Dole Thwarting Clinton Proposals

* Ed Gamble’s cartoon portraying Sen. Bob Dole as a self-serving naysayer to all Clinton-proposed legislation (Drawingboard, Aug. 16) capsulized the hypocrisy of the Senate minority leader and his cohorts. What concerns me is that Dole and his kind--those who are blocking the President’s agenda regardless of its merit and who are stoking the fires of scandal at every opportunity--are doing more harm to the office of the presidency than anything Bill Clinton may or may not have done 10 years ago in Arkansas. And they are at least as immoral as Clinton--if he is guilty--because they are harming the entire nation.

Dole’s determination to demean the President and destroy his credibility is obviously part of a concerted effort to destroy the man he wants to run against in 1996. What Sen. Dole may learn, should he become the next President, is that he may well have paved the road to his own destruction by teaching his opponents how to bring down a President.

I am not an apologist for Bill Clinton. I certainly don’t always agree with him. But I am appalled when politicians are willing to sacrifice our national interests to personal ambition.

DAN CHASMAN

Laguna Hills

* At last count, President Clinton “owned” the Senate and the House. Clinton’s Democratic majority in both houses should allow him to get any bill through Congress that he wants without any Republican votes! Gamble’s depiction of Dole as an obstructionist is misleading. Dole, other Republicans and obviously some Democratic lawmakers are exercising the democratic process to express their own and their constituency’s objections to the Clinton socialistic steamroller.

And yes, I hope that Dole or any other presidential candidate will be able to say, in 1996, that Clinton has not done anything.

EDMOND J. BRONNER

Palos Verdes Estates

* In Susan Estrich’s biased column regarding “change” (Opinion, Aug. 28) she condemns Republicans for opposing certain aspects of the crime bill. It is their job to seek to formulate a better bill. And, Ms. Estrich, the Republicans have no need to try to embarrass the President. He does an excellent job of embarrassing himself.

The massive Clinton health reform plan is bad legislation. If you had read recent poll results, you would know it is not supported by a majority of Americans. It is a labyrinth of edicts conjured up by Hillary Clinton, Ira Magaziner and 500-plus people. No one understands its complex terms or how it will be paid for. It is supreme arrogance to anticipate forcing this monster on 260 million people in one giant swoop.

Change merely for the sake of change is dismal policy and without merit.

JEAN ALLEN

Glendale

* Estrich is right on the money! Her article nails the pols, particularly the Dole-led Republican “win at all costs” partisans on their policy of embarrassing the President.

I would suggest that we keep records of our elected representatives who vote on principle and what is best for our united nation and give them the high marks and reelection they deserve. Those who bow to the pressure of the party thugs, PACs and the single-issue ideologues need to join the ranks of the unemployed in the real world.

In my “real world,” politics is the art of the possible. It is not necessary to win at all costs or even to totally win every battle. What is important is that I, as representative of the electorate, be heard, that all of us be accorded respect for our opinions and that what is in the interest of the common good be the stuff of which legislation is constructed.

SHERRI LIPMAN

Fullerton

* “GOP Election Agenda Rests on Risky Tactics” (Aug. 28) cites Democratic complaints that “the Republicans believe that if Clinton proposals fail, they won’t get blamed and, if he wins, he won’t get credit.” Perhaps this belief stems in part from the following.

When a procedural vote initially blocked the crime bill in the House on Aug. 11, The Times’ Aug. 12 headline declared it a “Major Setback for Clinton.” An accompanying news analysis stated “when the history books are written, Thursday may just be recalled as the day President Clinton’s luck--and with it his effectiveness--finally ran out.” Ten days later when the House reversed itself and passed the crime bill, The Times (Aug. 22) suggested it was really a “Pyrrhic” victory for Clinton “doing little to erase the impression after days of apocalyptic press coverage, that he is a weak President.”

Finally, after three days of fierce, do-or-die Republican opposition, the Senate upheld the House’s decision and The Times (Aug. 26) then stated, “The effort required to pass the bill marked something of a setback for the White House and the Senate’s Democratic leadership.”

I leave it to your readers to make their own news analysis of this.

LEO RIFKIN

Long Beach

* Dole now comes through as a man who has suddenly realized that he is 71 and must make a desperate run at the presidency or lose the chance. He appears now an ugly personality. So, the needs of the people can wait while he does what needs to be done to buy up a support base. He once seemed a reasonable person who could be President.

RICHARD W. TOLBERT

Anaheim