Re “Fiscal policy still matters” (Nov. 5):

The United States of America’s national debt is $33 trillion. Without figuring the interest and paying the debt off at a thousand dollars a second it would take over a thousand years to pay off the debt. We hear from the running politicians that we are strapping our children and grandchildren with the debt. There aren’t enough generations in the future of America’s history to pay off the debt we now owe.

The credit card debt in America is $1 trillion. The credit card debt interest at 18% per year is $180 billion a year. That is a lot of goods and services that are used and down the drain without being paid for. Another debt that will never be paid for. The existential threat of drowning in red ink is greater than any other threat we have outside of nuclear disaster.

— John Seibert, Laguna Niguel

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is just fine

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is doing what they are supposed to do and that is protect the taxpayers of this county. I have lived in this county all of my life and as a senior I have nothing but praise for the devoted deputies willing to risk their lives to save ours. People make a choice in life to be either law-abiding citizens or to live a life of crime. If the latter is chosen then the consequences are pretty cut and dried, To all of the activists and others who think prisoners should have all of these rights, think again. Jails are in place to keep law-abiding citizens safe, not to coddle criminals and obsess over their rights. These people gave up their rights when they decided to become murderers, rapists and everything in-between. I did not support Chad Bianco for sheriff, by the way. But do I support him now? You better believe I do.

— Cappi Duncan, Cherry Valley

Landmark hangar in Tustin

Sadly we lost one of our two gentle giants, the hangars in Tustin, on Oct. 7. They served bravely thousands of men and families during WW11 and Vietnam and were well loved in the community and a welcoming landmark when you landed at John Wayne. Thousands showed up to see the catastrophe, looking through fences and all asking why? Hopefully the city of Tustin and the Navy will finally stop neglecting the final one and act to save it.

— Patrick Shane, Tustin

Re “So there’s no way to prevent shootings?” (Nov. 5):

While columnist Larry Wilson is correct about the scarcity of mass shootings in other countries, the real problem in the U.S. is that we resort to violence far more often than other countries.

The possession or absence of guns isn’t the only cause of violence; Utah has relatively lax gun laws compared to California, yet its murder rate and violent crime rates are about half of that of California and firearms are used in a smaller percentage of its murders. If we subtract the murders committed with guns from the U.S. murder rate, we will still have a higher murder rate than England, France or Germany. Our rate of rapes is nearly three times higher than that of Germany, and higher than most other European countries. Let’s address why Americans resort to violence more frequently than the citizens in other countries, and thus drive down all those numbers.

— Jim Winterroth, Torrance

Crisis in the Middle East

Re “Israel resists ‘pause’ in war” (Nov. 4):

Hamas started the current crisis in the Middle East, so why is Secretary of State Blinken and the U.S. pressuring Israel and PM Netanyahu to conduct a unilateral stand down for a “humanitarian pause” in this conflict? Hamas is the culprit. Israel is correct in demanding the release of all hostages (including U.S. citizens being held) if there is to be any “pause” in their retaliation against Hamas for their barbaric actions on Oct. 7. Perhaps Secretary Blinken should have set his plane’s GPS for Tehran, Iran, instead of Tel Aviv, Israel. That way he could meet with the actual players in charge of invoking any kind of “pause” to this ugly war.

— Dain Gingerelli, Temecula

Sen. Tommy Tuberville

In the Friday, Nov. 3 newspaper you had a lengthy story about Sen. Tommy Tuberville holding up hundreds of military advancements over an abortion issue that has nothing to do with the careers he is adversely affecting.

Nowhere in the story does it make clear just how one man can have such authority. To me, that is the real story. Although the review of military promotions is usually routine, a single senator can pause the process by putting a hold on nominations and no one can override him? Details please.

— R.L. Carpenter, Huntington Beach

It is real on our campuses

Oh, campus antisemitism is real all right. It’s being shown nightly on the news mostly by the right-leaning Fox News. I am somewhat flummoxed personally because most all modern civilized societies have rejected the tenets of Nazism with its fascist underpinnings. The barbarism exhibited by the terrorist group Hamas justifies Israel’s quest for retribution. It is a terrible shame that they hide behind civilians and expect a pass for their reprehensible actions on Oct. 7. College campuses across our nation now have on full display the poisonous antisemitism of progressive thought. That thinking trashed our nation on behalf of the death of George Floyd. The protests with the unprecedented vitriol directed at Jews only reveals the undercurrents of racial hate. The truth be told, like slavery, segregation and Japanese internment, antisemitism seems to have a place in the Democratic Party. Just follow their words and deeds.

— Robert Snyder, Laguna Hills

Yes, absolutely

But understand that hate, bigotry, prejudice or whatever words you wish to trot out are home-grown. They are not exclusive to attitudes toward the Jewish faith, but learned from parents, acquaintances, neighbors, school influences and applied to whichever religious, ethnic or national group that seems to be drawing the animosity of the day. Ideally, these imbeciles, the brownshirts of today who evolved into the Gestapo of history should be addressed in a manner they understand and relegated to the trash heap of history in a timely manner.

— John R. Waters, Lake Forest

Campus antisemitism

The question is, Do you believe what people say? Do they understand what they’re saying? I believe many of the children who espouse these ideals do not have a full grasp of history or current regimes, policies or intent. The teachers and professors, however, do. They are cultural Marxists. There are two classes of people. The oppressors and the oppressed. Marxism is a failed political philosophy and will also fail as a cultural movement. It will however sow discord and chaos in the interim.

— Cary Garner, Rancho Santa Margarita

Re “HB goes ahead with library censors” (Nov. 2):

Well it’s good to know, not surprising, but still disappointing all the same, that your editorial board is another liberally biased media outlet in this state.

There used to be a fair amount of conservatives in Orange County. I’m not sure of the percentage anymore but I can assure you we are underrepresented in the media.

The column today, “Huntington Beach goes ahead with dystopian library censors,” is a clear attack on conservatives and conservative values. God forbid there are many (if not most) of us who don’t want our kids to have liberal garbage ideology forced upon them and gender/sexuality nonsense shoved down their throats. Good for the Huntington Beach City Council and shame on the editorial board.

— Jennifer Ingles, Orange

Hamas-Israel Gaza war: Is the end game annihilation of each other or a peace accord that works for all?

Similar to the Troubles in  Northern Ireland (1968-1998), the Israeli-Palestinian wars are between ethnically identical peoples who are native to the region for over 3,000 years.

The sectarian differences, Islam-Judaism, have existed since 600-700 AD. The two-state peace solution is unlikely to bring about true reconciliation. As I see it, the only solution is to merge Gaza into Israel as one state, with Palestinians accepted as fellow countrymen by Israelis and vice versa. Hamas and its terrorism and vitriol has to go. Israeli settlers encroaching on Gaza land have to be labeled as poachers and land stealers, and stop their aggression. The Old Testament “eye for an eye” retaliation from both sides has to go in the 21st century. A one nation is a win-win outcome. The international community, as well as many reasonable Israelis and Palestinians, should broker this deal and end the horrific bloodbath and suffering of war.

— George Chung, Redlands

United Airlines flight attendants’ lawsuit

Re “Flight attendants want answers from Dodgers” (Nov. 1):

I read with bemusement the lawsuit that the United Airlines flight attendants filed for racial discrimination because they were not selected to work on L.A. Dodger charter flights due to age and not being White. This is the same airline that has announced that it will preferentially hire pilots based on being non-White, with aviation skills being a less important consideration. I’m going to sit back, relax and see how this lawsuit shakes out. It will be settled, I predict, since United will have trouble proving that they don’t use race-based hiring.

— Andre Beverly, Torrance

RVs for the homeless right here in Granada Hills

Re “RVs eyed as possible homeless shelters” (Nov. 1):

Been there, done that. During the pandemic, the powers that be decided to move rows of RVs into the Granada Hills parking lot. They put up fencing and had 24-hour security.

Because those living on the street didn’t want to abide by any rules, they ignored the free housing and set up tents outside the fencing and further dirtied the surrounding area.

Our leaders keep trying the same solutions to these problems and getting the same poor results. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. Start coming up with new and better ideas and stop wasting our tax dollars.

— Susan Mueller, Granada Hills

Immigration crisis across the states of the nation

Re “In Chicago, a neighborhood of immigrants at odds over arrivals” (Nov. 1):

Wow! When the immigration problem is hundreds of miles away, people are all sympathetic for the “plight” of immigrants, and say that people should “do more” for these immigrants.

However, when the immigration issue is right at their doorstep, this do more attitude comes into question.

They are now getting an idea of what people of the bordering states (e.g., California, Texas, Arizona) have been dealing with for years.

And, their idea about “helping” immigrants is now changed. Welcome to the real world!

— Scott Irwin, Fullerton

Re “Gov. Newsom’s hypocritical trip to Israel and China” (Oct. 31):

During Gavin Newsom’s meeting with President Xi, he discussed climate change and reducing the use of fossil fuels. He ignored the fact that China is building coal-burning power plants at a rapid rate.

China is not going to stop this practice for strategic reasons. China has little fossil oil resources and relies on other countries for crude oil, which is normally delivered by tanker ships on the Pacific.

If China goes to war with our country, our Navy will immediately stop all oil shipments to China via the Pacific. This action is identical to the U.S. actions in WWII, where prior to Pearl Harbor, the Navy blockaded Japan from overseas oil sources. This resulted in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to eliminate the Navy’s blockading shipments of oil to Japan.

— Gordon Osborne, Woodland Hills

Gun laws

Re: “‘Assault weapons’ bans are illegal” (Oct. 29):

Again and again the representatives who can create laws show their persistent ignorance.

I don’t understand their inability to see that certain kinds of gun laws could save their lives.

Making it illegal to even own any kind of a gun will not prevent a criminal or potential criminal from obtaining a weapon. How difficult is that to understand? Besides that, an automobile is as deadly a weapon as a gun. That has been demonstrated over again.

Actually it is criminal to allow these lawmakers to pass these laws.

They are as dangerous as a gun whack job, placing citizens in a position of defenselessness and harm.

Do you want to help? Close the border. The economics is killing people.

— Tom Hersh, Newport Beach

Early data from L.A. County’s zero-bail policy

Re “Courts say early data shows zero-bail works” (Oct. 31):

Officials who were proclaiming a success of the zero bail program by saying “only 3%” of the people booked for crimes during the first three weeks of the program were rearrested for new crimes are misleading the public.

What they really need to consider is how many offenders committed new crimes after being released on zero bail but did not get caught.

— Paul Hill, Torrance

Re “The junior senator did right thing” (Larry Wilson column, Oct. 29):

What started out as a very good and well-thought-out column wound up being nothing more than a political campaign ad for the biggest liar in the history of the House. Saying Adam Schiff has been a fantastic representative in the House of Representatives overlooks the obvious lies he told regarding Russia collusion and the “proof” he had to support all his lies. Where is the proof he promised? Russian collusion was investigated for years and proved to be a hoax. Schiff has yet to offer any proof of anything he said during the Trump presidency. It was Washington politics as usual. Where I once liked to read Larry Wilson’s editorials and respected his opinion, I now realize he is nothing more than a Democrat hack who holds the party line at all costs and continues to spread disinformation. Larry, you’re better than that. Anybody but Adam Schiff, even Katie Porter, is a way better choice.

— John Pherrin Sr., Lake Forest

Give Speaker Mike Johnson a chance

Right away, the vultures are circling, ready to swoop down and pick him apart.

The man is the newly elected speaker of the House and this paper can’t help themselves. They have to print an article from The New York Times (Oct. 26) that criticizes Speaker Johnson for having the nerve to disagree with the view regarding climate change and fossil fuels that the majority of his party embraces. Is he not entitled to his own opinion? Is he not entitled to disagree? It seems that if a person dares to stand up for his/her beliefs, they are labeled racists, extremists — the list goes on. Give Speaker Mike Johnson a chance to bring Congress together so that by some miracle, it can get things done for the American people,

— Deborah Otterson, Long Beach

COVID-19 and Rand Paul

Re “Was Rand Paul right all along?” (Oct. 27):

Yes, Rand was right all along. He had a very difficult time expressing his view of the facts. The media crucified him and his educated facts on the COVID issue. He was attacked at home and harassed in public because of his views and right to free speech. And still in America there is only one avenue of thought. Speaking an opposing idea freely garners some form of attack when you least expect it.

— Janice Smalley, Castaic

Trust in government keeps falling everywhere

The trust in government to do the right thing has fallen since the late ‘50s because we have allowed a political ruling class to take over our government. The only concern and desire for these career politicians is obtaining and remaining in power. Without term limits beyond the presidency, it has allowed power families and political lifers to dominate the political landscape and grow the federal government size and reach while never solving the real issues at hand.  Many of which we were dealing with in the late ‘50s are still around and remain just as unsolved today. Until we demand term limits for our House and Senate members, sadly nothing will change for the citizenry.

— Chas Hamann, Yorba Linda

No, not for we the people

The government does what is right for itself, which is to say, grow itself as big and fast as possible. Our government, at every level, was never intended to be this large and bloated. The founders of our great nation would be appalled to see how big and all pervasive the government is in our daily lives. As Thomas Jefferson famously said, “The best government is that which governs least.”

— William David Stone, Irvine

Yes, mostly it’s right

Our government acts mainly with prudence, considering the many challenges both domestically and worldwide that our leaders are working to resolve. President Biden is dealing with crucial issues involving aid to Israel and Ukraine while seriously aware that their adversaries could respond even more imperialistically.

Besides this, our elected U.S. officials need to work together more harmoniously, passing crucial bills and legislation, rather than arguing political party domination. Voters must consider this when they vote next. On a less serious note, happy Halloween everyone; stay safe.

— Isadora Johnson, Seal Beach

Trust is a problem

The minute you start trusting your government is the minute you start losing your freedom.

— Jerry Heinemann, Huntington Beach

Re “GOP elects Louisiana’s Mike Johnson speaker” (Oct. 26):

I am continually appalled by the lack of courage demonstrated by Republican legislators. While it’s to be expected that the Freedom Caucus will continue to push representative government off the cliff, what isn’t expected is a complete surrender by the majority of House Republicans to Donald Trump. Elevating Rep. Mike Johnson to House speaker demonstrates nothing less than capitulation to the minority.

Despite what these Republican “moderates” believe personally, fealty and self-preservation are the choices of the day. History provides many disastrous examples of leaders taking the easy way versus doing the right thing in service of something larger than themselves. In the coming weeks we should expect the U.S. turning our back on Ukraine, flushing billions invested there and a government shutdown. The people’s house no longer belongs to the people.

— Larry Davis, Fountain Valley

Gaza Strip

Re “UN warns of curtailing Gaza relief as fuel runs out” (Oct. 26):

Since the Oslo Accords signed by the PLO and Israel more than 25 years ago, Jewish settlers left the Gaza Strip leaving behind various possessions including numerous greenhouses used for fruit and vegetables which were destroyed by Palestinians. Since that time, there have been almost daily terrorist acts including murder of innocents committed by Palestinians more recently under the influence of the Hamas government sponsored by Iran. Three weeks ago a Pearl Harbor-like attack has now provoked an “enough is enough” retaliation by Israel long overdue. What other country would have delayed such a situation in which many persons ignorant of the related history (including the UN chief) blame Israel for aggression.  Where have these critics been for almost two generations? Elimination of Hamas would hopefully end the killing and allow the Palestinians to recover their economic status and political freedom.  It should be noted as well that for many decades, Israel has provided energy, food, potable water, medical care, jobs, etc. to Palestinians in spite of the terrorist activities.

It is long overdue for persons around the world including outright anti-semites to acknowledge these historic facts.

— Harris S. Goldman, Tarzana

Mass shooting in Lexington and gun rights

So, I am watching the reporting on the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. The shooter used an assault rifle and killed 18 and injured 13 innocents.

And I’m reminded of today’s (Oct. 26) editorial in the newspaper that chastised us Californians who supported a ban on assault weapons “which are just mean-looking rifles that scare politicians who don’t know anything about guns.”

Really?

I am pretty sure that the families of those who were injured or died in yet another mass shooting would think differently.

It is easy to support the extremes of gun ownership until your loved one is killed.

— Judith Wood, Riverside

OC freeway project

Re “New 405 freeway lanes to open Dec. 1 as part of $2B project” (Oct. 24):

Woo hoo, new freeway lanes in Orange County.

While the article didn’t totally cheer the new “improvements” you also didn’t tell the whole story. What’s the advantage for the average citizen taxpayer?

After years of chaotic traffic and multi-multi millions of taxpayer money, what will the average person gain?

No more free carpool lanes through Orange County? Really? Don’t these lanes really help with congestion and encourage travelers to save resources? Didn’t the taxpayers pay for the carpool lanes in times past?

And, will the average Joe be able to pay the almost $10 per trip fee to go through OC in rush hour?

Sounds to me like a poorly conceived plan that cost all the taxpayers a lot of money to mostly benefit a few well-off travelers.

— Glenn Kovanda, Rossmoor

In 2020, elections systems were altered by courts and bureaucrats contrary to state law to be all mail-in balloting with sketchy signature verification, supposedly due to COVID. Now that the pandemic is over, this “fraud-friendly” system is locked in place. Neither those claiming fraud nor those denying it can prove anything with this system. The refusal of courts and newspapers to look at the evidence and listen to the arguments of those challenging election results does not mean they have no evidence or arguments. Sidney Powell’s guilty plea to the equivalent of jaywalking after being charged with treason does not prove what you think it does, given the abusive plea bargaining system that routinely tortures false confessions out of defendants. The newspaper hopes those of us questioning the approved narrative will one day crack and fall in line like obedient servants. Don’t hold your breath.

— Russ Neal, Huntington Beach

Senate Bill 274

Re “Enabling more willful defiance in state schools” (Oct. 20):

So let me get this straight. We already wanted to “encourage” students in grades K-6 to stay in school by not allowing extended suspension or expulsion. Now we have extended that to grades 7-12 so students can feel free to disrupt class or ignore teachers. That is what this new law signed by Newsom will allow. Have we gone completely insane? How can we expect teachers to conduct meaningful instruction under these circumstances? We know that an education is important to our children’s future employment. Let’s get this law repealed before we raise a large group of self-centered, non-interested adults.

— Hayden Lening, Claremont 

California Environmental Quality Act and housing

Re “CEQA is key solution to housing woes” (Oct. 24):

I am perplexed by the continuing attacks on CEQA as an impediment to increased population density. This is an erroneous interpretation of the provisions of CEQA. But even more puzzling is that it appears those advocating higher population density are the same people that are hysterical about climate change. Is there anyone that doesn’t understand that population pressure is the primary driver of those factors that are presumed to drive climate change?

— Tim Woodington, Glendora

Letter writer Shirley Conley (Oct. 22) claims that the only way to have world peace is to ban religion. How simple is that? She also claims that the “radical religious right” is enforcing their beliefs on everyone else. Where is this happening exactly?

In case anyone noticed, since we took religion out of our schools and replaced it with “woke” ideology, colleges aren’t exactly pumping out world-class scholars these days. Talk about radicals. And FYI, the conflict in the Mideast isn’t about religion.

It’s about terrorists wanting to kill Jews. Apparently the writer isn’t aware that more torture and mass killing has been done in the name of secularism (Nazism-Communism) than all the religions put together. Religion isn’t the problem, human nature is. Human nature is flawed, which is why religion is so important. Could you imagine if everyone abided by the

Ten Commandments? Then we’d have world peace.

— John Cramer, Los Angeles

Proposition 47

Re “The facts on Prop. 47 and smash-and-grabs” (Oct. 22):

What Ms. DeBerry fails to mention in her Opinion piece is her involvement with some of the players in the Prop. 47 scam, al la George Gascón, Chesa Boudin and Gavin Newsom just to name a few. These progressives’ ideas on crime and punishment do not square with most citizens who, even with crime down purportedly, still live in fear for their safety.

Just because 60% of voters got scammed into thinking this proposition was good and signed in front of a store, and then at the ballot box, makes DeBerry look disingenuous.

— James Ellis, Trabuco Canyon

Cartoonist’s take

“Presidential tape” (Oct. 22) has a real problem with understanding democracy. One was not even criminal until hidden and the other never was or is infamous except to angry Democrats who want him silenced from guaranteed freedom of speech and out of their domination of their bureaucratic government takeover.

The tape on that has lasted over a decade so far and the only thing slowing it is the plunging dollar, speeding inflation and lack of knowledge on even knowing what democracy even feels like except for what they can pocket from it. Democrats prove political lips moving are lying lips.

— Vance Frederick, Long Beach