Government attempts to create jobs; the Jerry Brown-Meg Whitman debate; a study of texting while driving

Working it out

Re “Jobs are in jeopardy,” Sept. 29

Your writers deserve congratulations for their article, which once again emphasizes the myopia and greed of the Republican Party.

Jobs should be a priority. When you total up the cost of police sweeps, jail time and time in the county hospital, homeless people cost taxpayers a lot more than helping the unemployed get jobs.

As always, conservative solutions cost the most money.

William Joseph Miller

Los Angeles

Are you telling us that our tax dollars were used to supply free labor to private businesses and that, after a year, those businesses did not take the people onto their payrolls?

So instead of paying the welfare directly to the individual, it was paid to private businesses — so they could profit from it.

I could support a program like this if it resulted in the person being hired after the year was up. But this is ridiculous.

Dan Zogaib

Orange

Not so fast on picking a winner

Re “Jerry was Jerry, Meg was Meg: Jerry won debate,” Column, Sept. 30

Jerry Brown, this wry, witty, you-get-what-you-see kind of guy, has given years of his life to the state of California.

I have been around for all of those years, and I think he has done a fine job.

Then and now, I get the same sense that he will do what is right, and continue to fight for fairness for all of the people of the state and not just for the upper 2%.

It’s nonsense that he will be beholden to special-interest groups — “unions.” Who are these unions and who are their members? They are the police officers who protect us and our teachers, nurses and construction workers, to name a few.

Maybe some people should open their history books and learn that our country was a pretty sorry place to work before unions. They set the bar for fair and safe treatment in the workplace. In many occupations — mining, drilling — there is still a fight for basic protection. When Meg Whitman tries to portray the unions as something to loathe, she is on the wrong side.

Diane Welch

Cypress

George Skelton, who is calling Jerry Brown the winner of the gubernatorial debate, is most definitely wrong. The old horse — the business-as-usual, labor union-owned Jerry Brown — was not the winner.

How clever Brown was, Skelton wrote, when he ad-libbed, and how robotic Whitman was because she stuck to the business of informing the voters about what she will do for them.

Brown could not have cared less about the voters; he is still on a massive ego trip that will never stop.

I learned much from Whitman’s professional behavior. I don’t want a governor who acts silly while communicating to voters. I’m voting for Whitman, based on this debate.

If Brown is elected, Americans — again — will laugh at California, and take their businesses elsewhere.

Democrats should be embarrassed that they cannot think past machine politics and offer a real leader.

Sandra Ballatore

Pasadena

What the crime database can do

Re “Times database lets readers track crimes,” Sept. 30

The Times’ crime database is a very important communications source for the public, policymakers, elected officials and community planners. The freeway system that we all use does not allow us to touch the reality of many communities. The Internet highway, however, will.

Crime L.A. opens public awareness that our at-risk communities are important and require significant support in the realm of education, employment opportunities and public safety.

Someday, the color codes of Crime L.A. will all indicate “low.” Moreover, education color codes will all indicate “high” when crime is low.

Lee Baca

Los Angeles

The writer is the sheriff of Los Angeles County.

Finally, justice is served

Re “Pitcher’s death a murder, jury says,” Sept. 28

In today’s America, where no one seems accountable, we have reached a high-water mark with the defense of Andrew Gallo.

He drove (very) drunk, careened through a red light and killed three innocent people.

His attorney claimed Gallo was not a murderer but simply a “young man with bad judgment caught in a tragic situation.”

I disagree; she could not be more wrong. He was not “caught” in a tragic situation; his “bad judgment” was a willful and dangerous act. Bad judgment isn’t something people have like dandruff or a heart condition; it is a choice to do the wrong thing time and time again.

Philip DiGiacomo

Pacific Palisades

Texting study a shocker

Re “Texting ban doesn’t reduce crashes, study finds,” Sept. 29

I was staggered when I read the articles. I believe banning texting while driving has been very effective in reducing car accidents.

I was shocked when you wrote that crashes had increased in three of four states where texting was banned. But as you said, one expert thinks that “texting bans may worsen the problem as drivers moved their phones out of sight to avoid detection, shifting their eyes farther from the road.”

All in all, it’s going to be difficult to stop people from texting while driving, because people think they are going to get away with it. I believe there should be stricter law enforcement — heavier fines, for example.

However, banning texting is better than not doing anything at all.

James Lee

Alhambra

The problems with healthcare

Re “Women face delays in biopsies,” Sept. 26

Your writer did a great public service in exposing the ugly inequities in our healthcare system that are right in our backyard.

Have insurance? Terrific. Get the care or treatment you need in a relatively timely manner. Get your test results too.

Lack insurance? Get dumped into the overburdened, substandard county system, and wait and wait for biopsy results and/or treatment.

The shiny new healthcare plan is hardly a solution. It’s the high-risk pool in sheep’s clothing, what with the high deductible, monthly premiums, limited coverage percentages, max co-pays and the like.

Elaine Nadalin

Laguna Beach

Besides outrage, I ask why, with so many more of us uninsured due to unemployment, the number of providers taking Medi-Cal hasn’t grown?

What active outreach is being done to sign up more doctors and hospitals?

And how are we ramping up training capacity for doctors, nurses, techs — all the providers? At a local community college, qualified students are waiting two years to begin nursing training. Are we calling on all the potential adjunct professionals in the community to help expand seats?

As America ages, we need these folks on the job.

Marcia Schneider

Northridge

Remembering Tony Curtis

Re “Tony Curtis, 1925-2010: He had looks and range to match,” Obituary, Oct. 1

Your write-up on Tony Curtis really opened up old memories. As a youngster in India watching Hollywood movies, I recall he was a very popular actor, along with Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster.

The obituary was well written, but a few of his memorable films like “Taras Bulba,” “ Boeing Boeing” and “The Great Race,” seem to have been left out.

Thanks for the sumptuous article on him.

Sundar Raman

Los Angeles