PUBLIC FORUM.

Corporate Arnold

Re ``Arnold vetoes universal health bill'' (Sept. 23):

Arnold may talk like the people's man, but he acts like a pure profiteer. When he cancels Sheila Kuehl's health-care bill, he shows himself to be the heartless corporate man that he really is.

-- Lee Frank

Sherman Oaks

Bloomberg's opinion

Re ``Tipoff'' column (Sept. 25):

I have some advice for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg regarding his comment that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa would be a perfect candidate in 2008 for president: Lay off the tequila; too much can make one hallucinate.

-- Everett P. Harrington

Glendale

Boohoo for Bill

Re ``Clinton defends handling of threat'' (Briefly, Sept. 25):

Come on, Bill: Get over yourself and quit going on TV and pointing your finger and acting outraged. You didn't do anything after the attack on the USS Cole or the first attack on the World Trade Center. Time hasn't erased that.

-- Martha Ballardo

Montrose

Out of touch

Re ``Zev responds'' (Your Opinions, Sept. 22):

I can't believe Zev Yaroslavsky responded that $66,509 for decorating his new offices was ``absolutely appropriate, fiscally sound and in the public interest.'' In my entire life, I doubt I've spent $60,000-plus on decorating my entire home, let alone a single office in one year.

What was wrong with the tens of thousands of dollars of ``old'' furnishings and decorations? What happened to the tens of thousands of dollars of ``old'' furnishings and decorations? Either way, this shows the man's complete lack of connection with reality and the people who live in it. You want to be ``fiscally sound''? Use your year-old couch another year and save the taxpayers a few dollars -- or $66,509, as the case may be.

-- Daniel B. Brown

Simi Valley

Complete picture

Re ``Costly L.A. County quintet'' (Sept. 18):

Why did the liberal left of the Board of Supervisors -- Gloria Molina, Yvonne B. Burke and Zev Yaroslavsky -- have 12 categories and the others have 10? Why didn't the categories match to give a complete picture? Just think, the three liberal-left members of the board could have paid their staff salaries for a year with the money wasted (approximately $6 million) on the failed lawsuit against the Pomona Gun Show.

To be fair, Molina, Burke and Yaroslavsky did save some money with their spineless response to the American Civil Liberties Union when these three voted to take the cross off the L.A. County seal. To my delight, I did notice the seal with the cross was included in the Sept. 18 article. Yes, there is a God!

-- Rick Owen

Calabasas

Deport them all

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

I couldn't disagree more with your editorial regarding the euphemistic phrase of ``path to citizenship.'' The phrase is nothing but an attempt to put a new face on ``amnesty.'' We can and should deport all illegals in this country.

You noted in your article that there are an estimated 11 million illegals in the country, and as we all know most are Mexicans. Well, what do you think their kids are going to do when they grow up? Work in the fields? I think not. Then what do we do? Allow 20 million more illegals into the country?

-- Clovis Kerr

Castaic

Business taxes

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo should be commended for saying that Los Angeles' gross-receipts tax needs to be eliminated. Even with the recent Wendy Greuel-Eric Garcetti tax cuts, L.A.'s business taxes are far higher than those in many cities in Southern California, including some that border Los Angeles. With an annual budget of more than $6.5 billion, surely city officials can continue to find ways to further cut business taxes, which account for only $422 million annually. By cutting taxes, Los Angeles will attract new businesses and spur renewed economic activity and jobs, which will generate more revenues for improved city services.

In 2003, the Valley Industry and Commerce Association called for city officials to ax the tax. It's good to see that spirit is still alive at City Hall!

-- Brendan L. Huffman

President

Valley Industry and Commerce Association

Bush's demonizing

Re ``Venezuela's leader labels Bush the devil at U.N.'' (Sept. 21):

Perhaps President Chavez got tired of President Bush's demonizing Third World heads of state with such phrases as ``Axis of Evil'' and decided to return the favor -- literally -- by ridiculing Bush as the devil. Watching Chavez's facial expressions as he spoke, it was clear to me that in repeating ``It smells of sulfur in here,'' he was simply making a joke at Bush's expense.

But the imbalance of power in the United Nations between the few richer, mostly white nations and the overwhelming majority of poorer, mostly nonwhite nations is no joke. Chavez makes a valid point in bringing up this source of resentment within the U.N. To have a chance of being effective, the U.N. must be seen by all as fair.

-- Myrna Hill

Sylmar

Conservancy responds

Re ``Officials, park group fight for rewrites of land plans'' (Sept. 22):

The issues are camping in public parks in Malibu, the right to hike the Coastal Slope Trail overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the right to use existing deeded access ways to get down to the beach. This is not a bureaucratic fight between our executive director, Joe Edmiston, and the city of Malibu.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has opened up hundreds of miles of trails in the Santa Monica Mountains. It has the expertise to plan and open up already-dedicated public-trail easements within the city of Malibu.

The law does not allow the Malibu City Council to stand between the public and its trails. That is what the California Coastal Commission is all about. And that is why the Malibu Public Access Plan proposed by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is legal and proper and will ultimately be approved by the California Coastal Commission.

-- Elizabeth A. Cheadle

Chairwoman

Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy

Proving his point

There was a column in the Viewpoint section by Bill O'Reilly titled ``Hyperpartisans are damaging America (Sept. 24).'' I can guarantee, with 100 percent certainty, that there will be a letter to the editor in the Daily News blasting O'Reilly. In hyperbolic language, it will shout out on the page that every point that O'Reilly made, or has ever made, is absolute, complete and dangerous nonsense because, well, because O'Reilly is the spawn of the devil, and everything he says is evil and should never be allowed in print -- which is ironic because that letter will prove O'Reilly's point completely.

-- Gregg Butterfield

Burbank

Minimum-wage laws

I find it interesting that all the states that voted for George W. Bush in the last two elections (except Alaska and Florida, which actually voted for Al Gore) have a minimum wage right at the federal level, while the minimum wage is higher than the federal level in the states that voted for the Democratic candidate.

I will leave it to someone smarter than I to figure out what this means.

-- Henry S. Wilson

Los Angeles

Get serious

Re ``Toughest man alive'' (Sept. 24):

I find it curious and odd that a major newspaper in Los Angeles would have as its lead story on the front page of Sunday's edition -- above the fold -- a story about tough guy and legendary trainer Gene

LeBell. Especially considering the seriousness of the news inside.

-- Jimmy Cannon

Sherman Oaks