FREE-SPOKEN

Shearer contends that the private sector has failed this country, but nothing is further from the truth.

When I spend my money at the supermarket for “fresh produce from every time zone,” I get what I pay for. On the other hand, it’s hard to determine what I’m getting for the 50% of my income that goes toward federal, state and local taxes, but I do know it’s much less than what I put in. Time and again, it has been proven that government is the most inefficient system for disbursing services or goods. The public sector isn’t “starving,” it just wastes so much money on bureaucracy that there is none left to provide what society needs.

BRENT D. THARP

Los Angeles