Landing those Air Force jobs

Re “C-17 jobs unite left and right,” Opinion, May 24

Your article points out that Congress sometimes does not act in our best interests. Sen. Barbara Boxer’s lobbying for the Air Force C-17 and F-22 planes is an example. And what about those voters who feel that they are entitled to jobs even if it is not in the interest of all of us? The resources used in making these needless items might better be used for our security.

Gerald Haynes

Claremont

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Really, why don’t we stop complaining and put our effort toward, say, solar energy? We’re in the Sun Belt, Make use of it. Employ the 5,000 Boeing people and use the $2.2 billion for the planes for saving the planet and ridding ourselves of dependency on foreign oil.

I would think that the Defense secretary and the Air Force are more qualified to judge that the C-17s are no longer needed than some local politicians.

Teresa C. Arieta

Mission Viejo

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I couldn’t help noticing the difference in reporting on layoffs in the public versus the private sector.

A front-page headline touts the possible layoff of 5,000 state workers, which would largely be accomplished by the usual tactics of attrition, not filling open positions, early retirements and job transfers.

Buried inside, you report the possible closure of the last major aircraft factory in Southern California, leaving 5,000 workers jobless and ending decades of aircraft manufacturing in Long Beach.

What more effective stimulus in a recession is there than keeping our factories producing? A healthy economy needs industrial capability. As Henry Ford used to say, there are only three ways to create real wealth in this world -- grow it, mine it or make it.

Ken Andrews

Fountain Valley