Presidential Candidates

One point not made in “Not Quite Ozzie and Harriet” (Dec. 19), on GOP families, is the astonishing hypocrisy displayed by the party on social and moral issues. In both 1988 and 1992, Democratic front-runners Michael Dukakis and Bill Clinton both took stern drubbings from the Republicans on “family values.” One would think the GOP had invented the entire concept of Momma, Poppa and bambinos. Yet Dukakis and Clinton are both still in stable marriages to the wives of their youth; how can the public stomach the audacious lecturing from divorced demagogues?

The GOP plans to push “family values” by punishing single mothers via cutting their AFDC and welfare. Will they also be willing to penalize their cronies who divorce after decades of marriage (to take up with a much younger partner) by, say, cutting the deduction for home mortgage interest?

JOANNE G. MURPHY

Los Angeles

In the portrait of Sen. Bob Dole (Dec. 17), reference is made to the Chicago physician Hampar Kelikian, who took on Dole’s case without charge.

On many occasions, Dole has expressed his gratitude to the late Dr. Kelikian, who was a pioneering neurosurgeon of Armenian heritage. He was a survivor of the Armenian genocide of 1915 and inspired Dole to rise above his disabilities and to live life with a positive attitude.

SHERRY TERZIAN

Los Angeles

According to a survey by Project Vote Smart (Dec. 18), Republican presidential candidates Dole, Phil Gramm, Richard Lugar and Alan Keyes all feel that the federal government (taxpayers) should reimburse private landowners for losses when legislation affects the use of their land. What I have yet to hear any of these candidates (or any other candidates) suggest is that those same private landowners should reimburse the public when the private use of the land affects the public.

For example, when timber companies clear cut hillsides, the ensuing rains will wash away large amounts of soil, clogging streams below and choking off natural fisheries. This produces a decline in fish populations, reducing catches and increasing prices on fish. The cost is then borne by those who buy the fish. Similarly, the unsustainable cutting will lead to higher prices for wood and paper products in the future, so shouldn’t those cutting beyond sustainable limits pay the true long-term costs up front? What about the farmers who use chemical farming techniques? These chemicals, along with the chemicals from industrial waste, find their way into our food, water and air.

The private landowners who are pushing for this legislation want to have their cake and eat it, too.

DAVID HOLLAND

Northridge

What kind of democracy is this, where anyone who might be listened to is either running for president or scheming how to do so next time, or cashing in on a book? Why have not the budget-balancing plans of William Bennett, Bill Bradley, Mario Cuomo, Jack Kemp, Ross Perot and Colin Powell--let alone Lamar Alexander, Pat Buchanan and Lugar--been on the table since last spring, so that the public might have reached a reasonable consensus over what to do now? Pontificate all that you want to, guys, but nothing on the table makes you all zeros with me, and I shall not buy or read your books, sign your petitions or tell a pollster of any admiration.

GILBERT S. BAHN

Moorpark