Letters to the editor

Ringling Bros. circus will again proclaim their love for the animals, treating them as "family." In reality, I hope they do not chain their children, force them to eat and sleep in urine and feces, keep them in cages and use weapons to control them. Their claims of "love" for, and "family" ties to the animals are disingenuous at best.

Ringling chains elephants for many hours daily causing them to sway, rock and exhibit other abnormal behavior; horses live in small stalls; tigers and lions are kept in cages causing neurotic behavior of walking endlessly in circles. "Open House" is the only time when elephants are unchained.

Ringling's claims of "conservation" are fraudulent. Ringling routinely breeds elephants and then brutally separates babies from their mothers when they are less than 18 months old. (USDA reports document Ringling causing leg wounds on a baby elephant by using chains and ropes to separate from their mothers.) Through violence and fear, baby elephants are forced to perform "tricks" and are on the road to perform at an early age or used for breeding. This is not conservation. Ringling breeds elephants for profit. Baby Kenny and Benjamin are dead because of abuse. Kenny was forced to perform after he was defecating blood and died soon after. Benjamin drowned trying to escape from his "trainer" who was pursuing him with a bull-hook in a pond (USDA documented).

I am hopeful that the public will discontinue support the misery and suffering of animals, keeping them in captivity for entertainment.

Madeline Bolbol

Redwood City

Low-tax America

Editor,

I wonder how many Californians know that the liberals in Congress are trying to defeat President Bush and his historic tax cuts so those in Washington can forge ahead with new big government spending. They want to repeal the tax cuts and raise taxes by $2 trillion. Liberals want to continue to expand government-run health care, welfare handouts and other bureaucracies.

The 2001 and 2003 are set to expire thanks to a provision in the tax law that was demanded by liberal spenders in Congress, resulting in what The Wall Street Journal describes as: "The biggest tax increase in our nation's history."

Liberal congressional representatives feel they can spend our money more wisely than we can. It is time for taxpayers to demand that these tax cuts become permanent so that families, small businesses and senior citizens get a break. Liberals in Congress want to reinstate the marriage penalty that forces married couples to pay higher taxes than single taxpayers. If tax cuts become permanent, families with children will continue to receive an average tax cut of almost $1,500. The death tax, if it is instated, will cause the termination of one out of four successful small businesses in America. If President Bush's 2001 tax cuts are made permanent, senior citizens would receive an average tax cut of $920, which can make a huge difference for many of them.

Do contact your congressional representative and tell them you do not want them to repeal the 2002 and 2003 tax cuts.

John and Karen Kennedy

San Mateo

Misguided management

Editor,

I am very confused every time I read an article about the city patting itself on the back regarding the day labor center funded by the city budget ("One year later, labor center successful" in the Aug. 5 edition of the Daily Journal). How is the City Manager Arne Croce working this program?

The day labor folks are referred to as mostly illegal immigrants under federal immigration laws. Is the definition of illegal different for federal immigration law and the city law? Is this same illegal issue that the new Homeland Security is working on new regulations to stop the illegal immigrant problem?

If a company or person hires a day laborer, how are they financially compensated? Is there workers' compensation insurance paid for as required by law, the same workers' compensation issue Croce stated is part of the budget problem? If one of the workers is injured who takes care of them? County health maybe? How does the federal tax revenue service and the state franchise tax collect income tax from them? How does a company claim that as part of their overhead? I believe a few years ago a politician was ridiculed for hiring an illegal immigrant to clean their house. And, now that the city has set up shop for them to sell their labor to the public, should they not be subject to a city license fee like every other business in town?

And what about that area where they are conducting business? Is the city covering the liability for any one who enters the property? Is this the same property that city management had purchased for some project that never materialized? There goes the budget and higher fees. The taxpayers are going to pay over $500,000 to support this illegal activity, and then pay for via Croce's higher fees and taxes. In return our city manager has cut back Police, Fire and Public Works services. Everyone thank Mr. Croce. If just half of these issues are true, it is a terrible wrong against every citizen and business owner in this city.

Paul Olkowski

San Mateo