MSNBC’s suspension of Keith Olbermann; the passage of Proposition 25; the flaws in Jessica’s Law

Punishing the host

Re “Suspension ignites debate,” Nov. 6

This shows the difference between NBC standards and Fox News standards.

What Keith Olbermann gave to Democratic candidates is pocket change compared to all the free publicity and cheerleading the Fox News entertainers gave to candidates supported by the “ tea party.” I don’t suspect Fox News will suspend any of its “news” people anytime soon.

That is especially appalling since Karl Rove, the “architect” of the failed George W. Bush presidency, is allowed to be the middle man in the scheme to funnel tens of millions of dollars from anonymous business interests to Republican candidates.

Something is out of whack here.

Paul Daniels

Huntington Beach

I wish Olbermann’s suspension had been permanent. Getting rid of this biased, downright nasty, sneering broadcaster would have been no loss to anyone. Even MSNBC, hardly a conservative news outlet, could no longer stomach him. It relieved him of reporting the 2008 election because his prejudice was so transparent. It should have dumped him once and for all then.

Arthur Hansl

Santa Barbara

Is there anybody who watches Olbermann who does not know he is a partisan Democrat?

MSNBC’s suspension of Olbermann because he donated money to Democratic candidates is similar to barring an elephant from the zoo because it devours an excessive amount of peanuts.

Richard S. Harmetz

Los Angeles

So what? Olbermann broke the rules, he got caught, and he’s paying the price. Get over it already.

Greg Meyer

Los Angeles

Proposition 25’s limitations

Re “Prop. 25 changes everything,” Editorial, Nov. 4

The Times argues that requiring only a majority vote to pass a California budget will relieve some gridlock in Sacramento. It won’t. There is still the requirement of a two-thirds vote to raise taxes.

Democrats in the Legislature will not pass a budget that only cuts programs and does not raise taxes or fees. So Democrats will still need to negotiate with Republicans over what taxes or fees to raise to balance California’s chronically unbalanced budget.

Proposition 25 does not really change anything.

Craig Lancaster

Canyon Country

The Times demonstrates why voters rejected its advice on Proposition 22. They don’t buy the view that locally raised tax revenues belong to Sacramento.

There’s no basis for the claim that cities and counties “would have gone bankrupt many times had they not been bailed out by Sacramento after Proposition 13 and then after the reduction of the vehicle license fee in the 1990s.” The brief “bailout” in 1978 was reversed when the state burned through its surplus, costing local governments far more than they ever received. There was no bailout on vehicle license fees, just a partial “backfill” of the reduction ordered by the state.

Shifting fiscal problems to another level of government is not responsible. Voters did the right thing by passing Proposition 25 while closing the door on forcing other levels of government to make difficult choices legislators have been evading.

Rick Cole

Ventura

The writer is city manager of Ventura.

Healthcare reform hits home

Re “Clash on health overhaul awaits,” Nov. 4

I have an easy solution for opponents of President Obama’s healthcare law.

The law prohibits insurers from denying coverage to those with preexisting conditions. Easy solution: Let the insurance companies reject Republicans with preexisting conditions.

The law prohibits insurance companies from canceling policies when people develop diseases and disabilities covered by those policies. Easy solution: Let the insurance companies cancel the policies of Republicans who develop diseases and disabilities covered by those policies.

It’s easy: Let the Republicans live as the heroic, rugged individuals that they are without the protection of insurance.

Kim Iannone

West Hills

Due to some preexisting conditions, it was virtually impossible to get coverage on the open market for our 23-year-old daughter. Thanks to healthcare reform, we just got notification that we can put her back on the family plan. There must be thousands of other families breathing a sigh of relief that their adult children can access affordable insurance again.

Families must speak out about the real benefits that they are experiencing to counter Republicans’ rhetoric. If the new House majority is so strongly opposed to reform, its members should lead the way by eliminating their own benefits first.

Deborah Park

Goleta, Calif.

Jessica’s Law, pro and con

Re “The flaw in Jessica’s Law,” Editorial, Nov. 6

The Times is correct in its criticism of Jessica’s Law. Where The Times got it wrong was in the assertion that “voters could hardly be blamed, when 70% of them approved Proposition 83 in 2006, for trying to protect children from dangerous predators.”

This is just one example of problems associated with voter-approved propositions that aren’t well thought out by the voters. Similarly, voters had no idea when they passed the three-strikes law that offenders would spend the rest of their lives in jail for a nonviolent felony, causing taxpayers to provide nursing home care in prisons for convicts who are no longer any risk to society.

Maybe it’s time to end the initiative process.

Greg Bristol

Santa Barbara

Have Times editors spent a moment worrying about the threat from sexual predators? I can’t help but think that if the editorial board were talking about people with the plague, it wouldn’t be arguing to let the infected loose in society because the cure “is a subject that begs for serious and comprehensive study. Once we have better answers, we can engage in a serious discussion of which restrictions … are justified.”

I vote for a quarantine until a universally tested cure is found. I’m an ACLU member, but I’m not in the least concerned about sex offenders’ constitutional rights.

Patricia E. Bransfield

Los Osos, Calif.

Coal cash

Re “ Texas vs. EPA climate rules,” Nov. 7

Corbin Robertson — chief executive of Quintana Minerals Resources Group, the “largest private owner of coal reserves in the United States” — has donated money to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, state Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott and Rep. Joe Barton of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Now Texas is suing the Environmental Protection Agency.

It is simple to connect the dots. Potential profit from filthy coal production is vastly more important than clean air, clean water, public health or the future of the planet.

Cheryl Kohr

Redondo Beach

Wise man

Re “Trapped by the hands of time,” Opinion, Nov. 5

Why Arizona has no daylight saving time:

The state of Arizona listened to the wise old Indian. When told the reason for daylight saving time, the old Indian said, “Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of the blanket and have a longer blanket.”

Joanne Crandall

Ojai