In Britain, and here

Re "Tabloid fever," Opinion, July 14

Why will no one give the proper name to what Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids have done to British politicians of every stripe? Murdoch, his editors and his reporters commit extortion routinely, holding elected government representatives in thrall.

He does just the same with our Republican Party. Fox News spews its poisonous brew of extreme right-wing ideology and vituperation, and woe to the politician who will not chime in. Murdoch, with Fox News chief Roger Ailes, demonizes Democrats and moderates, extorting Republican politicians to do so as well or risk the same calumny themselves.

Marie Meadows

San Diego

Debating the death penalty

Re "Repeal the death penalty," Column, July 14

The problem is not that the death penalty exists and should be repealed; the real shameless fraud is how the judicial system operates in this state — and country for that matter. That it takes decades to put away obvious murderers is a disgrace. The penalty is just and should be carried out almost immediately.

The faults in our legal system should not deter us from doing what is right: to bring true and final justice to evil and rid our society of it whenever necessary. It's much more proper to criticize our courts, laws and system, which are far more culpable. They are the true reasons for all the wasted money and delays in duly handing out punishments.

Yehudah Younessian

Los Angeles

George Skelton wants to repeal the death penalty in California — not on moral grounds but because of the staggering costs associated with capital punishment. He doesn't buy any of the other reasons for abandoning it. He says that, before removing them from our planet, "some creeps should be appropriately tortured first."

Would Skelton please explain what sort of appropriate torture he recommends? The rack? Red-hot irons? Flaying alive? Removal of the fingernails?

If he remains reticent,

I can only imagine it's because he's reluctant to reveal to us just how far down he squats on the evolutionary ladder.

Ian Ogilvy

Los Angeles

The doctor is in — the money

Re "Prison doctor gets paid for doing little or nothing," July 13

Bravo! The Times has uncovered yet another embarrassing and fiscally irresponsible practice in our state government. Though this situation would be staggering in the best of times, with us at the doorstep of financial ruin, it borders on criminal.

I'm beginning to feel that by paying my taxes, which go to fund this and other similar practices, I am supporting it, and that is physically painful.

Stefani Sherwin

Pacific Palisades

As required by law, the doctor was provided a hearing to determine whether the termination was legally supportable. The employing department must prove the facts supporting the termination. Many of the sensational facts in your article about the doctor's personal history were not presented at the hearing.

Some of the evidence included a statement from the doctor's supervisor — "I find no evidence to support termination" — and his opinion that the doctor should be returned to

work with some additional training.

Significantly, the article fails to mention that the California Medical Board declined to take any action against the doctor's medical license after investigating these incidents.

The State Personnel Board must evaluate the evidence and facts presented in each case. If the evidence does not support the discipline, the board has a constitutional duty to render a just result, which may include sustaining, reducing or revoking the discipline.

Maeley Tom

Sacramento

The writer is president of the State Personnel Board.

I have a new duty for the prison doctor making more than $700,000 a year for doing almost no work: He should be appointed as the personal (and only) physician for the members of the State Personnel Board who reinstated him. Then the board would have a better idea of his competence — or lack thereof.

Sandra Stubban

Stanton

Dithering over the debt ceiling

Re "Debt talks put on hold as parties consider options," July 15, and "Obama ends debt meeting with warning," July 14

The forces in opposition to the president persist in calling the programs that help Americans in need "entitlements." They are wrong. These programs are really gifts from one generation of Americans to another. The history of this nation can be characterized as "sacrifice for a better tomorrow."

How dare they trample with this heritage? How dare they say that more than 200 years of commitment to a better life for the people no longer has any relevance to this great nation?

I urge the Republican leadership to grasp the historical significance of this moment and ensure that the history of this era will show that the inheritors of the Lincoln legacy have once more stood with the people.

Saul Goldfarb

Oak Park

So the Social Security Trust Fund is solvent probably until 2027. If that is the case, why is President Obama telling us he may not be able to send seniors their Social Security checks after Aug. 2? If the trust fund is solvent, there is no need to borrow money to send seniors their hard-earned checks.

Why hasn't the mainstream, nonpartisan

media called out the president on this?

Ed Broomfield

Claremont

The House Republicans representing the party's radical right, whom House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) doubts will make any deal for a debt-ceiling increase, serve to shine a light of shame on the party that wasn't chastened by losing a similar battle with President Clinton in 1995. From that defeat the GOP learned a great deal in the short run, quite a bit in the medium term and absolutely nothing at all in the long run.

Roger Schwarz

Los Angeles

Needy children

Re "Foster youths said to stay in offices," July 12

As a former employee of a children's services agency, I understand that the issue is not as simple as ineptness of overworked and overburdened social service agencies.

In 2003, when the state closed the vast human warehouse that was MacLaren Children's Center, no adequate solutions were proposed to house the thousands of children removed from homes every year. As brutal and inadequate as MacLaren was, it nonetheless provided a roof over a child's head and food. Rather than rehabilitate the broken system, MacLaren was simply closed.

The hard truth is that government refuses to prioritize the needs of our most desperate and most voiceless citizens — abused and neglected children.

Cathryn Roos

La Habra

Some ally

Re "Punishing Pakistan," Editorial, July 13

It appears that The Times worries about serious repercussions resulting from our cutting off aid to our so-called ally Pakistan. In fact, there is no point in giving aid to Pakistan, as its government and a good number of people working in its intelligence services are not comfortable with our presence there or even in Afghanistan.

Instead of rejoicing over the killing of Osama bin Laden, most Pakistanis were angry at the United States for its timely action. Continuing our aid to Pakistan when we have serious budget problems is a mistake, and the benefit that we get from our continued aid to Pakistan is negligible at best.

Abraham Mattackal

Long Beach