Oakland Tribune letters

Oakland Tribune, Oct 9, 2008 by Letters

Better ways to help kids than OO

THE BACKERS OF Measure OO are saying that OO is a great way to help Oakland kids without raising taxes. What they are not saying is that they already have been allocated funds by the City Council and they want to get an additional $16 million a year for programs to help a select number of children. However, these funds would come out of the General Fund and would mean severe cuts in Oakland libraries, senior programs, parks, and recreation programs.

Measure OO is poorly written and does not have a sunset clause -- so the damage would be permanent.

Oakland, please do not vote for OO. We can find a more equitable way to help out kids in Oakland.

Anne Woodell

Oakland

Prop. 8 restricts freedom of religion

I DON'T FIND it surprising that the majority of the money and effort behind Prop. 8 comes from a coalition of Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox Jewish, and Mormon groups ("Calif. religious leaders push for gay marriage ban" Sept. 25). They've always made their disapproval crystal clear. Although they disagree on the very nature of God and his message to the world -- and history is writ large in the blood and suffering caused by those disagreements -- the one thing they can agree on is that surely, gay people deserve neither the freedom to marry their life partners nor the equality before the law promised by our Constitution.

Should they lose the election, I wonder if that means that God does not share either their disapproval of gay people and same-sex marriage, or their political and social agendas?

Many religious groups -- Episcopalians, Reformed Jews, United Church of Christ, and MCC, to name just a few -- and many individuals, both gay and straight, religious and not, oppose Prop. 8, supporting full civil and religious marriage equality for gay people. They don't want a few conservative denominations restricting their beliefs and telling them what to do.

A vote for Prop. 8 is a vote against their freedom of religion.

Ben Janken

Oakland

Hold lawmakers accountable

EVERY YEAR, SINCE I can remember, our state goes through a meltdown on the budget because we have a two-thirds requirement for passage and the Democrats and Republicans cannot compromise. This year the Legislature and the governor set a record by being late 81 days. Their inability to govern wreaked havoc on health providers, schools, and now I read in the Tribune that they took gas tax money from AC Transit and BART. In addition, the Legislature did nothing to really fix a deficit structure that will put next year's budget in serious deficit.

Here is a solution to this problem. Some political group needs to put a proposition on the ballot that would amend our California Constitution so that if the Legislature does not pass a budget by the required July 1 deadline and the governor sign it, the legislators and governor would not get their salary, a per diem, or benefits for that period, and that money they lose cannot ever be paid retroactively.

Ask for my signature first, please!

Donald Dinelli

Oakland

It's time for America to wake up

WHILE WE Americans are beleaguered by the housing/financial/ credit meltdown and besotted by the Sarah-John soap opera, Russia has risen from hibernation, experiencing a rapid resurgence. Their moves have caught our dead-duck administration and the rest of our leaders asleep, eliciting no effective response. In just the past few weeks Russia has invaded Georgia resulting in her absorbing two provinces, sending fears through other neighbors and altering the balance of energy control of the area and of Europe.

Russia has also invaded the Western hemisphere through Venezuela with the landing of nuclear-capable bombers and preparing to hold joint naval exercises there and will supply huge amounts of weapons as well as signing several significant strategic and economic agreements with President Chavez that impact the U.S. as well Central and Latin America. Would we have tolerated that 10 years ago?

Moscow is also establishing a major naval base on the Mediterranean coast of Syria, about 250 miles from Israel, as the missiles fly. Meanwhile, we are even more consumed militarily in Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan, befuddled by Hezzbolah and Hamas, and in the beginnings of a prolonged economic meltdown and none of it is getting better.

Wake up Americans. We need a bright, elite leadership, not temperamental mediocrity and gee-whiz cheerleading.

David Horn

Oakland