‘Shot in the Foot by Prop. 103’
In his Op-Ed column “Shot in the Foot by Prop. 103” (Nov. 16), Benjamin Zycher blasts Ralph Nader (“the Pied Piper of government coercion”) and the voters of California for passing a measure which is merely “a system of price controls.” Which of course (a) do not work, (b) are not “fair,” (c) are unconstitutional.
Do we not have (though we are gradually losing) government control of prices charged by utility suppliers and telephone companies? Are they not required to show just cause (sometimes just any cause) for rate increases? Waving the awful image of the Soviet Union, and pouring acid criticism on Nader, who has proven himself to be a selfless champion of good causes, do not convince me of Zycher’s accuracy.
My confidence in his impartiality is not helped by the memory of a column he wrote, “On Behalf of Tax Loopholes” (Op-Ed, Feb. 20, 1985), which lauded these tax benefits as a means to keep money away from greedy government.
HARRY SIMMONS
Laguna Niguel
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