To the victor go the spoils: not!

Arlan Brown (Letters, Aug. 3) cynically espouses a philosophy of government in which "to the victor (election winner) go the spoils." In other words, as one dictionary definition puts it: "spoils â€"â€" public offices made the property of a successful (political) party."

This is exactly how the Republicans saw it on Dec. 12, 2000, when five conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices bizarrely handed the presidency to their political kin, George W. Bush. In this way, Mr. Brown defends politicization of jobs in the Department of Justice that by law are non-political.

In comparison, he cites the Clinton administration in 1993 replacing holdover staff of the White House travel office with its own people. In reality, there is no comparison: the travel office is ad hoc and informal, whereas the Department of Justice relates constitutionally to the daily lives of every person in our nation.

Harold Weber

Oceanside

No new Social Security news

Social Security is not bankrupt! In 1983, Greenspan gave wage earners a massive hike in payroll taxes, specifically to pay ahead for the baby boomer generation. The program lends this surplus to the federal government by purchasing interest-bearing treasury securities. Revenue from the redemption of these securities will be enough to fund 100 percent of all scheduled benefits through 2042. The congressional budget office says the trust fund will be sound until 2053 and after that, it will still be able to pay out 75 percent of a benefit.

Bush and others would like you to believe that the trust fund consists of uncollectible IOUs, but these are the very same U.S. Treasury securities globally regarded as safe investments. In other words, if they prove worthless, our government is in big trouble.

The same people who want to create a deficit so large that social programs can't be funded are those who have no intention of repaying the trust fund, which is money owed to the American people. The Bush tax cuts are four times this possible liability. With a budget deficit of $482 billion, people should be hysterical about a possible 24 percent shortfall in Social Security 30 or 40 years from now?

McCain's comments are typical of the Republican assault on entitlements. Repeat the propaganda long enough, loud enough, and people believe it.

Marsha Sanford

Oceanside

No shame, Bush to blame

The Bush Administration has no shame and will continue to manipulate the public, as it did with Iraq (weapons of mass destruction). The Bush Administration will now use the media to twist the Iraq oil profits to rebuild the Iraq infrastructure, which was destroyed by the Bush invasion of Iraq (Remember VP Cheney: "It's not about oil").

No doubt the public will buy the ruse, as they did Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. I am a patriot and a disabled Korean vet who loves my country. It is the Bush Administration that is not to be trusted. Look where the country is now with the Bush presidency.

Joseph Eichstaedt

Escondido

Court ruling underscores woes

In reading your Aug. 12 article on Chief Justice Ronald George ("Gay marriage ruling secures chief justice's legacy"), in my opinion, it should have been classified as a political effort for re-establishment of his position by your paper. He endorsed gay marriage. What's next … ?

The article indicates that he is pro-death penalty, when it took nearly 16 years to process a death penalty appeal through his system at $38,000 per year, plus lawyers' costs. As the chief judge of the state, he is president of the Judicial Council. This shows how the judicial system runs and displays that he is a poor administrator.

Why does the Judicial Council allow it to take close to three years to bring to court the murderers of a policeman when the supposed killers have been locked up ever since ("Separate trials for teens accused of killing officer," Aug. 14)? How many times has his court written laws by usurping the state Legislature? Isn't this a violation?

In my opinion, this state is run by the lawyers and not the legislators and the governor. With over 650 killers on death row, it takes over 25 years to try and appeal a death penalty. There is something drastically wrong in protecting the people they legally serve.

George Cullins

Carlsbad

Privileges more abused than you think

Marilee McLean (Letters, Aug. 14) writes that Congressman Brian Bilbray#'s use of franking privileges (spending taxpayer dollars for mailings) is a tremendous abuse of taxpayer money. Bilbray#'s actions are more abusive than you think.

Bilbray has blatantly exploited his Congressional privileges by sending out these mailings June 25, July 15, July 25 and Aug. 4.Where is the community outrage, you ask, Marilee?

Maybe if North County voters realize that they are paying for approximately 1,451,304 mailers that were spaced approximately 10 days apart, you will see the outrage.

Maybe if voters realize that these mailers amount to Bilbray campaigning in violation of House rules with our money, you will see the outrage.

Maybe if voters realize that these mailers distort Bilbray#'s voting record on issues such as clean water protection, which environmental groups have blasted him on; on his commitment to lowering gas prices when he has voted repeatedly to protect oil companies; and against alternative energy, you will see the outrage.

And until there is outrage, politicians like Bilbray will continue to abuse the system and hope the voters don#'t notice. With a national debt of over $9 trillion, I certainly hope you will see the outrage at a congressman who is charging taxpayers for millions of pieces of deceptive junk mail.

Vickie Petrus

Rancho Santa Fe

Douglas good fit for Carlsbad

We who live in Carlsbad are fortunate to have such a terrific City Council, the best people possible to make Carlsbad the gem of the North County.

At a recent fair, I had the pleasure to meet Farrah Douglas, who is running for a council seat. She is an intelligent and caring businesswoman with an impressive resume. I followed up with having an interview at her printing business. The hour spent while having good coffee was eye-opening. She wrote down my suggestions and I learned more about how the city operates. Being an immigrant makes her an even better candidate. Often they appreciate more the opportunities we enjoy in our county.

I feel strongly that she would make a good member of the City Council with fresh ideas and a better approach. I will vote for her in November.

William Hart

Carlsbad

TV cable woes part of quality of life

Councilman Sam Abed has stated in recent newspaper articles that he is concerned with the quality-of-life issues with residents of Escondido. Does Sam not recognize that residents of mobile-home parks are residents of Escondido? Four hundred and forty-one mobile-homes receive seven television channels. Since June of this year, we have been unable to access three of these channels. The reception on the other four stations is fuzzy at times, or completely fails.

Park management earned approximately $11 million dollars on their television system, yet management refuses to allow cable company access or to remove and replace their old (1974) antenna system. Hey, Sam, what about our quality of life?

Dave Martin

Escondido

Driver's license and DUI checkpoints

Civil rights attorneys say the checkpoints to impound vehicles with no license or insurance are excessive ("Escondido's checkpoints big business," Aug. 11). I guess they expect the cities to make it easy to break the law.

I think this is outrageous in that the percentage of accidents is high for the unlicensed driver with no insurance. The North County Times needs to recheck their figures for the number of impounds in the city of Oceanside. I believe they are wrong for the year '07. This makes Escondido look out of proportion to other cities.

Evelyn Kay

Oceanside

On another planet?

Peggy Sloan (Letters, Aug. 1) must be on another planet. I never said you should not vote for Obama. What I did say: I outlined the wealth they have and their wealthy lifestyle, which is a result of the education they received. Michelle (Obama) got student loans paid for by the taxpayers to go to Harvard â€"â€" and she whines about having to repay the loans.

How ungrateful can one be? This woman is full of hate, and she is now being schooled in what to say. This is the first time in my 90 years I have heard a potential first lady has to be trained on what to say. A role model she is not.

Bettie Heldring

Escondido

European unrest may be a blessing

The developing unrest in eastern Europe could turn out to be a blessing. I believe that Russia has never let go of its ambitions to reunite and centralize its power once again. The next few days could reveal plans that this new soviet organization, headed by Vladimir Putin, is necessary to control democracy advocates and initiate severe restrictions on its precious oil inventories.

But the blessing aspect of this potentially devastating war is the fear it may elicit from future voters in the upcoming presidential election.

I know it has awakened me to the reality that I don't want a pretty-boy … character such as Barack Obama to be my commander in chief. If it comes to all-out war, we are looking at a foe with equal or superior personnel and weaponry. It makes a conflict with a Middle East country pale in comparison.

I pray the voters of this country rid themselves of their glamorous dreams and be thankful John McCain is available.

Ray Erler

San Marcos