‘Evils’ are still evil

Re “Necessary evils,” Endorsements 2009, editorial, April 26

I am appalled that The Times would support any of the measures in the May 19 special election.

Why should any of us agree to the short-term fixes or “necessary evils” you outline in your editorial? Why should our elected officials get away with half-measures that increase taxes without addressing root problems? We need to keep legislators from passing useless spending in the first place.

I would be surprised to find any voter support for these propositions. We should fix our legislative mess in Sacramento first, then find solutions to our deficit problems.

These measures put the cart before the horse.

William Rossetter Jr.

Yorba Linda

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I usually follow ballot recommendations offered by The Times. But I won’t in this case.

Supporting the propositions on the May 19 ballot condones the follies of a dysfunctional state government. The next proposition for which I will vote will be the one that eliminates the supermajority requirement for budget approval. Only when that has been accomplished will the Legislature be able to adequately serve the people of California.

Al Kubera

Orange

I am bewildered by the tortured logic behind The Times’ endorsement of Propositions 1A, C, D, E and F. Particularly illogical is the case for Proposition 1D.

The Times applauds the successes of First 5, passed in 1998 as Proposition 10 to fund preschool and child services programs, yet goes on to say that the families and children who greatly benefit from First 5 programs “may actually be better off” with them slashed or destroyed.

Regardless of how one feels about 1D, the voters did not pass Proposition 10 to tax tobacco sales so that 10 years later the Legislature and governor could raid the cookie jar for their own political ends. First 5 has been a good steward of the people’s money. Why should we turn these tax dollars over to the politicians who got the state into this mess to begin with?

Braden Lay

West Hollywood

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I am a well-educated, reasonably well-informed professional person. Why, then, do I get completely confused when I try to make sense of the propositions being debated in the upcoming special election?

I thought it was the job of the legislators (from the verb “to legislate”) to make the laws. We, the citizens, elect people who have our best interests at heart and give our input all along the way.

They, the legislators, make -- or should make -- the laws. I do not expect assemblymen and state senators to come into my classroom and teach compound subjects and predicates. So please excuse me if I feel out of my territory when I’m asked to legislate.

Barbara Gary

Los Angeles