Tuesday's Letters to the Editor

<p class="bold allcaps">Amnesty plan</p> <p>EDITOR: Let's remove the political football from our discussions about providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Everyone knows that sooner or later there will be another round of amnesty. I propose that illegal immigrants be given nonresident citizenship, much like the residents of U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico.</p><p>Inhabitants of these territories have all the privileges of U.S. citizens except the right to vote in federal elections. Bestowing the right to vote to someone who enters our country illegally is not something I'm comfortable with. This is especially true when you consider that the 20-30 million illegal immigrants would immediately have the right to nullify 20-30 million taxpaying and legal voters (and don't for a minute believe the government claims of only 11 million illegal immigrants in our country).</p><p>Removing the political incentive of voter payback — by denying illegal immigrants the right to vote — would present an interesting dilemma to our elected officials. Still, such limits might appease enough taxpaying citizens to make it politically feasible.</p><p>BILL PFEFFER</p><p>Petaluma</p><h3>The bottom line</h3> <p>EDITOR: To bring jobs back to America the following must take place: Reduce the pressure on corporations of having to make such high profits.</p><p>Greedy corporate managers would have to sacrifice some of the unbelievable salaries and bonuses they are getting. Stockholders would have to accept lower profit margins being made.</p><p>This would allow jobs to be returned to this country, putting American citizens back to work and able to receive decent wages.</p><p>ROBERT MINER</p><p>Ukiah</p><h3>Council unity</h3> <p>EDITOR: Having attended many of the Santa Rosa City Council's meetings over the past year when many very challenging issues have been discussed, I am surprised at recent commentary alleging division and lack of unity on the council.</p><p>Many of the topics discussed have centered on our city budget, which is in crisis. Any observer of this group grappling with how to balance a budget and conserve services would see a concerned and dedicated group of individuals working hard to resolve the fiscal problems with which they have been faced.</p><p>Mayor Susan Gorin keeps the council meetings running smoothly and is gracious when listening to the members of the community and council members who speak their thoughts, concerns and questions.</p><p>By its very nature, a governing group will have members with differing opinions, which have to be negotiated. This does not mean there is division and lack of unity. The members of the City Council whom I have watched have considered thoughtfully the facts presented and sought resolution with great understanding of the impact the council's final decision will have on the members of this community.</p><p>Join me at one of the council's Tuesday meetings. I believe you will see the council members working hard for their city.</p><p>GALE DE LONG</p><p>Santa Rosa</p><h3>GOP tactics</h3> <p>EDITOR: Since the beginning of President Barack Obama's term, the Republicans have been against his every initiative and have used the filibuster in the Senate more often than all previous uses of that procedure.</p><p>While the nation faces far more crises than those faced by George W. Bush when he took office, the Republicans care more about defeating the current administration than they do about the health of the nation. They have become the party of obstruction for no reason other than causing the failure of Obama and his programs.</p><p>They have become selfish, mean spirited and even cruel as they block every attempt to provide unemployment insurance funds for those out of work. They look out for their party far more than they do for the nation; for me, this is just short of treason.</p><p>When folks go to the polls in November, they should vote out or reject every single Republican. Why? Because if they think and act as a bloc, they should be removed or stopped as a bloc. Just remember what happened to our country in the last Republican administration. That remembrance should be sufficient to follow this advice.</p><p>RICHARD SANSOM</p><p>Sebastopol</p><h3>Pot's risks</h3> <p>EDITOR: Here's a simple response to the question posed by Robert Aherne (“Pot questions,” Letters, Monday). He is asking a lot of questions, but not the right ones.</p><p>His questions are not relevant to the real issue. The police are already empowered to arrest someone for driving while intoxicated (notice I didn't say drunk). They can even arrest someone for driving while sleepy, which is a judgment call based on driving patterns, not tests.</p><p>Adult citizens should be allowed, in my opinion, to engage in any behavior that is not harmful (in any significant way) to others, even if it may be harmful to themselves. The government shouldn't be in the business of deciding which such behaviors it approves of and which it doesn't.</p><p>I have been an emergency physician for 40 years. Not a day goes by where my colleagues or I don't see a patient who has been injured or is sick as a result of the use and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, or, for that matter, unhealthy eating habits. I cannot say the same for marijuana. Other than the rare panic reaction of the new user, marijuana-related emergency room visits are almost non-existent.</p><p>My guess is that if hoards of marijuana smokers took to the roads, the major effect would be to slow down traffic.</p><p>DR. JEFFREY A. RAPP</p><p>Healdsburg</p><h3>Produce our own</h3> <p>EDITOR: Everyone agrees that we must learn from the BP spill, but your conclusion that we should permanently ban offshore drilling in Northern California (“Oil slick,” Editorial, Thursday) makes sense only if California virtually stops using oil and gas. </p><p>We Californians consume more oil than any other state, but we want it produced elsewhere since all energy production carries environmental risks. Due to our low educational rankings, we don't understand the physics of energy production. For example, we all want better batteries, but the laws of physics and chemistry dictate they will use more reactive and toxic chemicals. Will we mine and manufacture them in California? No chance.</p><p>We “environmentally sensitive” Californians are the world's most profligate consumers, but we want everything produced elsewhere, lest factories, mines, oil wells or quarries pollute our neighborhoods.</p><p>We should be willing to produce as much as we consume. If not, our unemployment rate will keep increasing as we continue to outlaw or bury in red tape efforts to produce locally instead of sending jobs overseas.</p><p>JOHN BRABYN</p><p>Bodega</p>