President Obama and America’s wealth divide; ‘Obamacare’ to the rescue; teacher morale at LAUSD

Rich and poor

Re “Obama takes aim at class divide,” Dec. 7

Why some Republicans “scoffed” at President Obama’s efforts to align himself with Theodore Roosevelt and his 1910 speech in Kansas is plain to most Americans. Heading into the year 2012, we know how far we have come since 1910.

We see how far we have come, and we see what we have lost. Many of us have lived through times when you could rise up from a lower position by becoming better on the job. A home, raising a family and retirement were all part of the package.

The Republicans are running on a platform of regression; they want to dismantle what the middle class has attained throughout the years.

Obama is saying we won’t go back. We can invest in America and bring it back to its place in the world once again.

Diane Welch

Cypress

I agree with Obama that “this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share and when everyone plays by the same rules.” Why, then, does he want the rich to do more than their fair share?

Why shouldn’t we all pay the same percentage of our income? Let’s even have welfare recipients pay a percentage to give them the feeling of contributing instead of taking. Let the rich give their excess to whomever they wish, not the government.

What is more equitable than having everyone pay the same proportion?

Connie Veldkamp

San Clemente

Obama stated that inequality distorts our democracy: “It gives an outsized voice to the few who can afford high-priced lobbyists and unlimited campaign contributions, and runs the risk of selling out our democracy to the highest bidder.”

Those words are from a man who recently charged $35,000 per plate to attend a campaign fundraiser in Hollywood. Does the word “hypocrite” come to mind?

Orrin Turbow

Oxnard

In defense of ‘Obamacare’

Re “ ‘Obamacare’ to the rescue,” Opinion, Dec. 7

Thank you, Spike Dolomite Ward, for “outing” yourself as an uninsured cancer patient. Believe me, I can appreciate it.

My husband and I also have a home, a small business, a shrinking income and no health insurance, and we are ashamed of the stigma. Our plan? Stay healthy and make it to 65.

When we tried to explain to our friends why we supported the Affordable Care Act (and universal healthcare) and why we had no insurance, they were shocked. One friend said he was sure there was something out there for $400 a month. I’m sure there is, but we can’t afford that.

During this recession, we have cut everything to the bone.

Janet Dooley

Fawnskin, Calif.

I wish Ward the very best and want to thank her for opening my eyes to what a fool I’ve been.

I too have a family with children, and my husband and I are also self-employed. While we have continued to pay for health insurance, I now realize that there is no good reason for us to continue doing so.

I’m canceling our policy, and if one of us should happen to really need “insurance” one day, I’ll buy it under President Obama’s preexisting

condition plan.

Jan Gendell

Marina del Rey

I was very pleased to see Ward’s piece. I have pre-existing conditions and subscribed to this plan when I found out about it.

I dropped health insurance in May 2010. I had been in group health insurance plans and I, as a single woman, could not keep paying premiums of up to $1,000 a month. After being accepted to the preexisting condition plan, I have been letting other Californians know that “Obamacare” is here now.

So, fellow Californians who haven’t had health insurance for at least six months, go to pcip.ca.gov and find out how the plan can help you.

Karen I. Frank

Los Angeles

Ward need not apologize for not treasuring healthcare reform when it was first introduced. The massive campaign against what was termed Obamacare was waged with massive dollars from the health insurance industry.

Yes, the preexisting condition plan is a Godsend to people in need, even if it cuts into the insurance industry’s profits.

Martin A. Brower

Corona del Mar

More advice

Re “An Occupy manifesto,” Editorial, Dec. 4

Your Occupy manifesto is a good start. Occupy activists have ideas, some the same as yours, but have trouble reaching a consensus on priorities. To your list, I’d add single-payer healthcare.

I can’t imagine that the Occupy movement would, as you suggest, use the 1986 Reagan tax reforms as a model. Although loopholes and tax shelters rob the country of revenue, closing them would not raise enough unless we increase the top tax rates.

The Occupy movement is right that we need to tax the rich. Our economy has done much better when top marginal tax rates were high than when they were low, as they have been since the Bush tax cuts.

As one protester’s sign said, “Trickle down has made us all pee-ons.”

Russell Stone

Los Angeles

Egypt’s pillars

Re “Pillars of change,” Opinion, Dec. 5

A separate Times article on Dec. 5 reported that Islamist parties won more than 60%of the vote in Egypt’s first round of parliamentary elections. In his Op-Ed article, Ahmed Zewail outlined his “pillars of change” that he felt would transform Egypt. Separation of church and state was not one of them.

Maybe his reading of history is different from mine, but show me where a theocracy has ever produced transformational human rights and economic change. Zewail should aim for the stars and imagine another pillar of change that would lead to an Egypt more like present-day Turkey.

Mark Aaron

Santa Monica

Blame the media

Re “Freeing up LAUSD,” Editorial, Dec. 6

Fifteen years ago I was one of those “new teachers who came to the district with little pedagogical training.”

One of the main reasons why teacher morale is sinking is the barrage of articles written by your newspaper, many of them implying that teachers are to blame for the ills of education. Let’s start with your decision to publish names of teachers with their value-added scores for the world to see.

Yes, budget cuts have affected morale, but more so The Times.

Genie Penn

Los Angeles

Leadership

Re “Global cooling to U.S. stance on climate change,” Dec. 4

Washington is filled not with leaders but with followers. Its willingness to cut emissions will always be weak so long as Americans allow themselves to be paralyzed by the fossil fuel interests peddling doubt.

Those who care about the climate need to lead our “leaders,” as they did with the Keystone XL pipeline. As the tea party did. As the Occupy Wall Street protesters are doing.

Political will cannot be conjured out of thin air. It must be built, and it is the duty of normal people to build it.

Daniel Richter

La Jolla

Rail ties

Re “Bullet train would lose in revote,” Dec. 7

When the budget for the bullet train was $33 billion, it was to be paid for by riders. Now that the budget has tripled, has the projected ridership also tripled?

If we could just apply this magical thinking to the California budget, we could all breathe more easily and go to the beach.

James Taylor

San Clemente