Parties switch on illegal immigration

Through the years the Democratic Party has achieved the reputation of favoring the middle class and the poor in its agenda and the Republican Party has favored big business. Then along comes the illegal immigration problem, which offers a source of cheap labor for businesses but a huge burden to the middle class and the poor.

Over a year ago the Republican members of the House of Representatives attempted to pass illegal immigration reform that made illegal immigration a felony, and later the Democratic presidential candidates all proposed comprehensive immigration reform that included a path to citizenship, which some interpret as amnesty. …

The Republicans have since backed off from the unsuccessful "felony for illegals" proposal. The Democrats have softened their "amnesty" proposal by stating that illegal immigrants would have to go to the back of the legal immigration queue. This latter move is a false compromise because all it does is to give the waiting, legal immigrants their immigration ceremony prior to the illegal immigrants, who then immediately obtain the right to live in the U.S., plus most of the citizenship benefits. …

Herbert Pairitz

Carlsbad

Bush haters are in our government

The Bush haters keep repeating their big lie by declaring that Bush lied, believing that if they repeat the big lie often and loud it will become the truth. Once having established their big lie they now clamor for impeachment and prison for Bush.

However, Kenneth Timmerman exposes the left's big lie in his book, "Shadow Warriors," by revealing how Clinton administration holdovers and other Bush haters working within the CIA and State Department have been selling out America's national security for political gain. Timmerman explains how some traitorous bureaucrats in high positions, who … believe they owe no allegiance to Bush, have been conducting political sabotage by leaking sensitive information and planting disinformation to destroy President Bush.

Timmerman shows how the anti-Bush media have gleefully broadcast stories about secret prisons and covert methods of information gathering to embarrass Bush, thus encouraging the enemy. He explains Hussein's ties to international terrorists, the existence of the WMDs arsenal and claims that Bush's greatest mistake was to allow his political enemies, and enemies of America, to remain in places of authority where treason exists without consequence.

Darrell Beck

Ramona

The media's King Obama

Obama took millions from one of the richest men in Britain and bought a Georgian mansion in Chicago. We really know nothing about him at all, but the media are giving him rock star appeal.

When Bush the younger first ran, I told everyone we would rue the day if he became president; he proved even worse than I imagined. Apparently too many Americans are still willing to buy what the media sell and want to jump on whatever bandwagon they are able to create/spin.

Clinton would make a brilliant president. She knows the laws and upholds our Constitution. Although other civilized countries already have women at their helm, the men in this country are still too macho to have a woman clean up the Bush cartel mess. Clinton is the one with the guts and passion to step up to the plate and do it. …

E. Ann Harter

Fallbrook

Decide eminent domain by vote of the people

As a newly elected member of the Project Area Committee for Vista's Redevelopment Plan, I must advise the Vista City Council that the overwhelming response of residents living in neighborhoods they have termed blighted is anger and fear. Citizens are well aware of the power they possess to seize their homes and businesses by eminent domain for their profit and the profit of developers. Their pledge not to wield this power is universally not believed.

Citizens are also well aware that lowered property values place them at greater risk and would permit them to seize their properties at greatly reduced cost.

I must also advise them that their only viable course of action to reassure citizens is to relinquish their powers of eminent domain to the voters. The committee will not allow them to wield this power on the sly, and an attack on one of us will be viewed as an attack on all of us.

One hundred years before the birth of this nation communities decided issues of eminent domain by a vote of the people - for purposes of tranquillity within our city. I suggest that we follow this example.

Michael Booth

Vista

Don't blame NRA for gun massacres

I found Mr. Martin's letter regarding the NRA being invisible absurd (Letters, Feb. 27). First of all, the anti-gun liberal media would jump at the chance to smear the NRA with the least provocation. Next, what purpose would it serve to identify the criminal as a member? There are bad apples in every barrel, just look at Congress. If it were not for the NRA a lot of police department firearm instructors would not be trained. More accidental and negligent discharges would occur. But because of the NRA's aggressive education programs across the nation, accidental shooting injuries are at their lowest since records have been kept, even though legal firearm ownership has tripled.

"Weapons give people a feeling of strength that they don't deserve." Yeah, tell that to the 70-year-old widow when a 230-pound man breaks into her home. I bet a number of VT students wish they had their lawfully owned CCW-approved guns the day of the shooting for that feeling of strength. Instead all they could do is flee, hide or lay down and die. I'm a life member and proud of it.

Laurence Renner

Oceanside

Hollywood has its share of Republicans

L.A. Daily News columnist Bridget Johnson babbles about supposedly liberal Hollywood in her column titled, "Has Hollywood gotten off its soapbox?" (Feb. 26). The supposedly liberal-socialistic bent of the film industry is a myth successfully perpetrated on the nation by conservatives in league with the mainstream media. In reality, Hollywood actors who have made it successfully in politics have been Republicans: Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Murphy, Sonny Bono and Fred Grandy come to mind.

Action stars mostly have been conservatives: John Wayne, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris and Charlton Heston come to mind.

Finally and ironically, Hollywood is a good old-fashioned business involving free enterprise and capitalism. Filmmakers get little help from the government unless they make movies that feature our nation's military prowess. Ms. Johnson attempts to paint Michael Moore as an unpatriotic socialist for his film, "Sicko," which argues with humor for a national health care system. She is probably jealous he makes money doing his free enterprise thing.

Harold Weber

Oceanside

Important public service announcement

Are you a neighborhood activist, radio talk show personality or politician in favor of any of the following: public surveillance cameras used for non-traffic-related issues; police vehicle checkpoints conducted on weekday mornings when drunken drivers are a non-issue … civil injunctions dictating an adult's clothing, friends, path of travel and speech when no sufficient evidence exists to charge an actual crime; warrantless eavesdropping on random American households that subscribe to any international calling plan, in hopes of stumbling across a terrorist who is sophisticated enough to coordinate worldwide destruction, yet stupid enough to discuss the plot over the phone?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you're in the wrong country! Real Americans enjoy what remains of our constitutional freedoms and will surrender nothing further. However, if it's your wish to reside in a more structured society, destiny awaits you! Arrange free transportation with a private uniformed escort to the fabulous Guantanamo Bay Resort. Book reservations simply by logging on to any federal Web site and entering your password, "jihad." Have a safe trip and a future free from freedom. God bless America and goodbye.

Laurel Eve Kaskurs

Oceanside

Time to move forward with solar initiatives

Wow, there are some real misinformed people here. Plain and simple, sticking a big extension cord from the Imperial Valley to the urban coastal areas is yesterday's technology. SDG&E's claim that this will be reliable and fault-tolerant is ridiculous. The current SouthWest Powerlink and proposed Sunrise Powerlink both run to the same substation in Imperial Valley. Can you say "single point of failure"?

Had the Sunrise Powerlink existed already, it would have been taken out by the 2007 Witch Creek Fire. I have been to the hearings, and back-country residents don't want this in their backyard, and I don't blame them. Time to move forward and get the solar initiatives going.

Bob Baran

Leucadia

Misplaced priorities

Someone who follows the news might, naively, think our elected officials' main priorities would be protecting the environment, stopping terrorism, ensuring access to health care and dealing with immigration. One would be wrong.

The main priority of our elected officials is apparently prosecuting baseball pitcher Roger Clemens for steroid use and possibly lying about it. Congress has suggested the Justice Department investigate Clemens' possible lying about steroid use.

Have we lost our minds, ladies and gentlemen? Is this investigation worth one cent of taxpayers' money? (That's not a rhetorical question; the answer is no.) When al-Qaida surrenders, the borders are secure, the war in Iraq is over and everyone can get affordable health care - then we can focus on the moral failings of Mr. Clemens.

Jack Davis

Carlsbad

Release the proposal

Regarding the Feb. 27 story on the proposed cutbacks at San Marcos school district ("SMUSD to send pink slips to 120 employees"): It's a shame the North County Times didn't say "everyone from senior administrators to bus drivers." Kevin Holt should publicly release his proposal so the community gets the truth, not just what the NCT thinks they should get.

Rick Paul

Escondido

We shouldn't fear government

I am beginning to get some uncomfortable feelings about federal prosecutions and congressional investigations that can lead to prosecutions in our country. They aren't all necessarily political in nature, but what is their nature is my problem.

Martha Stewart, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are just a few of the names that come to mind. Some may have lied, stretched the truth, or forgotten what they said they had done or said. But have they really done great harm to others? Have they killed, hurt someone, stolen or otherwise caused great harm? I don't see where they have.

They may have not set good examples, they might have caused some minor problems, or they may have done nothing wrong at all, but I don't think they deserve to be brought before Congress to be trapped into some kind of perjury charge. And I wonder why you go to jail for lying to the FBI, but you don't go to jail for lying to a local police officer or lying in a local or state court case? We should never have to fear our government.

Richard Baker

Vista

Power lines ain't right

Coast to coast, millions of us in this vast country cook and heat with natural gas that comes to us through thousands of miles of underground transmission lines that crisscross our country, yet they want to desecrate the magnificent and unique Anza-Borrego State Park and the rest of San Diego County with steel towers. Wrong! To borrow a phrase - it ain't right.

Fred Danise

Oceanside

North County Forum baloney

Who am I to question the North County Times coverage of the North County Forum soiree ("Awards night marks best and worst of letters to the editor," Feb. 2). This group … was given half a page … free of charge.

It was much more uplifting to me to read an e-mail from a member of the armed forces due to rotate home. I thought how nice it would be to send that e-mail to the Pulses and the Parishes and the Crewses, etc.

This 15-month battle-hardened Iraq veteran described a situation much rosier than any you would read in the North County Times. He wrote glowingly of our troops' performance. Even more significantly, he wrote about the Iraqi people's determination to live in peace, of their cooperation with coalition forces to help locate and destroy al-Qaida. He even praised the support of the American people, obviously never having read the NCT Opinion page.

Isn't it about time the NCT published these kinds of accounts from the people on the ground? Maybe, rather than phony talk of impeachment, print what the troops are saying. The North County Forum is baloney; this letter is not.

William Ficere

Escondido

Needs of people vs. needs of animals

All of life on this planet has just as much right to exist as Homo sapiens. Humans putting pursuit of luxury above these basic rights of all life to live and thrive on Earth is the plight of life on Earth as we know it. We must understand that every creature, no matter how big or small, serves a very important purpose.

The decline of the delta smelt, for example, may show how human alteration of the Sacramento/San Joaquin River ecosystems (i.e. pumping freshwater to SoCal) has gotten out of control, and these smelt are the canaries in the coal mine of what is to come - which is that we are putting other species that are directly important to humans (salmon) at risk of extinction.

Honeybees are dying off. We have to do whatever it takes to save them, or else our race may starve. Bees pollinate half the food people eat. The list goes on and on. Microscopic plankton in the oceans: Take these little organisms away, and all ocean life vanishes forever. If the small or "unimportant" creatures go - well, guess what, folks? So do we.

Zac Aaron Paulk

Oceanside

Dig out those boxes, you just might need them

Paper or plastic? We all know what that means. We've all heard it before. But for those of you who fear the question, simply because you can't make decisions that quickly, things may actually get worse for you in the near future. Soon, there may be no more paper or plastic bags in our local grocery stores. I have heard of two cities already that have banned the use of the plastic bags because of environmental problems, and now larger cities are taking aim at the paper bag, saying they destroy too many trees needlessly. A statement to which I personally agree.

So now the question is: "How will we get our groceries home?" The local supermarkets want you to buy their reusable canvas bags for about $3 each. But by the time you buy enough of them, there won't be any money left to buy stuff to fill those bags. So what's a person to do? Remembering back to last Halloween, many trick-or-treaters came to my door holding large pillow cases. Can pillow cases be the answer? Or does that just look too tacky? I suppose one could fill the back end of your SUV with empty cardboard boxes, but at what point do you drag them into the store for the courtesy clerk to fill with your purchases?

Well, until someone can come up with a better solution, I leave you with this new question: Pillow cases, or cardboard boxes?

Jim Fritz

Wildomar

Time to get moving on animal shelter

I was sickened and dismayed upon reading in your paper on Feb. 29 about the fire at the Animal Friends of the Valleys shelter ("39 animals die in fire at Lake Elsinore shelter"). Is this finally the wake-up call for the powers that be to get off their duffs and get this animal shelter built, the one that has been talked about for eons?

I have been donating whatever money I could for about 15 years in hopes of seeing a better facility for these poor creatures that are totally dependent on us to take care of them. In 1999, I bought a brick for the proposed shelter hoping that it would soon become reality; now it is 2008 and still nothing. A while ago, I read in the paper that the money was there and the municipalities in question were in accord, so what's holding this project up? Some time ago, I had talked to Councilwoman Maryann Edwards about the building of this shelter and was told that things are moving along - and now this catastrophe and the haggling is still going on. Just get the job done. These are living creatures and they are entrusted to our care, so for God's sake take care of them.

I know the people at the shelter do the best they can with what they have. I think these compassionate people also deserve a better facility to work in. Please, get this place built, before another disaster happens.

Erika Hornisch

Temecula

Oil companies are monsters

We have monsters in our country. They are ExxonMobil Shell and all oil companies. They are gobbling our pocketbooks - destroying our peace of mind and economic well-being in their monumental quest to feed their greed. Exxon brazenly posted the largest profit in history for any corporation, ever!

They will never be satisfied. They are coldly heartless, contributing to mass middle-class suffering through recession.

Scott Thom

Fallbrook

Fresh from the Web

Burn areas look 'like Ireland'

Readers respond to our March 4 story about the charred, denuded hills left behind by October's infernos now bursting with life, showing off thick green carpets of new grass and, in some places, the vibrant colors of wildflowers such as the bright-orange California poppy. As breath-taking as the emerald landscape is, it is also a threat to the environment and will become by summer a dangerous, flammable thatch of dry weeds that could spark the next wildfire.

A taste of Ireland

BoB: Just saved a ton of money. Cancelled our trip to Ireland and instead we are planning to visit Lake Hodges.

Enjoy them now

Ken: Yes, enjoy the beautiful flowers since in a few months they will turn into dry brush waiting for the next burn -and still there is no fix for adequate fire protection!

Scare tactics

ConcernedM: I'm confused. If the non-native grasses were brought here by European settlers, wouldn't they have already become part of the present ecosystem? And, environuts, if they are such a problem, what should we have done about them? And finally, gee has this ever happened before? Another vicious round of scare tactics. Thanks for all the positive thoughts in this time of great concern!

Foliage is inspiring

Heather: I think the green foliage is inspiring and a breath of fresh air after what we all went through back in October. Of course, you're always going to have your naysayers, but sometimes they forget that they're privileged enough to call San Diego home.

Study shows Escondido parking scarcity overblown

Readers respond to our March 4 story about a new study indicating that only a small percentage of Escondido neighborhoods suffer from scarce street parking, dealing a potential setback to right-wing City Council members who wanted to take the bold step of restricting overnight parking across the city.

Listen to the people

EscoWatchDog: Yes, this is no surprise. If the "trio" would listen to the community of Escondido they would know there is no need for a parking ordinance. Let's get a new council already!

Do it right

Now if you do: decide to uncover the truth about the parking, don't insult the citizens and do it with a police officer during the 8-5 you guys do. Do it in pairs around 8 p.m., and in some neighborhoods have your partner ready to dial 911 on his cell. Otherwise this study is just so much BS.

Opinion, not news

Skip: This story is not news reporting but rather an opinion piece. More sloppy journalism here. I have never heard of a news reporter referring to our elected officials as a "RIGHT-WING FACTION." Like I said, this story belongs in the Opinion section.

Reasonable measures needed

M&M: I am not a prophet, or the son of a prophet, but without some reasonable measures taken to deal with these multitude problems the future of this once-wonderful city could be beyond reversal.

What about shopping carts?

Besides parking: Can someone tell me whatever happened to our wandering shopping cart ordinance? As new people move in, the shopping cart problem is coming back. I had thought the ordinance was to fine the stores that can't handle the problem of shopping cart removal from their property.

The need for 'idiot training'

Readers respond to our March 2 story about how back in the day driver education was simply about learning how to drive, nowadays driver's education is about teaching students how to avoid getting clipped by reckless drivers and how to calm down when people cut them off.

Take more time

Cactus: Great article. More time should be taken to be patient and (dare I say) courteous to other drivers especially nowadays when violence occurs at the drop of a hat. Keep spreading the good word, AND THANK YOU.

Never a cop around

It already is: Against the law for most forms of "aggressive driving." If a cop sees someone tailgating or racing around someone else on an onramp, or most any of those other acts she described, they can get a ticket. (And some of the more dangerous forms of aggressive driving could even get someone arrested for assault or reckless endangerment.) The problem, as the old cliche goes, is there's never a cop around when you need one.

Back off the bumpers

room between cars: Remember OUR driver's training classes taught about so and so "car lengths away per miles per hour"? Seems today most drivers love to ride right up your butt! BACK OFF.

Refresher courses needed

Stacey: I've seen plenty of aggressive drivers, and I have to say that while I've seen more than my share of young drivers make bad choices, the truly aggressive seem to be the older ones who should truly know and be able to handle themselves better. Ultimately, we could probably all use a refresher course in road courtesy. So many problems throughout the world today could be solved if people would just pull their heads from their behinds and stop being so self-involved.

Late starts for middle schools considered

Readers commented on an article Tuesday about the Temecula Valley Unified School District's consideration of additional late Monday starts at middle schools to allow for more teacher collaboration:

Unwarranted

What a Waste: 'Late start' days have been in effect at the high school level for four to five years. … The API scores have not increased substantially to warrant the teachers' extra time out of the classroom. These meetings are nothing but a waste of taxpayer money and the students' time. …

Students suffer

More lost time: My daughter is in high school … and hates late start Mondays. She hated the few they had in middle school and found it did nothing to help her. Why do students have to suffer when teachers can have meetings at 2:45 p.m. instead of first thing in the morning? …

Unworkable

UHaveGot2BKidding: This is ridiculous. Parents have to go to work! I do not know anyone who has a job where they start around 10 a.m. … Late start has got to be the dumbest thing I have heard in a long time.

Democratic way

Late Starts: … Do you want your kids hanging out on the street for two hours while teachers discuss how to improve their education or would you rather have kids actually in the classroom learning? Let's have parents, teachers and students vote and not leave it up to the district. …