Private money, public campaigns For the children

Re “Evil lurks in ‘super PACS,’ ” Column, Feb. 29

Kudos, once again, to Steve Lopez for illuminating important societal issues that need remedying. Hardly a week goes by without a story about the corrupting influence of money in politics. It’s time to make the financing of campaigns an imperative of public policy and not of private gain.

We must abolish the private financing of campaigns. The electronic and print media must be mandated, as a price for their licenses, to give a public platform to competing candidates and issues. By so doing, candidates and issues could not be bought.

Los Angeles Re “What the children need,” Opinion, Feb. 28

Opening the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court to the press was not implemented to persecute social workers but rather to make the system more transparent.

Kane Phelps undermines his argument when he reports on cases he handled as a social worker in which the treatment facilities were subpar. Shouldn’t everyone know about this so the problem could be remedied? I know of a young woman who has been in 19 foster homes. I know of kids in group homes who, because they are treated like criminals, end up convinced the world is their enemy.

Of course there are good foster homes and social workers, but too many are scandalously inadequate. Why don’t the social workers team up with the “suits” and raise hell about all the kids who are getting a raw deal?

Only when people know about this problem is there any hope of fixing it.

Pasadena