Warren Beatty

Re “The Distorting Power of Money,” excerpts from Warren Beatty’s Sept. 29 speech, Opinion, Oct. 3: If Beatty is the only candidate who understands that public financing of campaigns is the issue of 2000 on which all other issues depend, then I’ll vote for Beatty. The people must take back the government from the dictatorship of the multinational corporations.

DOROTHY BOBERG

Northridge

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What a sense of relief! To think that there are still people like Beatty who believe in justice for all, fairness, in real democracy and are not afraid to speak. Maybe there is still hope. This country has lost its real path along the way somewhere. But we have the power to change things, if we really want to.

I think that there are many people in this country who feel and believe as Beatty does and are just waiting for someone to inspire them and to lead them. He sure has inspired me and I have a feeling this is not the last time we will hear from him regarding issues that concern millions in this country. He is 100% right. We should all keep the spirit.

RUBEN R. GOMEZ

Westchester

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Beatty’s remarks may sound virtuous at first but are completely bogus. He denounces the disparity between rich and poor, but his solution is to tax the average earner and give it to the poor. Does he not know that’s been the policy for many decades?

For one movie, Beatty is paid more than five times the total of what I earned during my entire working career. Why don’t he and all the other obscenely rich liberals contribute their excess wealth to the poor?

As for public financing of elections, that would guarantee that the best liar would win every time. That means we’d get a Bill Clinton every time.

CHARLES K. SERGIS

Calabasas

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“Sour grapes” to cartoonist Michael Ramirez for his portrayal of Beatty as a “limousine liberal” (Oct. 3). Social Security, Medicare and child labor laws were pushed through by liberals like Roosevelt, Kennedy and Johnson. What’s wrong with the rich having a conscience?

ELLIE BERNER

San Diego

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The Times clearly does not understand what worthwhile and unbiased news coverage is--putting Beatty’s speech on the Sept. 30 front page and devoting 33 inches to it! His comments on the high cost of campaigns were interesting. So he is going to campaign without raising millions? And he said it makes decent politicians do indecent things. So when he asks for donations, I wonder what indecent things we can expect from him.

That he is running as an ultra-left liberal is clearly evident in his video that contained testimonials from Jesse Jackson, Rob Reiner, Dustin Hoffman and far-left Barbra Streisand. You can’t get much more liberal than they are.

But on the front page!

ROBERT L. FRANZ

Placentia

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Hooray for Beatty! I too want my Democratic Party to remember what it used to stand for.

MARY CARROLL BELL

Lancaster