PUBLIC FORUM : POVERTY LEVEL.

Finally someone had the guts to publish the truth about what the real poverty level is. It's easy to see just how out of touch the federal and state governments are with America and why they think they can just keep raising taxes to keep up with the government's wasteful spending.

Sixteen thousand dollars for a family of four? On which planet? Any family that cannot afford health insurance is poverty level in my book. This is not a luxury and should be totally tax deductible along with any basic necessary living expense. It makes no sense to tax people into poverty and then raise taxes to pay for government programs to help the poor. Wake up America. This over-bloated wasteful government is taxing the very backbone of middle-income America into the ranks of poverty. Cut taxes so that these middle-income hard-working American can create businesses that will create more jobs. It only makes sense that if middle-income workers had more money, that alone would stimulate the economy. We would be able to take care of our own aging parents and pay for their medications.

Cost of living should be redefined as cost of government. Has your salary increased as much as your congressman's? It isn't my rent that I can't afford or my groceries; it's the $3.4 billion for illegal immigration, the $2 trillion in foreign aid, $250,000 a year in widow pensions, and so on and so on. There are political parties that legitimately want smaller government and to cut wasteful spending but can't get on the ballot. Before you vote for a party with a mascot of an over-stuffed elephant or a jackass, look for one that has a human being. It's time for change in this country, and voting for the lesser of two evils will never create change; it will only continue the process.

- Laurien DuTremble

North Hills

Living within means

How in the world did this study come up with $44,700 as barely making it? I would love to see the breakdown of where this money went. While I do believe the current level of $16,700 should be raised somewhat, $44,700 is by no means poverty. My husband and I have two children under 3 years old and make just about that exact amount.

We feel we live a comfortable lifestyle and are able to put away for the future. What we don't spend money on are materialistic things such as manicured nails, jewelry, brand-name clothes and expensive home furnishings. We also don't have any credit cards. If we can't afford to buy it outright now, we don't buy it. What is considered ``poverty'' these days? Not owning Nintendo? Not having cable TV? Although I do believe the cost of living is becoming outrageous, I also believe that it's the priorities in this ``gotta'' have it now'' society that are completely out of whack.

- Susan Farajian

North Hills

Fat at the top

So few have so much while so many have so little. Why worry about those who barely exist when all the money goes to the top 1 percent? The minimum wage is a pathetic joke and a political sham. When you read what the city, state and federal governments give their own, you can see clearly where the money goes. Keeping the money at the top seems to be the name of the game.

How can a family of four survive on $16,700 when a family of four can barely get by on a total income of $50,000. I observed this reality close-up for several years. I know a family of five making $50-60,000 yearly who have no insurance because they cannot afford coverage. The wife's job does not cover her, and her husband's employer's insurance is too expensive for the family. Children and parents go without regular medical exams and attention to important health matters (asthma, ulcers, high blood pressure, mammograms). It is sad and heart-wrenching.

Look around you. There is such blatant excessiveness while the majority of children born in this region are below the poverty level. Why is this? For starters, look at the messy conditions of the city and state governments. Every day, the papers smack us in the face with a Zacarias/Sheriff Block buy-out/pension extravaganza, another outrageous disability/retirement settlement handed out daily to city/state employees, the MTA saga (trips abroad to shop for marble), the Belmont fiasco, incredible retirement packages at ages 50-55 for DWP and other workers - paid for by taxpayers who wait until 65-67 and then pray they can afford retirement on whatever pension benefits they are lucky enough to have (forget Social Security).

There is no justice in this country. Humanity has seeped to a new low, and it is creeping lower by the microsecond. Welcome to the new millennium.

- Dawn Berry

Canoga Park

Statistical half-truths

The article ``County among 3 worst for kids,'' (Nov. 9), claiming that 40 percent of kids in L.A. live in poverty is a classic example of a special interest group wielding statistical half-truths to create a phantom crisis. The simple income vs. rent formula used to determine poverty level overlooks a vital factor: The various public and private aid available is not counted.

Thus a family that supplements a modest under-the-table income with Aid to Families with Dependent Children welfare, food stamps, housing subsidies, free school meals, etc., may live in comfort if not splendor, but is counted as poverty-stricken. There are certainly some desperate, hungry children in L.A., but they are far fewer than the story implies thanks to the public and private generosity of this city.

- David R. Gee

Van Nuys

Quit whining

Re ``Jim Brown files motion against judge'' (Daily News, Oct. 22):

My question to Jim Brown is, When are you going to start doing your time in jail since you broke the law and you think you are too good to do your 400 hours of community service and enroll in a Domestic Violence Counseling program. Now Brown starts with, He is the only person treated unfairly here in Los Angeles. Grow up Brown. Many years ago, I was charged with a crime, but I didn't have the money you do, to get lawyers like you have, so I couldn't prove I didn't do it. They gave me six months. And Brown is crying over community service. Brown, you need help, because it seems to me that you will always blame other people but yourself for your actions.

- Paul D. Carney

Los Angeles

The jury spoke

Re ``Late in the game'' (Public Forum, Oct. 26):

The writer should get her head out of the sand and wake up to what is really going on here. First, look in the California Family Code, Section 6211, and learn what domestic violence is.

Jim Brown was found guilty of misdemeanor vandalism, which is not a domestic violence issue. He was also found not guilty of terrorist threats, which may well apply to domestic violence.

The judge sentenced Brown to ``domestic violence counseling'' and to pay restitution to a ``battered women's shelter.'' Those are both options under domestic violence cases. Remember: the jury said ``not guilty.''

What the judge did here is to disregard the verdict of the 12 people and impose a domestic violence sentence anyway.

The jury spoke . . . Why don't you go ask them what they think about the judge's conduct. And remember, by what the judge sentenced Brown to, he will be listed on the Department of Justice computers, within the state of California, as being convicted of domestic violence. The jury said ``not guilty.'' Read their lips.

- John Arason

Mission Hills

Look at the air

Re ``L.A.'s air cleanest in recorded history,'' (Daily News, Oct 13):

Please explain what L.A.-area cities this article is referring to. It's not the San Fernando Valley, not Simi Valley, not the deserts . . . must be Ventura or Big Bear. Those places aren't in L.A.

Weather reporters (TV and print) have blinders on (or are blind). When they go outside, it's in an air-conditioned car with dark-tinted windows. No wonder they're unable to give realistic smog/weather reports.

The air is very bad and smells bad. Most days you can barely see the mountains across the San Fernando Valley. Wake up AQMD . . . come down from your Ivory Tower and smell/see the smog. Call for real improvements now!

- Susan Smith 

Lake View Terrace

Deadbeat dads

Re ``Is U.S. child-support enforcement overkill?'' (Opinions, Oct. 19):

Child support enforcement overkill? What a joke. Ask me.

I am a single parent who struggles to raise three children, only because the district attorneys, who so often pat themselves on the back, failed to enforce my child support.

Kathleen Parker needs to try on other people's shoes. She needs to research and find out that the District Attorney's Office is going after deadbeat dads only because they are interested in collecting money due the welfare department, not for the children, as it seems.

But deadbeat dads are easy targets for the District Attorney's Office to collect and repay welfare payments they have given single parents, never mind if children have needs. You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. How can the government teach parents to care for their children?

Parker needs to stand up against the abuse of children, which is caused by the district attorney's inability to collect child support and exert financial pressure on single parents. While the dear dads are out there dating and partying, people like Parker are standing up for them.

- Pam Ponce

North Hills

Insurance referendum

Insurance companies, with more than $3.5 trillion in assets, have consistently demonstrated they are not remotely concerned with protecting the interests of anyone but themselves. When Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation in early October giving consumers the right to sue insurance companies that wrongfully deny legitimate claims in bad faith, insurance groups promptly filed a referendum to block the law.

Insurers have enjoyed an open season against consumers for years and have used it to their full advantage. Consumers desperately need this legislation, which will finally provide the necessary leverage to fight egregious and all-too-routine insurance industry abuses. Flagrant insurer misconduct goes unchecked every day and will continue to do so until consumers are given effective legal remedies. Be careful. If you sign the petition they are now circulating, they will continue to get away with acting in bad faith.

- Robert Fink 

Los Angeles