Letters to the editor

Editor,

I am continually disgusted by the behavior of the Republicans in Congress. They keep whining and complaining about all the "pork” in Obama’s economic stimulus plan. But what do the Republicans in the Senate do? They try to insert an amendment into the stimulus plan to spend $1 billion on nuclear weapons. So let me get this straight. Spending money on schools, hospitals and public transportation is "pork,” but throwing it at rich defense contractors is good for the economy?

Let’s face it. The Republicans in Congress don’t care about anyone at all except the rich corporate scumbags who fund their political campaigns.

Please call Congress and demand that it pass Obama’s stimulus plan — without wasting a billion on nuclear weapons.

Peter Stone

Palo Alto

Caltrain works for me

Editor,

Bringing my bicycle on board is what makes Caltrain work for me.

My commute is from the California Avenue station to Fourth and King streets in San Francisco. I bring my bicycle on board because my home station is not serviced by all trains and because I use my bike to get around in the city.

With a bicycle in hand, I can return home on one of several trains serving nearby stations, and I can go visit friends who live near distant stations.

My personal Bay Area commuting footprint is no longer 50 miles of paved freeway, just five square feet of bike space on the train.

Thank you, Caltrain.

Aaron Stone

Palo Alto

Congress should cut stimulus for nuclear weapons

Editor,

As a taxpayer, I am outraged that the Senate version of the economic stimulus plan includes $1 billion in funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the U.S. nuclear weapons infrastructure.

The economic stimulus plan is meant to create jobs and spur economic recovery, which is why I hope my senators and representatives will work to remove the $1 billion in wasteful nuclear weapons spending from the bill.

Throwing taxpayers’ money at the nuclear weapons complex is an ineffective way to spur economic growth and create jobs at a time when the unemployment rate is 7.6 percent.

How is it that senators concerned about the price tag of the roughly $800 billion plan negotiated billions in cuts from education aid and school construction, but kept $1 billion in funding for nuclear weapons infrastructure?

President Obama has pledged to "set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons, and pursue it.” News outlets have reported that he is interested in working with Russia to drastically reduce the stockpiles of both countries.

Investing $1 billion into nuclear weapons infrastructure now just doesn’t make sense.

Ana Rudolph

Burlingame

Bad news

Editor,

Hard to have a day go by without another politician on his way to jail or reading about some other politician who should be in jail. And remember these are just the ones who got caught. Is everyone involved in politics corrupt and on the take?

Add in the fact that besides betraying us, these criminal low lives have led this country into a financial meltdown that we may never recover from and have made us the laughingstock in the eyes of everybody else on this planet.

But now for the really bad news. Did you see where some bully billionaire from Europe is trying to keep that nice Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison from winning the America Cup yacht race?

Like most other Americans this has me completely stressed out. Please contact me Larry if there is anything I can do to help. You can find me most days at the unemployment office which is where I hang out since we all lost our jobs at Bay Meadows.

At night time you can find me in the back seat of the station wagon where I am now living. This is only temporary because it will not be long before the affordable housing units open at Bay Meadows Phase II.

Robert Bacon

San Mateo