A possible Angels Flight fare increase; the return of Muqtada Sadr; getting rid of congressional earmarks

An uphill battle

Re “How steep is too steep?� Nov. 27

This article is a wakeup call to financially assist the Angels Flight railway in downtown L.A.

When Los Angeles had a vast network of rail transit, including streetcars downtown, the merchants were happy to provide tokens to shoppers to lure them downtown. The same method could be used today to help offset the high costs of operating Angels Flight.

At its original 3rd Street location, when rides were

5 cents apiece, residents and merchants alike used Angels Flight daily. The top level of the current location serves a new community of residences, restaurants and shops, and these all need to be highlighted by articles and advertisements.

Morley J. Helfand

Arcadia

The suggested fare increase from 25 cents to 50 cents or a dollar or two seems excessive. Why not raise it by only 10 cents?

For people who use it on a daily basis, 35 cents would still be affordable and worth the expense. For invalids or seniors, the fare could be left unchanged at a quarter.

The finances should look a lot better to Olivet and Sinai.

Brigitte Scott

Los Angeles

The operators of Angels Flight can charge a “minimum fare 25 cents and add a donation if you wish,� leaving it to the rider to decide if he or she wants to pay more.

Rogelio Peña

Montebello

Familiar face in Iraq

Re “Sadr’s star rises again in Iraq,� Nov. 26

We should not be surprised to hear of the resurgence of Muqtada Sadr and his Shiite party in Iraq. Since the start of America’s ill-advised invasion of that country, the only certain outcome has been Iraq’s eventual transformation into a fundamentalist Islamic state, bitterly and justifiably opposed to all things American.

The pointless destruction of Iraq is just one more example of the abject failure of America’s Middle East policy over the last 60 years. While the U.S. continues its support of the brutal oppression of the Palestinians and the ongoing conquest of their land, the American people will know only the hatred and loathing that such injustice provokes.

Roger M. Thomas

Century City

Another possibility may be for Sadr to rule Iraq one day with the assistance of Iran, and I don’t think it will be a democracy.

Will the U.S. finally care about all the tragic death and destruction then?

Barbara Lorenz

La Jolla

What an earmark ban would do

Re “Earmark ban could slam defense firms,� Business, Nov. 27

An earmark ban would also hurt small businesses that contract with other government agencies. That goes for nonprofit charities too.

Our agency received three earmarks in the 2009 appropriations bill, which were sponsored by local Reps. Adam Schiff, Xavier Becerra and Hilda Solis (before she became secretary of labor).

Our mentoring programs have proved effective at curbing dropping out of school, violence and substance abuse.

The Times quotes defense analyst Todd Harrison on the chances that a small firm can beat a larger, better-known company for a contract — he says: “Lawmakers know what’s going on in their districts. So they’ll give them seed money to get things going.�

This couldn’t be more true for nonprofit charities too.

Ken Martinet

Los Angeles

The writer is president and chief executive of Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters.

By cutting earmarks and money to defense firms, there would be a loss of jobs. Translated, it means that cutting spending will reduce employment.

The Republicans want to reduce spending — that is, reduce jobs. At the same time, they want to cut taxes, which will increase the deficit.

The Republicans want to cut jobs and increase the deficit, and the Democrats let them get away with this kind of nonsense.

Masse Bloomfield

Canoga Park

Illegal but working hard

Re “Law grad’s legal quandary,� Column, Nov. 26

What were Luis Perez’s parents assuming about their long-term prospects in the United States when they crossed the border illegally with their 8-year-old son?

Are we to assume that illegal immigrants who are looking for a better life for their children are banking on their American-educated young ones being able to work illegally in the U.S. like their parents, or to return to the home country to work, or that Americans will eventually let them stay if they can just wait it out long enough?

The parents’ logic seems to presume a certain eventuality: amnesty. Perhaps our complicity in this problem is at least one reason Perez deserves a break: His parents gambled on us knowing they’d win.

Laura Kline

Valley Village

Hector Tobar provides a compelling reason why we should support the DREAM Act. Unfortunately, Tobar’s eloquence will prove futile.

The “tea partyers� and Fox News have cast a toxic cloud over the subject. Their 24/7 barrage of hate, fear and fiction has prevented an intelligent discussion on the DREAM Act.

These folks love the Luis Perezes of the world, provided they wash our cars, cut our grass and be nannies to our children.

But God forbid they should become educated; that indeed would create an unacceptable challenge.

Frank Ferrone

El Cajon

‘Researcher’

Re “Attacks won’t deter researcher,� Nov. 25

Though I do not condone violence and physical threats, I have little sympathy for UCLA neuroscientist J. David Jentsch.

How can one be “morally obligated� to addict unwilling creatures to drugs, watch their withdrawals and then kill and dissect them?

Here’s a little-known fact, Dr. Jentsch: Drug addiction and withdrawal are horrible experiences. Have you not figured that out yet from your “research�? Why not put your morally obligated brain that’s so enlightened to work educating people to not become drug addicts in the first place?

Tim Cortina

Lake Elsinore

Canal crossing

Re “A canal that gives life but takes it too,� Nov. 26

The Imperial Irrigation District is spending $1.1 million to string buoy lines along the 82-mile All American Canal, much of which parallels the California-Mexico border. The “hope� is that it will assist people struggling to cross the border and maneuver to “safety.�

What?

Brilliant! Why not just build a bridge across the canal with a welcome mat and provide maps to the best hidden routes?

Glenn Biron

Costa Mesa

Funny guy

Re “Serious actor became a comic star,� Obituary, Nov. 29

Leslie Nielsen’s celebrity path began as a serious actor before making the switch to much lighter roles. From such dramatic and serious roles as a spaceship commander in “Forbidden Planet� and the captain of a doomed ocean liner in “The Poseidon Adventure,� beginning in 1980 with “Airplane!� Nielsen chose the comedy path and provided us with enough laughs to last a lifetime.

His Frank Drebin character in the “Naked Gun� movies is still fresh in my mind, with his deadpan expressions and perfectly worded lines that appear to fit him like a glove.

Nielsen’s late transition to comedy was none too soon, but we still got 30 years of his lighter roles in which to revel in for years to come. I thank him for that.

Bill Spitalnick

Newport Beach