Letters To The Editor
SOCIAL SECURITY
Put program on the table
My wife and are 70-year-old Social Security recipients with five children and six grandchildren. We get mildly annoyed when pious politicians claim they are looking at all federal programs for possible budget reductions “except Social Security, of course.” They boast that Social Security is not on the table.
Why should Social Security be exempted from honest scrutiny? It is by far the most expensive nonmilitary program in the federal budget. Less than 40 percent of the expenditures go to old folks who have paid into the program for 40-plus years. Sixty percent goes to administrative costs and non-age-related recipients such as AIDS victims. The bureaucracy of the Social Security program is horrendous.
There are many old folks like us who are more concerned about the economic health of our country and the future of our grandchildren and their grandchildren than we are about the size of our next Social Security check - not that the latter is not important.
Donald Morrison Spokane
Hands off funds we’ve saved
Let’s try this one more time.
The Social Security program is not a welfare program or an entitlement. It is a structured retirement insurance plan paid into by all non-government workers. Not all participants live long enough to collect on their Social Security funds. Some live longer and, as a result, draw more than others from this fund.
This fund is not tax revenues. Tax revenues purchase bombers, build roads, pay salaries, aid the needy, etc.
My question to any representative who considers Social Security an entitlement is: Do you consider yours and all other government employees’ retirement pensions entitlements/welfare?
Some of us have been paying into this fund since the 1930s, while at the same time paying all the other taxes for bombers, roads, salaries, helping the needy, etc. Since the 1950s, our elected officials have been allowed access to our retirement fund for government business. Was this a loan to be repaid with interest or was it just stolen?
Let’s encourage our elected representatives to police the money being disbursed from our fund, so that only the intended recipients are involved. Betty Jean Blackman Spokane
Social Security under attack
We keep hearing from House Speaker Newt Gingrich and other representatives of the party in power that Social Security is headed toward insolvency.
Having said that, the Republicans who wrote the recently defeated budget-balancing constitutional amendment sought permission to use more than $600 billion in Social Security trust fund surpluses against deficits over the next seven years.
If, as Gingrich claims, Social Security will need the money down the line, by what ridiculous failure of logic does the GOP seek to take that money paid in by retirees, future retirees and their employers, for other purposes?
If the amendment eventually passes and is ratified, future Social Security recipients will indeed hear a “gigantic sucking sound.” Harry Missildine Moscow, Idaho
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Get rid of Davis-Bacon Act
The Davis-Bacon Act has merit in its basic concept. With the application affected by human nature, those applying this program have proven incompetency in business management and logic and deviated from the original intent.
Organized labor is necessary because of industrial abuse of it.
Within our governmental philosophy is a factor of balance. Unions claim the Davis-Bacon Act provides this. However, they ignore the negative aspects that have become evident over the years of the act being enforced.
The human nature element in its application too often destroys its intent and purpose, and the unions would have you believe that the only qualified mechanics are members of their trade unions.
When I was teaching construction and related business management at the college level, it was necessary to point out the pitfalls of the Davis-Bacon Act.
As executive director of the Shoshone Joint Housing Authority in Nevada, I found it necessary to initiate a congressional investigation into HUD’s application of the Davis-Bacon Act. Both the Shoshone and Goshute tribal councils authorized me to put a stop to HUD’s use of the act on the Goshute project.
Before I could correct the problem, one contractor had to file bankruptcy. HUD threatened to cut off funding but had to withdraw because of the investigation of their impropriety.
Lack of quality was evident by several of the subcontractors whose employees were members of their respective trade unions and were salaried under Davis-Bacon.
Accolades are in order for Rep. George Nethercutt for initiating long overdue legislation that would abolish the Davis-Bacon Act. William E. Sweikert Liberty Lake
Keep high-tech jobs in U.S.
House Republicans approved a $10 billion budget cut to fulfill their “Contract with America.” The cuts were made against people who can least afford to have their subsistence reduced - rent assistance to the poor, public housing, veterans hospitals and medical equipment.
Other cuts include law enforcement and cuts in grants to high-tech companies to keep new product ideas in America.
What happened to the war on crime and “it’s the economy, stupid”? It sounds more like a contract on America. Why not deeper cuts in the military?
College students and their families spend hard-earned money and work hard to get a degree. High-tech jobs are flowing out of this country by the thousands through companies moving their plants to foreign countries, industrial espionage by foreign agents, and acquisitions by foreign countries of companies that develop new product ideas but cannot afford to produce and market their products.
America, wake up! It is time that college students and their families launch a national movement through their universities on the scale of the Vietnam War protest movement to keep high-tech jobs in America. Eldon D. Sherland Kennewick
Democrats in for it now
Although the Democrats can claim a political victory at the expense of the American people with the temporary defeat of the balanced budget amendment, they now have placed themselves in the unenviable position of trying to defend their refusal to live within their means come election time. The Republicans will use this as a bludgeon, pounding away at those who refused to do the will of the people.
In the meantime, the House will bring back the super majority for raising taxes in April 1996, for which they were only a handful of votes short in the first place. And the Senate will again vote on the balanced budget amendment in the glare of election media coverage. This will be fun to watch.
Democrats may have won a small battle this time, but they will pay heavily in the upcoming political war. Chris Warren Spokane
BUREAU OF MINES OFFICE
No pork here, just progress
As a geologist with the Western Field Operations Center, U.S. Bureau of Mines, Spokane, for 20 years, I am familiar with the importance of our mineral resource studies to federal land use planning, and our important expertise in remediating pollution caused by abandoned mines.
The importance of the bureau’s work came home to me last week. My 20-year-old son was in a motorcycle accident and had his lower left leg severely damaged. The surgeons installed a titanium alloy rod, the only completely bio-compatible metal, into Stefan’s shattered tibia. Titanium metal must be cast in an oxygen- and nitrogen-free environment or it is too brittle. The consumable electric arc melting (CEAM) process, by which titanium ingots are produced in a partial vacuum within inert gas, is the basis for the modern titanium industry - a process developed by the Bureau of Mines at Albany, Ore.
Bureau of Mines research not only involves producing unbiased scientific data for government decision makers and state-of-the-art technology for mining, mineral extraction and mine safety. Our research has spinoffs benefiting all aspects of modern life, including the medical, defense, aviation, aerospace, auto and recreational industries, to name a few.
Government pork? I don’t think so. Thomas J. Peters Elk
Spokane operation should remain
The Wilderness Act of 1964 mandated the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the U.S. Geological Survey to inventory the mineral resources and resource potential of units of the National Wilderness Preservation System. This they did for those units existing at the time the act was passed.
In 1984, numerous new wildernesses were created in several western states, including Washington and Oregon. None of those wilderness areas have been surveyed for their mineral values as required by law.
Congress evidently is not now aware of that mandate and has never explicitly appropriated funds to study the areas. Also, the Bureau of Mines has never requested those funds, preferring to concentrate on higher-profile programs.
The Spokane office of the Bureau of Mines has the expertise to make the required mineral studies; many employees there are veterans of the earlier wilderness studies. Combined with the mass of mineral data in the Spokane office and the presence of expert mineral resource evaluators, it makes good sense to retain the office here. Ronald B. Stotelmeyer Spokane
LEGAL SERVICES
Don’t block assistance for poor
I am a low-income mother, and I am appalled by the Sunday front page article. Why shouldn’t we low-income families receive attorneys’ help if we are in need of one?
Just because we are low-income doesn’t mean we don’t deserve it as much as the wealthy do. I am grateful to know that Legal Services is there for us and I commend the men and women who do this.
The only reason lawmakers want funding stopped is so they can get a fatter paycheck with this money. Sherrie Rowden Spokane
Bulwark of fair play, democracy
Legal Services lawyers uphold the rule of law for our society’s poor. Some Legal Services lawyers represent clients in challenges to federal and state legislative initiatives that, if implemented, will cause pain, hardship and homelessness.
But Legal Services does so much more. Every day, nationwide, legal services lawyers, in partnership with thousands of volunteer private lawyers, use the civil justice system to protect women and children from abuse and domestic violence, preserve housing rights of people being illegally evicted, defend homeowners from foreclosure, and fight to ensure that those who have a legal claim for public assistance get the benefits to which they are entitled. In 1994, nearly 20,000 low-income clients were served in Washington.
Legal Services lawyers are respected professionals. Yet when they speak on behalf of clients who are welfare mothers, migrant farm workers, disabled children, low-income senior citizens, etc., they speak on behalf of those whom powerful interests don’t want to hear - and, in doing so, may offend those who want them silenced.
The beauty of our nation lies in its promise of equal justice. Legal Services lawyers are an important part of that promise. When introducing the bill creating the current Legal Services Corp., President Richard Nixon observed, “Justice is served far better and differences are settled more rationally within the system than on the streets.”
To those who would dismantle funding for Legal Services: If the poor cannot look to the justice system for redress on an equal footing with other members of society, can our democracy survive? Nancy J. Isserlis, president Board of directors, Spokane Legal Services Center
IN THE PAPER
Cartoon, reality differ greatly
While Milt Priggee’s Feb. 23 cartoon on affirmative action might be accurate in some incidences, I don’t feel that it expresses true public opinion.
As a white male, I’m not crying because of a possible job shortage due to affirmative action. I’d be thrilled if an African-American were to beat me out of a job because he/she is more qualified. Hopefully, this would tell me I just might have to work a little harder to achieve what I want. But when white males don’t get jobs and African-Americans do because of affirmative action, it hurts not only white males but African-Americans also.
Competition breeds success. When the government makes excuses for any group the competitive spirit that has made our country great is hampered. Racism is a problem, but should the government sponsor class warfare to deal with it? Fairness needs to be maintained in the workplace, but is affirmative action fair?
Priggee portrays the white man as Mr. Universe while the African-American is portrayed as an incapable weakling. African-Americans are just as capable as whites and should be judged by their merits, not their skin color.
Giving in to the mentality that one lacks the background to be successful goes against everything men like Thomas Jefferson founded this nation upon. Overcoming odds fueled the fire of the American Revolution. African-Americans need to pull themselves up without reverse discrimination.
Our great nation needs to re-establish the quality of the workplace it once had by abolishing affirmative action and hiring the best person for the job. Michael D. Sterner Spokane
Photo of kids with guns ‘disgusting’
Shame on you, Spokesman-Review.
In this day and age when children are killing children, how can you possibly justify the picture on the front page of the (March 2) Region section? Babies playing with guns.
It’s disgusting and demoralizing and inappropriate. Nancy Wrightington Cheney
Stop adding glamor to violence
What was The Spokesman-Review thinking in publishing the picture of two young boys playing guns (March 2)?
With all the violence in our society today and what seems to be an increase in violence among our youths, why glamorize such activity? Joyce Schroeder Spokane
SCHOOLS
Some looking for solutions at Chase
My daughter is a student at Chase Middle School. Her former school was Cataldo Catholic School.
She knew none of the Chase students, teachers or faculty before her first day of school.
She thinks Dr. Lionel Harding-Thomas is terrific, and she trusts him. She thinks Principal Rodger Lake is great, and she likes him. She thinks all her teachers are great, and she likes them.
She also thinks there are problems at Chase that need to be resolved.
Unfortunately some people who could be helping to identify the problems, as Dr. Harding-Thomas has done, or to find solutions to the problems, as Mr. Lake is doing, are spending a good deal of time and energy pointing fingers, looking for one person to blame.
Fortunately others are following a more constructive path, looking for solutions to the problems.
These two men are both doing their best to address a difficult, complex situation. They are not adversaries but members of a team, working for all of our children.
Racism today is subtle and painful to admit. It consists more of thoughtlessness and lack of understanding than intentional cruelty. Only by open, respectful, two-way communication can it be eliminated. Susan Upington-Guffin Spokane
Thomas-Harding excellent man
I met Dr. Lionel Thomas-Harding 13 years ago when my family and I moved to Spokane. I found him to be open, honest and caring, and blessed with a passion for justice.
As one of the founding directors of Samaritan Center, he was instrumental in our gaining community recognition and respect.
Our community is fortunate to have a man of his integrity and dignity to call us all to live out the dream of justice and peace. It is no surprise that his evaluations over the years have been exemplary. I have been stirred by his public call for Spokane to respect all its citizens and to live together in harmony. We have seen too often how people who stand for peace and justice are attacked when they call us to a higher standard.
I urge the authorities in School District 81 to exonerate this good man and indeed to thank him for his good work. Robert Stevenson, Ph.D. Spokane