Letters to the editor: The effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker; U.S.-Pakistan alliance; insurance for autism care

Total recall

Re “Forget the recall, Wisconsin,” Editorial, Oct. 12

Seriously, I thought you were kidding. Then I discovered that you actually meant what your headline states.

You write that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has “attempted to destroy public employee unions rather than negotiate with them” and that doing so was “unnecessary and extreme.” But you conclude that targeting him for recall is a “terrible idea.”

You point out that former California Gov. Gray Davis was recalled and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was no better, if not worse. By that logic, Wisconsin voters shouldn’t recall Walker because they might have to replace him with Steven Seagal.

I think Wisconsinites are smarter than that. Seriously.

Allan Katz

Los Angeles

The Wisconsin effort to recall Walker is nothing like the Davis recall. The uprising in Wisconsin is fueled by middle-class anger over the co-opting of government by corporate millionaires, the same kind of people who took advantage of Davis’ unpopularity by funding the recall effort in California.

The fact that Schwarzenegger was a bust doesn’t mean that Walker’s successor would be. The people are angry that they have been sold out by Walker and his ilk, and they are completely justified in trying to take back their state.

Morton Winkel

Palm Desert

Blaming Pakistan

Re “An imperfect ally,” Opinion, Oct. 9

It is extraordinary that former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan Peter Tomsen and Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took 10 years to openly identify Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency as the cause of death and destruction to American forces in Afghanistan. Neither point out the incentives that motivate the ISI to kill Americans in Afghanistan: the $20 billion in aid from the U.S. that Pakistan has collected.

The war is viewed by former and current ISI brass as a war against Islam. Former ISI chief Hamid Gul fought the Soviets on the same premise while also collecting aide from the U.S. He and his cronies are backing the insurgent groups targeting U.S. forces.

It follows that the U.S. should shake off its naivete about the real enemy and take determined action to win this war and protect American lives.

Nake M. Kamrany

Pacific Palisades

Two words: Get out — out of Pakistan and of every other Islamic nation.

The question should be what to do about America. Surely, we are all aware of our economic problems.

Basim Zakaria

Las Vegas

Hybrids in the slow lane

Re “Booting hybrids from carpool lanes slows all, study says,” Business, Oct. 11

Is anyone really surprised by the slower freeway traffic caused by booting 85,000 low-emission vehicles out of carpool lanes and putting them back into our regular freeway lanes? Worse yet, the slower traffic increases fuel consumption and costs for everyone.

How can we actually reduce traffic, reduce fuel consumption and bring in new revenue? Immediately reinstate the program and charge a $200 annual fee. That’s a win-win situation for all Californians.

Stewart Wilson

Calabasas

The bureaucrats changed the rules, and then someone studied the issue. That’s like studying hard after you’ve already taken the test.

I used to be one of those single-occupant hybrid drivers until the politicians simply let the carpool lane stickers expire, mostly at the urging of the ignorant motorists loudly complaining that single-occupant hybrids were slowing down the carpool lane. (And they always made sure to brand them as left-leaning tree-huggers who drove slowly.)

Well, be careful what you wish for.

Now the politicians are converting the carpool lanes to toll lanes. Only those with financial means will be whizzing by; try and protest that.

Danny Justman

Los Angeles

Treatment, but at what cost?

Re “Autism law shows insurers need therapy,” Column, Oct. 11

David Lazarus wants it both ways. He advocates for a new law that adds an expensive nonmedical benefit to all health insurance plans, thereby driving up premiums. But this support contradicts his repeated advocacy for insurance rate regulation in response to increasing premiums.

He also argues that no matter the cost, the real question is “how we, as a society, address the healthcare needs of those less fortunate.” But the new law exempts Medi-Cal and CalPERS while effectively requiring employers and individuals to pay more for insurance. The medicine of mandating higher costs is good enough for regular people but not for government itself.

Shifting nonmedical services into the price of health insurance won’t make costs go away, but it does make insurance more expensive.

Patrick Johnston

Sacramento

The writer is president of the California Assn. of Health Plans.

I agree with Lazarus. But I would like him to expand on his metaphor of insurance as a “a vast pool of people [who] pay into a program that provides a safety net in case trouble should arise.”

Yes, insurance is a deep pool, but what happens when an ever-increasing number of people need to go to this reservoir? It seems this culture declares more and more things to be diseases requiring coverage (I’m not referring to autism here). If we’re not willing to discuss if people truly benefit, then we’re draining water that can’t be replaced.

Perhaps insurance is no longer viable as a product and other means need to be developed to provide the care people need.

Chuck Wagner

Culver City

It’s parenting

Re “Just what is troubling my child?,” Oct. 10

I empathize with anyone who struggles with a difficult child. My 16-year-old son was diagnosed with autism at age 4 after too many meltdowns.

I have come to question the diagnosis-oriented model. I understand using diagnoses to gain access to services, and I get that insurance companies run the show. But maybe we are “creating mental illness,” as suggested by author and medical sociologist Allan V. Horwitz.

Children are expected to fit into narrow and defined behaviors mostly to benefit adults. No wonder children rebel. Consider the increasing expectations and stress for everyone.

My son attended a therapeutic preschool. We learned how to improve sensory integration, enhance self-regulation and build resilience. We parent differently.

Why do we think only a child with a diagnosis deserves this attention?

Bonnie Y. Modugno

Venice

On Republicans

Re “The GOP horse race,” Editorial, Oct. 9

Many years ago, after hearing a Republican official say that one doesn’t have to be concerned about issues in an election but only has to concentrate on being elected, I left the party. Republicans say they want less government, so they run for office hoping to prevent anything from being done.

So far, we’ve heard little from the GOP candidates about what they would do if elected. They criticize President Obama but have refused to work with him to resolve the country’s problems.

This is not the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt or even Dwight Eisenhower. Maybe it’s time for Republicans to stop playing a childish tea party and disband. We need them less than they need us.

Rosemary Patterson

Los Angeles