$6.50 popcorn – it’s not the theater owners, but the spoiled Hollywood stars
Dear Editor,
Mr. Owens wrote a great letter and I agree with what he said. However I would like to comment about the $6.50 popcorn.
I know a little (just enough to be dangerous) about the movie business. Movie distribution is a very tightly controlled business. They control what the theaters can charge for the tickets and under what conditions. If theaters don’t comply they are fined or denied access to movies. The profit margin is so small that local theaters must sell hot dogs, popcorn, candy and soft drinks to pay the staff and other expenses like rent, insurance etc.
Movie stars are continually criticizing “big business” oppressing the workers. Maybe they should look at their own industry. Maybe they should share their huge profits with the minimum wage employees at their theaters.
My niece worked in theaters for years and loved her job. She left because they couldn’t afford to pay her enough to live on. It is not the theater owners who are the villains, its Hollywood.
Keith C. De Filippis, San Jose
President Obama ‘required’ to raise the debt ceiling if Republicans won’t go along
Dear Editor,
Some people say that President Obama has the option to use the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling in case Congress fails to do so. They are wrong. Obama doesn’t have an option to raise the debt ceiling, he has a responsibility to do so.
The Constitution says, “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”
Obama is therefore REQUIRED to raise the debt ceiling if Congress doesn’t. It’s not an option. It’s something he has to do under the Constitution.
Marc Perkel, Gilroy
