To the Editor:

The Republicans have become a party of "no." A recent poll shows Republicans beating Democrats 45 percent to 42 percent in a generic congressional vote. Therefore, the Republicans believe that constant opposition will pay dividends at election time. When Republicans vote "no" in unison, then every Democratic vote becomes crucial, and every Democratic senator can demand to be bribed. Senator Nelson, for example, voted for Obamacare only after being promised that other states would pay for Nebraska's extra Medicaid costs for ever. Such unscrupulous behavior turns off voters. Look what happened in the Senate race in Massachusetts. The Republican "no" strategy is irresponsible. An opposition that never compromises means gridlock. Half of Americans are angry at both parties, according to a CNN poll, but only one in ten are angry only at Democrats. Thus, this Republican "no" strategy may backfire at election time.

Ralph E. Stone
San Francisco



To the Editor:

Yes it is unfortunate and deplorable that many Republican voters falsely believe that President Obama is a racist, socialist or not an American citizen. Nonetheless, certain of Obama's associations and comments during the 2008 campaign were certain to have alienated rural conservative voters, such as his comments at the Pacific Heights fundraiser about conservatives being "bitter" and clinging to their guns, or Obama's long association with the Reverend Jeremiah ("God damn America") Wright.

If it had been perfectly legitimate for Hillary Clinton as primary opponent to raise concerns regarding Obama's being an arugula-eating elitist who is out of touch with the concerns of older, less affluent rural voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia and more comfortable hanging out with the Harvard crowd, then why should if be off-bounds for Republicans to make the same charges? I'd bet that, if you asked a lot of Hillary's supporters in those named states privately whether they thought Sarah Palin was more qualified to be President than Obama, you'd be surprised by the answers. Anyway, if the word "terrorists" in the polling question had been meant to include Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and the other TARP beneficiaries as terrorist organizations, then I too would have to agree that the terrorists had won. I would also have to agree that anyone who supported TARP (including former President Bush

Colin Gallagher
San Francisco



To the Editor:

Thanks for the review of this book -- it's exactly what I'm looking for. I think a book with a similar topic came out a couple years ago and I couldn't remember the title or author. I mentioned "Americans and the European Way" to a friend and he also recommended "The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger," by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. Europe (and even Canada) is deliberately ignored in mainstream discussions of health care, education and other important issues. I get the feeling that to middle America, Europe is a communist country that we will need to invade someday.

Mark Van Slyke
San Francisco



To the Editor:

Great School Beat article. Thank you for covering this story. Look, le\'s not be squeamish, the data is pretty straight forward. A concentration of poor children in any school means lower academic performance for all there, lowest of all for the poor children. Here's a radical solution: Instead of a lottery and instead of busing every child around the city, close the schools in poor neighborhoods. Bus the poor kids into other schools. Make every school accept a similar percentage of poor students. Then keep doing all the other things we've already implemented -- the teacher training, pay increases, enrichment, First Five, etc. Guess what? SFUSD might even entice middle class parents and wealthier ones to send their children back to public schools again. That would improve the classroom learning environment for all.

Dana B.
San Francisco



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