PUBLIC FORUM.

Health care-less

The Sept. 27 Daily News article ``Health care outpaces inflation'' points out that the price of employer-sponsored health insurance is rising at twice the inflation rate and that about 5 million fewer workers have employer-sponsored health insurance.

The California Legislature attempted to fix this problem by passing Senate Bill 840, the California Health Insurance Reliability Act, which would have provided comprehensive health insurance for every resident of this state at a cost less than what is being spent now for the private health insurance that covers only part of our population.

When it reached the governor's desk for signature, he vetoed it. Small wonder, because Arnold Schwarzenegger has accepted millions of dollars from the private insurance companies who are protecting their turf and obscene profits.

-- Melvin H. Kirschner, M.D.

Van Nuys

Animal abuse

Re ``Charges filed in dog dragging'' (Briefly, Sept. 26):

This is in regard to the person who tied his dog behind his truck and drove 50 mph dragging the dog. He should have the same thing done to him, but I know there are people against that treatment.

What about the animals? There is no one to speak for them. Too bad. I hope he is committed to some hospital to check his brain. But I suppose he will get away with it. I, for one, would like to know what is done to him. I do not have a dog, but to me, as they say, a dog is man's best friend.

-- Lyle V. Custer

Santa Clarita 

Read the label

Re ``Class-action status granted in light-cigarettes lawsuit'' (Sept. 26):

Wow! Doesn't it say on each pack of lights that ``quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health'' -- and from the surgeon general yet? So these lawyers go after the cigarette companies. Why? Because they know they couldn't get any money from anybody else.

They should go after the government because these poor imbeciles who are being led by the shysters never learned how to read or comprehend in the schools where they were taught. There are a lot of sheep in this world. I just didn't know they all resided in the USA. Take control of your life. Learn how to read.

-- Gary Wittenberger

Woodland Hills

Cleaning the river

Re ``River revival: Will it flow smoothly?'' (Sept. 26):

Thank you for shedding light on the continued need to clean up the Los Angeles River. A major potential source of funding not mentioned in the article is Proposition 84 on the November statewide ballot. Plans to revitalize the river -- whether it be green space, recreational opportunities, habitat restoration, economic development or a combination -- will require funding to realize the dreams and hopes of local residents and families.

Proposition 84 provides $72 million to help improve the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers, includingcleaning up coastal storm-water contamination, and an additional $45 million to improve the Santa Ana River Parkway. Our rivers, watersheds and coastal waters are linked. What we do upstream will directly affect the quality and health of coastal waters.

-- Irma Munoz

President

Alianza de los Pueblos del Rio 

Mujeres de la Tierra

Fixing gas prices

Re ``Theories abound on gas prices'' (Sept. 26):

Forty-six percent of voters are Democrats to the death; 46 percent of voters are Republicans to the death. Elections are won or lost on the 8 percent in the middle. If only 42 percent believe the conspiracy theory, the obvious conclusion is that not only did the voters in the middle not buy into the theory, but even 4 percent of the Democrats to the death can't buy into something that absurd.

Every spring gas prices skyrocket, and every fall they plummet -- although never as low as before the previous spring -- and with the same worn-out ``reasoning'' for the changes. Oil companies have been trying to get U.S. gas prices up to European prices for 30 years. It has nothing to do with any president, dictator, chancellor or prime minister.

-- Patrick Weir

Chatsworth

Consumer voting

Re ``Movie can't put together good opening'' (Sept. 26):

Hollywood, the Los Angeles Times and the Dixie Chicks are three examples of how not to be successful in today's business environment. All three tell their consumers that President George W. Bush is bad and the United States is at fault for all wrong things in the world, and if we do not agree with their viewpoint, we are ignorant.

Business and the entertainment industry have every right to attempt to integrate their political message with their product. However, my message to them is beware. We ``ignorant'' folks have lots of new sources of news and entertainment out there, as well as money not to spend on their products.

-- Mel Grussing

Palmdale

Abiding by the law

Re ``Inde-fence-ible'' (Our Opinion, Sept. 25):

The article states that ``the only real option is to construct a mechanism to allow hard-working and otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants to have some path toward citizenship.'' The path already exists. And many put their efforts into it -- the legal way -- and successfully make it work every year.

But why is it so difficult to ask these ``law-abiding'' illegal immigrants to do it the law-abiding way?

-- Ron Moreland

Burbank

Winner take all

Re ``Arnold should sign popular-vote bill'' (Their Opinions, Sept. 25):

If the governor signed Assembly Bill 2948 into law, California's popular vote would be even less meaningful. If a candidate could receive California's electoral votes by winning nationwide, there would be even less incentive to visit or pay attention to California. Under the proposed system, a candidate could claim California's electoral votes by campaigning in Florida or Ohio.

Al Gore would have claimed California's electoral votes for winning by a wide margin in New York City -- irrespective of his performance in California. George W. Bush would have claimed California's electoral votes by winning Midwestern and Southern states -- despite his relatively dismal performance in California itself. The winner-take-all system may be flawed, but this medicine is clearly significantly worse than the disease.

-- Gregg Frazer

Professor of history and political studies

The Master's College 

Free-trade barriers

As I watched our trade balance suffer again last week, I couldn't help blaming the European Union's actions in recent years: tying up American companies, with lawsuits and allegations of monopolistic behavior, and implementing regulations for what seems like regulation's sake. More and more, the EU seems to be singling out American companies in an attempt to make it difficult for them to do business in Europe, and it's time the U.S. Congress got involved.

Trade barriers and overly aggressive regulation hurt business, and when those tactics are aimed at U.S. businesses, we need Congress or the Commerce Department to take action in defense of our interests.

-- Pedro Carrillo

Los Angeles

Fair and balanced 

Re ``Read his lips'' (Your Opinions, Sept. 26):

Stanley Moore writes that he agrees with Bill O'Reilly, as do I, that hyperpartisans are hurting America as do I. What Moore fails to understand is that he is one of these hyperpartisan left-wingers. First, his ``facts'' are incorrect. (O'Reilly is a registered Independent.) Moore states -- without any facts or examples -- that in general O'Reilly is a liar, and finally Moore resorts to name-calling when he cannot sustain a good argument. O'Reilly is fair and balanced, and his audience size reflects that.

-- Eric Boka

Simi Valley