We can enjoy the Rose Parade again

I see in the Los Angeles Times that KTLA is bringing back Stephanie Edwards to do the Rose Parade commentary (along with Bob Eubanks) on New Year's Day. Oh boy, did they ever make a boo-boo when they released her three years ago.

Once again, we can sit back and enjoy the Rose Parade that is hosted by two of the best commentators in the country. Welcome home, Stephanie. We missed you.

Ellen Furgerson

Oceanside

Experience: Hiding in the crowd

If you are wondering why so many voters are confused about Sen. Obama, the answer is simple: his very thin resume. He has spent his short political life basically hiding in the crowd.

As an Illinois state senator, he [often] voted "present" on legislation. Those exceptions include leadership on a bill to subsidize Grove Pac, a group led by his former law partner and Tony Rezko. The legislation funded the rehabilitation of about 1,500 residential units. Today, six years later, most are considered uninhabitable, and of course they refused to accept management responsibility upon completion. He voted no on a bill to protect children who survived a late-term abortion attempt. … This is the experience that he brought to the U.S. Senate.

In his brief time in the U.S. Senate prior to initiating his run for the president of the United States, he was involved in more than 100 bills as a co-sponsor, again, as one of 51 of 100, at the same time fighting to withdraw our troops from Iraq. To this day he will argue that the surge was ineffective. This is not leadership experience.

Charlie Harp

Encinitas

McCain helped bring on the economic crisis

John McCain said the other day, as major economic institutions crumbled, that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." Note that former Republican Sen. Phil Gramm is advising McCain on the economy. This is very bad news for the electorate, because Gramm is responsible for 1999 legislation that loosened regulations on financial institutions and helped bring us to the current disaster. John McCain voted for that legislation.

This is the fundamental Republican philosophy that McCain believes: It is acceptable for private entities to make enormous profit, and if they get in trouble, the public will bail them out. Privatize profit, socialize the loss.

Do you really want to trust John McCain with the critical task of righting the ship that he helped capsize? Not only is he part of the problem, he doesn't even seem to grasp the depth of the problem, which is truly frightening.

Rachel Rott

Vista

Bring fairness to California voters

I'm baffled by the stream of letters debating the merits of our two main presidential candidates #â€"â€" as if the readers of this page still had a crucial decision to make. California's contribution toward deciding our next president ended with the February primary. Absent a catastrophic blunder, Obama will win the state by a comfortable margin, and with it our full electoral vote.

Thanks to our archaic election process, millions of California votes for McCain will be effectively discarded. Similarly, millions of votes for Obama from states such as Texas and Arizona will be ignored.

Last year, Rep. Issa pushed an initiative that would have shifted the disenfranchisement to the district level. A better alternative is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, recently passed by both the state senate and assembly (SB 37). In cooperation with other states, this would commit California to award our electoral votes to the candidate with the most votes nationally. If enacted, the vote of every person in the country would have equal value, and we will never repeat our 2000 debacle â€"â€" electing a president who lost the vote to his opponent. Please write to Gov. Schwarzenegger, urging him to sign this bill.

Jim Hayes

Oceanside

Enlightening debate in Oceanside

Tuesday's Oceanside council candidate debate was a firecracker ("Oceanside council candidates pick sides at coastal debate," Sept. 17). Rick Kratcoski called out Feller and Gibson on their acceptance of out-of-town developer big bucks. … Feller and Gibson made ridiculous attacks on unions and rent control. Feller and Gibson seem to feel it's OK for them to take money from outsiders, then vote on the building schemes those same outsiders propose, but it's not OK for Sanchez and Charles Lowery to accept volunteer work from police officers and firefighters who actually live here.

Feller and Gibson walked in lockstep in saying market forces would take care of rent prices. Have they seen the market lately? My uncle is disabled, but managed to hold a job for 30 years. His meager pension and pittance of Social Security are barely enough for him to afford his rent-controlled apartment. Under the heartless ideals of market forces, what would happen to people like my uncle who don't have family to help them? …

Lowery showed a clear understanding of budgets, people and cost-benefit analyses. Sanchez demonstrated knowledge of local issues and competence in navigating the labyrinth of local, state and federal laws and procedures. Kratcoski would make for some entertaining meetings, though.

Jennifer Hamilton

Oceanside

Government should get out of marriage

I am a conservative, Bible-believing, fundamentalist evangelical Christian, and I do not support Proposition 8. I have read many letters recently from those in support of Prop. 8 who say that four activist judges "overturned the will of the people." That may be true, but it is their job.

Despite common belief, our Founding Fathers believed that democracy was one of the worst forms of government and therefore set up a republic; the Constitution was meant to limit the government from oppressing the minority for the sake of the majority. They believed that we have "certain unalienable rights" that should not be repressed, no matter how many people wished them to be.

That being said, this proposition is in stark contrast to our separation of church and state. Marriage, as an institution, is inherently religious. Therefore, for any level of government to have any involvement with its structure or content is a violation. In fact, for government to regulate it in any way is in direct contrast to the First Amendment. Marriage should be decided between the two wishing to marry, their minister/priest/pastor/officiating party and God. The government should get its nose out in every way.

Steven Holman

Escondido

Women will now rule the political roost

Political punditry and analysis is, at best, reading tea leaves or crystal balls. A tidal wave is sweeping the nation, and the media elite are missing the obvious: Women will now rule. There is nothing that left or right political strategists can do about it.

Years ago, Marshall McLuhan wrote the medium is the message, the definitive work on the impact of television on American culture. Today, women are the message, and the glass ceiling is finished. Geraldine scratched the surface, Hillary softened the center and Sarah smashed the core into 18 million pieces. Any political party that ignores this monumental shift in power is doomed. GHS is the cross-cultural, cross-gender logo of current and future generations of women.

James Fraser

San Marcos

Lowery is a fiscal conservative

We need to vote for fiscal conservatives like Chuck Lowery. Maybe a lot of Oceanside residents are unaware that the city of Oceanside is in financial trouble, so let me clue you in. The city finance director has reported that, because of possible cuts in the state budget, the city is at risk of losing approximately $3.5 million to $5.5 million from general fund revenues. The city still has many capital and infrastructure projects that the city needs to construct, which would come from general fund reserve. Things like new sewer and water lines and new pavement are desperately needed.

Jack Feller doesn't have a clue about finance. Jim Gibson doesn't either. … Chuck Lowery, a respected and successful local businessman, understands this issue. He will keep a tight lid on unnecessary spending in city government. He will be an advocate for spending money only on projects that are truly useful and desirable for city residents. Chuck Lowery will protect our precious tax dollars.

I urge all those who care about the fiscal health of Oceanside to vote for Chuck Lowery.

Robin O'Connell

Oceanside

Some things never change

People, why get so confused and bent out of shape? There are some things that can never change. Science on its own â€"â€" without speeches, without anger, without hate, without a single word â€"â€" says it best. Marriage between a man and a woman? Definitely yes.

Monica Terrazas

San Marcos

Don't violate law when campaigning

I live in a mobile home park in the northeast quadrant of Vista. On Friday, Sept. 12, I received a political solicitation … for Vista City Council. This solicitation was found in our in-park communication tube. This is a true violation of the "no trespassing" and "no solicitation" laws.

I will not vote for a candidate who has total disregard for my privacy by violating the law.

Jim Pengelly

Vista

How small is Wasilla?

Wasilla, Alaska, is so small that it's difficult to find towns in San Diego County small enough to make a legitimate size comparison. Julian, Bonsall, Valley Center, Fallbrook â€"â€" these four towns have an average population greater than Wasilla. It is also interesting that the entire state of Alaska has only one-fourth the population of San Diego County.

Wasilla is a transportation node to northern Alaska, with a railroad track and a highway, similar to Barstow, but on a smaller scale. Wasilla is remote from all states other than Alaska. Except for Anchorage (a city with not quite twice the population of Oceanside), the nearest major city is Vancouver, Canada â€"â€" 1,400 miles south.

The dominant characteristic of Wasilla is its Arctic climate â€"â€" cold most of the time. Spending most of her adult life in an isolated, sparsely populated, unusual place has provided Sarah Palin a narrow background and knowledge of the United States and the world. Not sufficient experience to be sensibly elevated to, quite possibly, president of the United States â€"â€" the single person in the world most likely to have great influence and impact on all Americans, as well as the entire world.

Bill Parks

Oceanside

Show some compassion

Are we showing any kind of compassion or understanding for a young person who had the misfortune to suffer the trauma of rape or incest when we force her to deliver the imperfect result of such a devastating experience? I, for one, don't have the right to impose such cruelty on anyone.

Apparently, the candidate for the Republican vice presidency shows no such compassion or understanding.

Betty Guerrero

Oceanside

Send a message: Vote third party this November

This November, many will vote for whom they believe to be the lesser of two evils without giving thought to a third-party choice.The fact is cited in many polls that more than 40 percent of voters consider themselves independents, not being able to identify with either of the two dominant parties. A vote for a third-party candidate is not a wasted vote. At the very least, it informs the powers that be you are voting for "none of the above," meaning the two candidates they have nicely picked out for you to choose between.

Remember when you are in that voting booth to pause and listen to your heart. Do you really want more of the same, or do you want liberty and someone who will promote a return to constitutional government? Vote the same, get the same. Send a message: Write in Ron Paul.

Bill Hasty

Escondido

Palin is change we don't need

Women of the United States of America should Google "Sarah Palin and her outrageous rape kit policy" by Bonnie Erbe. Could you ever imagine Palin getting her way (to do her part for the crumbling economy) at making rape victims actually pay for rape kits that are used for harvesting of evidence! Women and men, mothers and fathers alike should be outraged from this thought process alone.

So it may have saved Palin's Wasilla taxpayers $5,000 to $14,000 a year. Is this reform? Simple outrages! Just what we need, rape and child abuse being the worst of the worst. Just how many cases do not get reported as is; now throw a medical bill at the victim and you not only save a rape kit cost, but you will save court cost, as no one will get prosecuted due to no evidence (unless the victim has $1,200 for the rape kit). Brilliant! Change we honestly don't need.

Bryan Watkins

Oceanside

Another budget mess, courtesy of politicians

Another sorry day for the citizens of California. Sept. 18 was the 80th day without a state budget, entirely because of the legislature's misdirected malingering. I was pleased to note Assemblywoman Mimi Walters supported the veto, and now it is time to return to the conference room and hammer out a budget bill and a budget process the governor will sign. All good wishes.

The governor wisely vetoed the smoke-and-mirrors budget as submitted. Wouldn't it have been convenient for him to have had the powers of a line-item veto, enabling his signature on a realistic and functional budget?

I have suggested the North County Times get behind an initiative measure to amend the budget process, whereby the legislature will forfeit all pay for each day past June 1 they fail to submit a budget authorization bill to the governor. …

Robert Noble

Oceanside

Liberals are a miserable bunch

I have been reading the North County Times letters page for many years now, and I have come to the conclusion that liberals are a miserable bunch. They live to hate, not help. I would rather be a happy conservative, as I know that they are right on life's most important issues.

Ann Nunes

Poway

Douglas has the leadership Carlsbad needs

While serving on the Proposition D Citizens Committee for the flower and strawberry fields, I was tremendously impressed with Farrah Douglas' intelligence, thoroughness and questioning attitude. She spent enormous amounts of time to understand and listen to all perspectives before stating her opinions.

When she was appointed to the Planning Commission, she was the exact talent the city needed. She is not afraid to question the status quo, and prides herself with having a high level of integrity uncommon in today's politics. Her passion for Carlsbad now, and in the future, is genuine and is supported by the extensive amounts of time and personal resources she has volunteered.

She is exactly the type of leadership Carlsbad needs and will be a treasure to the citizens as a council member.

Jill Agosti

Carlsbad