EDC Speaks Out! — Letters
EDC members are active contributors to the public discussion of important policy issues. Here are examples of recent letters to the editor and letters to elected officials written by EDC members and friends.
Do you have something to contribute or want to find out how? Learn how to bring change to your community, express your opinion and join the dialogue for a better city. Contact Mark Skok at politicalaction@escondidodems.org.
(If you have written a letter, let us know by writing communications@escondidodems.org )
Abed needs to follow the rule of law
(Published April 16, 2012 in North County Times. Congratulations Rick!)
I am puzzled by Mayor Sam Abed’s comments about Proposition S (“Mayor says growth plan too focused on Prop. S,” April 10). When it suits him, Abed is quick to say he will follow “the rule of law,” especially when he can justify discouraging poor people or immigrants. But when he disagrees with “the rule of law,” he seems eager to ignore it.
A case in point is Abed’s apparent desire to ignore the requirement in Prop. S that voters be able to approve, parcel by parcel, proposals that involve changing land from residential uses to higher-density residential, office, commercial or industrial uses.
Prop. S was approved by just less than 60 percent of voters in 1998. Now Abed thinks the voters have changed their minds and no longer care whether three council members can change land uses. He is wrong, but it appears he will test his premise by violating Prop. S when the general plan update is placed before voters in November.
Abed should be consistent and follow “the rule of law,” even when he doesn’t like the result. Voters should remind Abed that Prop. S is the law, and it should be followed.
Rick Moore, Escondido
Conspiracy on global warming is from oil industry
(Published April 12, 2012 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Irvin Forbing (March 29) is right. There is a global warming conspiracy. It is the conspiracy of the petroleum industry to muddle the facts of climate change, much as the tobacco industry did to delay action on the link between smoking and disease. As noted by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Exxon Mobil alone spent some $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to purposely confuse the public on the science of climate change (www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/ExxonMobil-GlobalWarming-tobacco.html).
One of the most credible of climate change skeptics, Richard Muller of UC Berkeley, changed his opinion to that of the majority of scientists. After completing a study that included 1.6 billion temperature readings, Muller conceded: “Our biggest surprise was that the new results agreed so closely with the warming values published previously by other teams in the U.S. and the U.K.” (www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/11/03/climate-change-berkley-muller.html).
Just because Maurice Strong and George Soros understand that the lifestyle we enjoy cannot be sustained by the Earth, and that we need to encourage a “greener” way of living (which is the “damning” evidence provided by Mr. Forbing’s references), does not mean they’re plotting some new world order. Anyone who actually believes this Glenn Beck conspiracy theory is likely to own a tinfoil hat.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Save the trees?
(Published April 2, 2012 in North County Times. Congratulations Roy!)
Escondido had a $3 million branch and children’s library on East Valley Parkway to serve adults and to give kids a better opportunity to develop into educated and successful adults by providing a safe place for curiosity and literacy to bloom. It attracted 400 users per day, about half were kids.
Last June, over the objections of about 2,500 petitioners and every citizen who spoke to the council, a majority of our City Council ordered the closing of the branch and children’s library to “save” $192,000 per year, $1.33 per student. The equipment was sold for peanuts and many of the books were given away. General reserve funds were over $16 million.
In March of this year, the same council voted to spend $600,000 on a survey of city-owned trees ($540,000 grant money and $60,000 general funds), hoping experts would gain enough knowledge to give our municipal trees sufficient and current and future attention so they can properly develop to their full potential and continue to be an asset to the community.
When you are driving in Escondido and see one of our kids in or near the streets, please drive carefully. In your efforts to avoid a wayward child, you might hit and damage one of our trees.
Roy Garrett, Escondido
Get a real expert to weigh possibility of flooding
(Published March 23, 2012 in North County Times. Congratulations Barbara!)
Re: “Angry residents protest proposed water complex,” March 16: About 20 years ago, at the site of the proposed three water buildings down below Dixon Lake, Ben Cueva saw bad flooding. It lasted for about three years. Mr. Cueva should know. He was involved with the Charros, who were using that land (except for those three years).
Along comes Don Bunts, an “expert” consultant, who says flooding is not a major concern. What kind of consultant is Mr. Bunts? It sounds as if he was at least as concerned about the plant life and buildings’ appearance as the possibility of floods. If he is not a geologist, I suggest that Mayor Abed and the City Council hire a geologist and get a real expert opinion.
That is, of course, unless the council changes its opinion, now that they know it will not be one building, but three.
Barbara Bell, Escondido
Exposing the fallacy of more Republican myths
(Published March 23, 2012 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Valerie Wanket’s letter (March 15) said Sandra Fluke “believes Catholic institutions should pay for her sexual activity.” Ms. Fluke testified for all women who work for or attend school at Catholic institutions, noting women often need “the pill” to control endometriosis, ovarian cysts, etc. Ms. Fluke noted that 94 percent of students at Georgetown disagree with this lack of coverage. Students pay for their insurance without any university subsidization. The $3,000 figure is the expense over total time in law school (www.buzzfeed.com/boxofficebuz/transcript-of-testimony-by-sandra-fluke-48z2).
Ms. Wanket chided the president for vetoing the Keystone pipeline, a project that could seriously pollute the nation’s largest aquifer, the Ogallala. Even the Republican governor and legislature in Nebraska were concerned enough to pass a bill mandating the rerouting of the pipeline.
She then goes on to repeat the latest Drudge Report faux scandal involving Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law, Ron Pelosi. The DOE did not “loan” Tonopah Solar Energy $735 million, it guaranteed the loan under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The taxpayers will only pay if the Tonopah goes belly-up (http://nuclearfissionary.com/2010/05/21/us-government-loan-guarantees-for-new-nuclear-construction/ and http://energy.gov/articles/energy-department-finalizes-737-million-loan-guarantee-tonopah-solar-energy-nevada-project).
Ron Pelosi joined Tonopah investor Pacific Corporate Group three years after PCG invested in Tonopah. He will not profit if Tonopah succeeds (http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/09/29/the-next-fake-solar-scandal/).
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Birth control a virtue that could save this planet
(Published March 11, 2012 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Valerie Wanket rails about Media Matters feeding MSNBC “what appears to be input direct from the White House” (March 4). So how is this more impeachable than the Bush White House feeding Fox News “talking points” so they could get their “message out,” as Scott McClellan freely admitted to Chris Matthews (“McClellan: Fox News commentators use the ‘talking points’ that the White House sends them,” July 26, 2008, www.thinkprogress.org)?
She accuses President Obama of disregarding the Constitution in his position on contraceptive coverage. Before Obama’s decision, some 28 states required that insurance companies provide such coverage; eight of those states do not allow any employers to refuse this coverage and four limit refusal of coverage to churches and church affiliations, not to hospitals or universities (www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_ICC.pdf). So are these states also ignoring the Constitution?
Just as courts have held that Christian Scientist parents who withhold life-saving medical treatment are guilty of child abuse, I believe that the Catholic stand on birth control is a danger to, not the health of one child, but the health of this planet, now undergoing the sixth major mass extinction event as a result of human overpopulation (www.actionbioscience.org/newfrontiers/eldredge2.html).
Environmentally responsible couples, virtuous couples, seek to stabilize and reduce the threat of human overpopulation. They use birth control to keep their families small.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Fixing the Citizens United decision
(Published February 26, 2012 in North County Times. Congratulations Joanna!)
The U.S. Supreme Court has a chance now to fix the enormous mistake it made in the Citizens United decision. A Montana case challenging that Supreme Court decision has just been appealed back to the court (American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock).
Justice Scalia recently said, “If the system seems crazy to you, don’t blame it on the court” (“Scalia on unlimited political ads: Turn off the TV,” Jan. 21, www.usatoday.com). Well, I do blame it on the Supreme Court. Its decision in the Citizens United case two years ago is destroying our democracy.
Polls show 80 percent of Americans want Citizens United overturned (http://j.mp/PHart).
Corporations, with virtually limitless money at their disposal, will always be able to outspend real people. It’s the end of democracy, unless we undo the damage done by Citizens United.
Joanna Welch, Escondido
Birth control a virtue, not a sin
(Published February 23, 2012 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Scientists believe that Earth could sustain a human population, that enjoyed our American lifestyle, of 2 billion without undue damage to its environment (www.populationpress.org/essays/essay-hayes.html). The world’s population is now over 7 billion.
This being the case, every sane, intelligent person should be in favor of making birth control as readily available as possible. Why the Catholic bishops can’t understand that mankind has been fruitful, multiplied, and that heavenly order fulfilled ad infinitum, is a mystery to me.
After President Obama compromised by having insurance companies, not the Catholic hospitals or universities, pay for coverage for contraceptives, Republicans and the bishops are still not pleased.
All the remaining Republican presidential candidates have said they supported a “personhood” amendment that would define a fertilized egg as a human being. Such an amendment could outlaw the pill and several other forms of contraception. A woman who miscarried could be subject to prosecution for homicide.
Rick Santorum has stated that he does not think contraception is moral. The idea that sex is only acceptable if its purpose is to make babies is an anachronism that the vast majority of Americans hold as ridiculous. Why would anyone support a candidate who holds to such nonsense?
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
The failed experiment with voodoo economics
(Published February 4, 2012 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Supply-side, trickle-down or voodoo economics —- call it what you will, it does not work. This experiment, begun more than 30 years ago by President Reagan, is a disaster for the U.S.A.
Since 1981, the top 1 percent of income-earners’ share of the total national income has grown from 9 percent to 23.5 percent. During that same period, average Americans saw their incomes stagnate (http://www.acivilamericandebate.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/the-30-year-growth-of-income-inequality/).
The U.S.A. has dropped to eighth in the world in social mobility. It is easier for a poor man in any Scandinavian country, Canada, Germany and France to become wealthy than it is for an American (www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/~/media/CFF85818FBB34CF695503470B623EB31.ashx). Countries with more progressive income tax systems, like the U.S.A. used to have before our experiment with voodoo economics, have lower social inequality (www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/7/45002641.pdf).
Reducing taxes does not add to job creation. George W. Bush has the worst record of job creation since such data was measured (“Jobs created during U.S. presidential terms,” Wikipedia).
Yet all Republican candidates for president still cling to this voodoo economic theory that empirical evidence shows clearly to be a bust. Perhaps, since they are all are so logically challenged that they question evolution, one should not be surprised that they cling to this economic fantasy. Still, I hope that most Americans will prefer the real world and vote for President Obama.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
More on evolution, creationism
(Published November 26 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Having a discussion with Irvin Forbing is a bit like talking to a brick wall. Explain the facts supporting the theory of evolution (like the theory of gravity) to him for hour upon end, and he simply ignores those facts and starts a new line of defense for creationism.
In his latest attack on the rationality of North County Times readers (Nov. 16), he avows that “Beneficial mutations sometimes occurring is not even a scientific observation.” Well, actually it is: See www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoMutations.html for 10 examples. DNA is a complex compound of nucleic acids that are translated into proteins. A single change of one nucleic acid will usually change the resulting protein, often with no effect on the organism, often with negative effects, and occasionally with positive effects.
Man has been artificially selecting for differing traits (mutations of a single gene) in dogs for some 200-plus years. You have only to look at the variety of dogs to understand how effective this selection has been. Why is it so difficult for Forbing and others to understand that over the course of some 400 billion (with a b) years, nature has been able to replicate man’s efforts on all species in spades?
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
The nanny state for corporations
(Published October 19 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Re: “Occupy the nanny state,” by Richard Kirk, Oct. 13: Richard Kirk’s hyperbolic response indicates Occupy Wall Street has rattled his nerves. This is a true grass-roots uprising, so unlike the corporate-funded, Astroturf tea party hyped into being by Fox “Noise.”
Kirk still clings to Friedman/Chicago economic school, even after the great defender of free markets, Alan Greenspan, admitted the fallacy of an entirely self-regulating market (“Greenspan concedes error on regulation,” Oct. 23, 2008, www.nytimes.com). David Stockman reluctantly admitted that it is a “delusion that the economy will outgrow the deficit if plied with enough tax cuts” (“Four deformations of the apocalypse,” July 31, 2010, www.nytimes.com).
The empirical evidence of the Bush tax cuts —- which were followed by the worst period of job growth in the post-World War II era (www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/02/pdf/picker_jobs.pdf)—- should be enough to convince people like Kirk that his favored economic policies do not work.
Deregulation led to this current recession. While the Wall Street culprits who recklessly caused this crisis are still at large, collecting their million-dollar bonuses funded by Bush’s bailout, ordinary, hard-working people find themselves with an upside-down mortgage, or their jobs shipped overseas, or burdened with mortgage-sized student-loan debts and no employment in sight.
It is the nanny state for corporations, so carefully constructed over the past 30 years, that the Occupy Wall Street movement is against.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
We need a healthy America
(Published September 18 in North County Times. Congratulations Laura!)
I have been a subscriber to the North County Times for several years and very much appreciate its articles supporting environmental work.
As a citizen, I am outraged that President Obama sneaked through a law lowering smog standards that are even lower than the Bush administration advocated. It is an outright lie that lowering clean air standards will lead to more jobs. Up to 12,000 people die each year from increases in asthma and other respiratory diseases. This is right-wing propaganda from the oil companies.
Please call the White House and demand that the standards of air quality be raised. We need a healthy America.
Laura Glusha, Escondido
Believing in evolution, global warming
(Published August 29, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
So, the good news is that one Republican candidate for president, Jon Huntsman, believes in evolution and trusts the scientists about global warming. The bad news is that he trails far behind the Texas governor who questions evolution and claims that global warming is an unproven theory promoted by scientists who have manipulated data.
Now, over 97 percent of active (published) climatologists believe that the global temperatures are rising and that human activity is a significant factor in that rise. The leaked email scandal of climatologists has been exonerated. Only in this country do conservative politicians deny global warming. Not too surprising in a country where only 39 percent of citizens believe in evolution and 25 percent do not —- the rest are unsure (www.gallup.com/poll/114544/darwin-birthday-believe-evolution.aspx).
Questioning evolution is like questioning that the Earth goes round the sun. Teaching biology without teaching evolution is like teaching physics without teaching Newton’s Laws. Questioning global warming, refusing to try to stem its damage to the planet, is to condemn future generations to hell.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Nothing ‘happy’ about McDonald’s marketing practices
(Published August 9, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Joanna!)
I was pleased to see the North County Times’ coverage of McDonald’s recent changes to its Happy Meals (“McDonald’s: Apple slices in every Happy Meal,” July 27).
While adding fruits and veggies to Happy Meals is a good step, McDonald’s continues to avoid addressing the primary way in which the corporation contributes to the staggering rates of diet-related disease: the hundreds of millions it spends aggressively marketing its brand to kids.
The healthier Happy Meal remains high in salt, sugar and fat, and toy included, continues to function as a vehicle to hook kids on the McDonald’s brand at a young age
It’s time the burger giant took the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Federal Trade Commission, health professionals and parents who are calling on them to stop marketing junk food and its unhealthy brand to children.
Joanna Welch, Escondido
Evolution-deniers aren’t swayed by facts
(Published July 1, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
David Perlmutter’s letter of June 26 exposes a dismal view of mankind. He believes there must be some great paterfamilias in the sky to keep the human family in order, claiming, “If there is no God there is no law … no morality … no standard.” He avows that teaching evolution is like telling students they’re “just animals” and students would immediately jump to the conclusion that they can behave like animals.
If Perlmutter were correct, one would expect that our jails would be full of atheists. Over 99 percent of prisoners in the U.S. are believers (http://freethoughtpedia.com/wiki/Percentage_of_atheists#_note-3 number of atheists in prison). One would also expect that the much less religious countries in Western Europe would have much higher crime rates. The crime rates in those countries are almost all substantially lower than ours (see “Crime in the United States,” Wikipedia).
Former Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell said that she didn’t believe that anyone who thought the jury was out on evolution could be elected Prime Minister in Canada (http://www.seplis.com/real-time-with-bill-maher/episode/march-12-2004/2205991/). In 2009, Canada had 1.5 rapes per 100,000 people. The USA had 28.6 per 100,000 (see “Rape statistics,” Wikipedia).
Empirical evidence doesn’t support Permutter’s view. But evolution-deniers obviously aren’t swayed by facts. They prefer to remain in a fundamentalist fantasyland where evolutionary truths can’t upset their lofty perch on an anthropocentric pedestal.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Public servants?
(Published June 19, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Chris!)
Troubling comments by Marie Waldron and Ed Gallo reveal council people whose concept of “public servant” is compromised by personal agendas and disregard of their fiduciary duties.
In a June 12 North County Times article about the Escondido charter effort (“Charter effort criticized for lack of public input”), Waldron insists her charter proposal has had adequate input and the City Council should move post-haste in order to save millions of dollars. Not true. The city has not allowed residents time for serious study and input on a proposal that has huge implications. Public comment is not input.
Further, there is no proof of city projects that would save millions by quickly passing a charter. Urgency simply reflects Waldron’s need to bolster her run for State Assembly. Waldron hides the cost of rushing to make the 2011 election —- $120,000, far more than just $40,000 if we wait until 2012. Didn’t Waldron vote to close the East Valley Library and to reduce support for recreation programs?
Gallo, “the decisionmaker,” forgets he serves the people. He complains that “too much public input can prolong things on and on.” Really? Isn’t his job to listen and to be responsive to the people? He needs to re-think “public servant.”
Christine “Chris” Nava, Escondido
Charter’s purpose is to save developer money
(Published June 19, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
“I believe the most effective, responsible, and responsive government is government closest to the people.” So reads the home page of the Escondido Republican Club’s website.
How does past-President Ed Gallo square that with his statement, “Too much public input can prolong things on and on” (“Charter effort criticized for lack of public input,” June 12)?
The home page also states that “government must practice fiscal responsibility.” Marie Waldron’s rush to put her charter on this November’s ballot at a cost of $120K vs. $40K in 2012 is fiscally irresponsible. Of course, a charter passed in 2012 wouldn’t give Waldron the conservative brownie points she needs for her run for State Assembly.
Waldron claims the charter will save Escondido millions in construction. Really? Any project that uses federal or state funds, including all “redevelopment” projects, will still require “living wages.”
Sam Abed says he wishes to improve the average income in Escondido. How does adopting a charter that practically mandates lower wages and makes no guarantee that local workers will be hired improve income? What the city saves in labor costs, it will lose in sales tax and quality of life.
This charter is almost identical to the developer-written Oceanside charter. Its main purpose is to save developer (not taxpayer) money.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
The difference between comment and input
(Published June 17, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Rick!)
Talk about arrogance. Marie Waldron and Ed Gallo forget for whom they are working.
Their quotes in the June 12 story (“Charter effort criticized for lack of public input”) about the proposed change to Escondido’s charter indicate certainly a lack of respect, and perhaps even contempt, for the opinions of city residents.
For Gallo to say, “Too much public input can prolong things,” and, “We’re the elected officials, so we’re the decisionmakers,” is revealing and devastating.
Waldron said, “it would take a long time to discuss and analyze those issues.” Well, so what? These elected officials are proposing a fundamental and important change to how the city is administered – comparable to rewriting a constitution. Do they expect residents to pay no attention? Does the council majority want residents to just pay their taxes and shut up?
Further, to claim that citizen comment equals citizen input is ridiculous. The council majority has allowed no citizen input to the proposed charter, and has scheduled no workshop to provide a process for input. Yes, there has been comment, but that is not the same. Most of the document was generated by special interests outside of Escondido.
Rick Moore, Escondido
Filner would be an excellent mayor
(Published June 15, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Andrea!)
At the Joan Kroc Center on June 8, I had the privilege of meeting with a small group of San Diego citizens, including Representative Bob Filner, just before he filed papers to run for San Diego mayor. After nearly 20 years at the federal level in Congress, why is he coming back to serve at the city level?
My understanding is that Bob Filner feels he could best use his knowledge of government at all levels as mayor of San Diego. We know him to be honest, outspoken, green, very accessible and a humanitarian as to border issues. In this office, he would have opportunity to make decisions that better the whole county, and that’s why he was meeting with us “outsiders” from North County.
I grew up in Los Angeles County in the ’40s and ’50s, witnessing paradise lost. The past 40 years, I’ve experienced the deja vu experience of a 12-lane freeway where there once was a small creek and open space to enjoy the peace and quiet here in Escondido. Now the same place is the Interstate 15 Felicita onramp.
Bob Filner, as mayor of San Diego, would give me hope for the future of our county. Those of us who can’t vote for him must contact all those who can or communicate as I am today. Talk to others about helping Bob Filner leave a legacy of saving San Diego County from the fate of Los Angeles County.
Andrea Seavey, Escondido
We’re all cousins
(Published June 4, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Eileen!)
The reason our illustrious President Barack Hussein Obama is labeled a black (Negro race) person is because of the stigma (racism) that still exists in the U.S. He is biracial, as much Caucasian (white) as Negro (black).
We humans evolved from the same seeds in what is now called Africa on this planet called Earth. Many centuries later, my Caucasian immigrant ancestors from Europe married the native Indians of America; first, George Calvert (Lord Baltimore of England), whose progeny married into the Cherokee tribe of Indians; and second, James McNees from Ireland, who married into the royalty of the Powhatan Tribe of Indians. Eventually, both branches intermarried, settled in the South, owned slaves and fought in the Confederate army in the Civil War.
I did not learn about my heritage from my parents. We lived in a white Protestant village in southern Missouri (no Jews, no Catholics, no Negros, no Japanese and no talk about it, thank goodness, so I wasn’t taught prejudice). So, dear friends, whether you like it or not, we’re all cousins —- maybe not kissing cousins, but cousins. Let’s try to be civil to one another.
Eileen Menees, Escondido
What is the real objection of birthers?
(Published June 4, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Jeff Schwilk clings to his birther nonsense (May 28), while claiming those who disagree are desperate. The 14th Amendment does define citizenship. Title 8 of the U.S. Code refines the definition of “citizens of the United States at birth” as including “any one born inside the United States.” Also, “any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years.”
If my great-niece, who was born in England, wants to run for president, she will be legally able to do so. Although, as my niece is a blue-eyed blonde, I doubt Mr. Schwilk would so object. If Canada suddenly had a financial crisis, and tens of thousands of Canadians started to pour into the U.S., legally or illegally, Mr. Schwilk, I think, would not sound the alarm about the weakness of our borders with Canada.
A friend of mine wisely observed that those who “want their country back” are really saying: “This is my country. A black man is president of this country. My country can’t have a black president. I want my country back.”
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
We need a plan to save us from ourselves
(Published May 31, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Andrea!)
A week ago, I heard many new college graduates have to join the Armed Forces to get work. Not enough people remember World War II: rationing with food stamps, my new tricycle made from old parts, etc.
I feel my generation had opportunities never seen before and we could have changed the direction of civilization. As a woman, the daughter of a Dutch working-class immigrant who had survived the World War I German invasion of Amsterdam, I graduated from Berkeley in ’62, knowing continued thoughtless industrialization and pollution of our biome would bring ultimate disaster.
Already, we may have an irreversible situation, even though I tried to teach my children to be green. I’ll be the first to admit, I did not do enough with my background and education. I had hoped our younger generation, so comfortable with the new technology, would come up with the answers, the energy and vision to save us from ourselves. But they don’t remember WWII, etc., and the only “job” option we can offer college grads is the military/industrial complex President Eisenhower warned us about half a century ago.
Are we sure civilization has to include war? Or are the intelligentsia going to tell the powermongers of our species to “get lost”?
Andrea Seavey, Escondido
Address the root cause of pregnancy
(Published April 23, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Eileen!)
Instead of yapping about abortion, why not address the root cause of pregnancy? Women have been treated as chattel since the beginning of time. This planet cannot sustain the explosion of births that is happening, and it should not be up to the females to solve the problem.
Eileen Menees, Escondido
What programs are ‘nonvital’?
(Published April 21, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
What does Patricia Sharp (April 17) mean by “nonvital programs that special interest groups favor”? Most (88 percent) of our federal tax money goes to defense, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, safety net programs (Supplemental Security Income, etc.), veterans/federal retiree benefits and interest payment on our debt.
Does she consider old-age support, care for needy children or veterans to be “nonvital”? Is it the 1 percent in foreign aid that she considers superfluous? Is money spent on easing conditions that can lead to war, famine or a worldwide epidemic wasted? Does she mean the 2 percent for scientific and medical research, 3 percent for education or 3 percent for transportation infrastructure? Perhaps she feels that the remaining 3 percent that goes to “all other” items, e.g., funding national parks, or cleaning up the environment, is nonvital (“Policy basics: Where do our federal tax dollars go?” April 15, www.cbpp.org ).
Ms. Clark, and evidently, all Republican congressmen, still seem to believe in “trickle-down economics.” One of the originators of “supply-side” economics, David Stockman, admitted that it is a “delusion that the economy will outgrow the deficit if plied with enough tax cuts” (“Four deformations of the apocalypse,” July 31, 2010, www.nytimes.com).
This delusion led President George W. Bush, et al., to lower taxes while starting two wars and passing an un-funded Medicare prescription drug act, changing the Clinton surpluses into ever-growing deficits.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Paradise destroyed by big money
(Published April 6, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Andrea!)
The North County Times editoral on March 30 mentioned almost all the reasons why the Gregory Canyon Landfill is a bad idea (“A very bad idea”). This abomination will undoubtedly destroy San Diego County’s only large aquifer, which provides 20 to 50 percent of Oceanside’s tap water.
Last fall, at the San Marcos hearing provided by the Army Corps of Engineers, Supervisor Pam Slater-Price came armed with data on the projected “fill” dates on all of the county’s present landfills. Because of recycling sucess, all the “fill” dates are moved out starting in the 2040s to 2050s. It was my understanding from that meeting that if San Diego County doesn’t need Gregory Canyon, and we let it become a reality, Riverside County can and will use it.
We live in a democracy where all citizens have the right to get the facts and participate in the democratic process. Does this happen? No. As a native Californian, I’ve seen paradise in Southern California turned to irreversible destruction by big money over and over. Most of us get too busy in our prime to do our job as informed citizens. This must change by becoming informed, involved and thereby have a government process that controls big money. We must set a better example for our children — it may be too late.
Andrea Seavey, Escondido
No one wants to pay for anything anymore
(Published April 5, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
No one wants to pay for anything anymore. We all want a strong national security, police and fire protection, roads, schools, hospitals, state parks, clean air, safe drinking water and libraries, open when we need them.
But the tea party folks seem not to understand that all of these government services are funded by taxes. They feel that most tax dollars are lost to fraud and waste, or lazy women on welfare. Tea partiers will scream, “We’re taxed enough already!” Actually, income tax rates are at an almost all-time low.
In the Eisenhower administration, the highest income tax rate was 90 percent; during Nixon’s, 70 percent; now it’s 34.5 percent. Between 1998 and 2005, 72 percent of all foreign corporations and 56-plus percent of U.S. companies paid no income taxes for at least one year. Rather than the supposedly high 35 percent corporate tax rate, 115 of the Standard & Poor’s 500 paid less than 20 percent. For the year 2010, GE will pay nothing, although their profits in 2010 were $5.1 billion. The Bush Administration lowered taxes and started two wars, which, along with the deregulation of financial industry, caused our current abysmal national financial deficit.
It’s time to pay up with higher taxes.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
We can do better
(Published March, 23, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Rick!)
What kind of country cuts food aid to hungry pregnant women and children in the middle of an economic crisis while giving a giant tax break to billionaires? We can do better.
Richard Bova, Escondido
Automated responses show lack of respect
(Published March 21, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Chris!)
Congressman Brian Bilbray is not listening to the people he represents. Time and time again, our efforts to address issues of concern with the congressman are met with: “Thank you for taking the time to contact me. I appreciate hearing from you. This is an automated response to let you know I received your comment. If you are writing about an issue before the House of Representatives, please be assured that I will take your views into account before I cast my vote, and will make every effort to respond to your concerns. Additionally, if you are requesting help with a federal agency, a member of my staff will respond to you in the coming days. Again, thank you for contacting me.”
Unlike Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, who directly address our concerns and who provide us with their positions on the issues, Congressman Bilbray simply provides us with a generic reply.
His unavailability is well-noted in the 50th Congressional District. His automated responses show a lack of respect for his constituents and an arrogance that should not be tolerated from someone who claims the title of “representative.” The people deserve better.
Chris Nava, Escondido
Pro-lifers about punishing women, not saving ‘babies’
(Published March 10, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
The Republican House of Representatives just voted to end all funding for Planned Parenthood — the most moronic move by a Congress ever.
To worry about a multicellular organism unaware of its own existence, the human fetus, while overpopulation of the human species is the greatest threat to this planet, is to have your priorities screwed up from here to the next millennium.
But, if Congress’ objective is to reduce the number of abortions, then their best strategy would be to increase the availability of birth control and fund Planned Parenthood. Making abortion illegal or difficult to obtain will not decrease the number of abortions. Abortion in Brazil is illegal. Brazil has a much higher abortion rate than the U.S.
Abortion is much harder to obtain in the U.S. than Western Europe. Western Europe has a much lower abortion rate than the U.S. There is considerable evidence that the per-capita abortion rate in this country was just as high before Roe v. Wade as it is now. The difference is that before Roe v. Wade, many women died from botched abortions.
It is clear to me that the so-called pro-life movement is much more interested in punishing women than saving “babies.”
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Response to a ridiculous attack on nonbelievers
Published February 21, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Does David Perlmutter (Feb. 18) know how insulting his condemnation of atheists is? An atheist’s belief is “not born of his understanding of reality; it is born of his love for sin.” What absolute, complete rot.
Perlmutter has labeled 93 percent of the members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences as lovers of sin. He has also ignored the fact that less than one-tenth of 1 percent of prison inmates are nonbelievers, and that nonbelievers have a lower-than-average rate of divorce.
Perlmutter’s inclusion of “working women” and “women’s lib” in his list of societal ills betrays a chauvinism reinforced by primitive patriarchal mythology. He would seem to prefer the society of 100 years ago, when women were often treated as chattel.
Steven Weinberg, Nobel Laureate for Physics, said, “Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” You’ve only to consider the Crusades, the Inquisition, slavery in this country (aka punishment of the children of Ham), 9/11 and on and on ad nauseam, to see the truth of Weinberg’s statement.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Birth control defended
(Published January 30, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
I found the wrath directed towards New York City Schools Chancellor Cathie Black, when she jokingly suggested that birth control would help solve the overcrowding of NYC schools, very disconcerting. Granted, the problem of NYC’s crowded schools cannot be immediately overcome by birth control — but birth control is the best solution to the root cause of the earth’s (and NYC’s) environmental problems: overpopulation.
The number of otherwise sane individuals who believe that this finite planet can absorb infinite growth of our human population, with concurrent endless economic growth, is astounding. Our planet could remain healthy, environmentally, while supporting a human population of some 2 billion in a lifestyle similar to that of the industrialized world today. The human population is now rapidly approaching 7 billion — an increase of 700 percent since 1804.
Last April, I visited the Field Museum in Chicago. The museum has done a wonderful job of presenting the 4 billion-year history of life on Earth, including the five major extinction events. The exhibit ends with the present — the sixth major extinction event — caused by human destruction of habitats — destruction fueled by the pressure of growing human population. Birth control is the best way to save our planet.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
The virtual-fence boondoggle
(Published January 26, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Tracy!)
Congressmen Brian Bilbray and Darrell Issa voted in favor of the pork — HR 6061, the “Secure Fence Act of 2006,” which, in part, involved funding for unproven border technology.The virtual fence, officially called SBInet, was supposed to have its first border phase operational in June 2007, but it became apparent that the project was a failure when the virtual fence project incurred software and other technology problems
Later in 2007, when implementation was delayed, then-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said at a congressional hearing: “I am not going to buy something with U.S. government money unless I’m satisfied it works in the real world.”
In August 2008, even after the technology problems had been disclosed, Congressman Bilbray issued a press release calling for the completion of the virtual fence — in other words, spending more taxpayer money on a failed project.
Ironically, San Diego County’s two Democratic congressional representatives, Susan Davis and Bob Filner, voted “no” to wasting the taxpayers’ money when the bill was introduced.
The virtual fence turned out to be a $1 billion boondoggle. Yes, that’s 1,000 million dollars spent. What was San Diego taxpayers’ share of the $1 billion wasted?
Tracy Emblem, Escondido
Escondido keeps making wrong decisions
(Published January 22, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Eileen!)
It makes me sad to read about the bashing of the arts center, the most beautiful set of buildings (together with City Hall) in Escondido. Perhaps, if the City Council had named them the Escondido Performing Arts Center, the Escondido Convention Center or the Escondido Museum, etc., the world would have found them.
A first-class hotel with a venue for dancing and a resort setting of a pool and Jacuzzi on the plot now occupied by a movie theater would have drawn people to Escondido to enjoy all of those amenities, plus the fine assortment of restaurants, art galleries, antique shops, little theaters and merchants in downtown and other environs of Escondido, plus other places to explore in San Diego County and beyond. …
The beautiful Mingei Gallery was in the wrong place (no parking) and is now closed. The Escondido Municipal Golf Course is now the Vineyard and half-owned by the city of San Diego.
And now, how stupid can the Escondido City Council be to try to squeeze a so-so hotel onto a small parking lot on a one-way street between the two most important edifices in town and cut off an access to all the venues in Grape Day Park?
They’ve had since 1888 to do better.
Eileen Menees, Escondido
(Published January 14, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
John Schueler’s letter (Jan. 5) requires a response, albeit it’s a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. He has referred to my position in the Escondido Democratic Club. My views are mine alone, not a representation of the views of the Escondido Democratic Club or the Democratic Party. It’s my observation that a gathering of three Democrats produces a minimum of five opinions, with enthusiastic expression of those opinions.
Schueler’s logic seems to be: 1) Liles won’t vote for Sarah Palin because Palin doesn’t believe in evolution. 2) Palin is a Christian. 3) Therefore, Liles won’t vote for any Christian, because all Christians don’t believe in evolution. Newsflash to Mr. Schueler: The Vatican admits the validity of evolution. Perhaps Mr. Schueler doesn’t consider the Pope to be Christian?
Schueler again asks, “What is it that Sarah Palin … (has) done that deserves the hatred … ?” I do not hate Palin. I do strongly object to her candidacy for president or vice president because she is unqualified to hold the office. I want a leader who will base her decisions on scientific fact, not faith. I want a leader who won’t quit halfway through her term when she deems the job too unpleasant.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
A word on filibusters
(Published January 11, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Jeff!)
A naive man is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His plans promptly collide with political corruption, but he doesn’t back down.
When I was a kid, I found out some of the best movies were in black and white, and one of the best actors was James Stewart. I started off with “Harvey” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” and never looked back.
It was not until I was a teenager that I watched “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” I remember Jefferson Smith saying, “I find that if I yield only for a question or a point of order or a personal privilege, that I can hold this floor almost until doomsday. In other words, I’ve got a piece to speak, and blow hot or cold, I’m going to speak it.”
That is a far cry from today’s standard of filibuster. It should take some effort and some heart to start one
Jeff Griffith, Escondido
There are Democrats in North County
(Published January 11, 2011 in North County Times. Congratulations Rick!)A list of North County political organizations published in early November and again at the end of December in the North County Times was incomplete
Should your readers want to learn about the Democratic Clubs in Rancho Bernardo, Fallbrook, Valley Center, Rancho Santa Fe and Lake San Marcos, as well as the Progressive Democrats, they can visit the San Diego County Democratic Party website: http://www.sddemocrats.org/find_club.asp
Yes, there are Democrats in North County.
Rick Moore, Escondido
Hypocrisy of Palin defenders is breathtaking
(Published December 30, 2010 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Responses to my explanation of why I found the popularity of Sara Palin unsavory have shown Palin’s defenders (all men, interestingly) far more “vitriolic” to me than I toward her. Unable to defend her obvious lack of intellectual competence, they resorted to ad hominem attacks on her critic, me.
The hypocrisy of those who so publicly defend Palin takes my breath away. Had Chelsea Clinton become pregnant before marriage, the harangues against Hillary Clinton would have been legion in number and cyclonic in volume.
These same folks often question the validity of evolution. I do not know why it is easier to believe a primitive Jewish creation myth than a scientific theory for which there is more evidence than the existence of atoms or molecules, but I have no patience for such medieval thinking, and would never vote for someone who held such medieval beliefs.
Mr. Tanner (Dec. 19) accuses my criticism of Palin of being from a “holier-than-thou” attitude. Nonsense. It is Tanner and other fundamentalist party of God members (aka Republicans) — who wish to inflict their homophobic, misogynistic rules, based on their patriarchal mythology, on the rest of society — who are the “holier-than-thou” persecutors.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
North County’s biggest hypocrite
(Published December 13, 2010 in North County Times. Congratulations Tracy!)
It’s North County’s Congressman Brian Bilbray. He chairs the House Immigration Reform Caucus. He uses the media to bash immigration, immigrants and the DREAM Act.
Bilbray sued to strike down California’s version of the DREAM Act, which allowed those who meet residency requirements to pay in-state tuition in California.
In September, Bilbray made this statement: “The DREAM Act is a nightmare … Giving amnesty to illegal immigrants is not reform, it is an insult to every person going through the immigration process legally.”
Bilbray wrote an anti-DREAM Act manifesto published in The Hill titled: “Something to consider before casting a vote for the DREAM Act,” Sept. 20 (www.thehill.com). Bilbray illogically claimed that Congress and the business community share the responsibility for 72 murders of migrant workers in Northern Mexico.
Bilbray told Fox News that the DREAM Act was really “amnesty.”
So what action does this anti-amnesty advocate take when he is required to put his action where his mouth is and vote on the DREAM Act on Dec. 8? He doesn’t vote at all.
Tracy Emblem, Escondido
Why Sara Palin’s obnoxious
John Schueler asked (Dec. 1), “what (has Sarah Palin) said or done that instills such vitriol …?” I’ve often asked myself why I find Palin so obnoxious.
First, I abhor that a mother of an unwed teenage mother is hailed as an epitome of motherhood. I’d have told any daughter of mine that delaying sexual intercourse until she was mature was preferable, but would have taught her how to protect herself from sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. It is more harmful to humanity to bring an unwanted child into this world of over 7 billion people than to have sex outside of marriage.
Second, it was an insult that out of all the intelligent, talented women in the world, John McCain chose a woman who was challenged by the simple question about what she read. It is clear that Palin doesn’t read much or reads trash. His choice was an insult to all the women in this country who have striven to show that women are just as intelligent as men.
Third, it is offensive that a woman who questions evolution, global warming and science in general is taken seriously by the electorate. But then, I had the same problem with George W. Bush.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Un-Christian Issa
In the early 1980s, Darrell Issa told Joey Adkins, owner of A.C. Custom Electronics, that he (Issa) would grant Adkins a few more weeks to repay a $60,000 loan. A few days later, Issa won a judgment (in Ohio, where the debtor didn’t have to be present) for the outstanding $60,000. Issa became the owner of A.C. Custom Electronics. Adkins was “completely floored” and claimed that Issa had schemed to take over the electronics company (“Rep. Issa’s career has been driven by greed and a desire for power,” June 1, www.politicalcorrection.org). Darrell Issa is the richest man in Congress.
Today, Issa voted against extending unemployment benefits, claiming that he cannot justify such an addition to the national debt. At the same time, Issa is for extending the Bush deficit-adding tax cuts for everyone, including millionaires like himself, meaning he will vote himself and other millionaires a $100,000-plus tax reduction. This extension will add $700 billion (with a “b”) to our national debt over the next 10 years.
These actions make Issa about as Christian as Attila the Hun, according to what I was taught as a child. A teaching very different from the “Christ was a capitalist, blessed are the rich, blame the poor for being poor” jejune variety of Christianity that the religious right preach.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
A recipe for disharmony
(Published in North County Times, November 14, 2010. Congratulations Margaret!)
Minding my own business in the produce section of Trader Joe’s the other day, I was forced to hear a very large white man opine to a poor TJ employee about how happy he was about the local election. I moved away, but was soon followed by the employee and her lecturer. He was saying something about how “certain minorities” liked to “vote early and often.”
I moved on to the bread section, then the dairy section, but this man upped his volume, so I heard him state that Harry Reid was a “d-bag.”
This rude, racist, angry white man is, no doubt, not atypical of the voters for Sam Abed, Marie Waldron and Ed Gallo, who have all taken a hard line against illegal immigrants. All three have appealed to the fear and suspicion many Escondido citizens have of brown people in general. Their implied message was “be afraid, be very afraid of the brown hordes who are crossing our border illegally.” The fact that illegal immigration has decreased 67 percent since 2000 doesn’t seem to moderate their perspective at all (“Illegal immigration down 67 percent since 2000,” Sept. 1, www.frumforum.com).
I don’t know how they expect to create a positive atmosphere in Escondido when they have so antagonized half of Escondido’s population.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Let your voice be heard
(Published in North County Times, November 9, 2010. Congratulations Mark!)
This past Wednesday, 18 Escondido residents spent their evening at City Hall so they could express strong opposition to a $50 million tax expenditure for a ballpark.
Committing these funds to a ballpark will mean losing money that could be used for redeveloping our neighborhoods: fixing sidewalks, improving street lighting and strengthening efforts to control graffiti.
On Nov. 30, the Escondido City Council will vote on whether to approve the expenditure. Residents will not have a chance to vote on this enormous expense. However, you can let the city know what you think. Send a message to Barbara Redlitz, director of community development, bredlitz@escondido.org
Better yet, let your voice be heard at a city council meeting
Mark Skok, Escondido
The hypocrisy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
Twenty-five countries, including many NATO members, permit military service by openly gay personnel, including our allies in the wars.
Nonetheless, Congressman Brian Bilbray recently told the North County Times that he’s against repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” while America is at war (“Senate vote spikes repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’,” Sept. 22). This is a fallacious excuse.
Mr. Bilbray clearly does not understand the recent federal court’s decision in favor of the Log Cabin Republicans. The LCR is an organization within his own political party that filed suit to repeal DADT. The district court held that the government’s policy violates gay and lesbian military members’ First and Fifth Amendment rights. Another federal court in Washington state recently ruled the “Don’t Ask” policy was unconstitutional.
America’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered troops shed blood fighting for our nation’s core principles of liberty, freedom and justice for all.
It is ironic that Mr. Bilbray often claims that “we are a nation of laws,” while hypocritically turning a blind eye to the violations of hundreds of men and women who honorably and faithfully serve in our military while their constitutional rights are routinely violated.
Tracy Emblem, Escondido
How can thinking Americans support them?
When did stupid become a virtue? How can anyone vote for someone as ignorant as Sarah Palin, who (reportedly) didn’t know who Margaret Thatcher is? I know more about foreign affairs than that half-governor.
Christine O’Donnell, one of Palin’s picks, just won the Republican senatorial primary in Delaware. She wants to extend the failed “Abstinence Only” program to include abstinence from masturbation (such a sin), and to push for the teaching of creationism and discrimination against gays and lesbians.
The Republican candidate for Senate in Nevada, Sharron Angle, wants to phase out Social Security and Medicare and speaks of “Second Amendment solutions” if the tea partiers don’t get their way politically.
Then there’s the delusional Glenn Beck. You know, the guy who gets from point A to point B by going through points F, Z, E, W and N, and concluding that the decoration on Radio City Music Hall is a communist conspiracy. His answer to Barbara Walters’ question about what his convictions were was that he believed in Washington and the Founding Fathers. Suppose he believes in apple pie and Mom, too. He’s about as deep as a puddle on a mirror.
How can any thinking American support these shallow demagogues?
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
(Published in North County Times, September 7, 2010. Congratulations Eileen!)
I was appalled to read in the Aug. 25 issue of the North County Times that the fifth-graders at Grace Lutheran had been given an award from Scholastic Books for writing a book titled, “Mom … Can I Have a Mammoth?” (“Fifth-graders’ book awarded”).
The proper verb is “may.” Don’t they teach grammar in school any more?
Eileen Menees, Escondido
(Published in North County Times, September 3, 2010. Congratulations Tracy!)
The North County Times editorial, “Osprey redux?” Aug. 27, discussing the long-troubled development of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, was right on point. It reminded me of the wartime HK-1 contract to develop the “Spruce Goose,” Howard Hughes’ heavy transport aircraft that was supposed to be designed and able to carry 750 troops or a Sherman tank.
If war equipment is necessary, the government should be required to purchase already proven products, not products designed in “theory” and developed on a cost-plus basis. This would save precious taxpayer resources and, as the North County Times editorial suggested, probably lives.
It’s time our government starts to consider turning our war “technology” into a peacetime economy.
Tracy Emblem, Escondido
Everitt endorsement a smart choice
In endorsing Jason Everitt for City Council, the firefighters union was quite clear in stating their reasons for endorsing him. Jason’s commitment to working families, his belief that government has to get back to basics, his commitment to giving the people of Escondido a voice in decision-making resonated strongly with the firefighters, who saw in Jason the kind of candidate they want to support. If that is progressive, then this 15-year resident of Escondido cheers and thanks the firemen for endorsing Jason Everitt.
He may be young, but he brings an excellent background in political science and public administration (degrees from UC Santa Barbara and University of Southern California). His work as an organizer for the San Diego Coastkeeper and the Sierra Club, and his present job with the Center for Public Initiative, speaks volumes. He is working with the Escondido Democratic Club in presenting a resolution to the Escondido City Council, asking for an ordinance that reflects the city’s commitment to local job creation and retention. This is the kind of leadership and dedication to working families that Escondido needs.
Escondido will be well served by this young, articulate and extremely knowledgeable candidate.
Chris Nava, Escondido
Escondido needs new blood on council
I’d like to differ with Jim Byler’s letter of Aug. 20, which criticizes Escondido firefighters for endorsing Jason Everitt for City Council.
I think Mr. Byler has demonstrated his ignorance, both of the firefighters and of Escondido. I guess that’s understandable — Mr. Byler doesn’t even live in Escondido.
Jason Everitt is an exciting young candidate who brings an entirely fresh perspective to the public policy discussion in Escondido.
Our city (I do live in Escondido and have for more than a decade) needs new blood on the City Council. The council majority and mayor have fallen into a pattern that needs interruption. The firefighters know it, and so do many other residents who follow the actions of city government.
I encourage Escondido voters to consider Jason Everitt — he has new ideas, a lot of energy and can help put the city back on the right track.
Rick Moore, Escondido
Issa eager to start subpoenaing
Darrell Issa is eager to become Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, in the sad event of the Republicans taking over the House. He’s eager to start subpoenaing, stating (in a recent speech to Pennsylvania Republicans), “I won’t use it to have corporate America live in fear that we’re going to subpoena everything. I will use it to get the very information that today the White House is either shredding or not producing.” (Issa produced no evidence to back up this remark.)
Issa seems to miss the $73 million Starr/Whitewater witch hunt. Obviously, Issa has the welfare of corporate America at heart. Issa, who has been arrested twice for car theft, suspected of arson and characterized by a previous business partner, Bob Rains, as someone he “wouldn’t have any personal dealing with … ” (http://politicalcorrection.org/print/factcheck/201006010005) seems highly under-qualified to conduct any sort of character investigation.
The editors of the North County Times said residents of the 49th Congressional District “can take pride in knowing their representative is proving that being a squeaky wheel can pay off … ” (“Issa right: Sestak issue merits review,” May 30). Well, this resident of the 49th District finds Issa to be an extreme embarrassment. He’s a pompous, self-aggrandizing hypocrite who has used his money to buy a safe political office.
Margaret McCown Liles, Escondido
Another reason to replace Horn
(Published July 24, 2010 in North County Times. Congratulations Andrea!)
Gary Myers’ letter of July 15 reminded me that the most important new fact that came out of the Gregory Canyon hearing June 3 was presented by Supervisor Pam Slater-Price. She stole the evening with very exact info about all the existing dumps in San Diego County. She gave the dates they were expected to be retired before the citizens of the county got so good at recycling.
Recycling has pushed the retirement dates back as far as 2048. When it was my turn to speak, I offered the probability that the massive amount of new development in Southern Riverside County would use the Gregory Canyon dump if it was allowed to go ahead. …
So are we going to let one of Horn’s corporate/developer supporters destroy our San Luis Rey River ecosystem and the Indian’s sacred Gregory Mountain with Riverside County garbage? Vote for Steve Gronke!
Andrea Seavey, Escondido
(Published July 15, 2010 in North County Times. Congratulations Margaret!)
Observing the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico, I ask why? Why was British Petroleum allowed to drill a deep-water well without a fail-safe way to stop such a blowout? Why was there no acoustic shutoff device, as required in Norway and Brazil, that could have been remotely implemented? Why was there no requirement for a concurrent relief well, as required in the Canadian Arctic?
The answer lies in the deregulation so loudly advocated by Republicans and some Democrats. The same deregulation that created last year’s financial ruin has caused the worst man-made ecological disaster in history. The belief that a free market will govern itself has been soundly proven wrong — even its great defender, Alan Greenspan, has admitted the fallacy of an entirely self-regulating market. Corporations are, by definition, greedy, non-egalitarian entities. Strong, consistent, government regulation is needed to protect public interests from these amoral entities.
Again, I ask why? Why would anyone with a brain vote for politicians like Brian Bilbray, Duncan Hunter, Darrell Issa, Carly Fiorina or Meg Whitman, who all espouse less regulation of business? If we had more senators like Barbara Boxer, we probably wouldn’t now have thousands of barrels of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.
Margaret Liles, Escondido
(Published June 30, 2010. Congratulations Andrea!)
Attention, Escondido: At 4 p.m. June 30, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, the council will discuss the hotel project publicly for the first time in more than four years (“Opinion polls on downtown Marriott vary widely,” June 26).
Yes, the plan is to take the money left for “city improvements” and give away the conference center to a guy named Craig Clark to build a Marriott Hotel in the parking lot between City Hall and the conference center. I suspect Marriott has little to do with it, and it should be called a “Clark Hotel.”
On June 8 on CNN’s “Money” program, Ian Schrager and J.W. Marriott Jr. were interviewed as “masters of hotel management.” Their emphasis seemed to be that the hotel business is doing fine in Asia and they’re building new hotels there. Last time I checked, Escondido wasn’t part of Asia.
Even though Sam Abed has said he doesn’t need the citizens’ opinion on these issues, I think this may be our last chance to keep from going bankrupt as a city. Please do something: Phone, fax (760-839-4578) or e-mail ASAP — all the City Council members — and go to the meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday. You won’t regret it.
Andrea Seavey, Escondido
(Published June 22, 2010. Congratulations Jenifer!)
In the article, “Escondido ends driver’s license-only checkpoints,” June 19, Jeffrey Epp tweaks the one-sentence state law prohibiting officers to stop vehicles to determine whether they are licensed by adding nonexistent text to it, an exclusion to the law saying it doesn’t pertain to checkpoints.
This could be done to any existing, simple rule or law that is clearly self-explanatory.
I once worked for an employer who made it a habit to deny employees overtime pay, saying that overtime laws didn’t apply to employees answering phones, because employers couldn’t control what time clients called needing assistance. The employees accepted the company’s money-saving exclusion to a simple overtime law.
Instead of tweaking a simple law in order to save money, Epp tweaks a simple law in order to make money. If state law is recognized as written, the number of impounded vehicles would be largely decreased, threatening the continuation of tow contracts for the city that currently total $400K.
Jenifer Leiendecker, Escondido
(Published June 17, 2010 in North County Times. Congratulations M.A.!)
As a schoolteacher, parent, property owner and longtime resident of Escondido, I would like to thank Col. McNamara for his excellent Community Forum (“Escondido council passes but fails,” June 4). I hope that many … of us Escondidans read it and move on with the business we can truly affect: to elect City Council members who have the experience, the skills and the commitment to our city. …
We are … at a tipping point. There is a great deal of work to be done. … We sorely need genuine skill, vision and leadership. …
Let’s make sure we elect that leadership. I have no doubt that such a city council will bring about a civic atmosphere that celebrates our city and finds solutions based in active respect for each other, and in a willingness to insist on policies, practices, and development that protects and improves our city, rather than dividing, distracting and destroying it.
Find out who has the skills, courage, work ethic and vision to take on our problems. Then let’s vote them in, folks! (Yup, we’ve got some homework to do!)
And thanks again, Paul McNamara. The spirit and fact of your commentary is very helpful to our city.
Michele Ann Mareck, Escondido
Asking leaders to oppose AZ law is appropriate
(Published June 5, 2010 in North County Times. Congratulations Rick!)
I’d like to respond to Kathleen Scott’s letter (May 26) criticizing Olga Diaz for urging her Escondido City Council colleagues to declare their opposition to the Arizona “show your papers” law, SB 1070.
Diaz made clear that she had read the law, and maybe Ms. Scott ought to also. The problem with it is that it advances an approach to immigration control that unfairly brands as suspects large segments of our community. In the interest of mutual civility and respect, I believe Escondido’s leaders should seek better ways to enforce existing laws without stigmatizing 45 percent of the city’s population and making them feel unwelcome.
Therefore, asking city leaders to demonstrate that they do not favor an approach based on racial profiling is entirely appropriate, even if the law is not in effect at this time in this city. Such an action would demonstrate an awareness of the impact laws like SB 1070 can have on a very large part of Escondido residents, as well as on overall community spirit.
It is a shame the council chose to run from that opportunity and instead closed off discussion.
Rick Moore, Escondido
Diaz is courageous politician
(Published in the North County Times, May 28, 2010. Congratulations Betty!)
There is a segment of the Escondido population that is not as conservative as the reputation for Escondido, but they have not been represented at the City Council. That segment of the population banded together to elect someone who would represent them. That person is Olga Diaz.
Amazingly, Olga Diaz represents them exceedingly well. We who live in neighboring communities have watched her activities to improve the city of Escondido and are impressed with a politician who actually does well what she was elected to do. She has not been able to do so without a great deal of anger and opposition from the more conservative members of the population but she has not backed down. I think Olga Diaz is one of the most courageous politicians I have ever known. Congratulations, Escondido. You elected a winner.
Betty Ball, Lake San Marcos
We need Garver
(Published April 18, 2010 in North County Times)
If you are bashing “Obamacare,” you have never been on the business end, either as a provider or patient, of the present insurance-company-controlled health care.
The summer before I went to college at the tender age of 18, I learned the frightening truth about insurance companies. I worked in the claims department of a huge, still-very-profitable company. Hundreds of lawyers worked for them, making sure they would get out of paying many significant claims through loopholes, etc.
The last 20 years of my work life as a home health registered nurse, I observed what the insurance companies did as Medicare providers with the advent of HMOs (health maintenance organizations). Before HMOs, we were reimbursed to do what was necessary to keep the patient well and out of the hospital with a minimum of paperwork. With HMOs, adjusters ordered minimal care, requiring much paperwork and staff to request the adequate care that was usually denied or minimalized.
This weekend, I met retired Dr. Paul Garver, running for the 75th District House Representative. He’s the doctor we need to help make the transition to health care that is reliable ASAP! He also realizes the House recess is a time to get home and work with your constituents, rather than go to Mexico and “work” on your boat, as is Rep. Brian Bilbray, I hear.
Andrea Seavey, Escondido
Change is not optional
(Published in North County Times, January 26, 2010)
We must reform health care now. If we don’t, premiums will continue to increase and many people will not receive the care they paid for when they need it. While we wait for reform, more Americans will be bankrupted by our broken system and we will continue to enrich insurance company CEOs and shareholders. More families will lose access to health care because their COBRA benefits simply expire. More Americans will die.
Reform was too slow for my sister, who had a pre-existing condition. She moved to Sweden and now has access to health care. Reform was too late for my husband’s client, who stopped taking her high blood pressure medication after her hours at work were cut. She died of a brain aneurysm last May.
We must question the values of a country that puts profits ahead of people. We can no longer tolerate this unfair system that denies health care to people who need it the most. Both the Senate and House bills begin to reform the system and would finally set the rules of fair play for insurance companies.
Change is not optional. The very health of our nation depends upon it.
Noel Steiner, Escondido
Letter to the San Diego County Supervisors
from Margaret McCown Liles, EDC President
December 2, 2009
I’m a native Californian. My mother’s grandparents came to Pasadena sometime in the 1880s or 1890s. My father’s father and my uncle pioneered in the Imperial Valley at the beginning of the 1900s. I’ve lived in Hidden Meadows since 1980. So, I’ve heard of, and witnessed firsthand, the changes that unchecked development can bring. I’ve noticed three things. One, my taxes have increased. Two, the things that my taxes are supposed to pay for–schools, roads, parks and recreation, etc.–have declined in quality. Three, the quality of my environment has steadily gone down the tubes. The Stonegate Merriam Mountains project will add to this degradation.
Posted September 20, 2009
by Judy Slane
Re: New Nuclear Power Plant Risks Put on U.S. Citizens
Dear Department of Energy,
It is unbelievable and the height of irresponsibility for the Department of Energy to propose that all risk now be placed on U.S. citizens regarding the $18.5 billion in loans made available for nuclear reactors and the $2 billion in loans for new uranium enrichment plants authorized in 2005. Because the changes in this proposal do away with the DOE’s “first lien” rights, our country would be the last in line to be repaid for any defaults or nuclear accidents.
Posted July 23, 2009
Re: $50 Billion In Nuclear Reactor Loan Guarantees For Senate Energy Bill
Dear Senator,
We are extremely frightened to learn that the Senate is presently setting up the “Clean Energy Development Administration (CEDA)” which will have the power to allow nuclear reactors to be built with unlimited U.S. citizen taxpayer loan guarantees. In addition, some Senators are calling for $50 billion ($50,000,000,000) in more taxpayer loan guarantees to build these nuclear reactors. Surely our Senators must have knowledge of the horrifying problems of nuclear energy.
Have we already forgotten about the Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine where a radioactive plume descended on most of Europe and the former western Soviet Union? At least 600,000 people were exposed to extreme amounts of radiation with the accompanying expected cancer deaths and birth defects for the exposed thousands.
What about the impossibility of safely storing nuclear waste? Nuclear waste lasts for thousands of years which is why, after spending millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars, waste disposal plans were cancelled for Yucca Mountain, Nevada. And yet, we are now accepting 20,000 tons of radioactive, nuclear waste from Italy. This will be sent to EnergySolutions Inc. to be processed in Tennessee and then shipped to and disposed of somewhere in Utah. Like the ship breaking yards in Bangladesh, and the toxic computer disassembling dumps in China, we are now becoming the nuclear waste dumping grounds for other countries.
It is appalling enough that in the past year, our Government allowed the Federal Reserve to give out over $6 trillion ($6,000,000,000,000) in programs and bailouts to the financial sector, without our knowledge, much less our vote.
In addition, not accounting for any nuclear accidents and the added radioactive waste we still do not know how to dispose of safely, 100 new reactors would cost up to $4.1 trillion ($4,000,000,000,000+) more than using either renewable energy or simply putting energy efficiency programs in place. This does not even account for the fact that heat emissions from nuclear energy are another huge greenhouse gas emitter.
Please think of all future generations and their children, and do not allow the upcoming climate bill to include any money funded by us, your constituents, for anything associated with nuclear energy.
Respectfully,
Stephen and Judy Slane
Mayor Pfeiler’s Temper Tantrum
Posted July 6, 2009
Over the years I have noticed that Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler tends to make up the rules as she goes along. It wasn’t surprising that she would have changed the order of last Wednesday’s discussion of Escondido’s Budget to have public comment first. No doubt she realized that the public might be a bit critical of her offensive attack on the three Council Members who didn’t happen to agree with her (and Councilman Daniels’?) proposed budget.
Pfeiler really went beyond the pale when she accused Abed, Diaz, and Waldron of conspiring with the Police Officers Association (POA) after reading an e-mail from the president of the POA. Anyone who has paid any attention to the personalities of this Council would find it ludicrous to think of these three conspiring about anything. It was not that long ago that the POA was actively campaigning against Diaz with a very ugly flyer. No doubt, meeting with the President of the POA during budget negotiations is a bit questionable, but, is that any worse than Mayor Pfeiler’s meeting with her long time colleague, C.W. Clark on many occasions? Mayor Pfeiler’s determination to save the Hotel Project of her friend Clark, is well documented. It is yet to be demonstrated that Abed, Diaz or Waldron have voted according to the dictates of the POA.
All three of these (non-Budget Committee) members of the City Council have made recommendations to the Budget Committee about cutting costs and saving city jobs. Mayor Pfeiler has claimed that these were not “real” budget cuts, without any real explanation about why they weren’t real. A careful examination of Olga Diaz’s resume and Lori Pfeiler’s resume would make it clear that Olga Diaz has as strong if not stronger background in finance. Pfeiler has on occasion treated Diaz as an employee, scolding her in public for daring to make a motion that evidently wasn’t approved by Pfeiler ahead of time. As Olga Diaz pointed out, very eloquently, on Wednesday, to the Mayor, all of the Council have an equal vote.
The question that begs to be asked by this incident (and indeed was asked by Diaz Wednesday night) was how did Mayor Pfeiler gain possession of an e-mail from the POA’s President to POA members? Her revelation of this e-mail will certainly not smooth the negotiations between the City and the POA. Do the employees of the City of Escondido have no right to private correspondence? Is Mayor Pfeiler trying to incite division between the other city workers and the POA? Even if that wasn’t her objective, that will be one result. Is the Mayor hoping that her desperate accusations will intimidate one of her accused into voting for her budget?
Whatever Pfeiler’s motivation, the result of her exposē will be an acrimonious City Council, a justifiably paranoid city staff, and a discontented populace.
Sincerely,
Margaret McCown Liles
EDC Members Object to Disposal of Foreign Nuclear Waste in U.S.
Posted June 17, 2009
Dear Senator, (sent to California Senators and to members of the Senate Energy Committee)
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart ruled recently that EnergySolutions Inc. has been given the privilege of dumping radioactive, toxic nuclear waste from the country of Italy at this company’s facility in Utah. After this mammoth amount of 20,000 tons of waste has been shipped through the ports of Charleston and New Orleans, it will then be processed in Tennessee. The remaining 1,600 tons will be shipped to and disposed of in Utah.
What are we doing taking in nuclear waste which lasts for thousands of years into our county from other countries, when we cannot even find a place to dispose of our own waste; i.e., the recent cancellation of nuclear waste disposal plans at Yucca Mountain, Nevada?
For EnergySolutions Inc. to claim that our representatives the Congress have no right to keep the U.S. from becoming the dumping ground for the world’s nuclear waste is extremely frightening to put it mildly. Are we to become no different than the toxic and polluted ship-breaking yards on the shores of Bangladesh? Only in this case, the outcome is infinitely worse, when the well-known dangers of nuclear radioactive waste are considered.
If not for us, please consider the impact of this decision on our future generations. Please do everything in your power to stop this horrible situation from becoming a nightmarish reality.
Respectfully, Stephen and Judy Slane
Voices supporting library will be loud
Published in the North County Times, May 31, 2009
I was born and raised here. A passion for Escondido courses through my veins. I remember not just two libraries at the Kalmia and Third site, but three, including the old Carnegie Library.
This is a place of much change, congestion and contention. The library has been a permanent and peaceful, even stabilizing force. Its continued presence at the Kalmia location is reassuring, and it is even close to a school.
The public library is a central and vital institution in the quest for equal opportunity and education. Librarians do their work quietly and efficiently, but they cannot continue to provide excellent service without adequate funding.
Voices supporting the library at City Council meetings have not been heard loudly, but they are growing and will be heard.
Katherine Fromm, Escondido
North County uniting for change
Published in the North County Times May 12, 2009
After the election, I was somber. I knew the hard work had just begun. So I hosted a “Change is Coming Party” and met others dedicated to Barack Obama’s vision of change. We hosted a health care community discussion to get residents talking about health care reform. We coordinated a food drive at Major Market in Escondido. The nearly 500 pounds of food collected in one day for the North County Food Bank served as a testament to the community’s dedication to service.
At our economic recovery meeting, we discussed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Now, $23 million could go to Escondido alone for infrastructure projects, police officers, public safety programs and energy efficiency initiatives such as installing solar panels on government buildings (“City could get more than $23 million from stimulus package,” April 23).
We celebrate the president’s budget, because we know investing in health care, education and energy is crucial. But it will take more than just an election to create lasting change. A government “for the people” does not work without our involvement. That we have learned.
President Obama needs every one of us more than ever to make change a reality. Find out how you can get involved atwww.barackobama.com.
Noel Steiner, Escondido
EDC member’s Op-Ed Appears in Union-Tribune
Posted April 19, 2009
EDC member Judy Slane has a commentary on social security published in the Sunday, April 19 “Dialog” section of The San Diego Union Tribune. Her essay is titled “Let’s not compromise Social Security.” Read it here.