Our Readers Write

Letters to the Editor

Cites examples of congressman’s help

I was saddened to see Joanne McBirney’s partisan attack on our Congressman (Our Readers Write, Aug. 7). Congressman Dreier has always been there for us. Let me give you some examples.

When we needed help to achieve the dream of a new library in La Crescenta, Congressman Dreier was there for us with millions of dollars. Without his extra help, Supervisor Antonovich would have had a harder time getting us the total funding for our new county library. Mark Harmsen, his representative, heard of our needs from youth center to community meeting place and realized our 50–year-old library was just not worthy of our community as we progress into the future. He didn’t ask if we were Republicans or Democrats; we will all use the library equally for all sorts of great things in the future thanks to the Supervisor and the Congressman for making it happen for us.

A senior citizen in our community needed help with finances, Medicare, retirement needs, no matter how big or small our needs, he was there for her with her needs.

A community member needed help in achieving citizenship, the legal way, and yes his staff was a tremendous help to achieve that goal. These are the stories I know, but there are so many more ways Congressman Dreier has been here to help us. David Dreier has a track record of service and he works tirelessly to support our communities. I know he will continue to do so for years to come and I, for one, am pleased to thank him with my support. — Danette Erickson, La Crescenta

Media running Obama’s campaign

The press is not fooling anyone in their obvious love affair for Senator Obama. The editors of USA Today on Tuesday, Aug. 5 displayed obvious chutzpah when they ran two photos of the candidates. The top photo shows Senator Obama in a suit with a tie behind a podium marked “New Energy for America ” There are two American flags behind him and the image is designed to be presidential. In the photo below is Senator John McCain looking tired, casual, rumpled and tie-less; he is accompanied by his young wife and surrounded by employees of National Label Company in Lafayette Hill , Pa.

The obvious message from USA Today editors is: look at this young energetic guy who is for new energy for the country, while his opponent (John McCain) has nothing obvious to say in his signage and by the way, he looks tired and older. It is very clever, but very dishonest and unfair. We should expect better from the American print media, but they continue to disappoint us as their circulations and ad revenues fall. As a matter of fact, the circulation of USA Today has fallen 27% this past year. Other liberal papers are doing just as badly.

The American people are far from stupid and can see through this transparent bias. We Republicans see this clearly, we just hope that the large number of independents will begin to look beyond Obama’s lack of substance and fluff to really understanding that most of the media is essentially running Obama’s campaign for him. — Al Restivo, La Cañada Flintridge

Editor’s Note: Al Restivo is the San Gabriel Valley regional chairman for Victory 2008, (McCain for President), and chairman of the La Canada Flintridge Republican Club.

David Dreier did a flip-flop on vet bill

Sam Spagnola of Rancho Cucamonga recently implied [Our Readers Write, Aug. 7] that someone was misleading voters with respect to David Dreier’s support for the military, specifically the 21st Century G.I Bill. As the mother of a soldier currently serving in our armed forces this is an issue of some importance to me. In fact I called Dave Dreier’s local office for clarification of his position on this subject. I was told by his staff that the office “didn’t handle that.”

Subsequent phone calls and e-mails to Dreier’s office were never responded to. In light of that background I am particularly offended by Spagnola’s blatant misrepresentation of the facts.

So that no one is further “misled” I would like to clarify for the record David Dreier’s voting history with respect to the House version of Democratic Senator Jim Webb’s Veteran’s G.I. Bill. Dreier voted against this bill on May 19, 2008 when George Bush opposed it and the issue was in the balance. It passed despite Dreier’s opposition.

Dreier’s June 15 vote on the bill cited by Spagnola was also originally against; however, at the last minute, when there was no doubt that the bill would pass overwhelmingly, Dreier switched positions and voted in favor of it. Although he is a Bush rubber stamp (voting with Bush 94% of the time) Dreier is apparently sensitive to the reaction of his constituents on this issue, most of whom strongly supported it. So, he is now backpedaling and trying to change the facts retroactively. In addition to being a rubber stamp, Dreier is a flip-flopper, having voted against a bill he now claims to have supported. — Ellen Young, La Cañada