Recent polls continue to place President Barack Obama either slightly ahead of, or even with the Republican candidates. Who are these would-be Obama voters? Those who are influenced by the vote buying giveaway tactics of Obama? Those of the 48% who don't pay taxes? The Occupiers? The fraudulent welfare and food stamp beneficiaries? The government employee union members?

Regarding The Bee's Jan. 28 headline, "Rail opposition gathering":

A recent letter questioned whether Rep. Devin Nunes was from this country or even this planet. I ask Cliff Nugent (letter Jan. 28) what planet he's from?

After reading Cliff Nugent's Jan. 28 letter smearing Rep. Devin Nunes for being vocal against the policies of the Obama administration, I was appalled by the lack of knowledge he seems to have about history and current affairs. A study done by dozens of economists, including two Nobel Prize winners, found "evidence poor people were principle victims of the New Deal."

In the Jan. 29 Obituaries section, there was a tribute to the life of Anna Maxwell Levin-Ware, a holocaust survivor. A story like that is proof that our God saved her for a purpose: so she could witness to others and be an example as to what one can do with their life.

OK, the gauntlet has been thrown down. Mariann Powell and George Bursik (letters Jan. 23 and Jan. 27) suggest that "Fresno" disregards its history and its architectural heritage. Probably true! As proof, each month a commission of volunteer experts, the city's Historic Preservation Commission, meet to discuss and make decisions on tough preservation issues. And yet, with rare exception, there is no public there to voice an opinion.

One of the single biggest problems we have in California is our idiotic criminal justice system. It is a legalized lottery system for lawyers paid for by the taxpayer. On Jan. 29, reporter Pablo Lopez did an outstanding article on the ballot measure regarding the death penalty, which we never use.

Just because kids are kids does not mean we do not have any power.

I hesitated to respond to Patricia Brown's Jan. 21 comment regarding Fresno County Supervisor Phil Larson's remark, "There are plenty of people out there who would take their jobs," calling him insensitive.

In the 1880s, ruthless California railroad barons ordered local militias to forcefully evict Valley farmers from their property over a dispute about land values.

Should we all be thankful that Michael Der Manouel Jr. stepped off the Herman Cain train long enough to put county employees back in their place? Unfortunately, per usual, his recent column brought more heat than light.

As a victim of car theft in Fresno a few years ago, I know the anger and angst that comes with the loss of one's vehicle. My car was stolen from a nice area while I was attending a function. It certainly spoiled my evening, and while insurance covered some of the loss, there were still expenses not covered besides the deductible.

Your lead story on Jan. 31 was important, but the person who decided to include the words "oral sex" in a Page 1, above-the-fold headline, should be reassigned. The story could have been conveyed in a less sensational manner.

I read Gary Walker's Jan. 28 Valley Voices piece. It is a wonderful testimony to the amazing gift of freedom of religion we have as Americans. He mentioned the Interfaith Scholar Weekend as one of those times when people gather from many faith communities to listen together and to learn from well known scholars.

In response to recent stories about fatal crashes in the Sanger and Fowler areas, something really needs to be done about the accidents on American, Central, North, Adams, South, and Lincoln avenues between Clovis and Academy avenues.

California citizens have voted at least twice to keep the death penalty. The state complains that keeping it is expensive.

Hearing from Eli Setencich is like a breath of clean air. Eli's Jan. 30 letter reminded me of my nephew when he was a little tyke. My nephew kept stumbling on the steps and running into doorjambs until his folks got him glasses. Then he proclaimed, "Gee, I didn't know we lived so close to the mountains!"

Assembly Member Jim Beall, D-San Jose, has authored legislation (AB 171) that would compel private insurance companies to cover treatment for "substance abuse, depression and anxiety," all under the rubric of "mental illness" (story Jan. 27).

Our economy is in shambles and our government is going broke. My hope is that our elected representatives from the Valley can find a way to work together on these problems.

The front-page article in Sunday's Bee reported about the ballot initiative to reduce California debt by a billion dollars over five years by eliminating the death penalty. Here is a novel idea: Save even more by eliminating the unending appeals and ridiculous obstacles to justice by requiring that the sentence be carried out within 90 days.

It was with a sense of perverse smugness that I read: "Fresno's top car thief is released." By now we should all be de-sensitized enough to accept such headlines.

It appears Occupy demonstrations have gotten out of control and their true meanings forgotten. Occupy has become nothing more than a riotous mob bent on upheaval and destruction and civil disobedience -- a far cry from the original peaceful demonstrations.

In case you haven't heard, Newt Gingrich is running for president. I recently saw him in a debate, and in commercials, mentioning how he created millions of jobs and reduced the total number of people receiving welfare while he was speaker of the House.

Jim Doyle's Jan. 27 reveals interesting things about those who are against "organized religion." When he says he's a "practicing non-believer," does he also think he is "non-religious"? Most dictionaries describe religion as: "a personal set or system of attitudes, beliefs, and practices." No one believes in nothing, so his practice of "non-belief" is a religion.

As a retired judge, I read your Jan. 27 editorial and letters to the editor critical of Judge Houry Sanderson's decision to put prolific car thief Robert Wollert in drug treatment instead of jail.

I love my internal combustion engine-powered vehicles. I own three. My favorite is the 1955 Willys M38A1. It has a carburetor sitting atop the four cylinder block, and that's about it. It sucks in gas, and occasionally blows out smoke. I will drive it until some politically appointed, unelected, enforcer from the California Air Resources Board comes to confiscate it.

In response to Bill McEwen's Jan. 29 column on meth in Fresno, he suggests that opening floors of the jail would help curb the use of meth (a timeout for the users). This only gets them clean, it does not keep them clean.

I cannot think of a public entity with less credibility than the California High-Speed Rail Authority. I was inches away from becoming a vocal opponent, despite the benefit such a line would have for our region. At a meeting on Thursday, I berated the new communications director for HSRA for being the front man in a confidence game.

I was surprised to see Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticizing the French Parliament for passing legislation that she believed "compromised free speech," while remaining silent on Turkey's Article 301 restrictions on speech -- restrictions that have led to the prosecution of Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk for referencing the Armenian genocide (story Jan. 27).

I just bought a new car, but I'm going to return it right away and steal one. I won't have a huge car payment, but I'll have a new car. Yeah!

"Strike hurts neediest" shouts The Bee headline on Jan. 26, implying that the county workers who have suffered a 9% pay cut are responsible. But the federal, state, county and city budgets also hurt the neediest, suggesting that we are all at fault.

The government's continued meddling in the definition of marriage -- an institution created by God before any government existed -- will destroy many more rights than it will create or preserve. Altering the civil definition of marriage is infringing upon the religious rights of those who believe homosexual behavior is inconsistent with the instructions of the Scriptures.

The Republican primary race started out as "Send in the Clowns" and now we are left with but three. It's just a refrain from the song lyrics, "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle ..."

Fresno County employees on strike on my dime with the county unable to fully staff the jails is why I disagree with the unions' collective bargaining agreement.

As a member of a crotchety age group, I am old enough to remember the time when lots of folks fearlessly lit up stogies, farmers burned vineyard prunings and fireplaces roared and I could still see the Sierra almost daily in all of its glory, while now they are mostly invisible except on a rare day in May.

I see that 30 pounds of cut cocaine was delivered to the mailroom of the United Nations in New York on Jan. 16. Now, who do you suppose is going to have to take the fall for this one? Wanna bet it will be the Post Office?

The Jan. 25 business article, "Czar failed to curb excessive bailout salaries," should be on the front page in the biggest print available.

Over the past several months, crime and violence in Fresno have escalated beyond all reason, with carjackings, home invasions, murders, copper wire thefts and more becoming so prevalent that they're hardly mentioned in the news. This has begun to trickle into outlying communities.

If you are a corporation, your profit is directly connected to those who are struggling; yet these large entities are oblivious to this connection. Most large corporations and individuals, who are extremely wealthy, don't see the connection to their wealth as being made by using the assets of this country and the multitudes of "others" who helped them along the way.

Our once great country is drowning in debt and losing the worldwide respect we once held. This is not President Obama's fault. It is the fault of both houses of Congress.

We Buy Gold! Going out of Business! Two Tacos $1! No Contract Needed!

We can certainly do without labels. The fact that this week a letter writer labeled our president as a spreader of neofascism is ridiculous and terribly offensive because to me a fascist is a ruthless dictator and a neofascist is a member of a hate group.

I thank Bill McEwen for his Jan. 26 column about the Fresno County union employees' (SEIU) strike protesting a 9% pay cut. These workers have no consideration for the workers in the private sector. Many don't even have a job or have lost all pension opportunities. SEIU workers demand that we should fund their full pay and full (gold-plated) pensions?

Regarding the SEIU workers strike, and the reactions from columnists Michael Der Manouel Jr. (Jan. 25) and Bill McEwen (Jan. 26): They just don't get it. The county supervisors, Judy Case, Debbie Poochigian and Phil Larson want the wages of SEIU health-care workers cut 9%, but these supervisors aren't willing to take the same pay reduction.

Our Fresno City Council members have done it again. A few years ago, they enacted a law that stated all refuse cans must be behind an enclosure, gate, fence. If homeowners were found to be noncompliant, they would receive a fine. Like many homeowners, I had an enclosure built so I would comply with the new law.

I went to see the recently opened exhibition, "Sikhs: Legacy of the Punjab," at the Fresno Art Museum. I experienced great joy in seeing the thoughtfully planned and thematically well laid out exhibition -- a rare occasion to witness such a historic event in the cultural life of our community.

The media's reporting on France's passage of a law criminalizing denialist hate speech concerning the Armenian genocide has been atrocious. To be sure, this is not about France or President Nicolas Sarkozy and his election campaign strategy, and it is certainly not about Turkey or Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and their precious hurt feelings. This is about justice for the victims and survivors of the Armenian genocide, and their descendants.

Here's a simple solution. Oil in America belongs to Americans, not billionaire oil companies. Stop giving tax breaks and subsidies to oil companies. Stop selling leases to oil companies. It is my oil. I want America to pump my oil, refine my oil and sell me gas for $1 per gallon. Allow licensed and insured drivers to buy 5 or 10 gallons per month.

Since the president's first two years in office coincided with the Democrats controlling the House and Senate, I feel that he was too busy learning the job to pass "jobs" bills that would have us on the road to "prosperity" at this time. I'm sure that when he says the Republicans are not cooperating at this time to help the country hit the road to prosperity, it is with great regret on his part.