Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate; the legacy of Ronald Reagan; L.A.’s proposed downtown football stadium

Gipper wannabes

Re “Perry, Romney clash in debate over jobs and Social Security,” Sept. 8

During the debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and the other candidates mentioned President Reagan’s name more than two-dozen times. Clearly, each of the Republican candidates was trying to convince voters that he or she is the second coming of Reagan.

It’s one thing to talk about one’s conservative values. It’s another thing to pretend you are the rightful heir to the Reagan legacy. Watching the heartfelt tribute to Nancy Reagan, I couldn’t help but wonder what she thought of the Gipper’s avowed devotees.

A.L. Cynton

Laguna Beach

Perry was criticized for calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme. Perry’s biggest mistake was to not define the term: a scheme in which early investors are paid from the receipts of later investors. Social Security recipients are paid from the receipts of current workers — an accurate description of a Ponzi scheme.

Gary A. Robb

Los Feliz

I can’t help but feel that by participating in the debate, Perry shot himself in the foot politically by showing up in Simi Valley while much of his state is in flames.

I honestly don’t know how Texans feel about Perry’s participation, but if Gov. Jerry Brown were running for president and he flew off to, say, St. Louis for a debate while half of California was going up in smoke, I would be the first to sign any petition to have him removed from office.

Perry would have scored far more political points by staying home in this time of crisis instead of flying halfway across the country to trade political jabs with Romney.

Richard Smith

Huntington Beach

Re “Reagan the icon a far cry from the real figure,” Sept. 7

Thanks for your article reminding us of the real Ronald Reagan and not the caricature that some people have made of him recently, with the Republican hard right claiming he was one of them and the Democrats blaming him for starting the process that led to the Great Recession. I feel that the present Republican right would have thrown the real Reagan out of the party along with the first president I voted for, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

When I first arrived in California in 1956, the state had a moderate Republican governor, Goodwin Knight, one conservative and one moderate Republican senator and a state Legislature that functioned. Eisenhower was in the White House and the country was at peace.

I don’t think either the state or the nation is better off today.

Jim Mentzer

Los Angeles

Reagan came along when America needed a cheerleader. Before his election in 1980, America had just been through the ignominious end of the Vietnam War, Watergate, an Arab oil embargo, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian hostage situation.

Jimmy Carter, a good Christian man and president, did not exactly inspire confidence. More than anything Reagan might have done policy-wise, the force of his persona enabled America to regain its mojo. That is his greatest achievement.

Eugene Sison

San Dimas

False start on stadium plan

Re “Play ball with AEG,” Editorial, Sept. 4

The Times advocates special treatment for a football stadium but not for new housing developments or commercial expansion? A stadium for men to give each other concussions when we already have the Rose Bowl and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum?

What are state Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-Los Angeles) and the Legislature’s priorities? What is your editorial board thinking?

Steve Murray

Huntington Beach

Your editorial urging the Legislature to speed up the environmental review for the proposed Farmers Field makes sense only if the proposed rule changes apply to all projects. There are thousands of other jobs that would be available that are also dependent on reviews of equally worthy projects in California.

Samuel Salkin

San Clemente

The college experience

Re “College housing has never looked so nice,” Sept. 4

In this day and age of high unemployment and a shattered economy, The Times features the “needs” of the pampered and spoiled who, evidently, have the ears of university planners, both private and public.

A glaring omission in your article was the relatively low-cost, student-owned-and-operated housing co-ops at UCLA and UC Berkeley. In the 1970s their reasonable rates enabled my brother and me to pursue a world-class university education without going broke at UCLA. Currently, my daughter is able to avail herself of the same opportunity in Berkeley, which is a welcome, much-needed option.

Annette Halpern

Ventura

USC’s need-blind admissions policies and commitment to undergraduate financial aid ensure that our students matriculate on the basis of merit, not the ability to pay. As a result, students generate a housing demand that spans all income levels. If independent developers can maximize return on investment by focusing on high-end properties, they should. The university’s housing plans, however, focus on students of more representative means.

USC residence halls and residential colleges are modest. I have lived in one for more than 20 years, part of a core of USC faculty members and their families who reside in student facilities and form lifelong bonds with students. The hallmark of the typical USC residential experience is friendship and the life of the mind, not hot tubbing and margaritas.

James E. Moore II

Los Angeles

The writer is a professor at USC’s Andrew and Erna Viterbi School of Engineering.

Blame game

Re “Step up to the plate, parents,” Column, Sept. 4

Finally, someone has identified the real cause of underachievement in public education. All the other problems are real, but none even come close to lack of parenting as the major reason for the failures of children in the classroom. During 38 years as an educator, I heard the phrase “do your homework or else” fade from a roar to an inaudible whisper.

God bless the efforts of Mary Johnson.

David T. Legacki

San Pedro

Helping Texas

Re “Texas calls for aid as fires worsen,” Sept. 7

How does attacking Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s stance against federal overspending help the families who have lost homes or bring comfort to the families who have lost loved ones? Why must your reporting of this national disaster have such a mean and obvious bias against a conservative governor?

Doesn’t Perry have the right to request help from the federal government? Have he and the citizens of Texas forfeited that right because he has commented on the inept financial management of the federal government?

The need in Texas is legitimate. The lion’s share of federal spending is wasteful.

Debbie Smith

Seattle

Animal rights

Re “They’re elephants, not rides,” Editorial, Sept. 7

Message to the owners of Have Trunk Will Travel: Elephants were not put on this Earth to be forced into showbiz by Homo sapiens. What about that sentence do you not understand?

Sylvia Lewis

Thousand Oaks