There goes Goldberg again

Re “Belch, there goes democracy,” Opinion, April 21

Does Jonah Goldberg expect us to be shocked -- shocked! -- that the Environmental Protection Agency can regulate our air?

He objects to an “undemocratic” Supreme Court decision, but the court was only clarifying laws passed by a more democratic organization called “Congress” that Goldberg seems to be unaware of.

He may not think that global warming needs immediate action, but fortunately, decisions about that are made by scientists who have devoted their careers to this issue. And yes, it was Congress that gave them that authority.

Miguel Munoz

Los Angeles

--

If I understand Goldberg’s thrust correctly, he’s worried that the EPA will soon be able to autonomously regulate (and therefore tax) greenhouse gas emissions, thereby preempting and subverting the democratic process.

He may have a point. I mean, why should so-called experts be able to dictate government policy just because they’re smart and well-informed?

We’re Americans, and we deserve a vote, no matter how ignorant we are of the facts. Come to think of it, why stop at greenhouse gases? Let’s put everything to a vote: Vioxx, DDT, seat belts, leaky breast implants and cars with exploding gas tanks.

It’s time to take the power of government regulation away from all those alarmist, elitist eggheads and give it back to the people ... people like you, me and Jonah Goldberg.

Eric Gardner

Redondo Beach

--

When it comes to government oversight and regulation, Goldberg has apparently forgotten how the Bush administration regulated whatever it could, including, among other things, a woman’s right to choose, who could marry whom and even what people could say about its policies, claiming that it was unpatriotic to criticize the government.

Goldberg’s statement that the EPA now has “the power to regulate everything” is nonsense, of course, but what it will regulate will be of benefit to the world at large.

I’ll take that kind of regulation any day.

Elizabeth Thompson

Coronado

--

Goldberg demonstrates once again his readiness to hate any idea, provided only that it arise from the Obama administration.

With an eye toward what he looks at as a grab for power, and apparently eager to protect his own writings, he scornfully looks on the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent announcement as an attempt to control “all that ... passes gas.”

Dear Times, you recently asked your readers to help you decide which comic strip to add to the roster. May I humbly suggest a more important poll, one that will help you decide whether you should discard Goldberg’s hateful opinions?

Lou Charloff

Encino