MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA ? SEPTEMBER 25: California Gov. Jerry Brown looks on during a news conference at Google headquarters on September 25, 2012 in Mountain View, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed State Senate Bill 1298 that allows driverless cars to operate on public roads for testing purposes. The bill also calls for the Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt regulations that govern licensing, bonding, testing and operation of the driverless vehicles before January 2015. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
TUSTIN,?Dan Jacobson,?chairman, Democratic Foundation of Orange County:?The first step in solving a problem is defining the problem. If the bicycle wheel doesn?t turn, working on the car wheel won?t help. A common refrain from some Republicans is that Washington has a spending problem.
Let?s discuss whether there?s a spending problem and, if there is, how to solve it. Let?s not argue about the debt limit ? which has nothing to do with spending, and has everything to do with simply paying the bills that have already been incurred.
The debt limit is found at Title 31, Section 3101(b) of the United States Code. That statute states the dollar amount ?of obligations whose principal and interest are guaranteed by the United States Government.?
Note what the statute does not state. It does not state the amount that the government can or should spend. Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the Constitution gives the power to spend solely to Congress, subject to the president?s power to veto.
Congress has required that the government spend a certain amount of money. We don?t have enough revenue to cover the tab, so we have to borrow.
If we don?t borrow the money, we?ll be no better than common thieves. We won?t pay for things that we?ve already ordered or received; we?ll be breaching contracts right and left; we?ll be deadbeats. We?ll cause a worldwide economic disaster because the most trusted nation will no longer be trusted. Ultimately, we?ll have to spend much more money than we otherwise would, because interest rates will skyrocket.
We?re better than that! We?re not deadbeats or thieves; we?re an honorable nation.
The debt limit, which has nothing to do with spending, must be raised in order for us to retain our honor.
Gov. Brown?s address
HUNTINGTON BEACH,?H.R. Smith:?After listening to Gov. Jerry Brown?s State of the State address, I am amazed at the supposed progress he and the Legislature have made [?Brown: Hold off on spending,? Front Page, Jan. 25].
Citizens were duped into believing Proposition 30 revenue would be used solely for the salvation of the schools. It is now apparent that the monies have been spirited off for other purposes, such as rebuilding the union retirement fund. This was, of course, predictable.
Brown is extolling the virtues of his administration for saving the state and congratulating the unions on sticking together.
Unfortunately, new revenues will be squandered, as in the past, and pet projects like the high-speed rail will be pushed forward, thereby costing the state even more as this questionable project develops.
The governor has always used ?smoke and mirrors? to get his. The reality is, the economy is still in the tank. Unemployment is at 9.8 percent and businesses are fleeing the state or suspending expansion due to the unfriendly business climate.
Conservative Obama?
NEWPORT BEACH,?Mark Tabbert:?President Barack Obama expressed his goals in ?conservative terms? because he is a conservative, a holdover from conservatives long departed [?A confident, but detached, inaugural,? Opinion, Jan. 24]. Conservatives care about people.
For instance, Earl Warren, the 30th governor of California and a radical Republican conservative, proposed and worked hard for universal health care. Under President Richard Nixon we passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act ? all conservation measures true conservatives should be proud of.
Today?s Republicans and Democrats have sold out to multinational corporations. As to climate change, it is settled science ? unless you?re ExxonMobil or Big Coal. Exxon, for instance, employed ?public relation firms? to create doubt about the science of climate change, using the same tactics the tobacco industry used to fight the science on smoking and health. Republicans have followed Exxon?s lead ? hook, line and sinker.
True conservatives should be leading a fight for a carbon tax that is a free-market solution to climate change. Obama, it seems, plans to do it wrong. EPA regulations, cap-and-trade schemes and subsidies all fall short of what a revenue-neutral carbon tax could do.
A carbon tax would truly begin to address the climate problem, would stimulate the economy, add jobs and establish American leadership on the issue internationally.
The ?right to die?
SAN CLEMENTE,?G.M. Wesner:?Columnist Joseph Perkins? opinion piece on assisted suicide is out of place considering the libertarian and conservative principles of the paper [?Soft on assisted suicide,? Jan. 25].
I am 79 years old. I believe there is a big difference between living and being alive. The notion that as long as a person is neither terminally ill, bedridden nor immobile that they should go on living is unfair. There are also other criteria important to me that make it enjoyable to be alive. Living unassisted, reading, being able to watch TV, drive a car, play golf, play bridge, volunteer, enjoy hobbies and maintain relationships with friends and family ? those are all examples.
Don?t make it a crime for a doctor or someone else to help end my life. Live and let die ? mind your own business.
Chastising Cheesecake
LAGUNA HILLS,?Carol Brower:?The health advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest finds fault with the Cheesecake Factory [?Calorie bombs wins ?awards,'? Life & Wellness, Jan. 24]. The group?s executive director alleges that the restaurant is ?scientifically engineering these extreme meals with the express purpose of promoting obesity, diabetes and heart disease.? This is quite a vicious accusation, and there is no reason to think it is true.
The Cheesecake Factory lists calories in their menu and allows customers to make a choice. They offer some of the tastiest lower-calorie options, but it really is up to the customer to choose what they want.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest does not deserve the press they received ? their accusations are sensationalistic.
Drafting women?
HUNTINGTON BEACH,?Chuck Trout:?Sounds good when we say it should be a woman?s choice to be in a combat zone but there are other considerations [?Women in combat a good thing for U.S.,? Columns, Jan. 28].
Having fought in the Korean War, I experienced conditions that were far from pleasant. If you were in a foxhole and nature called, you did not leave your position. There are times when two people shared the same foxhole. When a woman shares a foxhole with a man, the man must decide if he should remain in his position and risk being charged with indecent exposure ? or, even worse, leave the foxhole and possibly give away his position to the enemy.
We have to stop using our military to prove we are socially correct.
?______
FULLERTON,?M.T. Graves: ?Males must register for the draft or suffer consequences with respect to lack of eligibility for student loans and other penalties [?Ban lifted on women in combat,? Front Page, Jan. 24]. Will women be equally required to register for the draft?
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