A problem?

President Obama wants to cut the deficit. Congress announces a multibillion-dollar spending bill filled with pork. This is above and beyond the stimulus package and all the bailouts rewarded for failure. Does anyone see a problem here?

Tom Jennings

Oceanside

Synchronizing traffic lights is wasteful

The San Marcos City Council has approved expenditure of half a million dollars to do what? To synchronize the 17 traffic lights on San Marcos Boulevard? A street that is just a few blocks long? Runs from Mission to Palomar Airport Road. How can this require half a million dollars?

This is idiocy, absurd and unconscionable that taxpayer dollars will be spent for the tiny bit of effort needed to punch a few buttons to synchronize a few traffic lights. This is wrong, wasteful, stupid.

One has to think, surely this kind of money is padding someone's pockets.

Our council members should seek to spend our tax dollars to help the needy in our community, or at least recompute what kind of money is needed to fix a few traffic lights that ask us to wait a few seconds longer as we rush to wherever.

Citizens of San Marcos, call your council persons at (760) 752-7550. Stop wasteful spending during this critical time when wallets grow thinner, when people are losing jobs and children are in need.

Ruth Larkin

San Marcos

Dog beach is a classy idea

A dog beach will only be a beneficial addition to our list of coastal attractions. It amazes me that our elected officials haven't already jumped at the opportunity of making such a low-cost improvement to Oceanside's image. That water-testing project once located upstream from the beach is on hold, so now what?

Look around, people â€"â€" locals and tourists alike have no choice but to travel at least a half hour south to enjoy a day at the beach with their four-legged family members. The Del Mar councils have maintained a wonderful atmosphere in their community that continues to attract higher-income residents and visitors alike.

They made smoking in public illegal, yet voted to designate a stretch of beach where dogs and their humans could legally enjoy it!

Past Oceanside councils have made a hobo stew of our once-beautiful beach areas because they lacked vision. My kids in tow, we drive through the used-car lots, empty buildings and smoke shops. Once again, we head south for a family play day because our hometown still pushes us away.

Lezlie Metcalf

Oceanside

Research 9/11 for yourself

The official story of 9/11 makes a Warner Brothers cartoon look like a physics lecture by Sir Isaac Newton. I challenge everybody to educate themselves.

Read declassified documents like Operation Northwoods and Project for a New American Century. Review all the original footage from the media on 9/11, 7/7 and Oklahoma City (second and third unexploded bombs inside?).

Research jetliner crashes and skyscraper fires, like the recent Beijing hotel fire, in which an unfinished 40-story steel-framed high-rise was completely engulfed in flames but did not collapse. Explore the media's manipulation of these events and also events like Waco and Columbine.

Connect the dots between elitist members of media, industry, military and policy. Then go to the official Army Web site and look up the Civilian Inmate Labor program.

Remember to smile and wave at the cameras on your street. Have they installed the automatic license plate scanners on those cameras yet?

Arne Hansen

Valley Center

Obama's tactics a far cry from Bush coverup

The ugly and gross political cartoons you have been publishing about the stimulus plan, as well as the negative way you portray President Obama, are despicable at this time of national crisis. The private sector is unfortunately incapable of dealing with the crisis.

About 30 percent of the stimulus plan is tax cuts, and the crisis can't be solved just by tax cuts. Our financial system is broken, and only the federal government has the resources to create, i.e., borrow, the money to fix it and at the same time, jump-start our declining economy on the road to recovery now.

The president has the support of a majority of the people, and he has made it clear that he wants the private sector and capitalism to get re-established as the engine of growth.

For transparency, the Web site that is being set up to track the stimulus plan spending will enable all of us to see where the money is going. This is a far cry from the coverup of the Bush administration, which for eight years favored the rich, used false bookkeeping, allowed greed to run rampant and ran up a huge deficit.

Donald and

Judith Bunin

Rancho Bernardo

Let us step out

Just now, our president has more than 60 percent approval. This is a time to correct two problems of government.

One, use the millions in store for re-election of our representatives for relief of the national debt.

Two, force our congressmen to go to the people for votes and not to those who are buying Congress. Why is the obvious so hard to see?

Richard Soulsby

Vista

Obama's making it up as he goes along

Even with his big smile, and a speaker acting like a 3-year-old with a new doll behind him, his words belie his philosophy: "Making money is bad, spending money is good" â€"â€" which begs the question: how do you spend money if no one can make any?

Obama is as dangerous to this country as a freshman quarterback is to a C.I.F. championship team when the first two QBs have been injured, and the ninth-grader has to be put in at Qualcomm during the final. He just doesn't know what to do, and so he makes it up as he goes along.

If something doesn't change drastically, we're headed for a civil war, an impeachment, a depression, or all three. If you laugh at this, you have a good sense of humor and a bad case of political and moral myopia.

Richard Cole

Encinitas

Do the research before trying alternative meds

I am writing in response to a feature on Feb. 8, "With economy sour, consumers sweeter on herbal meds."

I understand what it is like to worry about finances. Because I think that people should be open-minded and not be spendthrifts, I support the use of complementary and alternative medications â€"â€" but know that there are risks!

Ask your doctors their opinion of what you are planning on taking and find out how it will affect your current medications.

Like Richard Nahin said, "Alternative treatments don't require rigorous testing and government approval." Just because you don't need a prescription, it does not mean that it is safe. Sometimes it's stronger than prescription medications.

On the other hand, your product can be completely ineffective. Do yourself and your bank account a favor and research the various vitamins, herbs and supplements before purchasing.

As for the doctor's visits, you can't avoid them. Routine visits are a must. From what I have seen, people wait too long to see their health care provider. Prevention is key, and will save massive amounts of money in the long run.

Linda Phouthavone

USD nursing student

Is ignorance the excuse?

Neil Turner's letter (Feb. 25) urging readers to demand congressional members to re-examine President Obama's citizenship or be run out of office is an abomination. Why would the North County Times not clarify with facts?

Wikipedia ("Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories") documents challenges by right-wing groups to President Obama's eligibility, claiming he is not a citizen and thus ineligible to become president. The director of the Hawaiian Department of Health verified that Obama's "original birth certificate is on record in accordance with state policies and procedures." (B.J. Reyes, "Certified," Honolulu Star Bulletin, Oct. 31, 2008).

Obama's Web site displays a 2007 certified abstract copy of his Certification of Live Birth. Opponents allege that only the original certificate is proof.

Lawsuits filed with the Supreme Court claim the certificates are forgeries. The Supreme Court declined to hear them.

Obama was confirmed as president-elect by Congress on Jan. 8 and sworn in as president on Jan. 20 twice by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Such hatred, incivility and ignorance of the facts espoused in the letter of Feb. 25 give partisanship a bad name.

Suzanne Lucas

Oceanside

An apology is in order

Re: "City called hypocritical for running sprinklers in rainstorms," Feb. 22: Does Dan Young really think that Janice Wagener (Letters, Feb. 17) has nothing better to do than make up a complaint about the water sprinklers at Washington Park? I have known her for more than 30 years and if she says the sprinklers were on, they were on during the rain storm on Feb. 6.

Perhaps an apology is in order!

Sue Apodaca

Escondido

Government, history courses are vital

I am a product of California schools, with a bachelor's and master's degree in science. I find the largest hole in my education is in American history and government.

I feel an educated electorate is primary in today's world. Our community colleges and universities must continue to require U.S. government and American history.

Sydney Mason

Vista

Hoping Amgen comes back to Escondido

If you were one of the many who attended the 2009 Amgen Tour of California last weekend, you probably were happy about it a lot.

It was so great to see professional bike racers like this year's overall winner, Levi Leipheimer, cross the finish line on Grand Avenue and to see our fair city put on the television road map for sports in San Diego.

I would like to thank Amgen for choosing Escondido as a finishing city for this year's tour; it was a great race.

I think with all the appeal from people watching it in high definition all over the U.S.A., we can make a bid for the 2010 Amgen Tour of California to end here next February.

I saw a lot of you out there supporting and cheering on the riders as they went down the streets of Escondido.

The city did a fabulous job closing down the streets and I want to thank all of you who braved the weather to come out on Sunday and hope Amgen comes back for years to come.

Matthew Ross

Escondido

Cut fees during hard economic times

During these hard and rough times, North County Transit District decides to cut routes and increase fares. Funny, if the fares were not increased, maybe more people would have to take the bus or Coaster or Sprinter. They raise the fares and now people seek other ways to cut costs.

The governor is the same way. Increase taxes. Well, by doing so, we cut out buying more because it costs more. He increased the DMV license fee.

Well, now when we have two vehicles and the cost is prohibitive, food, medicine, clothing or groceries, we put the other vehicle away or in storage for awhile. Where now is the increase?

If only our elected officials and heads of large companies would understand. Do not be greedy and look for greater profit. Keep the price the same or lower so more people utilize the services. Don't chase them away or force them to choose. We kill our education system and our whole structure.

People are willing to take two days off a month or maybe a 5 percent pay cut to keep their jobs. If you lose your job, we then seek unemployment insurance. A movement of money.

Gordon Mirrett

Oceanside

Oceanside needs a dog beach

This is in regard to giving Oceanside residents a dog beach: I know there is a dog park in Oceanside. I tend not to take my dog there only because my dog loves to run. It is on a downhill grade. When you have a dog that can run very fast, having it running down a hill is not too safe. It is dangerous to take them.

As for having a dog beach, I only think that it is fair for people who love dogs, they should have a place to take them to enjoy the beach.

I would rather spend time at a dog beach with other people and their dogs rather than spend one minute on a regular beach with some people's children.

It just doesn't make sense that people and their families have a beach to enjoy in the summer months when it is hot out, but people and their dogs can't have a beach to enjoy in the summer when it's hot. Oceanside needs a dog beach. I think having a dog beach would benefit Oceanside.

Having a dog park is totally different than a beach for water-loving dogs to have a place to play.

Debbie Fisher

Oceanside

No, we can't

"No, we can't" is the mantra of the GOP, Grand Opposition Party. Their gas bag of a spokesman, Rush Limbaugh, hopes that our new president is a failure after eight years of failure from our former President Bush. It doesn't get more warped than that.

After one month the infidels and Fidels of the GOP are crying about everything from socialism to birth certificates. Please explain how a corrupt and incompetent administration of eight years that enabled and enriched market manipulators like Enron and Exxon has anything to do with a free market. The Fidels failed but we have an opportunity to strengthen our middle class, which is the core of our country and economy.

If you want to visit a country with a weak middle class, corrupt government and where the rich exploit the poor, then get in your car and drive south or stay here and keep your fingers crossed. …

Robert Watson

Carlsbad

O'side airport costs city in many ways

In Katherine Lucero-Egger's letter to the editor titled "The flyboys are out to kill us all" (Feb. 20), she accuses me of "threatening pilots with eternal damnation for their selfishness." My goodness, how she distorts what I said! What I did say was, "May God have mercy on your souls," while referring to official FAA records of the airport's dark history of crashes/fatalities.

Even if Katherine read those records herself, she would undoubtedly still not accept the facts in front of her. Not only are there undisputable records of the airport's dangerous history, but also a letter complaining of noise that interrupts students' concentration at a nearby school from low-flying planes. Anyone can have an opinion and Katherine has hers, while I have my documentation.

That airport has cost our city millions of dollars and constitutes a physical danger to all Oceanside residents. They have had a long time to prove their worth and are still grasping at straws, proving instead a danger to the safety of our residents and their homes, and a financial burden to Oceanside.

Sorry, Katherine, but no amount of wishful thinking on your part can change the truth.

June Kristapovich

Oceanside