— Jim Brewster, La Habra

The tales of two parties

Ted Rall’s article of Feb. 4 “Both parties are lying to you” is no surprise and they have been lying to us for decades, as has the media. But Rall’s implication that the national debt is no big deal because the government can just print more money when they run out is deceptive at best.

This situation is not sustainable, and now, even Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have publicly stated that it isn’t sustainable. Sure, the government can print more money but that will have dire consequences for the economy, eventually causing a collapse.

The inflation we are experiencing now will turn into hyper-inflation just as happened in many Third World countries such as Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

There are numerous other provable misstatements (or are they lies too) in Rall’s article but space doesn’t permit me to reply to them here.

— Wayne Stickle, Long Beach

Potholes

Re “California’s bumpy roads could soon get even worse” (Feb. 6):

Since we still have rivers of cars flowing down our roadways every day, and since we already have some of the worst roads in the country, and since we have one of the highest gas taxes in the country, why don’t we take care of the problem at hand.

Perhaps with careful planning and careful building, there might be enough money carefully funded to care for our roads with our high gas tax money. And perhaps we won’t need five workers to fill one pothole with a “boss” looking on.

— Janice Smalley, Castaic

Remember when President George H.W. Bush was roundly criticized for being out of touch when he seemed amazed by supermarket scanners, which had been in stores for years? Gov. Newsom just had one of those moments. He was shocked that someone at the Target where he was shopping walked out without paying.

This kind of theft has been rampant in California for years, and he just noticed? I’ve witnessed it several times, as have friends and family, even in “safe” cities in Orange County. The problem is much more severe in cities like San Francisco and L.A., which is a big reason why so many stores are closing. It reminds me of when Newsom saw the area around L.A. Union Station and declared it to be “Third World.” No kidding. Perhaps Gavin needs to get out more, and I don’t mean to the French Laundry.

— Jeff Thomas, Irvine

Ayn Rand

I was pleased to read the column Feb. 2 by Agustina Vergara CID extolling the virtues of Ayn Rand and her philosophy of objectivism.

However, it is ironic that the writer of this piece has come to this country to escape the socialism of South America, when we seem to be transitioning toward the very society that Rand decries. Folks like Rand who write of the individual rather than the collective are in short supply.

Rand is not even mentioned and neglected in many educational settings. Her novels can be wordy and lengthy, but the message if you read them is clear: We must be vigilant and preserve the freedom and liberty that makes this country unique, or we will surely lose this great land of opportunity.

— Robert Waner, Hemet

Bonta sues Albertsons-Kroger over a merger

Re “Fight crime, not a grocery merger” (Feb. 4):

Why would anyone sue a grocery merger, such as Albertsons-Kroger, if it would be beneficial to customers?

Well, Rob Bonta considers his action a necessary move, rather than dealing with so many more important issues such as crime and homelessness. Mr. Bonta likes to be seen and heard, no matter what, to further his political agenda. By the way he plans on running for governor of California. May God help us.

— Christine Peterson, Woodland Hills

I’m quite sure Biden’s commander in chief, Obama or whoever it is, doesn’t want a military conflict within Iran. Iran doesn’t want it either. Iran knowing the weakness of the U.S. under the Biden regime is just testing the waters. Iran denies responsibility for the drone attack; however, it funds the group responsible for it. It’s my thinking this will not cause a full-scale war in the Middle East, but when you’re dealing with terrorist countries, one never knows for sure. I’m hoping the next 2024 vote for POTUS will give us someone other than Biden. We need strong leadership to avoid such radical attacks by these groups. Voting should not be a popularity contest, or about who has the nicest hair, but it should be about the best decision for America. Diplomacy and the right military response should weaken Iran’s intentions in the future. Let’s hope this can happen.

— Palma Espinosa, Highland

We must retaliate

The United States must retaliate against the people responsible for the attack against our soldiers, and our president needs to step up to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

— Richard Metzger, Porter Ranch

Mideast war

Using proxies, Iran pokes at American military bases without directly engaging. As a matter of fact, they are engaged, as they wouldn’t be able to carry out their nefarious activities without Iran’s financial support. In order to serve American interests better, the Biden administration should engage in tough negotiations with the Iranian supreme leader. The threats made by the Biden administration regarding the actions taken against our military appear weak. Iran wants constant confusion in the Middle East to distract the U.S. and its allies. It is their goal to expel Israel from the land.

— Stephen Lucas, Van Nuys

Retaliating against Iran

I think Iran doesn’t understand that the U.S. can literally send Iran back in time. We can attack their hydro-electric plants and any other power plants they have. Doing so would send them back to the 19th century.

— Kirk Felmar, San Pedro

Hark back to the days of the Barbary Pirates. When they would capture merchant shipping, crews, cargoes, kidnap Christians and other non-believers to be held for ransom or as slaves. Fast forward to today’s version of kidnapping, holding shipping, threatening perceived weaker neighbors, deep pockets, i.e. Iran’s nuclear deal, and continue to repeat. Once upon a time, Thomas Jefferson’s emissary threatened these actions and was ignored. Subsequently, the U.S. Marines went into Tripoli, captured and held the resident caliph. End of story. The current caliph has ignored the recent warning. Perhaps if Iran’s naval assets ceased to float they might get the message and drone attacks would cease.

— John R. Waters, Lake Forest

We need the peace-through-strength platform

Two recent presidents hung their foreign policy hats on a “peace-through-strength” platform. One was Reagan who pretty much crushed the Soviet empire without invading or firing hardly a thing. The other was Trump whose policies and even rhetoric brought peace not only on our soil, but throughout the world.  The sanctions imposed on places like Iran kept their malevolent intentions in check. Biden, on the other hand, has literally invited trouble with his feckless policies. Our southern border is wide open and it is just a matter of time before terrorists make their move here. Iran’s evil intentions are growing ever more evident as they are attacking Israel and the United States through military attacks often delivered through terrorist proxies. Biden opened the southern Border, removed sanctions and even gave billions of dollars to Iran. The hapless White House occupant has the temerity to blame these multifold crises on Trump and the Republicans. This latest drone attack only underscores Biden’s abject incompetence in crucial arena of foreign policy.

— Robert Snyder, Laguna Hills

Hopefully not

Retaliation seems necessary since an Iran-backed militia is responsible for the drone attack, so whatever the outcome, I support our commander-in-chief’s pensive decision making.

— Isadora Johnson, Seal Beach

The New York Times is even worse than the Associated Press as a PR arm of the Democrats. Unbiased reporting has been abandoned by them both. In your front-page article on the pending Mayorkas impeachment, the N.Y. Times made its shamelessly aggressive agenda clear. My journalism professors would have blue-penciled this hack piece, sending it back to the writer with a stern warning. The writer says the Republicans “raced forward with a partisan indictment” of Biden’s border policies. Yes, the opposition does oppose. Shocked? They called it an “extraordinary escalation of a political feud,” language that makes the substantive criticism seem only personal, which is their opinion only. The writer further says “The GOP was plowing forward without producing evidence,” when they know that evidence is presented at the impeachment trial. The N.Y. Times has responsibility for its content, but the SCNG has responsibility as well.

— Thomas Tobin, Rancho Cucamonga

Sham impeachments

Thank you Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, for showing your true colors with your opinion piece Jan. 31. Thank God you don’t represent me in Congress. I doubt you represent the views of the majority of your constituents. Progressive leftists like you believe that the only solution to the invasion of our country from the southern border is to continue with an open border and grant these invaders immediate “parole” or amnesty. You, like many of your party’s leftists, hate Donald Trump so much that you will twist his words to fit your narrative. I agree, we are a nation of immigrants that followed the law in order to gain access to the U.S. I am sick and tired of the rhetoric that we “need” these under-educated, mostly unskilled and unvetted people working in our society. Do your research, President Trump told Congress to give him a clean DACA bill and that he would sign it. Instead, he got a proposal filled with garbage, which he rejected. Please enumerate the details of the proposed Biden immigration solutions that deal with DACA and the southern invasion.

— Roy Reaser, Fullerton

National debt debate

Veronique de Rugy’s Jan. 2 assessment, while accurate, leaves out the answer to the question so many others have also ignored: So what? Most Americans aren’t interested in more academic theories about why it is or isn’t a problem, and assume the government will handle its most basic responsibility, responsibly. So did the people of Argentina, Venezuela, and Greece. Yet with so many examples of the consequences of fiscal profligacy, we still see assessments decrying the process but not describing the outcome. Well, here it is. If you have to borrow money against your home to make the mortgage payments, you will eventually lose it, either through foreclosure or a “distressed” sale. After that, you can rent and pay off someone else’s mortgage.

— M. J. Knudsen, Trabuco Canyon

War and our U.S. military

Re “Pull American troops from the Middle East” (Jan. 30): I agree. The costly and aimless military adventures (since the end of WWII) have done nothing for the American people besides enriching the military industrial complex. When President Eisenhower warned America of the danger of a “too-large” influence of the complex in 1961, the cost of weapons then was much less than the very expensive, technologically sophisticated weapons of war nowadays. And, of course, money is the ingredient that allows any individual or group in a society to gain “too-large” an influence. Yes, indeed! All members of Congress must vote on any military escalation for the record. We failed to heed the warning in 1961, but It is never too late to make our voices heard.

— David M. Bouchier, Long Beach

Garvey on Trump

I can’t be the only one to find it odd that three Democratic contenders for the U.S. Senate and the moderator want to know who Steve Garvey will vote for (Jan. 29) in the presidential election. Neither party has officially named their candidate as yet.

— Paul Hill, Torrance

I fully agree with this article. President Biden has done more for the climate than any other president. Unlike his opposition, he knows that climate change is real, that it is being caused by the use of fossil fuels and that government action worldwide is necessary to slow and eventually reverse its effects. This legislation during his first two years in office has been truly astounding. The Inflation Reduction Act is the single largest bill ever signed into law to fight climate change. The leadership he has demonstrated to the rest of the world has been essential in getting other world leaders on board. It is critical that not only President Biden be re-elected, but also that both houses of Congress be in the Democrats’ hands. The climate crisis requires bold action now.

— Larry Kramer, San Juan Capistrano

15-215 freeway bottleneck

In David Downey’s Jan. 29 article about the freeway construction in Temecula, he failed to mention several important issues that will continue to affect the bottleneck issue even after construction is complete. The first issue is the fact that people continue to live far from where they work and that they are the problem and not the freeway design. The second is that the politicians keep approving more house construction that brings more commuters as well as taxing our water supply and power grid. They do this in the name of a housing shortage that they say is the cause of homelessness. Instead of addressing the real cause that causes the majority of homelessness, which is mental health and drug addiction. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the freeway, commuters will still be wasting hours a day sitting in their cars.

— Larry Dubois, Norco

U.S.-Mexico border bill

What’s with the House and Senate (Jan. 28) back and forth about a border bill? They don’t need to do anything. Biden got rid of Trump’s stay-in-Mexico border policy, which was working, by executive order. How about Biden just reinstate Trump’s border policy, by executive order. Boom, done, problem solved. And if he reinstated all of Trump’s other policies, which he got rid of, tweak them a little, claim them as new and his own, the media would be more than happy to call him a genius and carry his water right through to a second term.

— Roger Olsen, Burbank

Joe Biden and his administration could lead the United States into a war in the Middle East that could affect our mainland with all the nuclear weapons available to our enemies. We are not  the policeman of the world, we do not have to participate in every war of our allies. We have a multitude of problems here domestically; open borders that are reaching invasion status, trillions of dollars in debt, green energy policies that border on the absurd, the economy that is crippling our citizens, homelessness, corruption of our elected leaders to name a few.

Shouldn’t they concentrate on the problems above before participating in other countries’ wars?

— Kenneth M. Bezich, Rolling Hills

Navarro sentenced

Re “Ex-Trump aide Navarro sentenced to 4 months” (Jan. 26):

Had former Laguna resident Peter Navarro paid more attention to the rule of law instead of Donald Trump, I doubt he would be facing prison time plus a $9,500 fine for refusing to testify before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Despite providing no proof whatsoever, Navarro claimed he was protected by executive privilege, so he ignored the committee’s congressional subpoena. Looking back, I wonder if the former UC Irvine professor and White House trade advisor believes he made the right decision. Clearly, had he appeared before the committee, Navarro most likely would be walking Laguna’s beaches today instead of potentially heading off to prison. I say “potentially” because he has appealed his sentence.

— Denny Freidenrich, Laguna Beach

California gun rights

Allow me to add to Dr. Wheeler’s excellent article Sunday, Jan. 28 on the subject. Here are some facts from the Crime Prevention Research Center: 1. 8.4% of American adults (about 22 million) have Concealed Carry Weapon (CCW) permits; 2. 27 states currently have constitutional carry laws, allowing CCW without permits; 3. 94% of mass shootings occur in “gun free” zones; 4. FBI’s Active Shooting Reports show that 35.7% are stopped by defensive gun use, excluding “gun free zones” the total is 63.5%. The historical quote to remember: “To conquer a nation, first disarm its citizens.”  — Adolph Hitler.

— Tom Gibbs, Upland

In order to be re-elected, former President Trump needs a bold, outside of the box VP choice.  No GOP retreads. Not DeSantis, Scott, Ramaswamy, Elder, Greene, Lake, Noem, Vance, Sefanik or even Haley. The former president would be best served by selecting a running mate who would broaden his appeal to those who find him grotesque and repulsive. Suburban women, voters of color, independents and college-educated voters in swing states will determine the election’s outcome. Former President Trump, if re-elected, has promised to unify the country. To unify this deeply divided country, he only has one choice: Michelle Obama. If we don’t dream, we only have nightmares.

— Robert Aragon, Duarte

My top two picks for Trump’s VP are Tim Scott and Kristi Noem

A presidential candidate picks a VP based on two things: can he or she bring money (i.e. donors) to the ticket and/or bring in a demographic the candidate otherwise might not have. Trump needs demographics more than money. Looking at the field this way, it seems that Tim Scott would be a logical choice, since if Trump could peel off a significant number of Black voters that would almost guarantee him a win. Kristi Noem of South Dakota might help him with the womens’ vote. She hasn’t shown an interest in the job (at least not publicly), but she would definitely help with the women’s vote. As a bonus, she comes off looking good on television, as those public service commercials she makes for South Dakota attest.

— Kemp Richardson, Santa Clarita

His veep won’t be a popular woman

I know who Trump won’t pick for a running mate — a popular woman. She would take too much attention away from him, a man who has been in the news recently. He wouldn’t care for one who would get too much attention. Another “stay in the background, do as you’re told” non-competitive like Puppet Pence will do just fine. P.S. I give Pence credit for the one time he was disobedient: Jan. 6.  What a mess ego and big money has made of our country.

— Priscilla Koehler, Rancho Palos Verdes

The QOTW presented numerous VP possibilities but didn’t mention the person I believe is the most likely choice. Most of my conservative friends are enthusiastically supporting former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson. Carlson holds similar political positions as President Trump. For example, he is anti-war, feeling our policies in the Ukrainian-Russian war is not in our interest.  He strongly believes President Biden’s open border policy is destroying our country. Besides agreeing with Trump on most of the important issues, he appears to be very honest, a trait missing in many political leaders. Here is a man who is well-spoken and has the courage to stand up for his beliefs. He would make an excellent VP.

— Bill Cool, Corona del Mar

No doubt about it, Mike Pompeo for VP

I am voting for President Trump based on his four years in office where I believe he did a great job for America. The thing I admire about Trump is that he chooses the best people, the experts in their field, to be part of his cabinet. That is the secret to his success. He does not rely on diversity to gain votes.

For his VP, I would like to see Mike Pompeo. Pompeo already knows all the strengths and weaknesses of foreign political leaders and how to deal with them. He has remained loyal to Trump and has spent his life serving our country. He graduated first in his class at West Point, served as a cavalry officer guarding near the Iron Curtain before the fall of Berlin, served four terms in Congress. Owned and operated a business. Previous director of CIA, and secretary of state under Trump. He excelled in all posts. If not VP, he should be secretary of state once again.

— Julie Kemp, Mission Viejo

One can never predict what Trump will do

However, at the present time I believe there are two people that stand out as possible VP picks; Elise Stefanik and Kristi Noem, both of whom are Trump sycophants. Trump likes pretty ladies, so former beauty queen Noem gets points for that. However, I believe he would opt for Stefanik as she is more in the Trump mold; she is mendacious, having a total disregard for the truth, and she is combative.

— Tim Severin, La Palma

First consideration: Who is qualified to slip into the office of president? Stefanik? Lake? Greene? Yikes. Second: No one like that will be considered because they would hog the spotlight from Trump. Never happen. It will not be a woman, no matter what he says, because he is anti-women (proven by abuse.) It will be someone no one knows, chosen from a place unfamiliar; a person who will never utter a word against any action taken by Trump — “over the line” or criminal. The prayer is that it will be a moot point as Trump fails in votes — popular and electoral.

— Lynn Petroff, Temecula

I believe his veep will surely be Kristi Noem

I hope Trump does not get the Republican nomination but if he does he has several options. Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, is a possible choice. She is from a small state but she might attract the female vote, an area Trump struggles with.

Tim Scott, a senator from South Carolina, is solid and he would help with the Black vote.  Congresswoman Elise Stefanik from New York would also help with the female vote but she is from New York and New York is a solid blue state.

Nikki Haley would be an excellent candidate but there is bad blood between the two of them. I do not think the ego of DeSantis would allow him to be Trump’s lapdog.

Taylor Greene and Kari Lake are seen as too crazy and would alienate the electorate. Vivek Ramaswamy is very young and inexperienced. I believe Kristi Noem will be the choice.

— Robert Peterson, Murrieta

Candice Owen for VP

I feel that a good VP for Trump would be Candice Owen. It seems she shares the same values as Trump and she tells it like it is. She even stated once that she would like to be his next VP.

— Diana Schwab, Norco

Trump’s choice will be some suck-up Republican

Trump will choose whoever proves to be the loudest, most enthusiastic suck-up Republican. In Mike Pence, the country had a decent, honorable man as vice president who stood up for the Constitution when it mattered most. This time around, we will not be so fortunate.

— Glenn Olsen, Riverside