More reasons to avoid Denham

The Bee's endorsement of Jeff Denham (Oct. 7) was understandably tepid. But more striking was its omission of some key factors that render the congressman ill-suited for his post.

First, The Bee excluded our most glaring problem: unemployment. Denham and his GOP colleagues are no closer to creating a national jobs bill than they were in 2010. In Turlock alone, a city whose mayor, John Lazar, also endorsed Denham, unemployment sits between 11 and 13 percent. While joblessness may be outside The Bee's or Lazar's gauge of factors for congressional office, it should raise serious concern about their lack of judgment.

Moreover, Denham, who signed the Norquist no-taxes pledge, one that effectively handcuffs any bipartisan compromise on major issues, represents a district that ranks among the highest in poverty at 23.8 percent, nearly 10 percent higher than the national average. Yet The Bee gave Denham, who is silent on these tragic numbers, a pass on this issue.

The Bee's endorsement lacked any substantive argument for why Denham should be returned to Congress. And Lazar's support speaks more of his chumminess with Denham than it did from an administrator who should have responsibly scrutinized the congressman's track record.

SAMUEL O. REGALADO

Turlock