Joy Lomenick is to be at least partially commended if one embraces the philosophy "Think globally, act locally." Her letter is a locally proactive act. But her larger picture may be a little myopic.

President Obama's stimulus package is not open to broad dispute. If we do nothing, we as a nation will collapse financially. And as we go, so goes the world.

Bush came into office with a surplus of around $1.5 billion. His term has cost the American people close to $11.3 trillion. The core of his financial "plan" was tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. Enough said.

Further, Nancy Pelosi no longer has any local dogs in this race. Indeed, the pork in the bill comprises less than 2 percent of the total spending.

The rest is earmarked for such initiatives as creating jobs in green technologies—which also robs our enemies of their primary income— hiring more teachers and cops as well as retrofitting our schools. All pretty noble, no?

Then there is the matter of Ms. Lomenick's larger worldview.

Carbon emissions have increased at 3.5 percent per year since 2000. Thus, temperatures could rise far more over the next century. Sea levels were also rising faster than expected.

Even if you believe man didn't cause it, for our own survival, we must try to curb this trend. Al Gore did not win the Nobel Prize for fear-mongering. That award, if it existed, would belong to Rush Limbaugh.

Chlamydia and HIV testing saves American lives. This is the precise reason we want to live in a society with social programs. As I write, 36,687,723 women, children and men have died of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Even George Bush felt the issue merited $15 billion in support.

There is absolutely no money directed toward ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, not the fine journal you now hold) in the stimulus package, period.

As for infrastructure improvements, which would include improving our national mall, we are the United States of America; the monuments of Washington, D.C., beyond being the locations of government function, are a symbol of our dignity and ambition.

I would prefer they reflect excellence, and as it turns out the workers who will make these improvements will earn money and buy things, and that is the soul of a stimulus. Steve Ochs Simi Valley