Budget suggestions

Re “Gov. ups the ante in state budget fight,” June 11

“I always get my lessons from sports -- look at the Lakers,” says our governor, about how California government should be run. “Look at all the great teams. When they are together and connected, then they have a better chance of winning.”

Athletes must obey the coach. The whole team must obey the owner.

I thought American governments were the opposite: representative democracies.

The governor should try reading some history, political science, philosophy, anything involving serious thought.

Ira Spiro

Los Angeles

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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has run out of fair ideas? How about reestablishing the billions he eliminated on car fees?

Why does everyone have to suffer for his bad idea? It could be fixed immediately.

Emma McCollum

Thousand Oaks

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Long-term investment in the health and education of the people of the state should all be funded. They are humane and fiscally sound elements of the state budget. Many of them bring with them federal funding that covers a large part of their cost. These federal funds should not be lost through short-term efforts for a balanced budget.

If the governor would pay back the interest on the bonds he put on the ballot and unwitting voters voted for when he was first elected, and if he would pay back the reduction in the car fee that he campaigned on and cut, we would be in a much better place.

He should pay back to the state what his bad decisions have cost us. Then see how much out of balance our budget is.

Theresa Brady

Chatsworth

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So the Governator has vowed to let the California government come to a “grinding halt.”

Hasn’t this already happened?

Glenn M. Langdon Garden Grove

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Raising taxes on people in a bad economy or casting a bet on a “rosy” future are two of the worst decisions our legislators can possibly make right now.

What does a person do in tough times? You need to cut back.

This is a fact that the special-interest groups like the unions don’t seem to get. Obviously their members won’t be able to continue with all the great benefits that they are used to. I wish the politicians who are continually lobbied by these unions would get that fact as well.

Laurie Stevens

Northridge

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We are now suffering from the final blows of Reaganomics and movement conservatism as we see our governor dismantle the social institutions of the New Deal and the original vision of Gov. Pat Brown.

The success of the California economy can be directly attributed to our government institutions. The University of California and California State University have opened up higher education to all and are a major factor in our economic growth over the last 50 years.

It’s time to increase state taxes and invest in education. Investment in education is a sound economic policy that will ensure long-term growth and increase the welfare of the citizens of California.

Lynda Rush

Santa Monica

The writer is a professor of economics at Cal Poly Pomona.

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Get rid of social services and give people a chance to step up. I say we cut social services altogether and ask family and friends to help each other like the good old days. This created a stronger sense of community and responsibility. Long overdue.

Kevin O’Connor

Santa Barbara

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Are we desperate enough to fix our budget woes?

Consider an exit and entry fee to California by air, sea or highway. As an example, an exit or entry fee of $2 between Las Vegas and Southern California could reap millions of dollars each month.

Sy Saito

Torrance

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The Times quotes the governor as saying, apparently in reference to the unions:

“Do they want to protect the workers that provide the services, or do they want to protect the people that get those services? The choice is up to them.”

Unfortunately for the governor, you cannot separate the workers providing the services from the people receiving them. But perhaps the governor believes that, without the workers, the services will just drop from the sky.

Unless you believe taxes are a fate worse than death, you should be urging an increase to keep people and our healthcare system alive.

Stanton J. Price

Glendale