Social Security change

It is already impossible to live on Social Security alone. If the government gives benefits to illegal aliens who have never contributed, where does that leave those of us who have paid into Social Security all our working lives?

Bob Ference

Carlsbad

Foundation of our nation is weakening

Because of the unbridled orgy of corruption and greed that has taken over important sectors of business and politics, this nation is not at the beginning of the end, but rather the end of the beginning, of serious economic and other trouble. In baseball parlance, maybe we've just entered the second inning.

Many see Barack Obama's victory more as a repudiation of the broken Bush administration than a mandate for Democrats to push socialism on mainstream America. The housing market will continue to unravel for years to come as a domino effect of rate adjustments chimes in at regular intervals. A weak and collapsing stock market is still seeking a bottom that may be in the 6,000 to 7,000 Dow range in near future. Universal bailouts will become an expensive and ubiquitous national mantra/entitlement. Losses will mount as fear waxes and confidence wanes.

Yes, very radical domestic and geopolitical events and concomitant unsettling changes are in the cards for this nation. The strengthening precepts of rugged individualism and hard work/deferred gratification that once built and sustained this nation are fast fading and giving way to increased weakness and dependency. Devolution anyone? Where's Mighty Mouse?

Gary Walker

Escondido

Change is coming

I was outraged and appalled by Doug Schaden's statement in his letter to the editor (Nov. 8) about the right to "lord" over someone. I wonder when it was that Mr. Schaden chose to be straight. I am a white, straight mother and grandmother who never once in my life had to make that choice. I just am. Thankfully, my parents, who gave their lives to the service of others, never taught me to "lord it over" anyone.

Wow, African-Americans got the right to go to the same schools and now one is president. … All I can say is I rejoice that Americans such as Mr. Schaden and their homophobic attitudes are becoming increasingly irrelevant. A change is coming. Hallelujah!

Mary-Jo Meyer

Valley Center

A new baloney cycle begins

Well, now that the elections are over, the baloney man can come back onto the scene with four years of BO (Barack Obama) baloney letters, and as much as my kindly editor will allow. I'm so excited I can hardly wait.

BO's not my man, never was. But now he's the boss and I wish him well. He's going to need lots of help from more than his sycophants and uninformed worshippers.

Seems to me that he's not starting out too well. For a self-entitled agent of change, he has picked two of the most entrenched Washington scene, ultra-liberals he could have found. Rahm Emanuel, also known as the "stiletto," is a man founded in hate for conservatives and has a very bad temper. Paul Begala is another … henchman not disposed to reaching across the aisle.

So, BO, do well for the country and don't let these hatchetmen run your show. More baloney to follow.

William Ficere

Escondido

Running for office a great experience

I'd like to thank all my supporters in the recent Carlsbad City Council race for your volunteer work, your financial contributions and, most of all, your vote. Campaigning for office was an experience I will never forget, and I have to say I enjoyed every minute of it, from the forums and newspaper interviews to handing out literature outside Vons and Albertsons and on the beachfront walk along Carlsbad Boulevard.

Interacting with the citizens of Carlsbad was a truly rewarding experience, and this past weekend, as I was on my weekly run, a man shouted after me, "You made a lot of new friends, Mr. Arnold."

On behalf of all my supporters, I'd like to congratulate Ann Kulchin and Keith Blackburn on their victories. I'd also like to thank the Firefighters Association. We may have been on opposite fields during the campaign, but afterward they were most gracious and even offered to pick up the hundreds of campaign signs my team had erected around Carlsbad, saving me a lot of unpleasant work. But that's Carlsbad.

Thomas K. Arnold

Carlsbad

Prop. 227 should be reversed

The North County Times accurately represented my position on evaluating bilingual education: Scientific studies are by far the best way, and these studies consistently show that children in bilingual programs do better on tests of English than children in all-English immersion classes ("Proposition 227: 10 years later," Nov. 8).

Ron Unz, quoted in the same article, claims that standardized test scores show that dismantling bilingual education worked. That's not what the research says. A report from the American Institutes for Research and WestEd found no difference in the gains made by English learners in schools that kept bilingual education after Proposition 227 passed and those that did not.

Measures similar to 227 were passed in Arizona and Massachusetts, severely limiting bilingual education. As is the case in California, these measures have not helped children learn English any faster or better. Prop. 227 should be reversed.

Stephen Krashen

School of Education, USC

Los Angeles

Peggy the Moocher

A good reference for readers to add to Joe the Plumber and Cory the Driller is Peggy the Moocher. Peggy was quoted from an Obama rally in Sarasota, Fla.: "I never thought this day would happen. I won't have to worry about putting gas in my car. I won't have to worry about paying my mortgage. You know. If I help (Obama), he's gonna help me" (http://jewishworldreview.com/michelle/malkin110508.php3). All over the Net, but not in our local papers.

More to follow: Obama may take direct aim at 401(k) savings to help Peggy. He said so.

Vincent Morrison

Oceanside

Socialist agenda comes full circle

In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt dumped the gold standard and launched the New Deal, setting America on the path to the welfare state. Three decades later, Lyndon Johnson reinforced FDR's progressive agenda with his Great Society, and by 1977, Jimmy Carter carried the collectivist banner forward with The Community Reinvestment Act, bringing us an entitlement society.

By 1995, the Clinton administration modified CRA, even threatening lenders with lawsuits unless they offer suicidal sub-prime loans to minorities. … This move away from free market was conceived and carried out by bleeding-heart liberals under the influence of political correctness in their quest for tolerance and fairness. Republicans predicted the sub-prime disaster, seeking oversight of Fannie and Freddie. But liberal Democrats … resisted every attempt to stop the collapse in order to protect their campaign kickbacks.

Now Congress demands that we nationalize the banks and bail out the blundering Democrats, who used the scandal against Republicans to win the White House for Obama, who is free to expand collectivism to punish success by redistribution of wealth and rewrite the Constitution, creating a new economic justice, bringing the socialist agenda full circle.

Darrell Beck

Ramona

Candidate will continue to fight for solutions

It would be derelict of me not to thank all of those who supported and voted for me. And a special thanks for those who rallied and walked the precincts to deliver my message to Vista.

My disappointment is tempered by the belief that those who voted for me were motivated by my past business credentials, community service record and commitment to fiscal integrity, together with a common-sense and creative attitude toward dealing with future problems. It was not because of where my name appeared on the ballot or expensive advertising and never-ending signs, because my budget did not allow for those luxuries. My campaign contributions came primarily from individuals, and there were none from political action committees.

[A local mayor] is quoted as saying, "Whenever a union supports you, they expect something in return." … The Vista Firefighters Union political action committee spent thousands on behalf of the successful incumbents. On the basis of my belief that all things even out over time, I will continue to ask for common sense and open government from our elected officials, now and in the future.

Gene Ford

Vista

This is not a religious issue

I am totally in agreement with the gay community (even though I am straight) that they have every right in the U.S.A. to be married and have the same equal rights.

Marriage by many is considered a religious thing. To me, it never has been; not when you can get married at a state building. Where's the religion in that? Getting married in Las Vegas with an Elvis impersonator, where's the religion in that?

Marriage for gays may be defeated now, but I guarantee you, it won't last. Change is inevitable, and despite the far-right religious sect of God-fearing people, gays will indeed be able to marry because this is not a religious issue, it's an equal rights issue!

Shari Land

Escondido

Focus on issues; stop attacking opponents

The recent elections highlighted an increasing disrespect for one another, which we communicate without shame in public. Examples include, but are not limited to, candidates' unfair, negative attacks on one another, citizens yelling hateful comments at rallies, people stealing campaign signs in communities, Americans sending e-mails threatening to kill or hurt individuals they oppose, and letter writers in this paper promoting fear of and hate for those who disagree with them.

We feel that we have the right to attack one another at all times, during a campaign, on reality television shows, on the freeway, on talk radio or in other public places. No matter how stressed or fearful we are, no matter that we feel protected through anonymity, this behavior divides us, takes us down the road to hate and leaves us without souls needed to strengthen our nation.

Let's begin here. I challenge future letter writers to focus on the issues and not attack their opponents. Respect for others fosters unity, a condition that has been lacking in our government lately and in our society. We have the power to change that and unite now to support one another, no matter what our beliefs.

Joan Horn

Carlsbad

Comic was reason for subscribing

I have read the "Prince Valiant" comic since its inception in 1937. Except for WWII, I have never missed a strip. Whenever I have moved, I always chose the newspaper having this strip.

Too bad you dropped it in favor of some of the asinine, poorly drawn comics of recent origin, such as "Prickly City." I guess I'll have to find a newspaper that continues this excellent comic.

Bill Daugherty

San Marcos

Online and changes confuse longtime reader

I have lived in my present home for 46-plus years and have subscribed to the local paper the whole time. … Your online service leaves a few questions. 1. Where would one go to find the obituaries? I see where you can report an obituary, but not where you can read the obituary. Rather important to those of us, at least to those in their late 70s. Same with the comics, but when you did away with "Andy Capp," I was disturbed.

2. Why did you stop something that people have been reading for at least 46 years, i.e., the TV listings? Surely this is not a cost thing. The info should be readily available. Then again, when you had the weekly supplement in the Sunday paper, the color seemed to be missing from every other page for well over the year. It was always handy when checking sports and movies.

Jim Bassett

Oceanside

National health care system would be freeing

When the artifices of our fiscal culture crumble, people look for security. Seeing collapse of our equities, our money, our jobs, it becomes obvious that we are all at risk. We need our large and stronger institutions, whether they be corporate or government, to be on our side. We all need to be on the same side, working together. We need to define our common understandings of America, and change America to achieve, as best we can, those stated desires.

Many notions of America need to be revised or eliminated. Many words need to be redefined. Freedom is not about money; it's about personal growth. Freedom is about a stable platform under you, allowing different life adventures, be they business ventures, schooling, child-bearing/family, or any endeavor enhancing the human existence in a supposedly advanced society.

I see a national health care system as freeing. Free from being chained to a present job, free to raise a child, free to get a better education. I see it as freeing all companies from burdensome cost and legacy of health insurance costs. It would enact a more accurate accounting of the industry, and give us mass purchasing power. It would free our economy.

Richard Crews

Encinitas

No country for third parties

While the Democratic Party can celebrate its substantial victory in this past election, which can also be viewed as a long-awaited accomplishment for African-Americans, invariably bearing the trappings of social justice, much will hinge on the true nature of the direction unto which the new president delivers us.

Besides the extant political fact that both of the major parties are predictable in all the worst ways, their conspiracy to keep third parties out of the arena, whether at the debates, at the polls, or in the media speaks ill of their own place in a democracy or democratic republic.

Indeed, the corporately owned conglomerate media had long since decided that anything beyond the two parties was bad for business, so swore not to cover the ethereal campaigns of such, rendering the term "democracy" little more than a slogan. Even on election night, third-party results were missing in action.

As the two big parties are simultaneously controlled by the same paymaster, the same one controlling the media by advertising dollars (if no other way), the system is in a continual stalemate against new ideas and progress. That being said, good luck to the new president and to all of us.

Peter Benson

Escondido

Automaker bailout smells like kickback

Like hogs at the trough, the big three automakers have lined up for another $50 billion of taxpayer money. Their continuing plea is to save American jobs. They sure weren't very concerned about them last year. Both GM and Ford downsized, outsourced and otherwise ended some 35,000 U.S. jobs each in 2007, vowing to step up production in their new manufacturing facilities in Mexico and China. This action has devastated the economies of Michigan and Ohio.

Of course, the bulk of the money from the bailout is to go to shore up pension and health care benefits for their retirees â€"â€" not to secure existing jobs. This smells like a kickback to support the unions that elected Obama, Reid and Pelosi.

Walter

Dobrowolski

Oceanside

Remember the Fourth of November

One of my favorite movies is "V for Vendetta." In a country gripped by totalitarian fear, one man fights to give the people hope against the power that controls their lives, promising redemption on the historic Fifth of November.ˇ

A similar revolution occurred last Tuesday night. I thought of the film when I saw people walking to Grant Park in Chicago, quiet and dignified, hopeful of victory but restrained. In the film, it's the moment the people remove their masks to show their faces.

There has been much dancing since the election last Tuesday, reminding me of a line from the film: "A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having." So I say dance, if only in your hearts. Will Tuesday's election heal the world and make the future brighter? Probably, but it won't happen like it does in the movies. In a way, it will be more dramatic and beautiful because it will be real and will improve the lives of actual people.

In "V for Vendetta," the hero says governments should fear the people, not the other way around. When our leaders lose sight of this truth, perhaps now they can remember the Fourth of November.

Paul Cavanaugh

Ramona

A wonderful suggestion

Let me add my vote to the suggestion by Dan Shapiro (Letters, Nov. 10) to establish a law- and free-fire zone concerning unlicensed drivers, uninsured, unregistered vehicles … so that all will be aware of the risks they take there. However, Mr. Shapiro, there is already such a place, and it's called Mexico. We could use that as a model.

Phil Epstein

Carlsbad