill-advised and only lined the pockets of a few American corporations and individuals who benefited from fighting wars at the cost of young American lives and depleting our national treasury.
Paulson now attributes the fix we're in to the Barack Obama administration and specifically our president, completely ignoring the previous eight years of President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and the Iraq fiasco. In fact, in his article, he wishes for the good ol' days when we lived under the Bush administration. He justifies his "essay" in his summation that we've seen (in less than a year) "political paternalism at its worst" and our citizens should now resist Obama's "manipulations and socialist vision."
I, for one, want to be, unlike Paulson, manipulated into driving "smaller-eco-friendly cars, eating less fat and using less carbon-based energy." To Paulson, these are the very things that are destroying our capitalistic society.
God help the middle class and the poor if we follow Paulson's ill-advised "advice." In fact, the only good advice Paulson wrote was the headline, "Time to pack up and leave" -- and I hope he takes it seriously for himself.
-- Steve Binder, Oxnard

Our major news networks compete for ratings at the expense of their audiences. The level of news reporting has denigrated from that of the Walter Cronkites and Dan Rathers to the Bill O'Reillys and Chris Matthewses who, despite their native talents, sacrifice appropriate, intelligent, relative news to the trash that has become our everyday fodder.
Major networks devote days, weeks and months to burned-out topics like Natalie Holloway, Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton, Madonna and other relatively unimportant pop interests that belong on the covers of gossip magazines. The effect is to deteriorate society to a culture incapable of competing on the world technological market.
The political news that used to inform us of important governmental trends feeds us sensationalist sex scandals. The emergence of non-entities like Sarah Palin have denigrated political coverage. Petty partisan issues have destroyed the Republican Party, threatening our two-party system and the watchdog system in Congress.
This will prove to be an irreversible trend unless the public, not the politicians, takes it upon itself to eradicate trash from our national information sources.
-- Miguel Espinosa Jr., Oxnard

Walter Cronkite's passing underscores (painfully) the irrelevance of what passes for "news" at present: plastic "TV personalities" with their sound bites; masterful, insulting and just plain nasty ranters like Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter, ad nauseum.
Thanks, Walter, we may never see the likes of you again.
-- Lynn Weeks, Ventura

Re: your July 19 article, "Public Defender's Office close to edge":
As a law professor and taxpayer, I was dismayed to read that Chief Deputy District Attorney Mike Frawley is now publicly coaching the public defender to appoint just one attorney, rather than two, in death penalty trials. Frawley apparently believes this would save the county some money.
The objective in providing counsel in cases in which the district attorney is seeking death is to ensure that quality legal representation is afforded to every person sought to be executed during all stages of the case. The American Bar Association Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Counsel in Death Penalty Cases provides that: "In cases where the death penalty is sought, two qualified trial attorneys should be assigned to represent the defendant." California law provides that the state must reimburse the county for these costs, but the governors have failed to do so in recent years.
The public defender should not ignore the ABA guidelines. The federal and state courts accept the ABA standards as establishing the "prevailing professional norms" to be used when a death row inmate seeks to overturn his conviction on the ground that he was not properly defended. Assigning just one attorney, rather than two, would be a shortsighted, false economy compared to the cost of retrying the entire case, with new counsel, after an appeal or writ of habeas corpus.
With all due respect, Frawley should stick to what he does best: prosecuting cases, rather than seeking to micromanage the attorneys who are appointed to defend the cases he has filed. Real money can best be saved when the district attorney seeks death only in those cases where the defendant is "the worst of the worst," as the U.S. Supreme Court has required since 1976.
-- Michael C. McMahon, Carpinteria
(The writer was the assistant public defender in Santa Barbara from 1983 to 2000 and now works for the public defender in Ventura. -- Editor)

Re: Linda Gunter's July 16 commentary, "Forgotten nuclear accident in Church Rock":
After reading Gunter's article, I was curious about her "real" agenda. Could 30-year-old activities at Church Rock, N.M., really be relevant to nuclear power programs in 2009? Of course not, but separately, maybe Church Rock could be investigated further if it really was polluted three decades ago.
Today the United States lags far behind countries such as France, which generates more than 80 percent of its electrical power needs with nuclear reactors and has the cleanest air in Europe. Sweden is producing more than half of its power using nuclear reactors, thereby reducing its dependence on sometimes hostile foreign oil producers. Dozens of other countries are following closely behind, with hundreds of reactors in development. But there are very few in the United States.
I Googled Linda's name and found out her true agenda. She is one of the diehard dinosaur anti-nuclear critics who would rather have us blindly follow wind and solar schemes that have little chance of meeting more than 10 percent of our future energy needs, if our needs stay constant, than pursue the only dependable and low greenhouse gas emission source of large-scale power -- nuclear power.
Of course, natural gas, clean coal and oil can continue to power our homes and businesses for the next 100 years, but activists such as Gunter also try to limit our options in those areas too. Insane situations arise where China, Brazil and Venezuela will be drilling 45 miles off the coast of Florida in Cuban waters while we cannot drill near the same waters using likely safer and more environmentally friendly techniques. That leaves us with the moronic option to buy more of our oil from the likes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- if we say pretty please and he has pity on us.
Greenpeace co-founder and now former member Patrick Moore is a staunch pro-nuclear scientist who says many anti-nuclear activists cannot differentiate between nuclear weapons and nuclear power, and that such organizations have been overtaken by non-scientific types who use sound bites and rhetoric to pursue an obsolete agenda.
While nuclear power will not be an immediate panacea and is not free of complications, we should pursue it and all other types of alternate energy sources with vigor. The anti-nuclear power groups must be challenged and defeated if we are to have any chance of full energy independence within the next several generations.
-- Anne Marie Reilly, Thousand Oaks

Re: your July 19 Pulse page on healthcare reform:
Now that The Star has printed a full page supporting President Barack Obama's plans for healthcare, perhaps The Star would like to even the playing field with some facts against the proposals.
Allow me to begin the dialogue.
Private cost can be a problem for those not covered in the workplace. Change the Internal Revenue Service rules so that all healthcare is deductible, not just the costs above a certain percentage of income. For those with too little income to experience relief, give a tax credit.
The 46 million touted as being without insurance is a distortion. This figure includes those who can afford insurance but choose not to, young healthy adults who see no reason to enroll and illegal aliens. Whittled down, this leaves only about 12 million, and there are multiple solutions that do not include the creation of a gigantic bureaucracy to oversee a new entitlement.
I am amazed at writers who think the creation of a "public" plan can be accomplished economically and will not lead to a total government takeover. The government would be in a position to offer care more cheaply and cover the costs by rationing, running a deficit and/or raising taxes, all of which would be impossible for private insurers.
Nothing the government has ever done has cost less than the projected costs. Social Security is a Ponzi scheme in progress -- no money exists in the bank, just IOUs. Medicare, Medicaid and the new prescription drug plan are all in the red. So, will somebody please tell me why we should be entering into another drain on the taxpayer?
Oh, and let's not forget the trillions we have just added for stimulus bills I and II.
Obama lovers might not like the term "socialist." How about "statist," with everything under the control of the government? Or "fascist," with a coalition between business (banks) and government to control. They can take their pick. This is what they voted for. Unfortunately, the rest of us have to live with it.
-- Joyce B. Goetz, Thousand Oaks

The letters The Star is receiving in support of government healthcare reform are sincere, but I believe dangerously misguided.
The biggest problem is that we, the public, will not get to read the details of any plans under consideration. And we probably will not be able to. The bills will be voted on before full copies are available.
Take the stimulus bill. No members of Congress read that bill before it was voted on.
The House passed cap and trade. The bill was not even printed when the House voted on it. That was 1,000 pages of legislation unread.
President Barack Obama, during his campaign, assured us that the public would have five days to read legislation before passage. Not on your life. If the public had read these bills, they would have been incensed. That is why they have not, and will not, be available.
-- Robert E. Purbeck, Thousand Oaks

Re: Audra Strickland's July 19 article, "Genuine care means eliminating waste, fraud, abuse in government":
Poor Audra has been out in the Sacramento heat too much and cannot remember which political party she must be an advocate for full time.
I detect a real Democratic theme in this recent missive. Or maybe she has looked at the shifting political demographics for Ventura County and has concluded that she might have to run a more politically centered campaign next time. At any rate, she needs a reality check.
If Strickland wants to fund all the programs she mentioned for children and the poor that are in danger of being cut due to the state revenue shortfall, she needs more money than she can generate by eliminating a few board and commission positions with six-figure salaries. She needs more than one-shot ideas. She and the rest of her Republican colleagues need to propose a total budget that addresses the shortfall while meeting their party's stated priorities.
Through this entire shortfall eliminating process, all she and her party have done is say "no" to anything the Democrats propose. Strickland needs to give us a Republican-generated budget proposal that eliminates the shortfall and meets her party priorities. She needs to end the crisis with some innovation.
And, by the way, if memory serves correctly, it was the governor, Strickland's party standard-bearer, who recently filled a number of those vacant commission and board six-figure salary positions. I agree there are a number of these positions that are a waste and should be eliminated.
Again, if I recall correctly, the governor, when newly elected, promised to eliminate these wasteful positions. What happened?
As to fraud: If Strickland has identified fraud, she should take it to a prosecutor or the attorney general, but she should stop talking about it every time she writes something for the newspaper.
As to abuse: The only abuse I see is what Strickland, along with the rest of the Legislature and the governor, is doing to the citizens of California who elected her to represent us and provide us with good governance. All of them are truly abusing the trust we placed in them.
-- Jim Engel, Moorpark

Re: your July 19 article, "Scaled-back Sinaloa Park project to be offered soon":
The neighbors of the expansion project for Sinaloa Park are right to be concerned about extra noise and uses that may not be compatible with a residential neighborhood.
My husband and I live adjacent to a neighborhood park in Wood Ranch that has become a hangout for after-hours activity and noise. We have put up with many nights of revving engines and loud, partying young people into the early morning hours. The park has been vandalized numerous times by people who drive on the lawn and knock down park property.
Calls to the Rancho Simi Recreation and Parks District have done no good because solutions we have suggested, such as a nighttime gate and more patrols by park district personnel, are rejected as too expensive or unnecessary.
We objected to the small parking lot directly behind our home when the park was proposed, knowing it would be a problem, but it was built anyway for the parents of the local elementary school students to use when dropping off their children, despite the fact that the school has a large parking lot.
We call the police every time something happens, and some vandals have been caught, but the police can't be everywhere.
You would think that the district would be more concerned about illegal activity and vandalism of public property, but they seem not to care. Recently, we called the police when a large semi truck and trailer tried to use the park for an overnight stay, running his engine the whole time. The police ran him off, but we wonder what is next.
Beware Sinaloa neighbors: You will be the park district's guardians, too.
-- Jean Ruecker, Simi Valley

On Monday, I celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and mankind's first steps on its surface. I was a part of that mission. I worked for Rocketdyne, a division of North American Aviation, in Canoga Park. I was assigned to write the manuals and test procedures for the J-2 rocket engines used in the second and third stages of the mighty Saturn V rocket assembly.
All the Saturn engines were built in Canoga Park and tested in the Santa Susana Mountains before being shipped out for buildup in the Saturn configuration.
What a thrill for someone who grew up on Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, who read science fiction religiously (still do) and believed it was our destiny to go into space (still do), and who entered the United States Air Force in 1956 hoping to get assigned to the "man-in-space" program.
I didn't make it that far, but I was privileged to work on equipment that was in the top ranks of state-of-the-art technology. I was just east of the White Sands missile range, where Wernher von Braun and others experimented with the remaining captured V-2 rockets from Adolf Hitler's Germany.
I was privileged to see the walking shell of a man who was Col. John Stapp, a man who gave his all to the man-in-space program as a rider on the high-G-force rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, where I was stationed.
It was a grand time to be young, to have the opportunities to learn and to apply that learning to such important programs.
I raise my glass to toast Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and everyone who helped open the doorway to the stars. If only we could open that door again, permanently.
-- Vince Nowell Sr., Simi Valley

An American Idol only needs to be a runner-up to get a special day with a parade at their hometown.
We have a young man, Zac Sunderland, who at the age of 17 has returned home safely after sailing around the world. He will be in the history books. What more does a person have to do to get fanfare in their hometown of Thousand Oaks? Die of a drug overdose?
-- Theresa Schultz, Thousand Oaks

Re: your July 1 article, "Drivers ignoring message on phones":
Unfortunately, I see just as many drivers using cell phones as before the law was passed in an attempt to prevent such a dangerous practice. The reason is quite simple: A fine of $20 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses is not going to stop anything. It is actually costing the taxpayer more than that to even process the ticket.
The penalty should be something that will make people actually conform with the law -- for example, a $500 fine for the first offense; a fine of $1,000 for the second offense and a loss of license for the third. If this does not make offenders get the word, then they are too stupid to be driving in the first place.
-- James Daeschner, Ventura

In 1964, I registered as a Republican and voted for Barry Goldwater. Then, neither major party was ideological: Both argued that government existed to protect and to help our people. The Democrats argued that it should be done on a national scale by the federal government; the GOP argued that such social programs should start with and be administered by the states or local governments.
I chose the GOP and was in sync with Everett Dirksen, Howard Baker, George Romney and Charles Percy.
Each party had its crazies. The GOP had the John Birch Society in the West, and the Democrats had people like George Wallace and Orval Faubus in the South. Yet neither party was ideological. Each party was a "big tent" that could house liberals, moderates and conservatives. We all got along and supported pragmatic politicians.
In the 1990s, the GOP changed. It became ideological, adopting the selfishness of Ayn Rand and the religious fundamentalism of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. It became two parties, which it still is. The current message of the majority of the GOP is clear: Those who have must keep; those who do not have, too bad. That applies to both federal help as well as state help. To the minority of the GOP, accept or get lost! Greed is good!
Traditional Republicans would agree that government exists to help people do what they cannot do themselves, whether because of health, wealth, weather or loss of job. The only issue should be whether such help should be from the federal government or from the state or local government. The current GOP believes that there should be no help from anywhere because help must be paid from taxes.
That is why I cannot be a Republican.
-- Raymond Greenberg, Thousand Oaks

I wanted to write in regard to the recent sting operations that have been taking place at the crosswalk on Heather and Cochran streets in Simi Valley.
From what I have observed, the Police Department has a female officer intentionally walk across Cochran during busy traffic hours, while officers on motorcycles wait to catch and pass out tickets to anyone who does not slow down. This, I believe, is unsafe and unfair.
The officer crossing the street not only threatens her life, but the life of the drivers. Due to the nature of the street -- the speed limit being 45 miles per hour, and Cochran being a four-lane street -- it is difficult for a driver to see a pedestrian in time to actually slow down and stop. Even if the driver does see the pedestrian and slows down, he could get rear-ended by the car behind him.
My dad has experienced, many times, stopping in the left-turn lane from Cochran onto Heather, when a pedestrian has started to cross the street. As the person nears our car turning left, they are completely blocked from the view of oncoming cars going west in the two right lanes on Cochran. Even when the eastbound cars see the pedestrian and slow down, we have witnessed many times the danger for pedestrians due to this blind spot from left-turning vehicles, as well as the sun setting in the afternoons adding to the difficulty in seeing pedestrians.
If the city really wants to make the crosswalk safe, they should install a crosswalk light.
It is unfair to citizens to hold repeated sting operations when the conditions on Cochran make it difficult to see pedestrians and safely stop. Considering the way the economy is currently, people cannot afford tickets. The Police Department should be more considerate to us civilians.
-- Christian Corralejo, Simi Valley

Re: Ruben Navarrette's July 2 essay, "Judicial activism? You bet":
Navarrette's perpetual pro-Hispanic agenda is really getting boring.
Navarrette supports the activist Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, and is pro-amnesty for illegal aliens. He generalizes about reverse discrimination based on his dishonest obfuscation of the facts in the New Haven, Conn., action, Ricci v. DeStefano, by the Supreme Court. The case has nothing to do with Princeton, and there was no "disparate impact" on minorities.
Navarrette twists the truth. The facts are very specific, and Navarrette's ranting doesn't change the facts. The decision was based not on a historic pass rate, as Navarrette argues, but on the specifics of one particular exam. White firefighters were denied promotion because Sotomayor upheld the lower court's decision, based on the fear of a potential lawsuit by black firefighters who did not pass the exam.
Sotomayor is not the sharpest pencil in the drawer -- by her own admission.
Standards should not be lowered to accommodate the less-qualified. I believe that fair-minded Americans would agree with the Supreme Court's decision.
If and when I need the services of our firefighters, I want to be assured that they are the best qualified, both mentally and physically, and I don't care what color they are.
The Star might save space on the Opinion page when it feels compelled to publish Navarrette's opinions. Just print his photo, name and subject -- no more -- and leave a couple of blank lines for the readers to fill in the expected Navarrette drivel.
-- Bill Gourlay, Westlake Village

My dad is 84. He's very spry, but he's getting on in years.
A couple of weeks ago he was playing with his grandchildren at The Lakes mall on Thousand Oaks Boulevard. They were on the grassy area in front of Ben and Jerry's, and he was trying to catch a ball. He tripped and fell flat on his back and broke his wrist in two places.
This was at 4 p.m., and there were a lot of people in front of Ben and Jerry's and just wandering about. My niece and nephew are under 10 years old, and they ran to him, realizing he was hurt.
While this was going on, at least four adults walked by, paid no attention and didn't ask the children or my father if they needed any help.
When I heard this, I was appalled by the lack of concern these people showed for an old man lying flat on his back with a broken wrist. This is not something I would think could happen in our community. The people who just walked by should be ashamed.
-- Karen Morton, Newbury Park

Re: your July 1 article, "Drivers ignoring message on phones":
I also have seen an increase of cell-phone use while driving. Unfortunately, until the citation has a bigger impact on the offending drivers, they will continue to try and get away with it.
How about revising the hands-free cell-phone law as follows:
First offense: a fine and seizure of the cell phone for 24 hours. The cell phone would be retrieved from the law enforcement office that issued the citation.
Second offense: an additional fine plus seizure of the cell phone for 48 hours. Again, the cell phone can be retrieved from the law enforcement office that issued the citation.
Third offense: an additional fine plus seizure of the cell phone for 72 hours, and the cell phone can be retrieved from the law enforcement office that issued the citation.
In the case of drivers under the age of 18, their parents would have to go to the law enforcement office and retrieve the cell phone and pay the fine.
I am sure any driver would think twice before using their phones while driving. In today's society, it seems people cannot do without their cell phones, so this may deter many from using or thinking of using their phones while driving.
-- Yolanda H. Lickson, Simi Valley

The U.S. Supreme Court, in its now common ruling of 5 to 4 -- the five being the well-known conservatives on the bench -- has ruled that someone convicted under old DNA technology, or before the technology was even available, cannot request new testing.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: The availability of conclusive DNA testing "cannot mean that every criminal conviction, or even every criminal conviction involving biological evidence, is suddenly in doubt."
But wouldn't we want to know if the correct person is sitting in jail and use every resource at our disposal, being a democracy and a nation that respects and honors the rule of law? Wasn't that the intent of the development of DNA testing since eyewitness testimony has proven so many times to be flawed if not complete lies?
Another ruling that is disturbing, and again was the usual 5-to-4, now puts the burden of proof on an older worker to prove he or she was fired for age, not the other way around where the employer had to prove that the firing was not due to the worker's age. Now it will be easy for an employer to simply get rid of someone because they are older, and "older" will be completely up to the interpretation of the employer. This ruling is particularly egregious as so many baby boomers are approaching retirement age, and many can't retire due to the state of our economy. What a better way to help employers not have to pay pensions! They will simply fire the person before they are eligible.
This country and its compassionate nature, as well as its longstanding adherence to the rule of law, has been very good to these gentlemen. They have a good paying job for life, if they want it, plus that job brings them the best healthcare in the world for the rest of their lives.
It is very hard to understand where these justices are coming from when only five people make these cruel decisions for the rest of us -- and we number in the millions, growing each day.
-- Carolyn Crandall, Camarillo

Re: Elton Gallegly's June 14 commentary, "Selling U.S. to China":
For years now, U.S. Rep. Gallegly, along with members of both the House and Senate, sat back and watched the United States sell itself to China by allowing China to buy up U.S. Treasury bonds instead of forming a prudent tax-and-spend policy that provides a balanced budget along with an adequate supply of social, educational and civil services.
Gallegly cries wolf over the common practice of inserting provisions into must-pass legislation, which was common practice for former President George Bush, Gallegly and congressional Republicans. This was done as recently as the credit reform act, which contained a gun law that allows an individual to bring a loaded gun into a wildlife refuge. What does a gun law have to do with credit reform? Nothing!
This is hypocrisy at its very worst.
With the myriad of issues facing our nation right now, Gallegly wastes our tax dollars by childishly pointing out what all members of his party do, himself included: adding provisions to must-pass legislation.
The actions in the Senate, with President Barack Obama inserting such provisions, is not what I support. Gallegly is living in a glass house and should not be throwing stones.
Gallegly attempts to move the blame for our economic crisis with childish complaints about Obama's actions, while he did nothing to fix General Motors or create more economic stability.
The addition of the International Monetary Fund provision was an educated one and is in no way anti-American.
The actions of Obama is not politics at its worst, is is politics. Gallegly failing on so many levels is politics at its worst.
-- Christopher James Grant, Ojai

We were all captivated by the images of our president and commander in chief nailing a pesky fly within the White House.
One can't help but speculate about the fly. Was it a spy fly, conceived by the North Koreans? Was it a science experiment fly that the first daughters accidentally let loose? Was it the proverbial fly on the wall that just wandered into the White House to see what was happening?
We'll never know. The quick reflexes of our fearless leader rendered the hapless fly into a motionless black speck on the otherwise spotless carpet, disposed of by one of the minions whose job it is to dispose of flies.
End of story? Oh no! The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has suggested that the president should have used some device, known only to PETA fans, that would have trapped the fly for subsequent release out of doors.
How interesting.
We have horses on our property, and the flies, like stars in the sky, are far too numerous to count. Should PETA provide this magical device so I can release the flies out of doors? But they are already out of doors. We do trap them, with sticky tapes and fly traps, and we even use special diet supplements -- for the horses -- so they don't breed in the first place. But apparently I would offend the good people of PETA by destroying these creatures that, frankly, bug me.
I have contemplated the economic consequences of letting flies run -- or, should I say, fly -- loose. Imagine all the workers who make fly swatters suddenly as unemployed as the buggy whip makers of long ago. There are of course, all the people who make fly traps, sticky tapes and numerous potions to keep the fly population somewhat under control.
I think our president contemplated all of this as he carefully eyeballed that fly before striking a blow for free enterprise, my hero.
-- Robert Dempster, Camarillo

Summertime is here, school is out, and some folks feel the "need for speed," racing on our streets.
It is so sad that a young man lost his life in a street race on Victoria Avenue on June 20. He did not think it would be his last day alive when engaging in a race with a Corvette. Apparently he could not stop in time for a red light at Avocet Drive and crashed into an SUV, dying later that night at the hospital. I wish to extend my condolences to his family at this sad time.
My husband and I live within earshot of the crash scene, and Victoria Avenue between Moon Drive and Telephone Road seems to bring out the speed racer in many people. I hear it at all hours of the day and night. Sometimes I hear the crashes too, and I say a little prayer for whoever was injured in such a dangerous act of thrill-seeking.
I wonder if our community can utilize the Volunteers in Policing to set up frequent monitoring -- perhaps with camcorders -- and immediate reporting to the Ventura Police Department, which can then begin to arrest those who engage in this dangerous practice before anyone else loses their life.
As a facilitator of First Offender DUI classes in Santa Barbara, I let the students know how severe Santa Barbara courts deal out legal, financial and criminal consequences for those who drink and get behind the wheel to drive. I do not know whether alcohol played a part in this fatal accident, but I do know that even small amounts of alcohol can reduce judgment, reasoning and the ability to resist such a challenge on our streets.
Let's send a message that we care about all our community members and use the Volunteers in Policing to hold the speeders accountable and keep our streets safe for all.
It is my hope that no other drivers need lose their life to a street race on Victoria Avenue or in our community as a whole.
-- Anne Bauman-Chavez, Ventura

Re: your June 14 article, "101-Olivas Park roadway edges forward":
I read the article on the proposed extension of Olivas Park Road to Highway 101 with great interest. It is always good to hear that someone in government had a good idea, and this one is very good. It would ease traffic congestion and put some undeveloped land to good use.
But I think this deal could be worked to alleviate another issue that is facing our city: the issue of what to do with Wal-Mart.
The article stated that there could be some added commercial development of the area, which is another good idea because the city can use the tax money they would bring in.
My idea is for the city to contact Wal-Mart and ask them if they would want to build there, where they would be nearer the freeway and would probably have enough room for a superstore instead of building on an overcrowded street in the heart of town.
The city could even work out some type of land swap, where the city would get the old Kmart location to do with as they please. Perhaps the city could redevelop that area in coordination with the planned makeover of Victoria Avenue. I am thinking of a small park -- call it Victoria Gardens? -- with small shops interspersed. Starbucks would probably stake out a site.
Believe me, I am no fan of Wal-Mart for a number of reasons. But with the economy the way it is, any company that is offering to bring in jobs -- and many people would love to work for them or anyone else -- and tax revenue should be welcome in our town.
Wal-Mart also sells products at very reasonable prices, so all of the city's hard-working families would benefit from having the store nearby.
-- John Darling, Ventura

I am ashamed of California. I am ashamed it has taken me this long to protest what I consider the least moral, most egregious assault on those with the least power and the most to lose.
The governor's slashing of programs, all aimed at poor families, along with his rigid stance on taxes and the sacrosanct stance on Proposition 13, are surely not representative of an America that celebrates taking in the downtrodden, the poor and the disenfranchised. Putting the burden on the backs of the disabled and poor shows just who the spineless are among us.
The governor worries about businesses and corporate interests leaving our state if they are unduly taxed. Where will they be when they are the only ones left with no consumers for their goods?
I feel like our legislators have regressed to children fighting on the playground, and there are no teachers left to make them play fair because the rational educated middle classes have already been sacrificed.
I am a mother of a young adult with cystic fibrosis, the mother of a teacher, the wife of a practicing physician who happens to be a paraplegic. I am an occupational therapist who is substitute teaching in the Ojai Unified School District. I am a member of the human race who feels disgraced and horrified that we can "turn the other cheek," not to forgive, but to look away from the human trash heap we are creating with such thoughtless policies, only to fatten the coffers of those who thrive on that trash heap!
-- Marlene Schick, Oak View

Re: your June 29 article, "City manager cancels holiday fireworks":
On Monday there was a small article in the "In brief" section about the City of Santa Paula's decision not to have a fireworks display in celebration of the Fourth of July. Evidently this decision has nothing to do with finances but is some type of sympathy gesture for the employees the city had to lay off.
Let me see if I have this right. By not celebrating our Independence Day, the city is somehow making the unemployed feel better? By taking away a long-standing tradition and a free show, the city is helping the unemployed enjoy the holiday weekend and making it better for them?
People ask: What has happened to America? Where are the country's traditions, heritage and values? The actions of the City of Santa Paula speak volumes. It is deplorable that the city -- particularly with our troops deployed -- would choose to cancel this celebration. Shame on it.
-- Gene Dunn, Ventura

Shortly after the Northridge earthquake, my wife and I took a driving trip to San Francisco, going up Interstate 5 and returning on Highway 101. At nearly every bridge overpass were a series of three signs in each direction. These signs read "Earthquake retrofit," "Construction zone" and another had an image of a bridge. I can understand the construction zone sign, but rarely did we actually see anyone doing any work on the site.
What really struck me was they added hundreds of thousands of dollars to the overall project, just to let me know what they were doing. Did I really need to know that badly? How about holding a news conference and announcing the project and when it is expected to be completed?
More recently, I was doing some work for a local government agency, and the state wanted us to use a specific set of folders so that the report was organized in a manner they were familiar with when they came to do an inspection. I've got no problem with them providing folders that simplify their job, especially when it is free to the local agency. The issue was that the sender had included a business card (again, OK), but this card was inside a nicely embossed cardholder that had the state agency's seal.
I've been asked before why I sweat the small stuff. My answer has always been, "Because when you pay attention to the details, the big issues generally take care of themselves."
Cutting costs has to start somewhere, and our legislators in Sacramento -- and Washington, D.C. -- don't seem to be able to tighten their purse strings. It is time we started demanding accountability and put partisan politics and personal gain aside.
-- Gary Marshall, Santa Paula

Re: Carla Bonney's June 30 commentary, "Why I'm taking to the streets on the Fourth of July":
Where was Bonney last Fourth of July?
I bet she was home counting her money, savoring what then-President George Bush and the Republicans had done for her country during the previous seven years and hoping that the trend of the rich get richer would continue after Sarah Palin's inauguration.
Yes, Carla, there is a Santa Claus. But he won't be marching with you in this Fourth of July tea party parade. No, he'll be busy trying to fix the economic and global mess that your heroes left us. He'll be trying to deal with the disaster that's befallen California as a result of the minority holding the majority hostage. He'll be shooting off fireworks on the White House lawn, celebrating a president who does something about those less fortunate than Bonney and me -- who thinks that world domination isn't such a hot thing while global warming, stem cell research, market regulation, women's rights and jobs are.
But you go ahead and march, Carla. There will be plenty of room.
-- Fred Rothenberg, Ojai

So six bloody years after we invaded, we are vacating this violent scene.
Coincidentally, of course, the installed Iraqi government just opened the country's huge oil reserves to foreign investors under really favorable terms. Under Saddam Hussein, the oil was nationalized.
Mission accomplished, indeed.
-- Margaret Morris, Ventura

"'You vote for revenue and your career is over.' I don't know why we allow that kind of terrorism to exist. I guess it's about free speech, but it's extremely unfair." -- Liberal tax-and-spend House Speaker Karen Bass.
Bass has the whole world already laughing -- or crying -- about her "legislation," bankrupting the eighth largest economy in the world, bigger than hundreds of other countries. I am ashamed that such a large and great body politic has such a mental midget in a position of power and responsibility and that she has so humbled the state, the Legislature and herself in the process.
Stopping fools like her through legitimate political activity is not "terrorism." I can see how such soft-headed thinking got our late, great state in so much trouble. Could it be that the La Raza folks are right after all and that they should take California back?
Maybe Bass has it backwards and the government is actually -- economically and politically -- "terrorizing" the people, whom they are supposed to be working for.
When you vote for so much revenue that economic activity is severely curtailed, then you pile absurd regulation and hostility to business on top of that, then increase spending $20, $30, $40 billion above all that, then, yes, your career should be over.
I won't call Bass "speaker" until she shows some respect for the taxpayers.
Come to our Ventura Tea Party on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Ventura County Government Center and see what terrorists we are.
-- George Miller, Oxnard

As the author of "Poor Richard's TIPS from the Great Depression," I particularly appreciate The Star's tips about careful shopping and wise use of resources.
Because I tend to buy extra of bargain-items we expect to need, we try to keep an eye on the use-by dates. To make that information more visible, my wife, Anita, recently started writing the dates with a black and bold Sharpie on the more-visible sides of the jar, can or package.
If we have overstocked, we donate to the food-service program at our church, or we pass along bargain items that exceed the needs of the two of us.
-- Richard Londgren, Thousand Oaks

The national debt under President Jimmy Carter was $1 trillion. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush increased it to $4 trillion, Bill Clinton to $5.7 trillion, and George W. Bush to $10.7 trillion. Hence, 75 percent of the red ink in the entire history of this nation was run up by three Republican presidents in 20 years. That's quite a feat.
The national debt now stands at $11.36 trillion. Most of this $0.66 trillion increase was spent to clean up the global economic meltdown brought on by Republican ideology. It's peanuts compared to Republican spending. Clinton actually paid down national debt. He produced budget surpluses. No Republican has ever done this. And thanks to fiscally irresponsible Republicans, China has this country by the throat.
Please, teabaggers, get a clue! Hold your silly tea parties outside State Sen. Tony Strickland's offices. Ask Republicans to tax us more. The red ink was run up because we're not taxed enough.
-- Raymond Freeman, Thousand Oaks

Re: your June 27 article, "Coyotes blocked out, says resident":
On behalf of University Village Thousand Oaks retirement community, I would like to correct some misunderstanding regarding the wildlife corridors on our campus and our commitment to wildlife, including coyotes.
During the planning process, University Village worked closely with the Thousand Oaks senior environmental planner, Greg Smith, and the Department of Fish and Game to maintain multiple pathways for wildlife.
Contrary to local resident Mary Troness' concern, our community does not have a wrought iron fence that prevents wildlife travel. There is a significant gap in the fence on the western portion of the property, as well as a wildlife pass-through in another portion of the western fence. We also deliberately built a portion of the northern fence line as a split rail fence with wider gaps between the rails and under the fence to facilitate wildlife travel.
Throughout construction, our community focused on preserving the wildlife that surrounds and integrates with our campus, including spending more than $50,000 with wildlife biologists who monitored the old red-tailed hawk nest that used to sit high in a tree adjacent to the property.
On any given night, one can hear many coyotes on the property, and it is not uncommon to see one walking in the dedicated open space or streets inside our 65-acre campus.
I will make myself available to tour Troness around University Village so that she can see the fence design and hear and see the local coyotes on campus during the night. I would expect to also see myriad other wildlife on campus, including deer, hawks and even ducks (Star article "'Peabody Hotel West' at University Village" June 3, 2009). This should clear up the misunderstanding about our fence and illustrate the wildlife corridor that has been preserved.
-- Warren Spieker, Thousand Oaks
(The writer is vice president of University Village. -- Editor)

Re: your July 1 article, "GOP's Coleman concedes, sending Franken to Senate":
The Star reported that Minnesota has elected a clown to the U.S. Senate. Never fear, Minnesota: California has had a clown for a U.S. senator for as long as I can remember, and look how great things are here in the Golden State.
-- Mike Kohl, Simi Valley

Re: your June 28 article, "Westlake orders pot shop to close":
Proposition 215 passed in Ventura County with a 52 percent majority, and Proposition 215 undoubtedly has more support today. The strong public support for medical marijuana makes the hardline attitudes of the Westlake Village City Council against medical marijuana dispensaries difficult to understand. It appears that they are allowing minority anti-marijuana voices in the community to overrule the will of the public.
Anyone who upholds this lunacy does not deserve to hold public office.
-- Ralph Givens, Daly City

President John F. Kennedy, 1961: Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.
President Barack Obama, 2009: Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country can do for you.
-- Thurlow Partridge, Simi Valley

It occurs to me that the feds could increase revenue rather quickly by creating and selling commemorative Michael Jackson postage stamps.
-- Bill Gourlay, Westlake Village