Letters to the editor

Re “Obama takes Olympic gamble,” Sept. 29

I find the phrase “leaving healthcare and foreign issues unresolved” in your front-page article misleading.

President Obama is not taking a vacation or resigning his presidency. He’s taking a one- day trip to promote not only his hometown but his country as the host of the 2016 Olympic Games.

To imply that this means he is ignoring healthcare and foreign policy is just wielding a political ax.

The healthcare bill, with which he is intensely involved, and other issues don’t go down the drain because he is physically absent, not to mention the fact that he is famously reachable wherever he is.

Isaac Weingart

Northridge

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It appears Obama is acting more as the Olympic Committee chairperson rather than our commander in chief. He has the time to fly to Copenhagen to campaign for the Olympics to come to Chicago in 2016 but does not have the time for his field commanders. Even if he doesn’t want to send more troops to Afghanistan, make a decision.

The Olympics on U.S. soil would be great, but is this something the president should be working on?

Al Mendoza

Torrance

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What to do with Iran, Afghanistan, healthcare reform or job creation?

These and other issues require Obama’s full attention, yet he is off to Denmark to promote the Olympics for Chicago in 2016.

I am not sure if he is just paying off political IOUs; however, I feel we are better-served if his time is spent on presidential matters and not the work of Chicago’s mayor.

Robert Dourian

Northridge

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Obama is taking a minuscule amount of time to go to Copenhagen.

Of course it is important to have the Olympics in the United States. Obama would have supported any city in America, because this program brings money and fame to the United States.

Jean Solomon

Los Angeles

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Your article about Obama dashing off to Copenhagen to help Chicago’s bid for the Olympics was an editorial rather than news. It specifically cites “thorny domestic and foreign issues” as being left “unresolved.”

But healthcare is still being debated by Congress. Anyway, remember how much Obama was criticized for talking too much about healthcare? And I would think the secretaries of State and the Treasury are taking care of thorny issues such as Iran and the economy.

Then, buried in the article, it states that Obama will be in Copenhagen for four hours. Thank goodness he wasn’t planning to go on vacation like his predecessors. He would never have been forgiven.

Odille Hansen

Culver City

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The Olympics is a job generator. Having worked for a major sponsor of the 1984 Olympics, I can attest that it ramped up its hiring years before the event. It also gave small businesses and entrepreneurs the ability to cash in on opportunities to make money and put people to work.

Melissa Verdugo

Rancho Palos Verdes