Debating electric cars; Michael Kinsley on the class war; and Newt Gingrich on the Palestinians

A few loose wires

Re “Back to an electric future,” Opinion, Dec. 11

Enough with articles about the electric car’s rosy future.

The electric car just transfers tailpipe emissions to the chimneys of the major electricity plants that must generate the power to charge them. These plants are predominantly coal or natural gas-fired and are potential environmental disasters that emit carbon dioxide.

The energy loss in the transmission of this power over miles of high-tension lines to the electric outlet is also a factor in the loss of efficiency of these vehicles. So what is the overall efficiency of the electric car, taking into account these factors?

Why don’t we hear about these features of the new world of electric cars?

Stan Greenfield

Woodland Hills

The roots of the class war

Re “The president fired the first shots of the class war,” Opinion, Dec. 9

A president did indeed fire the first shot of the class war, but that president was not Barack Obama.

Ronald Reagan’s administration began the class war 30 years ago with a major reduction in upper-income-bracket tax rates. Under President George W. Bush, tax reductions again benefited the wealthiest. Because many lawmakers have pledged never to increase taxes, we’re stuck with the Reagan/Bush tax cuts in perpetuity.

It should be no surprise that in the last 30 years, the income of the wealthiest Americans increased

275%, much higher than increases of others, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The class war is practically over, and it’s clear who is winning.

Sam McCarver

San Juan Capistrano

Michael Kinsley can rest assured that President Obama will never go near the “green beans” section of the budgetary buffet. Sharing blame for spending cuts that the public actually notices would stain the Democratic Party, whose trademark is the triumph of compassion over arithmetic.

Obama won’t identify a benefit he would reduce to forestall the coming entitlements crisis, and he has rejected substantive plans for attacking the deficit (including one from his own commission) while offering instead a plan with spending cuts that are painless.

The Democrats’ strategy against a fiscal disaster that was foreseen decades ago is to make it look

like an invention of cold-hearted Republicans. So yes, they’ll keep serving dessert.

Michael Smith

Cynthiana, Ky.

Palestinians as a people

Re “Gingrich needs history lesson, Palestinians say,” Dec. 11

Newt Gingrich was correct in referring to the Palestinians as an invented people. If there are any Palestinians, they would be the Jews, who have had a continuing presence in the land for millenniums.

The so-called Palestinians are Arabs from other countries that do not want them back. Thus, they can “claim” the land they are occupying. It is part of the strategy to surround Israel on all sides with enemies.

And there already is a Palestinian state. It is called Israel.

Florence C. Stacy

Lake Forest

I am neither pro-Israeli nor pro-Palestinian, but Gingrich declaring Palestinians an “invented” people makes me wonder if he is prepared to deed all of his land holdings in North America to the indigenous people.

After all, by his own logic, Gingrich is an invented American.

Phillip Brooks

Porter Ranch

Gingrich is my man for president. According to him, we should not waste time on people with whom we disagree. Instead, just announce they don’t exist.

Problem solved. Simple and inexpensive.

John Torocsik

Sherman Oaks

Open season on politicians

Re “>a href=”https://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/08/local/la-me-gifts-20111209”>Agency eases rules on gifts to politicians,” Dec. 9

Happy New Year to California voters and taxpayers. As of Jan. 1, it will be legal for elected politicians to accept expensive gifts from lobbyists without disclosure — if they are dating.

The Fair Political Practices Commission did an overhaul after politicians complained that those pesky rules “were confusing and overly intrusive.” You know, unlike those invasive mandates on the taxpayers by the IRS.

Voters passed the Political Reform Act of 1974 that created the FPPC to set laws intended to hold politicians accountable. Once again, voters did not get what they went to the polls for. Anyone still wondering why there is low voter turnout?

Betty Arenson

Valencia

The people entrusted with overseeing ethics in the Legislature have decreed that bribery limits should be loosened so that our representatives will now be able to accept more graft from lobbyists. They assure us that we can count on our legislators to police themselves.

What a novel concept; after all, it worked well with Wall Street and the banking industry. Why bother with any oversight at all?

Mike Belson

Studio City

Paving paradise

Re “The park that vanished,” Dec. 10

How could our school district and city government do any more damage to this community in the name of making it better?

A new park was taken away. More than half a million dollars was wasted.

Not only did the Los Angeles Unifies School District take it away, it fenced off the park for two years before getting around to building the school.

It doesn’t matter that L.A. Unified will build a replacement park that is fully paid for. The money has to come from somewhere, and the new park will almost certainly cost more than the perfectly fine park that was bulldozed.

The L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks is so desperate for money that it may allow advertising in our parks. But the city let L.A. Unified pave paradise in exchange for a park elsewhere.

Is this the best our leaders can do?

Stephen Resnick

Westwood

Fighting back

Re “Amazon’s price app draws fire,” Business, Dec. 10

As a small-business owner, I am highly offended by Amazon.com’s new price app.

Comparing prices is something people have always done. Now, Amazon suggests that people go into someone’s brick-and-mortar store, scan a

barcode and let Amazon know the price. Then, Amazon will give you another 5% off.

To me this does not sound moral or ethical.

Amazon should be happy with the advantage it has over us in not collecting sales tax. Don’t tell people to use my building, on which I pay rent and property tax, to do their work.

I recently turned the tables on Amazon. I was looking for a book and went to Amazon for some ideas. I found a book and then went to my local bookstore to purchase it.

It felt great. More of us should try it.

Take that, Amazon.

Arnie Sperling

Los Angeles

Lost billions

Re “Corzine tells of ‘stunned disbelief,’ ” Business, Dec. 9

MF Global really dodged a bullet there.

I mean, isn’t that why corporations pay chief executives such as Jon Corzine hundreds of times more than what the average citizen makes? By paying their bosses millions of dollars a year, they get the very best.

A lesser chief executive would have “lost” way more than $1.2 billion.

Scott McLean

Whittier