California’s primary election results; World Cup mania and the U.S.; stem cell research

The price of politics

Re “Whitman and Fiorina roll to wins,” June 9

That former executives Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina won important primaries serves as an example that the United States has the best elections money can buy.

Both women threw millions of their own money into their campaigns, seeking to buy their way into office.

My state had clean elections to level the playing field until it was halted by the Supreme Court, as a result of a Republican challenge. Politicians should be elected because they’re the best person for the job, not because they’ve got the most money. Elections in California and elsewhere are held hostage to the almighty dollar. The real losers are the American people.

Debra White

Tempe, Ariz.

Pacific state, to highest bidder; great ocean views for the ultra-wealthy. Includes power and insurance monopolies. Wonderful natural resources ready to be sold, exploited, divided and leased to reward your corporate friends. Unions, healthcare busted, but ready to totally dismantle and replace with buyer-friendly permanent underclass. Theocracy-ready power elite will turn your fundamentalist religious beliefs into immutable state laws.

Why pay corporate taxes when the working poor will toil their entire lives, until you direct any wealth they may have accumulated into outrageous end-of-life healthcare costs?

Bid-friendly seller ready to move this great deal now! Democracy not included.

Rick Kleffel

Aptos, Calif.

Whitman says she can run our state more frugally then ever before, and to prove it, she’s spent more money than anyone could possibly imagine.

Gary Davis

Los Angeles

Your headline almost had me choking on my morning coffee.

The Times describes Whitman and Fiorina as “wealthy businesswomen.” Why mention that they are wealthy? Will you mention Barbara Boxer’s wealth (as well as Dianne Feinstein’s) in future articles?

You should publish an article on how personal wealth has become a requirement for anyone wanting to run for a high office in the U.S. — Democrat or Republican.

Charles Vorsanger

Pasadena

Feeling left out

Re “Voters approve state open primary measure,” June 9

I have just been disenfranchised. Do voters who passed Proposition 14 understand that “top two” means our general election ballot is limited to only two? Even write-ins are excluded.

More than 3 million Californians not registered Democrat or Republican will be stuck with a choice between … you guessed it. Libertarians and Greens will not see their candidates on the November ballot. That’s the one that counts, remember?

As a libertarian, I am used to not being represented in the Legislature. Now every election season, I won’t even be represented during the campaign period from June to November. Yet during those same five months, I still will be expected to pay taxes — sales tax and state income tax and all the rest.

That will be taxation without representation. You know where that leads.

Edward Bowers

Sherman Oaks

What matters to McCain

Re “McCain has voters on fence,” June 8

Just like the Arizona diamondback, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has shed his skin. This time, after courting the Latino vote in his last public campaign, he has called them murderers, smugglers and home invaders. Hopefully Latinos in Arizona will remember this a long, long time.

I remember now what a perfect couple he and Sarah Palin were and still are. You pretty much know they’re lying, but only if their lips are moving.

John Widener

Toluca Lake

Why is it that McCain is the only one who doesn’t realize he was a sacrificial lamb for his party? There was no way any Republican was going to beat any Democrat in the 2008 presidential election.

McCain has become a bitter old man flip-flopping and grasping at anything to hold on to what he has.

John, it’s time to ride off into the sunset — while you still have a little dignity.

Luis Cruz

La Mirada

Soccer won’t wait

Re “Wowed by the World Cup?,” Editorial, June 9

Soccer is at last working its way into the American way of life.

Nearly all colleges have men’s and women’s teams and offer scholarships. We now have men’s and women’s professional leagues. Our men’s team regularly qualifies for the World Cup; our women’s team has already won World Cups and Olympic medals. We have soccer channels on television and soccer moms at home. There’s wide awareness that the first big World Cup game is U.S. vs. England.

Soccer is clearly the first sport choice for American kids. This didn’t just happen. Forty years or so ago a few of us started coaching kids when this game was unheard of. This patient, from-the-ground-up method has culminated in the results we see today.

Brian Osborne

Irvine

Yes, when comparing soccer-crazed nations with America, it can be concluded “that U.S. sports fans don’t yet have that world-class passion for soccer.”

But what is “wow”? Is there any sporting event that brings America to a standstill like a World Cup does elsewhere? Is it fair to make comparisons when this country’s sports monster, the Super Bowl, is a game that two-thirds of folks in the U.S. don’t bother to watch?

Donn Risolo

Altadena

Working with stem cells

Re “Stem cells — hype and hope,” Opinion, June 7

Thanks to Sally Lehrman for pointing out that breakthroughs from stem cell research, like all science, will take time.

The taxpayer-supported California Institute for Stem Cell Research (CIRM) is now focused not only on embryonic stem cells but also on adult stem cells.

With support from the National Institutes of Health, the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute last year became the first to treat a patient with his own cardiac stem cells, converting scar tissue into healthy heart muscle. Early results are promising.

With support from a CIRM Disease Team grant, this work soon will be extended to patients with advanced heart failure — those for whom a heart transplant may otherwise be the only option. This pioneering work relies on California taxpayers who understand what it means to be in the forefront of this exciting field of research.

Eduardo Marbán, MD

Los Angeles

The writer is director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute.

The Op-Ed on stem cells focused on the valuable research funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. However, companies like ours, International Stem Cell Corp., operate successfully without CIRM or NIH money.

The article mentioned two stem cell classes. We employ a patented third type — parthenogenetic stem cells — that, like embryonic stem cells, can become any cell type in the body, yet avoid using human embryos.

CIRM’s recent announcement that it will transition from basic research toward therapeutic applications will help U.S. companies like ours. Not having to seek partnerships and funding from overseas means more job and business creation in California.

Kenneth C. Aldrich

Oceanside

The writer is chairman of International Stem Cell Corp.