The death of free enterprise

Why won't the federal government allow large corporations to fail? Don't they know that new, better-run companies will fill the void? Nature abhors a vacuum. Our whole system is supposed to be based on survivor of the fittest, best managed and honest companies. Instead, our government is bailing out poorly managed, greedy companies and those who run them.

I owned and operated my own business for more than 25 years through three recessions. Each time was a struggle, but I emerged stronger and smarter at the end of each one. The good part of the recessions was that each time I lost competitors who, in my opinion, were marginal businesses. When the recessions ended, new and stronger competitors filled the void. I welcomed them. Strong competitors kept me on my toes. They were good for my industry and my customers.

I firmly believe it is in the best interest of our country to allow banks like Bank of America, Chase and Citibank to fail if they can't cut it without bailout money. The deposits, for the most part, are insured. Their assets can be sold to smaller, stronger, better-managed banks that will hopefully learn from the mistakes of the failed banks.

That is the American way!

Don Landis

Carlsbad

Courts-martial bring to mind Krulak's book

I read with interest Teri Figueroa's article in the Feb. 18 edition of North County Times concerning the hearings for Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, U.S. Marine Corps ("Court-martial delayed in Fallujah killings").

I see looming on the horizon a replica of Marine Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, general court-martial concluded on Aug. 3, 2007. Same presiding judge, prosecutors trying to control everything, etc. One thing Sgt. Nelson has in his favor is attorney Joseph Low, his civilian defense counsel. He will battle these prosecutors to the bitter end.

An excellent read for all convening authorities and prosecutors is a book titled "Warfighting" by retired Marine Gen. Charles C. Krulak, former CMC. Quotes: "It is each Marine's duty to take initiative as the situation demands" and "Subordinate commanders must make decisions on their own initiative, based on their understanding of their seniors intent."

If many of the rules outlined in Gen. Krulak's book had been applied by the convening authorities and prosecutors in Sgt. Hutchins' general court-martial, he would not be serving 11 years in Fort Leavenworth today.

Don Greenlaw

retired, U.S. Marine Corps

Oceanside

Oceanside airport is here to stay

I was wondering when June Kristapovich would start running off at the mouth again about the Oceanside airport ("Oceanside airport remains a danger," Community Forum, Feb. 13). Ms. Kristapovich, why don't you get a life? The Oceanside airport is a valuable asset to our community and is here to stay. There is nothing you can do to close it down. If you live near the flight path, why don't you just move?

It is unfortunate about the recent accident by the airport; however, accidents do happen. We do not know whether it was pilot error or an airplane malfunction. I am not a pilot and will never be one. However, the airport has been at this same location for many years and will not move. The airport was around when builders built close to the airport. Is this the airport's problem?

Remember, if it weren't for the inept decision of two current and one former city council member who refused a huge government grant (Wood, Sanchez and Mackin), we would have a new perimeter fence and a dozen new hangars right now.

Ken Hacker

Oceanside

Economic stimulus to business

I have an idea for jump-starting the economy: minimum wage law suspension to "stimulate" employers to hire everyone possible.

I've seen three minimum wage increases and each brought higher prices and employee layoffs. Workers not laid off worked harder longer to pick up the slack, so some could make a "living wage." Pretty soon, their jobs were "outsourced" to companies who had only "part-time" employees, thus avoiding benefits. The new contractors did nothing outside their contract and wanted to raise it at every opportunity. Customer service died. Manufacturing went to countries with no minimum wage law. How is anyone better off?

Before minimum wage law, kids got summer and after-school jobs and learned the value of work. They didn't have extra time for gang membership and drug experimentation. My sons gained skills and life lessons worth far more than minimum wage.

With stagnant sales, jobs lost, and governments out of relief program money, doesn't it make sense to stimulate employers to hire? Most people would choose working for poor wages over charity. Most companies could use more help.

Barbara Saad

Escondido

Restore traditional voting

Proposition 8 supporters like Gary Zacharias ("Many reasons for Prop. 8 vote," Community Forum, Feb. 22) raise the concern (sincere or not) that same-sex marriage will lead to polygamy and other destructive relationships. Like Mr. Zacharias, I believe in traditional values. I therefore propose the following constitutional amendment: Women shall no longer be allowed to vote in the state of California.

Don't call me a sexist. I'm just upholding "traditional" voting. Women didn't vote in biblical times or even in the early 20th century. There's no evidence God wants women voting. Besides, allowing women to vote could lead to infants voting, or animals voting, or other absurd and dangerous arrangements. Let's go and raise support for Prop. 9: Restore traditional suffrage!

Jack Davis

Carlsbad

The partying continues on

Did you get the answer yet to the financial crisis? Do you see the signs? Well, of course not, because if you're like the rest of us, you depend on the usual suspects and reliable sources to keep you informed.

Octo-mom, a clueless, selfish and irresponsible person, messed around with science and gamed the system, and now she is the "old lady who lived in a shoe who had so many children she did not know what to do."

The usual suspects, all 535 in Congress, nine on the Supreme Court, and two in the executive branch, tweaked the system so they could ingratiate themselves and feather their nest for re-election, etc. They ignored the science of the Constitution, which is the "law," and now the responsible people, the taxpayers and law-abiders, have to bail out the corrupt system so the partygoers can party on.

The blatant sign of our collective tragedy is Bernie Madoff, a mad genius who played three-card monte, robbing Peter to pay Paul till Rome burned, and laughed all the way to the penthouse.

The Usual Suspects of All of us (U.S.A.) will live well and prosper. Ba-Rock on?

Fred Schuster

Vista

Innocent until missing

The disappearance of a child is every parent's worst nightmare, a tragedy so great, every fellow heart grieves. Amber Dubois and her family have most assuredly been in our prayers since her disappearance Feb. 13, and I was grateful to see your front page headline Sunday Feb. 22 "What happens when they disappear?".

My gratitude quickly turned to dismay, however, when I read the article, in which police seem to justify measured response to missing teens because of the prevalence of runaways. Though it receives tragically little attention in our media, human trafficking now runs second to drug trafficking in prevalence and profitability. Experience has established unequivocally that the level of action executed in the first 24 hours of a missing-person report is vital to determining the outcome.

These combined facts mandate we give each missing-teen report the strongest, fastest, most efficient and comprehensive police and community response possible. Justifying lesser action because of teens who left homes willingly places us on the side of aiding and abetting abductors and blinds future victims to their own vulnerability.

Marlaine Cover

Escondido

Government should lead by example

I am a taxpaying individual and a business owner, a real double whammy these days. When economic times become difficult, I don't turn to my loyal and trusted employees and lay them off or reduce their pay. As president of the company, I am the first to reduce my pay 10 percent; Iˇmake the sacrifices needed to encourage my employees to follow my lead.

So where are the sacrifices being made in Sacramento and Washington? How many of them have nannies, housekeepers, chauffeurs, government-paid cars, meal stipends, gasoline cards, and the list goes on?

Political preferences aside, I think it's time for everyone to feel the pain of this economic recession. It's easy for those in Sacramento to raise the gas tax, the car tax and all the other taxes because they don't pay them. When are they going to lead by example?

My challenge is for every elected official both in Sacramento and Washington to reduce their pay by 10 percent and eliminate any and all perks, which includes car allowances, gas cards, meal stipends and any other benefits they think they are entitled to, and live on their paychecks alone. Why not? We do!

Jerry Vetack

Carlsbad

No dog beach in Oceanside!

I live in Oceanside and have taken my dog to the dog beach in Del Mar. Yes, it is a great place to let a dog run free. It's also a beach where I would think twice about taking off my shoes. While I stand ready to clean up after my dog, his favorite place to do his business is often out in the surf.

I've seen lots of dogs doing that. Oceanside is not Del Mar. More people are out in the water surfing, swimming and paddling than anywhere else, every day, all year long. How can you trade the health of so many people for the desires of a few? Did we really invest so much money into tourism, only to put a doggie-doody spot right in the middle of it? Get real.

We have a great dog park and have room to build more if we'd like. Please! No dogs on the beach in Oceanside!

Heidi Madden

Oceanside

California increasing our taxes

I just followed a link on the home page of Stop Taxing Us (www.StopTaxingUs.com), where I discovered that some of our state legislators have decided to take an additional $658 out of my pocket.

Why do we tolerate California's spending doubling from 1998 to 2008 while our economy is crumbling and businesses are closing? Do our legislators believe they know how to spend my money better than I do? I suspect we are witnessing their submission to the most vocal labor unions.

Too many of our representatives have acquired their positions by openly catering to public employee unions while simultaneously ignoring the silent majority.

If you are part of this silent majority, visit www.StopTaxingUs.com and let your voice be heard. It is time to put an end to the liberal spending practices that stream from Sacramento.

Thomas Taylor

Vista

Octuplet mom wrong for using IVF

This letter is in response to the Feb. 5 article written by Shaya Tayefe Mohajer titled "Octuplet mom got more than $165K in disability," which (leaves a person to conclude) that the mother spent part of her disability money for her excessive in vitro fertilization. That was an irresponsible move by the mother of the octuplets.

If the state intervenes in methods of having children such as adoption, then there should be a regulation on in vitro fertilization as well. A majority of the people who use in vitro fertilization are doing so because they cannot have children by natural means.

But if there are people out there who use in vitro fertilization to have excessive numbers of children without the means to raise them, there should be regulations set to look into the backgrounds of the families to make sure these children have a stable living environment. If we do a screening for expectant adoptive parents, why not for in vitro fertilization parents?

The screening should include a mandatory psych consult for people looking into in vitro fertilization. Do you think this mess could have possibly been avoided had a security net like a psych consult been administered to this mother?

Heather Crabtree

Solana Beach

Dismal science: accolades and brickbats

Accolades to John Matthews for his explanation of basic macroeconomics to those who don't understand President Obama's stimulus plan (Letters, Feb. 23). Unfortunately, guest columnist Herb W. Morgan does not appear to have the same level of understanding.

In his Feb. 22 column ("The Fed will bring us out of economic mess"), Mr. Morgan blames Community Reinvestment Act modifications and Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae as "major contributors to our current woes." Federal Reserve Governor Randall Kroszner stated in December, "The very small share of all higher-priced loan originations that can reasonably be attributed to the CRA makes it hard to imagine how this law could have contributed in any meaningful way to the current subprime crisis."

BusinessWeek Magazine wrote in September of the argument that Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae caused the subprime meltdown: "It's completely false. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were victims of the credit crisis, not culprits."

Finally, Mr. Morgan contends that "the Fed will bring us out of this mess." What will bring us out of this mess is a substantial increase in consumer spending; this will occur as a result of the Obama stimulus in the manner explained by Mr. Matthews. The Fed has little ability, if any, to affect consumer spending.

Stephen Carter

Escondido

More Daley Ranch hikes than you think

Don't be misled by the small number of Daley Ranch hikes listed by the North County Times. Cost-cutting for all newspapers has resulted in thinner editions with less coverage of events. The naturalist program at Daley Ranch has more scheduled hikes than ever.

February had 17 events, whereas March has 16 outings. Not everyone is aware that by calling (760) 839-4680 (Dixon Lake Ranger Station), you can hear a recording of all of the month's events. This program of free hikes is made possible by 20 to 30 volunteers, most of whom have full-time jobs. The hikes are varied in length and subject matter. Many are short and slow-paced, involving less than two or three miles. One is especially oriented for young children that would pave the way for their greater appreciation of nature. A few very challenging long hikes attract a surprisingly large number of participants.

The Escondido City Council in 1996 had the foresight to purchase this 3,000-plus acre parcel from Shea Homes and forever protect the land as habitat preserve. Smoking, camping and off-trail walking are prohibited. The city's occupants are the clear winners!

Jack Pomeroy

Escondido