Opponents of Proposition 167
Not addressed in your editorial (Oct. 13) opposing Prop. 167 was the fact that, if the measure passes, Times Mirror Corp., which owns the Los Angeles Times, would have to pay thousands of dollars more in additional state taxes.
Nor did the editorial mention that some of the biggest advertisers in the paper are the same special interests whose deductions will be eliminated or who will be forced to pay more in state taxes--banks, oil companies and insurance companies.
Instead of addressing specific portions of the initiative--such as eliminating the notorious exemption of banks from local license and personal property taxes--The Times fell back on the discredited chestnuts about raising taxes during a recession and the length of the ballot measure. The opponents of the proposition, funded in large part by the oil companies, banks and insurance companies, clearly understand the threat to their loopholes and are spending millions in an attempt to distort the measure and protect their special privileges.
How can the public take this editorial seriously when the paper has a substantial dollar interest in the outcome?
ALLEN R. KING
Los Angeles
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