Saving the U.S. economy; immigration reform; a one-way trip to Mars

It’s the economy

Re “Can the economy be saved?” Opinion, Nov. 14

The conservatives say cut taxes and regulations. The progressives say invest in education, technology and infrastructure using targeted taxes and incentives. This tactical debate is insufficient because it does not address a fundamental structural problem.

For our economy to be healthy, people need jobs to get money to buy stuff. There are not enough jobs because many have been exported to countries with lower labor costs and fewer regulations. The mega-corporations leading the economy follow profit and have no fundamental loyalty to people or nations.

High unemployment will persist because profits are tied to job elimination, not job creation. We as a nation need to eliminate this fundamental flaw if we want to create prosperity for our citizens.

John D. Kelley

Santa Barbara

I am no economist, bu I have long felt that banks’ reluctance to extend credit and hang on to a trillion dollars in reserves is a significant factor in keeping our unemployment high. This was referred to in different ways and degrees in five of the eight opinions by experts on Sunday’s Op-Ed page.

Small businesses need to have access to credit to keep their doors open. But the focus seems to be elsewhere, on tax cuts, rebates, more stimulus and bond issues. I just don’t get it.

Marty Wilson

Whittier

Let Congress start the ball rolling on fixing the economy by requiring its members to take a pay cut, reduce their staffs accordingly, eliminate their medical coverage, eliminate junkets and earmarks and cut vacations to two weeks per year.

Maybe when they feel the pain many of us are experiencing, they just might get the message and come up with solutions.

Frank Holmes

Torrance

I’m appalled that John H. Cochrane, a professor of finance, would parrot the Republican nonsense about how reducing taxes will result in increased hiring.

I was president of a 30-person engineering firm for 30 years. We had our ups and downs; however, our discussions over whether to hire someone never included anything about taxes or healthcare but did include everything about our project backlog. A government stimulus to fund infrastructure projects, like improving our country’s Internet backbone, would have helped our project backlog.

I can’t imagine why it would be different for any other firm, small or large.

Harvey H. Liss

Irvine

Of course the economy can be saved. The real question is will the economy be saved. Most certainly, borrowing money from China and other countries to provide tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires will prevent this from happening.

The past eight years and the near collapse of our economy have exposed the trickle-down theory as a myth. It’s time to try “trickle up.”

Scott Trimingham

Torrance

Immigration semantics

Re “Alienating Latinos,” Editorial, Nov. 15

The Times writes: “Pushing the divisive ‘anchor babies’ rhetoric is no road to immigration reform and will only make Latino voters more suspicious of the GOP motives than they have already become.”

That’s a strange statement on your part. I am an American citizen of Latino heritage, and I am very pleased with the GOP taking an aggressive stand against the invasion from south of our border.

Of course if one is an illegal alien, one doesn’t like the term anchor baby. But illegal immigrants don’t vote. Moreover, why would American citizens of Latino heritage welcome illegal immigration?

We don’t need immigration reform. We need immigration enforcement.

Haydee Pavia

Laguna Woods

Once again The Times tars those who want to stem the rising tide of illegal immigration with the old reliable “anti-immigrant” label.

The noble intentions of the14th Amendment are being corrupted so that lawbreakers can increase their numbers and power in this country. If the GOP must fear coercion from these groups if it attempts to redress this loophole, then lawlessness rules the day.

William Ethan

Los Angeles

Preparing better teachers

Re “Training better teachers,” Opinion, Nov. 16

This is a good article on teacher training programs, but there is a much more important issue. As I proposed in Science magazine last September, the main problem is that the U.S. does not attract the best college students to go into teaching careers.

South Korea has a starting teacher salary equal to 141% of the country’s per capita GDP, while the U.S. has a starting teacher salary of only 81% of per capita GDP.

Right now the U.S. does not have the political will to substantially raise teacher salaries, which would raise the prestige of the career. The salaries should be on par with physicians and lawyers. Teaching is much more important to the nation.

We will continue down the road toward uncompetitive K-12 education that threatens national security, health and welfare. We are already an international K-12 education basket case.

Steven B. Oppenheimer

Northridge

Speaking as a teacher, I was generally impressed with Camille Esch’s Op-Ed article.

I do take issue with one point. Esch claims that “meaningful measures of success” need to be tracked, including “information about whether graduates actually get (and keep) teaching jobs.”

Given our state’s inability to properly fund schools, I find it hard to believe that keeping a teaching job is an indicator of a credential program’s success. Last year thousands of qualified and passionate teachers were laid off (including myself) based solely on seniority.

A better measure of a program’s success might to be count how many graduates actually stay in the field of education as teachers or administrators, rather than burn out or lose hope in this failed system for which they were inadequately prepared.

Andrew L. Kubasek

Santa Ana

Red Planet rendezvous

Re “One-way may be best way to Mars,” Nov. 16

I can’t believe we are so afraid of losing men going to Mars. How many men did Columbus or Magellan lose? How many people died going to the North or South poles?

Surely thousands of people would be willing to go to Mars knowing it was a one-way trip. You could easily find people qualified to take the journey.

Let’s go to Mars!

Dennis Kruse

Simi Valley

I was intrigued to read that scientists have calculated that planning one-way missions to Mars would reduce mission costs by 80%.

If we were to thoughtfully select the Mars colonists from our available pool of leaders, we could save much more than that.

Howard R. Krauss

Los Angeles

Gun victim

Re “Publicist’s killing stuns Hollywood,” Nov. 17

Amid the disbelief about the slaying of publicist Ronni Chasen, we must not lose sight of the fact that multiple gunshots virtually assured her death.

Modern gun technology has simply become too lethal for Americans to continue their lackadaisical approach to the absence of even the most basic gun laws.

Ironically, California is far from being as Wild West about guns as neighboring states such as Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, to name but three of the worst offenders.

Concerned readers should check in with the website Tracethegun.org, organized by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and should consider involving themselves in the flagging gun control movement in the United States.

Civilians armed with paramilitary weapons are the royal road to a chaotic society, as the streets of northern Mexico most graphically demonstrate.

Ron Charach

Toronto

Eyeing raccoons

Re “A different species of street gang,” Nov. 14

Forget Muslim terrorists; the real problem now is raccoon terrorists.

The Times tells us about the takeover of Alameda by roaming gangs of raccoons who will take on any patriotic, brave dog that stumbles into their strongholds. My own front lawn here in Southern California is in harm’s way and has been viciously attacked by these radicals.

If you see one, report it to the Homeland Security office, but be careful to stay away from species profiling.

Lora Dunph

Harbor City