Elena Kagan; food stamps in California; jobless benefits; the economy

Another Senate charade?

Re “Questions for Kagan,” Editorial, June 27

The otherwise-reasonable areas of inquiry The Times’ editorial proposes seem to exist within a journalistic bubble.

In fact, don’t we know in advance -- even if the actors refuse to acknowledge it -- how all but perhaps four to eight senators will vote on the nominee, barring any seriously disqualifying disclosure by or about her? The only real import of the hearings will be to sway (or not sway) those few senators.

Virtually every Democrat will vote to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, in large part because she is the nominee of a president of their party. All but perhaps four or five Republicans will discover the “serious doubts” that allow them to vote against confirmation, for precisely the same reason.

The hearings are a chance to grandstand for the folks back home, to legitimize previously determined votes and to enhance or degrade the president.

It is just Senate business as usual, in spite of the long-term implications for the country.

David Cohen
San Diego

Feeding the economy too

Re “Feeding hungry Californians,” Editorial, June 25

The Schwarzenegger administration has consistently taken a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach to this state’s welfare programs. In no case is this more true than with the food stamp program, where the federal government pays the total cost of the benefits and half of the administrative costs.

Yet the governor and his administration have refused to support the minor programmatic changes and the small investment that might be needed to vastly increase the participation rate in California, which, at an estimated utilization rate of 48%, places California second to last in the nation.

And who loses when California fails to match other states in program design and utilization? The state’s poor, for sure — but also the state’s grocers, food processors, farmers and virtually every community. Even the state itself loses because of the tax revenue lost from the billions of federal dollars not spent.

Can California really afford to be so callous and so profligate?

James N. Adler
Los Angeles
The writer is a member of the Los Angeles County Public Social Services Commission.

The Times says that the state could “bring in billions of dollars in federal money for additional food stamps if more people participated.”

Why stop at billions? Taking The Times’ position to a logical illogical conclusion, if everyone in the state were on food stamps we could get trillions of dollars from the Feds, and then we could all have enough to eat, with money left over to erase our state budget deficit and build the free lunch society we Californians deserve.

All happiness lies in getting more money from the federal government.

Gregory F. Wirzbicki
Yorba Linda

GOP says no to more jobless aid

Re “Jobless aid hits GOP wall in Senate,” June 25

I am one of those Americans who have been unemployed for more than a year — almost two years, in fact. I have made the effort to add to my education and training during this period, in the hope that this would help me return to making a living again.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened yet, and to add to matters, I turned 60 last month — so I may find it even harder to find employment now. I am not asking for a handout, but neither do I want to end up living out of my ’88 Nissan.

So you’ll forgive me if I have a bad taste in my mouth from seeing people like Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell on the television complaining about “the deficit” while they are still pouring billions into bailing out large corporations or maintaining a military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

People like McConnell need to be reminded that these ventures are funded by us taxpayers and that our needs come first.

If the senator is so concerned about conditions there, let him spend his own millions on relief. Put Congress back in the business of helping Americans.

Tim Shullberg
Long Beach

Thank you for your headline naming the GOP as the party that blocked legislation to reinstate long-term unemployment benefits for people who have exhausted their aid. With the sole exception of Ben Nelson, every Democrat in the Senate supported this bill.

The Democratic Party is far from perfect, but I hope voters remember that it’s the GOP that expects people who can’t find a job to live on air. It’s the GOP that only cares about government debt when Democrats are in power. It’s the GOP that has placed that debt on the shoulders of Americans who are already staggering.

When the effects of this filibuster start rippling through our economy tomorrow, it’s the GOP that should get the blame.

Renee Leask
Glendale

I would like to propose that all congressmen forgo their salaries until they have found a job for every single person in America who wants a job.

Joan Meijer
El Segundo

Questioning fiscal stimulus

Re “An end to fiscal stimulus?,” Opinion, June 24

I’m puzzled. If the largest stimulus bill in history didn’t lead to a recovery, why should anyone believe that more of the same medicine will cure our problems? It sounds like old-time bloodletting — more of it may not cure the patient, it may be deadly.

Those who worry about deficits are not necessarily bad people. They just may not believe those economists who got us into this mess, but are now confident that creating more debt is the cure for the problems they presided over. If the economists were so wrong then, could it be that they are wrong now too?

Arthur O. Armstrong
Manhattan Beach

Looking more like Europe

Re “Financial overhaul work done,” June 26

The good news is that with the healthcare reform, the new regulation of the banking industry, the multiplication of various “commissions” and the steadily growing government bureaucracy, we shall be soon eligible for European Union membership.

E. Peter Gabor
Beverly Hills

Keep high-speed rail experts

Re “Concerns over high-speed rail,” June 25

Richard Katz and Curt Pringle are serving Southern California well and saving taxpayers millions in their efforts to make high-speed rail more cost-effective in Los Angeles County and O.C.

Their expertise is being threatened by the distortions of state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), whose latest bill to remove them from the High Speed Rail Authority Board is, as usual, unreasonable.

Roger Christensen
Sherman Oaks

Civil gains in Colombia

Re “After Uribe,” Editorial, June 23

By any reasonable measure, the transformation that Colombia has undergone under the Uribe administration is nothing short of astounding.

While we may still have problems with poverty, corruption and drug trafficking, they are less severe than those of many countries in the hemisphere.

Advances on all these fronts have earned our country the recognition of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council; the International Labor Organization, which recently removed Colombia from its Committee of Experts watch list, recognizing that indicators on violence against unions have diminished; and the Canadian Parliament, which just passed the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, putting to rest the issue that this government is not worthy of a similar agreement with the United States.

We hope The Times will not continue to resort to cliches that could unintentionally misinform readers.

Francisco Santos Calderón
Bogotá, Colombia
The writer is vice president of Colombia.