Hot Adult Direct Hotadultdirect %EC%88%9C%ED%99%94%EA%B5%B0%EC%9D%98 %EC%9D%B4%EA%B3%84%EC%97%AC Is 1 Hot Adult Direct Wednesday's Letters to the Editor | PressDemocrat.com

<p class="bold allcaps">A spending problem</p> <p>EDITOR: Sunday's Close to Home column (“Take a look inside our schools”) shared the shortfalls that teachers and students are experiencing due to a lack of money and encourages readers to strengthen school funding by supporting the state tax initiative to “restore California schools.” Unfortunately, California schools are not good stewards of taxpayer money.</p><p>This letter should have been directed to the teachers union. There is not a revenue problem, there is a spending problem, and you need not look far to see where our money goes. The money never makes it to the school level. California schools are top heavy in needless administration. The schools always have their hands out, and no amount of money ever solves the problem because no one ever tackles the real issue.</p><p>I will not vote to increase my taxes when time and again we get such a poor return on our investment. I feel sorry for teachers and students who always get the short end of the stick and are used as pawns by reckless politicians and unions.</p><p>ANDREA TEVINI</p><p>Santa Rosa</p><h3>Party of the poor</h3> <p>EDITOR: In America, there is a clear divide between the poor and the rich and their patron parties, the Democrats and Republicans. Alfred Mansoor's letter (“ ‘Poor' Democrats,” Feb. 3) tried to disprove the notion that the Democrats are the party of the poor. He based this claim on $35,000 per plate fundraisers. These exist, but that is irrelevant.</p><p>Warren Buffett is not a typical Democrat, and his actions do not disprove the idea that Democrats are the party of the poor. More typical Democrats would be my parents (a bookkeeper and a contractor) or my grandparents (schoolteachers). The Democratic Party is the party of the poor because it better represents the interests of the poor and middle class than the Republicans.</p><p>Mansoor's contempt for this idea borders on the offensive to the real, “poor” Democrats who make up the majority of the party.</p><p>JAMES ROGERS</p><p>Santa Rosa</p><h3>Equal treatment</h3> <p>EDITOR: So some churches are in a huff because being forced by the government to pay for employees' birth control violates their freedom of religion. They state that this position is not based on a desire to keep women barefoot and in the kitchen.</p><p>If this were true, there would have been equal outrage and investigation when they were “forced” to pay for erectile dysfunction prescriptions. I have seen no evidence that patients with these medical needs experience the same scrutiny.</p><p>I propose that any employee with a prescription for erectile dysfunction be required to submit a copy of his marriage certificate and a letter from his physician stating that both the patient and his spouse are capable of conceiving. In addition, the patient should submit a notarized letter vowing to use the medication only with his spouse and only when they intend to conceive. They must add that they will not use it with a same-sex partner, girlfriend-on-the-side or for criminal activity.</p><p>If they don't want women to climb to equality, how about they join us down here?</p><p>REBECCA KOKEMOR</p><p>Santa Rosa</p><h3>Gift of dentistry</h3> <p>EDITOR: I am so impressed and moved by the generosity and courage of Dr. Jeff Elliott to have donated his time and talents to the people who are most in need by doing a free dental clinic (“Big turnout for free dental care,” Saturday). Kudos to all involved. It was truly an amazing gesture.</p><p>CHERYL PABROS</p><p>Windsor</p><h3>Saving trees</h3> <p>EDITOR: I am very sorry to see the massive incursions that English ivy (Hedera Helix) has been allowed to make into our Santa Rosa trees, particularly around the Highway 12/101 interchange, Brush Creek Road and along any creek area in Sonoma County.</p><p>English ivy is an evergreen parasite that greatly increases the potential of disease and rot to tree bark, damages tree health by reducing access to light and provides a habitat for rodents. It is especially obvious in the county during the winter months on both public and private property, where one can frequently see more ivy than tree.</p><p>I urge everyone not to plant and/or encourage this destructive ivy. If it's already present, it can be removed, and exercising vigilant maintenance keeps it under control. Please help save our magnificent Sonoma County trees.</p><p>PAMELA C. WILLIAMS</p><p>Santa Rosa</p>

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