From the Los Angeles Times

Letters to the editor

April 24, 2008

The candidates continue to battle

Re "Good night, not goodbye for Clinton," April 23

Two months ago, there was a good deal of decrying: The Democratic race would be decided by the end of February, unfairly shutting out most Democrats. Now, two months later, there's still a good deal of decrying: Voters are still weighing the candidates and having their say. The one selected will end up stronger for having to address a significant burden -- race or gender -- that had been previously minimized. He or she will then face a candidate laboring under two distinct burdens: advanced age and George W. Bush.

Scott Dickerson

Los Alamitos

Hillary Rodham Clinton's voters are the high school educated, union workers, elderly and women, and she benefits from the Democrats' party machine. Barack Obama's voters are the young or the new to the party, college educated, more affluent and minorities, and he benefits from grass-roots appeal. One raises money through wealthy individual donors, the other through large numbers of small donors. There is an old and a new angle to this, similar to an old and new America, and the new America lies ahead ready to be defined by a new champion.

The outcome will promote a candidate in the general election who represents either a new era or a return to the self-comforting, self-congratulating path.

Mark Papas

Los Angeles

People complain that Clinton will do anything it takes to win, as if that's a negative trait. She's exactly the candidate Democrats need to go up against the Republicans, who keep the middle and lower classes getting the short end of the stick. We're not electing a PTA president. We finally have the chance for a tough, savvy leader. Let's not blow it.

Melanie Rothschild

Topanga

Now Clinton wins Pennsylvania. So now we are going to see an even worse fight between her and Obama. As an independent voter, I am becoming so sick of this overextended bloodletting that I will either not vote this November or vote for John McCain. Leave it to the Democrats to destroy themselves.

Dan Morin

West Hollywood

Quick! Stop her! Force her out before she wins again!

Larry Margo

Valley Village

A win-win bill, eventually

Re "401(k) clarity," editorial, April 21

I agree with the Senate bill requiring that all fees incurred in a 401(k) plan be detailed so that the buyer can compare plans and make an informed choice. It's sad that the government has to step in to require the sellers to notify consumers just how much of their hard-earned money goes to fees and costs.

I would think making this disclosure would stir up competition among the financial houses, encouraging them to develop a good product that would attract investors. It also would help to eliminate the doublespeak the selling agents use to explain the fee requirements. One would expect opposition from the companies that sell these investment plans, but in the long run, they will benefit from this bill.

Samuel Monaco

Bloomfield, N.J.

Where can motorists turn?

Re "Gas price hikes ahead," April 22

So, gas is going to be $4 a gallon, but there are no boycotts or picket signs at gas stations and consumers are still buying gas. Is that a signal we don't care or that gas to get to work ranks as a huge necessity?

I'm making my trips short and trying to get another vehicle that goes farther on less -- kind of like my paychecks. Besides, who should we boycott or picket? The gas stations still in business are little guys caught in the crunch too. It's not that Americans are lethargic but hopeful, waiting for the election. But I'm afraid, going by what I hear, the politicians' solutions will be snowballs thrown at a blast furnace as the war drags on and on.

In this huge economy, where do I go to protest the lack of urgency on the part of elected representatives and their corporate supporters?

Suvan Geer

Santa Ana

Covering the cost of educating kids

Re "Tapped, schools turn to parents," April 20

We are witnessing the beginning of privatization of the public schools. Wealthy parents will reach into their pockets to help finance their children's schools, but schools in low-income neighborhoods will have even fewer resources than they have this year, and many of those children will receive a less-enriched education and negatively affect California's economy for decades to come.

Wendell H. Jones

Ojai

This is a sad commentary, and as a father of a schoolteacher and grandfather of three children attending or about to attend public schools, I am concerned with the impact that the pending budget cuts will create. However, I note with some cynicism The Times mentioning Proposition 13 as having "dramatically reduced school finances." Proposition 13 was a voter mandate for fiscal responsibility on the part of the California government. We blame Proposition 13, when in fact the real blame should be focused on the Legislature, which has had many opportunities to align budget resources, including a golden opportunity during the windfall years of the late 1990s. Instead, the legislators blew this opportunity, and now we face an overwhelming crisis that endangers the future of quality education in our state.

John Davidson

San Juan Capistrano

It's disheartening that parents (and even some teachers) are being asked to donate $400 per child to keep class sizes lower. Instead of writing checks, they should be writing letters to the governor and state legislators to request proper funding for our schools. These legislators are responsible for the budget deficit, and they control school funding. That $400 may cover this year, but next year it may be $600, and what about the years after that? As long as parents bail out the schools, it takes the heat off Sacramento, and our children will never be provided with adequate funding for their education.

Angela Morgan

Dana Point

Immigration enforcement

Re "Should cops be la migra?" Opinion, April 20

It is about time the immigration laws were enforced and those who are stealing not only jobs and benefits but the identity of American citizens are prosecuted and deported. It is time to have compassion for American victims. They shouldn't have to pay for people who have no respect for our country or laws and came here to make more money at our expense. We can't afford this anymore.

Katie Schaeffer

Laguna Hills

National surveys, research and statistical data are peculiar beasts. The danger of manipulated, as well as exclusionary, research is obvious. It becomes propaganda disguised as scholarly work. I'm not criticizing Monica Varsanyi's work or her motives. But I trust that she and her colleagues are not particularly familiar with law enforcement, which lives in the street and not in executive offices. And therein lies the weakness in her conclusions. Polling police chiefs and sheriffs concerning the impact of social policy is tantamount to requesting Hillary Clinton's opinion of maple syrup in Vermont. With few exceptions, you will likely get political answers based on job retention.

To study issues that affect cops' ability to function, don't go any higher than a first-line supervisor. Beyond that, the stench of diplomatic deference begins diluting the response. Street cops see far more of the big picture, and they don't need to coat it in political icing to remain relevant and employed.

Dan Milchovich

Covina

The writer is a retired captain with the Inglewood Police Department.

Republicans need image makeover

Re "Making the GOP an electable brand," column, April 21

It is true that the Republican Party needs a makeover. It is not relevant to the majority of Californians leaning toward the Democratic Party winning veto-resistant majorities in November.

Yes, it's a positive move that leading reformers in the Republican Party want to help build a leading farm team of GOP candidates to run statewide. But, as a party, it needs to help get state and local candidates to help change the party's image in future elections in order to have those leaders for statewide offices.

Such leaders as Assemblyman Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) and state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) and Sen. Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) may be correct about fiscal policy and restoring our state to good fiscal health, but the party's reputation for intolerance does harm to their fiscal message, which will fall on deaf ears. As long as we are socially inclusive and fiscally responsible, the Republican Party will become relevant again.

Matt Munson

Ontario