In today's pages: reform. Reform of the health care system, reform of immigration policy and reform of fire retardant laws. Let's start with health care.

The editorial board today takes a look at how to improve medical care while lowering costs in a reformed health care system, and suggests three ways to do so: invest in primary care, develop treatment standards for medical professionals and promote information technology that tracks patient care.

The board is perturbed by the El Pueblo de Los Angeles historical landmark, and the businesses that are affiliated with it on Olvera Street. The site, which claims to be the location where Los Angeles was founded, has been costing the city money instead of paying for itself. The rents on the merchants' stalls along the back alley are much lower than market rate, and the board calls for the city to reset the rents and make this historical landmark cover its costs.

On the op-ed side of the pages, health care again! Phil Lebhertz, director of the Foundation for Health Coverage Education, points out that many health care programs exist for lower-income folks, but many just don't know about it:

And reform is again the word of the day, as Jeb Bush, Thomas F. McLarty III and Edward Alden broach the issue of immigration policy and the outcome of a Council on Foreign Relations Task Force they recently headed. Encouraged by President Obama's call for change of the immigration system, the three politicians propose to make it easier for some illegal immigrants to gain citizenship, reward businesses that use programs such as E-Verify to check applicants' immigration status, and align immigration policy with America's competitive interests.

Russell Long, vice president of Friends of the Earth, urges California to stop requiring that fire retardant chemicals be used on baby products. Long says the chemicals are not proven to be fire-proof, and instead could be dangerous to the infant's, and their parents', health:

Finally, columnist Gregory Rodriguez tries to find a link between the recession and the declining divorce rate. His conclusion? Our society has yet to find (or create) a marriage model that incorporates all of society's changes and the choices both men and women have:

Photo: U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden (C) speaks as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (L), and President and CEO of Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) Carol Keehan (R) listen as Biden makes an announcement on health care at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House July 8, 2009 in Washington, DC. Credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images

In Tuesday's letters, The Times features more on the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips from pirates off the coast of Africa and thoughts on immigration, taxes and police pursuits, too. 

Readers also react to this story about older job-seekers, wondering if The Times isn't itself perhaps a little ageist in its approach to the topic.  Writes Ventura's Anthony Lewis:

I enjoyed reading the article regarding the difficulties in obtaining meaningful work for those of us over 50. However, the piece reinforced many of the stereotypes that the younger generation holds regarding baby boomers.

We older workers too could write an article stereotyping the younger generation workforce, with generalizations regarding their lack of social and interviewing skills (unless they are on a cellphone), their inability to write a coherent memo using fully constructed sentences (not texting), and their loyalty to a workplace seldom lasting longer than two years. However, I would refrain from such over-generalizations....

I started using a computer 25 years ago. I don't consider myself "technologically challenged."

Mark O'Connell, of Irvine, makes a similar point:

Your "helpful hints" counsel older job seekers to be coy about their age. Where is there any mention of our wonderful age-discrimination laws that protect older workers so they don't have to obfuscate to apply for a job?

How about The Times showing a little leadership in pushing for enforcement of discrimination laws or beefing up existing laws so they actually are enforceable?

Photo: A boomer job hunt at Kinko's.  Credit: Los Angeles Times.

Isn't it enough that this country built about 700 miles of fencing along a 2,000-mile border with Mexico -- the previous administration's stunt gesture toward "border control" that ranks up there with the TSA yanking grannies out of line at the airport to show that it's protecting us from hijackers, and discrimination suits?

That infuriating fence despoiled hundreds of square miles of precious habitat and endangered thousands of species of flora and fauna while likely doing precious little to stop illegal immigration. (Funnily enough, what's slowed the northward flow most effectively is the crummy economy north of the border.)

Yet now this administration's Customs and Border Protection wants to Vietnamize the border. It wants to defoliate miles and miles of brush along the banks of the Rio Grande so that no one can hide in the canebrakes.

What, has some government contractor taken out a patent on some new chemical -- Agent Naranja?

More than 30 years after that fabled last helicopter left Vietnam, and this is what ranks as a big idea? The idea's on hold at the moment, mostly, I gather, to mollify the Mexicans. Americans living along the border have already had their property despoiled; the border law passed by Congress allows the fence to be no respecter of environmental concerns or property rights, all in the name of that unassailable imperative, homeland security.

I hope that the Obama administration will come to its senses, both about poisoning the banks of a vital river and about continuing the building of this ridiculous fence. Where is the Janet Napolitano who, as governor of Arizona, famously said: Show me a 50-foot-tall fence and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder? Has Homeland Security bamboozled her out of that?

You want to patrol the border and keep the habitat poison-free at the same time? I hear there are a lot of Americans out of work. Maybe some of them would like to put on a Border Patrol uniform. Maybe others of them would like to make topiary out of those bushes. And if we still can't persuade them to do the job, there's a labor hiring hall right across the border.

In today's opinion pages, the Times editorial board calls on lawmakers in Sacramento to quickly accept federal unemployment aid.

The main sticking point over ABX3 23 was the possibility that the state - or rather, employers located here - might be left holding the bag for $900 million in extended unemployment benefits after the federal aid runs out in June 2010. Backers of the bill disagreed, but its sponsor, Assemblyman Joe Coto (D-San Jose), has been working with state officials to eliminate any potential ambiguity. With the state's unemployment insurance fund on the edge of insolvency, the concern about the cutoff date makes sense. But that's no excuse to stall this crucial bill, not when so many people need the help.

The ed board also notes that Buick - Buick! - has scored at the top of J.D. Power's dependability survey. Now why is that a surprise? Detroit apparently has been turning itself around, but still has some serious image retooling to do - and that may play an important role in efforts by General Motors and Chrysler to get a favorable bailout deal from Washington. Plus, the board scowls at the Final Exit Network, which is giving legitimate efforts to help the terminally ill die with dignity.

On the Op-Ed side, Denise Dresser keeps an eye on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip to Mexico this week, and calls for her to bring with her a "clear, unified message from the Obama administration regarding the sort of relationship it wants with Mexico."

Historian Joyce Appleby sees parallels between President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first mid-term election, in which he secured his hold on his New Deal reforms, and the 2010 mid-terms that Barack Obama will face.

The two men share a lot. As president, both face the awesome task of reviving the economy. Obama's personal popularity outstrips support for his party, as did FDR's. Of necessity, Obama's hope for matching Roosevelt's successful record of reform and recovery is going to rest on his pulling off an electoral victory in 2010 like FDR's 76 years ago.

Columnist Gregory Rodriguez examines what happened to Thomas Saenz, the former lawyer with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund who became counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Saenz was believed to be headed toward nomination to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, but someone else got the job. Was it because Saenz was an effective campaigner for immigrant rights?

The positive spin from Obama supporters is that the White House wanted to keep its powder dry for a future full-on fight over immigration reform. And perhaps that's true. But to think that anti-immigrant extremists could kill the nomination of a man most would describe as a mainstream liberal, not to mention someone who is on the record as being opposed to the idea of open borders, is bothersome.

The editorial board continues to parse President Obama's budget intentions, noting that though his blueprint is indeed transparent about the costs of the Iraq war, it is less forthright about the probably near-term future of the economy. The board also bemoans fractured immigration policies that provide residency to some refugees but not others, and sides with a student who gave a religiously-based speech in class about his views against same-sex marriage, after which he allegedly was taken to task by the professor.

As long as he was opposing same-sex marriage on religious grounds -- and not harassing individual students -- he was making an argument that figured prominently in the public debate about Proposition 8. It's not an argument this page finds persuasive, but we wouldn't try to suppress it. Neither should a college preparing students to live in a contentious democracy.

On the other side of the fold, political journalist Marc Cooper chides Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for his  fuzzy response to questions about whether he will commit to serving out a full second term if he is elected. Take a pass on running for governor and pay full attention to the city's tremendous needs, Cooper advises. And Joel Stein reflects on how everyone loves science, until it contradicts what they want to believe.

People on the far right don't believe in evolution, global warming or doing stem cell research. Most of their opposition is rooted in the fact that these ideas challenge the Bible, which is the oldest book they know. I'm guessing Greek conservatives are OK with killing your dad and making love to your mom.

But since I moved to L.A., I've discovered that liberals hate science just as much as conservatives, and they talk about it a lot more. They'll reject any study that contradicts their Mother-Nature-is-perfect myth, which is oddly similar to the conservatives' thesis."

In Monday's pages, the Editorial Board casts an unhappy glance toward Democrats and their efforts to load up the economic stimulus package with bits and pieces of a longstanding political agenda:

Because any legislative effort to boost employment and end the recession will take months, if not years, to deliver its full benefits, it’s important that the psychic benefits are felt immediately. If people and businesses believe that the effort will improve job security and increase the demand for goods and services, they’ll be more likely to spend more and take more risks. But if they see the stimulus package as just another boondoggle for special interests, they’ll continue the miserliness that is exacerbating the downturn.

The board also points out that there is no vindication to be had for Bush Administration backers in a court ruling holding that the government does not need warrants to monitor electronic communications between Americans and suspected terrorists abroad.

On the Op-Ed page, the media director of the Federation for Immigration Reform's Los Angeles Office argues that the economy, education, healthcare, national security and the environment are top concerns of Latino voters -- ahead of immigration and amnesty. Television writer and producer April Smith expresses sorrow and a bit of anger at the closing and burial of the Palisades-Malibu YMCA Temescal Canyon swimming pool under orders of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. And columnist Gregory Rodriguez updates the rat race with a reassessment of the "leisure time" of the well-off.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Federal Communications Commission needs a makeover--an updated look, or at least attitude, for our time, the editorial board writes. That's especially true of the time and attention it gives to enforcing decency rules:

The FCC also showed an alarming willingness to use government power to impose ineffective and discriminatory decency rules on broadcasters in the name of shielding children from profane or violent programming. More relevant to a bygone era's media environment, such rules reflect how poorly the commissioners seem to understand today's technological realities.

The Obama family hasn't even had time to pick a puppy yet, and already President-elect Barack Obama is confronted with missile threats from Russia. Missile defense threats are rattling their own sabres, but Obama "should not react to the rhetoric from either quarter, but he should reconsider missile defense on its merits -- or lack thereof. The president-elect rightly is skeptical of the defense shield, given that it doesn't yet work and it's intended to defend against nuclear-tipped Iranian missiles that don't yet exist," the board advises.  It also calls on federal immigration authorities to be open about their rules for deportation of detained illegal immigrants and to inform potential deportess of their rights.

On the other side of the fold, Los Angele Unified school board member Tamar Galatzan wants a more consistent system for approving and assessing charter schools:

Charters should not be rewarded for simply out- performing their underachieving LAUSD counterparts. The philosophy of charter schools is based on accountability, and the district must hold them to their promises. Lack of accountability is not uncommon in the school district, but we cannot let it seep into the charter movement as well.

Arguments about the genocide in Rwanda are at the heart of a court case in which the African nation seeks to shake itself free of French influence. And Joel Stein calls for a "No Gays for a Day" day, in which the gay and lesbian community would display its financial clout by staying home from work and shopping.

Illustration by Signe Wilkinson/Philadelphia Daily News

The Opinion Manufacturing Division cranks out two Latino-flavored analyses today of exit-polling data from the Nov. 4 election. Columnist Tim Rutten slices and dices the numbers to reveal that even socially conservative Latino voters in L.A. strongly backed Barack Obama. The bad news for the GOP, Rutten writes, is that the results portend a long-term political realignment in the West. And in the editorial stack, the Times' board -- long a supporter of a comprehensive reform of U.S. immigration policy -- urges the President-elect to show his Latino constituency that he's taking a new direction on the issue:

He could put a stop to the factory raids the Department of Homeland Security has launched in Iowa, Mississippi and other states, including California, rounding up hundreds of undocumented workers. He might also forge bipartisan support for the so-called Dream Act, which would allow high-achieving, undocumented high school students to seek permanent residency if they go to college or enter the armed forces.

The editorial board also urges Congress again to stop playing political football with the Colombian free trade agreement, which is "good for Colombia and good for the United States." And it mocks the City Council for dropping a plan to let voters settle a dispute over whether the City Controller (currently, Laura Chick) can audit programs run by local elected officials:

When council members discovered that they too might come under controller scrutiny, they suddenly found the issue too important to put to the voters. Jose Huizar worried about a program he controls using a special fund from his district. Richard Alarcon demanded that someone audit the controller. Tom LaBonge pointed out, apropos of nothing, that Chick once gave a briefing to mayoral candidates challenging James K. Hahn (Alarcon neglected to mention that he was one of them).

Elsewhere on the Op-Ed page, medical researcher and author P. Michael Conn draws a parallel between two trends in the law: as more communities adopt ordinances to redefine pets as "animal companions," Congress is redefining the extreme tactics of some animal-rights activists as "terrorism." And Douglas Olin, a deputy assistant secretary of Commerce in the Clinton administration, urges Congress to demand more fuel-efficient cars and a better approach to labor relations from the Big Three automakers in return for a bailout:

With millions of jobs at stake and the potential repercussions of seeing an entire section of the industrial base collapse so soon after the fallout on Wall Street, it is a political, economic and social imperative for the government to do something. But why not do it in a way that challenges this key industry to also help address society's need to reduce consumption of foreign oil, curb greenhouse gas emissions and increase safety on our highways?

AP Photo/Ivan Moreno

Who can possibly stop talking election yet? Not the Times' Opinion Manufacturing Division. Both the editorial board and Wayne State University professor John Corvino predict that, as society gains a deeper understanding of and appreciation for gay rights, there's a good chance voters will repeal the newly passed Proposition 8 in coming years. The board calls on the African American community, which voted heavily in favor of the gay-marriage ban, to remember the shared struggle of civil rights and how once society viewed interracial marriage as ungodly -- a few decades before the child of an interracial couple would be elected president.

The editorial board also applauds both presidential candidates' speeches on election night. After a long absence, the board says, the John McCain who reaches across the aisle to make things work, and who puts service to his country, showed himself. And Barack Obama reminded Americans of something they also haven't heard in a long time -- that success depends on people giving to their country as well as taking from it.

On the other side of the fold, Patt Morrison wonders whether party labels of outlived their usefulness:

How meaningful and relevant are candidates' political parties anymore? When a New England Republican can be more progressive than a Texas Democrat, when millions regard themselves as independents and occupy the takeout-menu middle on political issues, why do we need to belong to parties? Why red, why blue, why even purple, when there's the big deluxe Crayola box to choose from?

In a burst of free advice for Obama, former Secretary of State Warren Christopher offers trandition guidance to the president-elect and Rosa Brooks has ideas for how he can mend the country's global relations.

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

If you haven't registered, hurry up. Only 134 days until the election.

No, I mean it. You have until midnight to register for the historic Nov. 4 presidential election, with its 12 California propositions and its bevy of taxes and bonds. But vote-by-mail ballots for that one have been out for two weeks, and I’ve moved on. If you live in the city of Los Angeles, the days just before and after election day are the ones that count. Nov. 3 begins the five-day period for candidates for city or school office to file a declaration of intention to run in the March 3, 2009 primary election. And Nov. 5 is the deadline for the City Council to put measures before the voters.

Expect five measures on that ballot, along with the election of mayor, city attorney, controller, eight City Council seats, half the school board and half the community college board. And hope those races aren’t close, or else you’re getting a runoff in May. And, a month after that, you’re most likely getting one of the most important California special elections in recent history, with measures to change the way we do budgeting, and maybe taxing, plus perhaps a measure to bail ourselves out of financial disaster. But if the special election doesn't happen in June, it will happen in November. And then, after a couple months off, it will be time for the state primary – governor, attorney general, and all of that.

You can get a leg up on the March election by checking out Wednesday’s Rules Committee meeting at City Hall, where the panel is expected to sign off on four ballot measures. They are: