President Bush

* Re “Bush Urges Tax Relief for Economy,” March 27: If President Bush’s tax cut is so good for the country and the economy, why then has he been flying around in Air Force One for weeks on end trying to “sell” his proposal to the American people? Good ideas sell themselves. They don’t require a wasteful ad campaign.

The president’s time would be much better spent in Washington dealing with the California energy crisis. The president preaches on a daily basis that the American people deserve a break. But what good is a tax cut to a resident of California if the only thing we can afford to spend it on is our electricity bill?

TONY LEONHARDT

Los Angeles

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* Rather than tax cuts, why not use some of the surplus for the expenses to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that the polluters say they can’t afford?

PATRICIA E. BRANSFIELD

San Luis Obispo

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* I have a question for all of my fellow Californians who think that President Bush is “crying wolf” when he says that if the budget surplus is left in Washington, it will be spent. What happened to the surplus that we left in Sacramento, entrusted to Gov. Gray Davis and the Democrat Legislature? Do we have any more power plants as a result of their spending our surplus? Are our energy rates controlled as a result of their spending our surplus? Leaving our surplus in Sacramento resulted in its being spent, with nothing to show for it. I do not want to experience the same thing on a national level.

STEVE REICH

Oxnard

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* It is no surprise to me that the new Bush administration is beginning to do what sounds suspiciously like saber rattling (March 27). The Republicans have increasingly become the party of big business, and with the economy slouching downwards, can a little war be far behind? After all, war’s good for business, the media love it, and it serves to draw away attention from thorny social issues like reducing worker safety, limiting women’s rights, campaign finance reform or preserving the environment. Bush might want to back off his campaign to improve education, because if the American public ever got a little smarter, they might just vote him out of office.

JULIE BEARDSLEY

San Pedro

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* Bush is apparently determined to inflict maximum damage on the American people in the minimum amount of time. From toxic levels of arsenic in our drinking water; to the rejection of the Kyoto accords and any attempts to limit carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming; to the rejection of ergonomic standards designed to protect working people; to the new bankruptcy bill that will give the credit card companies their money even at the expense of child support or alimony payments; to the slashing of federal budgets to train pediatricians and prevent child abuse--the list goes on and on.

LAURIE COLTON

Valencia

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* The announcement that President Bush will not conduct formal press conferences is to be expected (March 29). As possibly the most unprepared and uninformed president in U.S. history, answering direct questions is impossible for him. He simply doesn’t know anything. We can look forward to shouted questions from reporters that Bush pretends not to hear. Sound familiar?

DON MILLER

Glendale