Current American political situation

I had great hopes for the new administration. We were promised that things would change and that the old system in Washington would be overturned, cronyism would no longer rule and pork-barrel financing would disappear.

What a disappointment! Three of the new president's cabinet picks were tax evaders, and one of the tax evaders was pushed through and is now in charge of the Treasury and the IRS.

With great fanfare, our new president signed a new, stronger ethics policy and then prevailed on the Senate to ignore that policy and appoint a lobbyist to be in charge of the Pentagon. It looks like the same old game to me.

We have a new, expensive stimulus package filled with "pork." Along with it, we were supposed to get bipartisanship, but that certainly didn't happen. Wouldn't it be great if President Barack Obama fired the Treasury secretary and the new assistant defense secretary? Maybe that would show us he meant what he said during the campaign!

Marlowe Schaffner

Canyon Lake

Open Rancho Springs expansion now!

The city of Temecula has been supportive of our local hospital expansion from the beginning. The latest effort is a prewritten letter that can be sent to the governor and key state employees requesting that they expedite the opening of the Rancho Springs Medical Center's expansion.

Located on the city of Temecula Web site (http://www.cityoftemecula.org/Temecula/Residents/RanchoSprings.htm), this letter is a template that can be customized to express your exact opinion.

My opinion is that as a physician in the Temecula Valley for more than 20 years, I have personally cared for thousands of local residents. We desperately need expansion of our facilities. Every time I walk through the undersized emergency department, I am reminded of a military triage area in wartime. Lack of privacy is only one of many concerns.

The staff at Rancho Springs has struggled valiantly with these antiquated facilities for over a decade, and have done a marvelous job under such extreme circumstances. Bureaucratic delays do harm, not justice, to the people of the valley. I work in these overcrowded facilities every day, and I see the toll it takes on my patients, the dedicated hospital staff and the people of the valley.

The time to act is now! Please use the template on the city Web site and write to Sacramento to urge those involved to allow the opening of the emergency and labor and delivery expansions now.

Laurence Boggeln, M.D.

Temecula

Educators needed a reminder

As someone who just completed her teaching credential program here in California, I was especially grateful for the upbeat and positive community forum written by Tara Paul on March 27.

We have a choice to be bitter or hopeful. Sure, I can get depressed wondering whether I will ever get a job that I worked so very hard to prepare for, but then I can remember that I have a choice to be hopeful and have faith.

As a substitute teacher, I hear the "gloom and doom" often and wonder why some educators think it will help the current fiscal crisis. The only way to work through this situation is to be optimistic, hopeful and patient. We can all teach ourselves to be positive. After all: As teachers, don't we model what we want our own students to learn?

Thank you, Ms. Paul, for reminding us.

Cassy Campos

Temecula

Why are we backing Israel?

It's been almost three months since the most detached and worst president in modern memory has been replaced by an activist president and Cabinet. Much has changed, but the following have not: 1. Our unequivocal support of Israel; 2. Words intended to bring Iran and North Korea back to peace talks aimed at nuclear nonproliferation.

As one whose father's life was relegated to chicken farming and my military career cut short, all because of my father's physicist big brother's total conversion to Communism, I have reason to disbelieve and hate all dictatorships and repressive societies, whether represented by the swastika, the star and crescent, or the star of David. Thus I believe that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should quietly approach Israel's leader and whisper in his ear, "If you start the next war or fire the first nuke, you are on your own."

As to the others, a simple warning that the first nuke fired in anger will end their civilization should do. Period!

John Arguimbau

French Valley