Texas Gov. Rick Perry entering the GOP presidential race; President Obama’s shrinking team of economic advisors

The Perry factor

Re “A new dynamic joins GOP race,” Aug. 13, and “Perry steals Bachmann’s thunder,” Aug. 14

A candidate playing the race card is viewed as smarmy. I can only hope that the same rejection comes to politicians playing the God card.

The GOP has a whole field of candidates playing the God card because the party itself has been redefined by a fundamentalist Christian base whose adherents believe they are called by God to force their beliefs on others. The GOP’s willingness to abort fair campaign financing, spread intolerance and subvert balanced governance is a direct challenge to our democracy.

Right-wing evangelicals should not imagine that all Christians share their virulent beliefs or want to see them enshrined in our nation’s laws and governance policies.

Linda Kranen

Carlsbad

Are they kidding us?

Are Republicans seriously considering Texas Gov. Rick Perry for president, a man who has suggested Texas should secede from the Union? How about Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who said our slave-owning Founding Fathers freed the slaves (sorry, Mr. Lincoln)? And then there’s Mitt Romney, whose own Massachusetts healthcare plan became the model for President Obama’s reform law, which he now wants to do away with.

If this is the best the GOP has to offer, the election will be easy for Obama.

And let’s pass a law making it illegal to campaign sooner that three months before an election; we the people shouldn’t have to suffer so long.

Phil Wilt

Van Nuys

I never heard anyone hit the nail on the head like Perry when he said it’s “an injustice” that nearly half of all Americans pay no federal income tax and that “spreading the wealth punishes success while setting America on a course for greater dependency on government.”

I believe in a safety net for people who cannot work because of mental or physical reasons, but if I want my government to “spread the wealth,” I’ll move to Cuba.

Earl Yessmann

Hermosa Beach

So Perry wants to make the federal government “as inconsequential in your lives as I can.” Say goodbye to safe food and drugs, clean air and water, flood control and national parks and forests.

Let big business have a free rein. Say hello to melamine in baby food, toxic chemicals in wallboard and crumbling cement in our children’s schools.

Mary Douglass

Pasadena

Why the wall came down

Re “Other side of the wall,” Opinion, Aug. 12

Jacob Heilbrunn insists that being nice to the opponent is really what brings peaceful coexistence. He dismisses the crucial role of strength and the apparent willingness to use it in negotiations. He is like the little guy in the gang taking credit for backing down the other gang, forgetting about the other big guys standing behind him.

Heilbrunn also says that the Berlin Wall fell because of a miscommunication by East German border guards, as if the Soviets would let that happen against their will. The truth is that Mikhail Gorbachev had no choice but to concede the reality of the Soviet Union’s irreparable debilitation, and the fact that the West and the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations were going to continue making

it impossible for it to compete.

Martin Henriks

Woodland Hills

I am appalled by Heilbrunn’s characterization of the Berlin Wall as a “blessing in disguise.” I wonder if the estimated 169 (and very likely many more) East Germans killed while trying to flee their prison of a country would agree.

Luke Pelican

Alexandria, Va.

Back and forth over rewards

Re “Save your receipt — and your breath?,” Business, Aug. 12

I enjoy reading David Lazarus’ columns and have been following the CVS rewards issue with interest.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with getting my 2% back on a receipt four times a year. However, what I would really prefer to see are lower prices without rewards. The rewards are a gimmick to keep people coming back. I’d rather know that when I buy something at CVS, the price I pay is guaranteed to be lower than other chain drugstores.

CVS should consider eliminating its rewards program in favor of guaranteed lowest prices.

Doug Prochaska

Irvine

Why not store the cash-back rewards balance data on the plastic CVS cards and honor the printed receipts? Would that make everyone happy?

Stanley Coutant

Sierra Madre

Are there any advisors left?

Re “Obama left short-handed on economy,” Aug. 13

Your article about Obama’s economic advisors leaving reminds me of the football coach who said there was good and bad news for the new season. The good news was everybody from last year was back; the bad news was last year the team was winless.

Somewhat amazingly, each of the departed will further their careers by having been in power positions, without any mention of the results achieved.

Brent Zepke

Santa Barbara

So after 2 1/2 years of ineptitude on the economy, key departures have cost Obama needed expertise and persuasive influence.

That’s one of the funniest lines I have ever read. It ranks right up there with “Mission Accomplished.”

Michael Hayne

Tujunga

Votes that count

Re “Putting state on the radar,” Column, Aug. 11

Although I appreciate the desire to make California more meaningful in presidential elections, giving all of the state’s electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote minimizes any chance of electing a third-party candidate. A third-party candidate could win every single vote in California, only to see all of our electoral votes go to an opponent, ensuring that zero California votes matter in a presidential election.

It’s hard enough to fight against the money, incumbency and name recognition of the major two parties; why make it more difficult to challenge those powers?

Given how unpopular Congress and both parties are, now is not the time to further hamper a third party’s chances.

Dividing California’s electoral votes according to the popular vote would give California a meaningful voice in presidential elections and actually help make third-party candidates a viable option in the eyes of voters.

George Peters

Glendale

Bad doctors

Re “Medical board fails to punish doctors,” Aug. 10

The California medical board’s continuing, chronic failure to discipline its bad doctors has been a permanent practice. The Times’ article should have been headlined “Medical board fails to punish doctors, as usual.”

As an attorney, I receive a report from the state bar association on all the disbarred and disciplined attorneys each month. The list usually reports on at least 15 to 20 attorneys. Attorneys are even required to self-report themselves to the state bar association for some

misdeeds.

Maybe we should turn over doctor discipline to the state bar association.

Mark O’Connell

Irvine

On the Edge

Re “U2’s the Edge, 3 others sue coastal panel over denial of bids to build above Malibu,” Aug. 14

Mr. Edge has made a fortune selling idealism and empathy. Now he is suing those who protect our coastal lands, disregarding his neighbors’ opposition to his development plans.

Fans might boycott his music and rename his band “Screw U2.”

John Binder

Los Angeles