Michael Steele; Afghanistan; the California budget; city planning

Steele’s remarks on war

Re “Steele under fire for comments on war,” July 3

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele not only suffers from McChrystal Syndrome -- a chronic inability to keep one’s mouth shut -- but what seems to be an unfamiliarity with facts as well.

There may be some merit in what he expressed so awkwardly, but he seems to have forgotten that when Afghanistan was attacked in October 2001, George W. Bush was commander in chief and Barack Obama was still in the Senate. The Illinois State Senate, that is, where they have limited ability to send troops to war.

Idiots like Steele make me almost embarrassed to be a Republican, something I’ve been longer than Steele has. But if Steele needs a briefing on the war he can always talk to Sarah Palin. I think she can see Afghanistan from her front porch.

Allen E. Kahn
Playa del Rey

What’s victory in Afghanistan?

Re “Elusive goals in Afghanistan,” Editorial, July 3

The strategic goal in Afghanistan is to deny Al Qaeda and other groups a base to attack the United States.

The Ft. Hood shooter, the Christmas Day bomber and the Times Square bomber were lone wolves who were motivated to act by the hate coming out of the Mideast.

This hate is generated by the presence of our troops in that part of the world.

Any so-called victory by our troops will only magnify that hate.

Just maybe Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s staffer was more right than wrong when he said the real enemy was the clowns in the White House.

Bob Munson
Newbury Park

I believe your assessment of the war in Afghanistan is accurate.

Our winning is based on the cooperation of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Nothing, to date, demonstrates this cooperation is going to occur.

We root for our soldiers and we want them out of harm’s way. I believe a significant number of Americans believe we are looking at Vietnam all over again.

Our Defense Department has the responsibility of finding a better way to defend us from terrorists and end this (apparently) never-ending nightmare.

Robert S. Ellison
Arcadia

Experience that Kagan lacks

Re “Confirm Kagan,” Editorial, July 3

Your editorial acknowledges Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s “evasiveness on broad constitutional issues” but fails to address her serious shortcomings. Kagan has not spent one day as a judge. Kagan has never tried a case to a jury.

One of her principal functions will be to evaluate whether lower court judges properly applied the law to the facts. Having never served in such a court places her at a severe disadvantage.

Kagan was nominated because she has been loyal to the Democratic party and is a friend of Obama’s.

If the president wanted to appoint a liberal and/or a female, that is his right. However, senators should not vault someone to the Supreme Court for a lifetime that has no experience as a judge and none as a trial attorney. There are many more deserving judges who have experience and who have paid their dues.

Victor I. Reichman
Lancaster

Another late California budget

Re “Lawmakers in no rush to pass budget,” July 4

Why does there have to be “acute suffering” for the Legislature to enact a budget? Wasn’t passing a budget on time part of their job description? When they take the oath of office don’t they swear to uphold the Constitution of the state of California?

Grandstanding seems to be more important than taking care of the state’s business. When they finally enact a budget and congratulate themselves, it will be the same budget that could have been enacted on June 15 if they had been motivated to do so.

What a sad state of affairs!

Janet Raffalow
Van Nuys

Controller John Chiang should be held to account for his failure to implement the will of the governor and the appeals court.

His argument that an “outdated computer system would make the [task of adjusting hourly rates of pay for public employees to the federal minimum wage] risky” only confirms the suspicion among much of the California population that we’re spending our tax money on people who are far from the best and the brightest and on systems that are outdated and dysfunctional. Chiang refuses to act because of his loyalty to the public employee unions, who fund his campaigns, rather than to the taxpayers of the state of California who pay his salary. How hard is this to figure out?

Phil Hofstee
Burbank

The recent decision of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to unilaterally cut the salaries of civil service state employees to minimum wage is one of the more despicable abuses of power in recent memory. Holding the state’s employees hostage is a sign of his desperation. He can’t even get members of his own party to work with him to overcome the budget deficits, which were in large part generated by his pandering to the electorate and getting rid of the vehicle license fee.

The governor, who probably couldn’t get the Republican Party’s nomination for dog catcher, is probably happy that his tenure will soon be over. But the evil that men do lives after them.

Paraphrasing a pundit, the good thing about democracy is that the public gets exactly what it deserves.

Selwyn Brent
Huntington Beach

Perhaps it’s time to creatively motivate the Legislature to pass a budget on time.

May I suggest an initiative that says when a budget is not in place, sales and income taxes will not be collected?

Just imagine the economic boost our state would receive every July.

Joseph Areeda
Los Angeles

Re “2 fire captains to get $2.5 million,” July 3

Writing about payments to two Los Angeles fire captains, The Times reports that the costs to the city “included some $380,000 in interest payments on the award and attorneys’ fees, at 7% annually, as required by state law.”

In addressing budget issues, the governor is using a meat ax (slashing state employee salaries) and a pea shooter (studying where welfare debit cards are used). Why hasn’t he asked the Legislature to correct this loophole by changing interest calculations from fixed to floating, pegged to the prime rate or some other measure that reflects current interest rates?

Who is receiving 7% returns these days?

Stuart Waller
Culver City

How to limit growth in L.A.

Re “After Gail Goldberg,” Editorial, July 2

Los Angeles city planners have been way out of line for quite a while, and The Times is falling for it. No, we residents don’t want growth. We don’t want to be like New York.

Yes, clean up the buses, but don’t build new malls, mini- or otherwise — they only take business away from old ones.

Don’t build high-rises in Hollywood. Tear down the electric billboards. And don’t whine about the budget while shoveling millions into projects like Hollywood-Highland or luxury condos downtown. To save money, how about cutting street workers instead of librarians?

L.A. is too spread out for the lifestyle planners want us to have.

James Tugend
Los Angeles

Sic DMV on ‘em

Re “L.A. loses a fortune in unpaid fees,” July 2

The Times reports that over a quarter of a billion dollars of traffic tickets are unpaid within Los Angeles.

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FOR THE RECORD:
Tickets: A July 7 letter about unpaid traffic tickets in Los Angeles suggested that drivers could register their automobiles without first paying outstanding parking fines and other fees. They cannot. —

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Why can’t the Department of Motor Vehicles help the city by placing a lien on every registration that has an unpaid traffic ticket and requiring drivers to pay upon renewal?

That they can’t because they’re different agencies is not an acceptable answer.

Michael Risman
Santa Monica

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FOR THE RECORD:
Tickets: A July 7 letter about unpaid traffic tickets in Los Angeles suggested that drivers could register their automobiles without first paying outstanding parking fines and other fees. They cannot.