Letters to the Editor 11/21

Kick the bums out

Can you believe our elected officials (crybabies) in Sacramento who do not want their pay to be cut even though other state workers have taken several cuts? These people make three to four times the average income in California, where do they get the gall?

I would be ashamed to say anything. Not only is this state solving no problems, but they are chasing businesses out of the state due to taxes and hidden fees such as taking a 10 percent income tax from people who can’t afford it. I guess our crybabies are exempt.

Come on, you elected officials, tell us if the state is taking 10 percent out of your pay, at a no interest loan? Do you care? You ran this state into such a financial hole, yet you spend money like a drunken sailor.

Folks, the only way we are going to get rid of this mess is to remove any and all come next election, Democratic and Republican alike. I don’t care if it is your next-door neighbor, get rid of them, this they will understand.

Harold Glasco

Paso Robles

California’s problem

The Chairman of the California State University Board of Trustees article in a recent Tribune was a telling account (Betraying the California dream, Nov. 6).

Jeff Bleich basically complains that he moved here from Connecticut to get a cheap university education funded by the California taxpayers and now the politicians and taxpayers haven’t maintained the ratio of spending on education we had in the 1980s.

California’s problem is that we have the best climate in the world and we’ve been politically dominated by liberals who spend taxpayer money to attract nearly every leach in the country, resulting in an increased ratio of government spending for social services, prisons and subsidized or free medical services. When are these people going to realize that California’s government can’t provide for the desires of every whining interest group that exists.

As for the CSU system, maybe we need to replace some of their mathematical geniuses. On Nov. 6, the Sacramento Bee wrote, “In a required state report to the federal government, the university system said the $268.5 million it received in stimulus funding through October allowed it to retain 26,156 employees. That total represents more than half of CSU’s statewide work force. However, university officials confirmed Thursday that half their workers were not going to be laid off without the stimulus dollars.”

Jim Avery

San Luis Obispo

Unsafe biking

To those of you who ride your bikes to Cuesta College: Please stop using the left-turn lane on northbound U.S. Highway 1 at the Hollister entrance!

Several times I have seen riders cut across from the right shoulder into the left-turn lane right in front of traffic, nearly getting hit. Then the riders ride on the right side of the turn lane on the white line.

This is at the beginning of a turn lane that is nearly a quarter-mile long and for the first part is curved to the left. Sometimes they are nearly hit as vehicles begin merging into the turn lane. Other times, drivers are afraid to pass them and drive at 15 mph all the way to the light.

Most of the time, these riders stupidly ride along at the right edge of the turn lane with traffic whizzing by on both sides. Do they not care about their life?

Could you people please go up to the north side of the intersection and use the crosswalk? Please! It is only a matter of time before one of you intellectually-challenged individuals gets creamed.

Jody Langford

Templeton