Where are the death panels?

It's hard to believe, but the president has stooped to a new low.

Members of the tea party were among the first to expose the true viciousness of President Barack Obama's health care plan. While pretending to provide medical services to all Americans, even those who don't deserve it, Obamacare contained a literal poison pill.

The tea party told us about the death panels that would decide which of the nation's population would live or die. The tea party expended vast amounts of time, energy and patriotism to bring this warning to the American people.

But where are the death panels? It's as if Obama has changed his mind about them -- just to make the tea party look like a pack of idiots.

He's being incredibly unfair, and I know who I'm going to vote for in November.

Paul Mackinney

Albany

Wildflowers were a joy to behold

I'm referring to Jeff Dutton's July 2 letter, "Wildflowers in median were a traffic hazard."

I'm sorry he can't appreciate real beauty. The flowers in the new median on Carlson Boulevard were a complete joy to behold. I smiled every time I saw them. My friends agree. I was dismayed to see they had been chopped down when I drove on Carlson recently.

I drive a compact car, much shorter than an SUV, and have had no trouble seeing oncoming

I applaud the decision to plant those flowers in the median. They were a breath of fresh air compared to most median plantings, such as agapanthus, a typical plant used for such purposes. Its flowers are equally as tall as the bachelor buttons Dutton complains of as being "3 and 4 feet in height."

For the record, the bachelor buttons (the blue flowers) were no more than 3 feet tall. They were airy, not dense, and made a lovely screen, not an impenetrable, view-blocking wall.

I will contact the city and urge them to continue planting these beautiful flowers. We need more beauty in this world, not less.

J.L. Jones

El Cerrito

Government by itself does not create jobs

Reader George Fulmore (letters June 26) needs a quick lesson in economics. "4 million jobs have been added under Obama" ... Huh? Really? Government, at any level, doesn't create jobs. Jobs are not created by high taxes, bailouts and subsidies, nor are they created by the government picking winners and losers or buying car companies and the like.

No. Jobs are created by the private sector. American entrepreneurialism. It's not Democrat vs. Republican. It's not Obama vs. Bush. Never has been, never will be. President Barack Obama said so himself in a London editorial, "governments do not create jobs, bold people and innovative businesses do." Look it up.

I understand that police, fire, teachers, etc., are compensated via everybody's tax dollars. We all (or most of us) pay into a pool to receive such services. I get it. Those jobs were not created by government. They were created out of necessity. If the government really wants to create a job, get out of the way.

Rocco Biale

Walnut Creek

Preserve your assets, think before voting

The push for the fire district parcel tax in East County is a fortuitous happening to rein in the politicians' solution for every problem: Raise taxes and fees, and spend more taxpayer money.

Along with denying continued fiscal irresponsibility and the propensity for reckless spending, we should take the opportunity in November to send all these clueless elected officials back to private life.

Why should we taxpayers suffer from their inability to manage honestly, responsibly, effectively and efficiently?

The reason the fire district cannot manage its budget is traceable to the politicians who granted unsustainable benefits to the unions in exchange for their support for re-election. The public good was never a consideration. So, we taxpayers are saddled with the tab for their power-lust, self-interest, lack of common sense and fiscal irresponsibility.

Now is the time to curb the runaway cost of fire protection and other public services. The golden goose is near death -- not only in Contra Costa County but also in California.

Preserve your dwindling assets; think carefully before you vote.

Ernest Hampson

Pittsburg