Picking on property owners
Why are only the owners of private property charged a tax increase to pay for bonds? As a property owner since 1972, I find it extremely frustrating that every time the politicians or special-interest groups want money for a project they want to charge property owners for its cost.
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My personal preference is to raise the sales tax in the city or the county that wants the extra money. That way, everyone who would benefit from the bond would pay.
STEVEN BENNETT
Santee
Transit system posting inappropriate ads
Why does the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System advertise drug addiction as though it were entertainment all over San Diego? Everywhere on bus stop shelters and the sides of buses are huge images of a TV actor portraying a hard-core drug abuser surrounded by empty pill bottles. The Fox network is known for degrading and obnoxious stupidity, but must this base programming be glorified for all the schoolkids to experience day after day?
Previously, MTS has advertised the horrific display of Chinese political prisoners' cadavers in the “Bodies The Exhibit” and violence-preaching rappers such as Snoop Dog. Does the system wish to encourage such behavior and fill the streets with more death and crime? Surely MTS can find more inspiring advertisers than these lowest denominators of public perversions.
STEVE JOHNSON
San Diego
Lamenting apparent media bias against Palin
In “Palin and America's cultural wars” (Opinion, Oct. 4), columnist Jim Hoagland concludes that “with flashes of humor and spunk, Palin survived Thursday evening. But she did little to dispel the serious doubts regarding her readiness to be vice president, much less president.”
While Sarah Palin would not have been my first choice, I have to seriously wonder whether the specific concerns about her qualifications are applied equally to the other candidates.
Given that she has most recently been a governor, I did not expect her to be immediately well informed about many of the issues that occupy Congress and the federal executive branch. Certainly both Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are better informed today with respect to the national and international issues, as they well should be. Biden has been on the Washington scene for 35 years, and Obama has spent the last two years getting indoctrinated as an active presidential candidate.
On the other hand, Palin has more actual experience in managing a complex institution than any other candidate. If we ask the same question regarding Obama, we find that he has only modest experience as a public servant and no direct experience handling a formidable institution. When questioned about this, he responded that he has successfully managed his campaign finances.
In truth, much of the media and some of the public have become enamored of Obama's ability to charm us with words we want to hear and a pleasant demeanor. Conversely, we appear to have stopped questioning his history of questionable associations and a somewhat shallow promise to redistribute taxes. At the same time, Palin's demonstration of charisma is portrayed as an overt strategy to shift the focus from the fact that she is ill-prepared.
We voters need to look carefully at all the candidates and apply the same criteria to each, including examination of their qualifications, experience, past record and accomplishments; their character, including past associations; and finally the courage to tell us what is truly in our best interests rather than what we might like to hear.
CHARLES D. BOHLE
La Jolla
The Union-Tribune's decision to print The New York Times article “Economy makes McCain's job difficult/Obama links loss of employment to GOP policies” (News, Oct. 4) underscores the partisan bias, hubris and incompetence that have created and are perpetuating a credibility crisis for the mainstream media and other institutions in this country.
A prime example is the manner in which so-called journalists frequently give credibility to the false notion that a president or presidential candidate can control the U.S. economy.
It doesn't take much research or knowledge to recognize that the legislative branch, Congress, controls the budget, new legislation and much regulation and that those powers have a far greater impact on the economy than any proposals of the executive branch. Moreover, party affiliation is not a reliable indicator of a presidential candidate's future policy initiatives. One need only compare Democrats Jimmy Carter versus Bill Clinton or Republicans Ronald Reagan versus George W. Bush.
In this story, a legitimate journalist would have examined why John McCain's and Barack Obama's proposed economic policies would or would not work well. Given the fact that the economy has gotten much worse since control of Congress shifted to Obama's Democratic Party, a legitimate journalist should investigate why his policies would not cause bigger job losses and/or greater economic distress.
The hubris of the mainstream media bias is exemplified by the gratuitous assertion that “polls found viewers thought Sen. Joe Biden won the debate.” Aside from the deliberate failure to cite any specific polls or identify which “viewers” were polled, it would have been just as accurate to state that “polls found viewers thought Gov. Palin won the debate.” This journalist instead tried to promote his bias under the guise of legitimate statistical analysis.
This increasing media bias perpetuates ignorance and bad decisions while eroding the moral and intellectual authority of our country.
The best way to reform government may be to reform the mainstream media so they serve as the objective watchdog they were intended to be, not as a mouthpiece for their favorite political party or faction.
DAVID M. BENTLEY
Carlsbad
