Dear Editor:The intense battle for power to elect our next president will consume nearly $4 billion. This largely is spent in negative advertising. The recipients of this money are the so-called 1 percent of the wealthy who control our TV stations. These donations are, for the most part, given by millionaires and billionaires to influence government favorably for them. With homelessness and hunger at an all-time high in the U.S., don't you think that money could be used in a more compassionate way? I think that to spend this type of money for power is obscene. Your vote for president is meaningless in California as who wins is decided by the ancient electoral college nonsense. You will recall that Al Gore had 2 million more votes than George Bush, but the Supreme Court decided that farce. The "battleground states" in the Midwest, East and Florida call the shots and the election results are given before our polling stations have even closed. I think we should vote for local issues and not bother with Obama or Mitt - they don't bother to campaign but only raise funds in California, as it doesn't mean anything. Colin Clarke Downey

********** Published: August 23, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 19