Businesspeople running for office; the ‘skinny’ option for immigration reform; Tim Rutten on Newt Gingrich

In the real world

Re “Profits may not equal success,” May 20

Millionairess, Republicaness — Carly Fiorina’s “real world” experience isn’t going to do her any good in the world of human beings and the actual economy.

Bloat doesn’t mean growth. Fiorina’s cannibalizing of another company, Compaq, making HP the biggest computer company in the world, didn’t help the real economy one iota. Like all mergers, it appears to have resulted in a net job shrinkage.

Neither Fiorina nor Meg Whitman shares any experience with 80% of the electorate they pretend to want to represent. The electorate knows this.

Both candidates should come up with another way to amuse themselves besides running for office while they wait for the dividend checks to arrive.

Geri A. Mellgren-Kerwin

Burbank

Ads don’t tell the story

Re “GOP split in Central Valley,” May 23

The upsetting thing isn’t the barrage of Meg Whitman-Steve Poizner TV spots, as disgusting as they are.

It’s that some voters think that they can choose a gubernatorial candidate based on watching a bunch of commercials.

Don’t folks read a newspaper every day? Don’t they study the issues and select candidates based on what they learn?

Bruce R. Feldman

Santa Monica

The ‘skinny’ on immigration

Re “The ‘skinny’ option,” Opinion, May 20

Stewart J. Lawrence proposes very little stick for a whole lot of carrot on immigration reform.

Any “comprehensive” reform most likely will involve some path to citizenship for those here illegally, but it should also include reforms to prevent this mess from happening again.

Topping that list should be ending the American tradition of granting citizenship to anyone born here. No more anchor babies.

Also, we should recognize that although immigration is a federal issue, residency is inherently local. Proof of legal residency should be certified by the local government before a person can rent an apartment or buy a house in that community.

With such sticks, I’m open to lots of carrots.

Dale Kutzera

Los Angeles

Lawrence advocates “dramatic expansion of the E-Verify workplace enforcement system.”

What a great idea! Let’s put some faceless bureaucrat in Washington in charge of deciding who in the United States will be allowed to earn a living and who can be homeless and starve. We all know what a great job faceless bureaucrats in Washington have done so far.

This way, when some future administration decides it wants to reward its partisans and starve its foes, the framework to do so will already be in place.

And the Republicans, who favor this approach, claim to be against big government?

James Davison

Los Angeles

Newt through the looking glass

Re “Gingrich takes tea,” Opinion, May 22

As I read about Newt Gingrich warning us against President Obama’s “Secular-Socialist Machine,” I couldn’t help but recall Lewis Carroll’s poetic warning, “Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun /

The frumious Bandersnatch!”

I found myself very glad for the 2nd Amendment — that I still have the right to my vorpal sword to defend against America’s most manxome foes.

I am grateful to the sirens of Rand Paul, Sarah Palin and Gingrich who have alerted me — nay, alerted us all — to the Jabberwock lurking in the tulgey wood.

By my Tumtum tree I stand, poised and ready in uffish thought, alert to any and all whiffling and/or burbling, ready to go snicker-snack.

I want my America back. I want the borogroves all mimsy and the mome raths outgrabe. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

Thanks, Newt. Thanks for bringing America back to brillig.

Now, can someone fix the leak in the Gulf of Mexico?

Jack Swanson

Irvine

It is clear in the first sentence of Tim Rutten’s column that he has nothing but disdain for Gingrich. He seizes on the publication of the former House speaker’s latest book as a golden opportunity to cut Gingrich down to size.

Although I am sure it is not what he intended, it is Rutten who is cut down to size. Gingrich didn’t even have to lift a finger.

Rutten is certainly free to disagree with Gingrich about the “Secular-Socialist Machine.” But rather than refute any of the arguments set forth by Gingrich in his book, Rutten just dismisses them as “absurd, of course.”

That this “well-reasoned” argument is the best Rutten can come up with suggests that Gingrich may be right.

Score one for Newt.

Robert Goldsmith

Burbank

Sarah Palin, feminist?

Re “What’s a mama grizzly feminist?” Opinion, May 20

Sarah Palin calling herself a feminist should be a slap in the face to all those who proudly call themselves feminists — and who, indeed, actually are.

This “outing” of herself is nothing more than a political attempt to gain ground with liberals. Palin is simply trying to mold herself into whatever will win her the most votes in the 2012 presidential election.

Heads up, Palin: Liberals won’t be so fast to jump on board.

Obama’s change is recoverable, but Palin’s is unfixable.

Ryan Little

Anaheim

Yeah, and before she got bored with that, Palin called herself a governor. How’s that workin’ for ya’?

By the way, if they hadn’t been killed by murderers flying around in helicopters, wolf mamas would rise up too.

Babette Wilk

Valley Village

Re “Palin chides Obama over spill response,” May 24

Really? A reported 76% of oil money goes to Palin’s GOP “drill baby drill” friends, and her barb against Obama’s oil ties makes the front page?

Slow news day?

David Dietrich

Temecula

It’s all business with Rush

Re “A tee party for two,” Opinion, May 21

Zev Chafets is hopelessly naive if he thinks Rush Limbaugh would have any interest in describing Obama to his audience as anything less than a radical leftist out to destroy the United States.

More important to Limbaugh than even his ideology is the success of his business, and his business is to give his audience what they want: daily diatribes against Obama and Democrats in general.

Limbaugh is fully capable of liking someone on a personal level and demonizing him for his politics. It’s just business.

Richard Byard

Valley Village

More to it

Re “Costa Mesa sides with ‘rule of law,’ ” May 20

The Times’ article about Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor’s “rule of law” proposal neglected to point out that Mansoor is a candidate for state Assembly.

Without that knowledge, readers might get the impression that this proposal is intended to actually do something positive for the city of Costa Mesa.

This is just another political opportunist in action.

Tom Walker

Costa Mesa

Tax math

Re “Hitting limit of anti-tax fervor,” May 20

Arizona voters approved a temporary 1% sales tax increase in a landslide vote, 64% for and 36% against.

In California, with the same vote, the “no tax, nowhere, no-how folks” would be celebrating a narrow victory.

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time.

But in California, you need only fool 34%.

Robert Lovell

Fresno