Letters To The Editor

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Puny wages demonstrate lack of respect

Re: “Activists push ‘living wage’ of $8.25 an hour” (Sept. 19).

I was somewhat taken aback by comments attributed to Rodney Fort, an economics professor at Washington State University. One may infer from Fort’s comments that fault for earning less than a “living wage” lies with the employee, because workers have the opportunity to improve their job skills.

This assessment is quite removed from reality. Not all workers can afford the time or cost of retraining. Factors such as working multiple jobs, family obligations and practical child care are but some reasons why retraining is not always feasible. Also, some marginalized workers already have acquired degrees and lack the faith to invest in further education.

I believe the solution to this problem lies with the employer and society’s view of workers in general. An employer who makes millions of dollars while his employees make less than the living wage is displaying an outlandish act of disrespect, which contributes to the dehumanization of the underpaid worker.

I was raised in a rural community and taught to respect and appreciate the work done by anyone, whether it be in the field, a factory, a store, an office or a construction site. I learned that everyone in my community worked to make our community a better place to live. Workers were valued for their services and their humanity, not their title or diploma. This attitude needs to be absorbed into our national consciousness.

Every worker can be treated with the dignity and respect that all of us as human beings expect and deserve. The earning of a living wage is just the beginning. Jesse A. Hansen Spokane

Income data can be misleading

Re: the “living wage” campaign:

The statistics are off, which makes the problem seem way huge. There are many people in this area who are like us. Our yearly income puts us at poverty level - on paper. But we are at an age where we have no bills, except for outrageous property taxes, food, utilities and entertainment. Some of us have also inherited modest sums from deceased parents.

There’s an old saying about lies, damned lies and statistics.

Of course we care about our young people. We all worked for crappy wages when we were young. It takes a while to get all the goodies. “Instant gratification” was not in the World War II and Korean War veterans’ lexicon.

A higher minimum wage only drives up the price of goods, services and the gas it takes to get them to you. In the end, it hurts young, struggling families. Alice F. Peck Liberty Lake

Key is to eliminate bottom-bracket tax

I’ve read with great interest articles about people wanting to raise the minimum wage. Perhaps the opinion of a person who’s never earned more than $8,000 in any of my 20-plus years of earning my own living would be of interest.

A mandatory minimum wage increase could be inflationary. Most of the time, whenever employees get an across-the-board pay increase, the employer raises the price of his products to make up the difference. I wouldn’t expect them to do differently, nor would I expect anyone to voluntarily give up a part of their income because of a government-ordered pay raise for others.

Thus, a mandatory wage increase increases the cost of living for all. In the end, everyone loses - especially those who received the pay raise. Their cost of living is actually higher than it was before the pay raise.

I propose a tax cut to zero income tax for those whose annual income is less than, say, $15,000. This would not increase an employer’s cost of doing business, thus is not inflationary. Plus, not having to pay any income tax until these suggested tax brackets are reached by all would put more money into the hands of all, increasing the buying power of all and improving everyone’s standard of living.

Although the rich would benefit, this tax break would be for everyone.

Yes, Reaganomics works, as long as people use their extra money to pay off all debts instead of increasing their spending - which is what got this country in the financial mess it’s currently in. Joseph A. Kranz Newport, Wash.

Check the numbers - and think

The cartoon comparing the wages of a CEO and a child care provider in the Sept. 29 Spokesman-Review made an excellent point.

We talk a lot in Spokane about how important our children are to us. Yet, the group Professionals in Early Childhood Education recently did a comparison of annual salaries in Spokane that showed animal trainers ($21,840), garbage collectors ($18,000) and laundry workers ($12,480) all make more than the average early childhood teacher ($10,338).

Perhaps our community needs to consider what this says about our priorities. Craig A. Peterson Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

What about IRS higher-ups?

The IRS has suspended a number of mid-level managers while it investigates recent allegations.

Mid-level managers, huh. Once again, things roll downhill.

What about the superiors these mid-level managers answered to? They were either ignorant or they are culpable. Whatever the case, they, too, should be out of a job. Ken R. Grooms Spokane

Ultimate reform: sales tax only

The IRS’ destructive and intrusive nature has come into the national spotlight again. Again, the question is being raised: What should be done?

We need to urge Congress and the Senate to pass HR 2001, The National Sales Tax Act of 1997 (NSTA). NSTA will abolish the IRS and repeal personal and corporate income taxes, estate, gift taxes and all non-trust fund dedicated excise taxes.

In its place, a 15 percent sales tax will be imposed on the sale of goods and services. To ensure that the basic necessities of life remain tax-free, every wage earner will receive a refund equal to the sales tax rate times the poverty level.

No American will have to fear an invasive, “guilty until proven innocent” tax audit again. Savings and investment will be dramatically stimulated.

Those who obtain their income through criminal activity, or as illegal aliens who have in the past avoided taxes by not filing, will pay their fair share every time they make a purchase.

Individuals will be able to avoid the countless forms and the 12,000 pages of IRS code and regulations that now attend the income tax. The $600 billion and 5.4 billion hours it takes Americans to file and comply with their income taxes will be zeroed.

These contrasts, along with many others, are stark.

For more information on the NSTA, call Citizens for an Alternative Tax System, (800) 767-7577; or visit its Web site: http://www.cats.org/start.html. Dale R. LaVoie Mead

Gorton, not mascots, is a threat

Being a Native American, I do not find Native American names for sports teams offensive. Let’s focus our energy on a real threat to Native Americans: Sen. Slade Gorton. James F. Sothers Spokane

Reformers could up-end whole system

Sally M. Jackson states that campaign finance reform is due.

If real campaign finance reform were to take place there would be no end to the ramifications.

The key word in special interest is “special.” How would the rich and powerful continue to be special and control the politicians in the face of finance reform? If campaign finance reform were actually to come to pass, the representatives might stop acting in the best interest of the rich minority and actually pass laws that favor the poor majority.

What is the point of living in a capitalistic country if you can’t be both rich and powerful? Part of being powerful is controlling your government that passes laws to keep the rabble in line.

With true campaign finance reform, rich folks would have no real advantage over poor folks. Next thing you know, people of color would want out of prison, then decent jobs and health care. The insurance industry would not be able to restore sanity and stop the madness.

Oh! This campaign finance reform thing is dangerous. People like Sally M. Jackson are dangerous. W. Michael McGinty Spokane

THE ENVIRONMENT

Urge best future for grizzly bears

Soon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide if and how the grizzly bear will be reintroduced into the Salmon-Selway-Bitteroot area of North Idaho and Western Montana. Of several alternatives the agency will consider, two stand out.

Alternative 4, backed by most wildlife biologists, would return the bear under the full protection of the Endangered Species Act.

Not only would Alternative 4 protect and ensure the bears’ survival, it would prevent further timber industry intrusion into what remains of roadless areas and healthy wildlife habitat in North Idaho and Western Montana.

Alternative 1, backed by the timber industry, the Republican administrations of Montana and Idaho, and a few government biologists, would attempt to reintroduce the bear but would not provide for its full protection under the Endangered Species Act. Alternative 1 would also allow Forest Service roads and logging in these pristine areas.

Management of the grizzly bear and much of its home range would be decided by a council of 15, appointed by the administrations of Montana and Idaho. With Alternative 1, the future of the grizzly bear, along with that of other wildlife and habitat, would be placed in the hands of those more interested in timber and mining, and it would be at the mercy of state and local politics.

If you wish to protect the grizzly bear and what remains of the wild, roadless areas of North Idaho and Western Montana, send your comments today in support of Alternative 4 and against Alternative 1 to:

Grizzly Bear Coordinator, U.S.F.W.S., University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812. John L. Noyes, M.D. Kalsipell, Mont.

Forest Service has checkered record

The Sept. 17 guest column by national forest supervisors Dave Wright, R. Vaught and J. Caswell defending Forest Service management contains astonishing statements that will be strongly contested by many who have observed Forest Service operations over past decades.

True, the Forest Service is required to invite public input on timber sales (except those recently labeled “salvage”). However, public concerns are often ignored unless the sales are taken to court.

Data supplied by the Forest Service’s own wildlife biologists, for example, are also ignored. Some Forest Service employees do have a sense of public service, including those who split off a while back to form the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, a group whose professional input is likewise dismissed, and whose continued existence is a reproach to the agency.

If Forest Service management is so benign, then where are all the fish?

Why are more than 900 waterways in Idaho alone designated “degraded”?

As for using timber sales “as a management tool” to promote ecosystem and forest health, reduce forest fires, slides, floods, etc., we must recognize that these hazards exist precisely because of previous Forest Service management.

Wright, et al, should read their own Inner Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project, in which impartial scientists conclude that inland forests and ecology are now seriously damaged because of inappropriate logging and other Forest Service practices.

If Forest Service supervisors designed 50-year plans for forest maintenance and to protect economic stability for rural communities instead of focusing on “getting out the cut,” they might be more worth listening to. Joanne V. Hirabayashi Priest River, Idaho

AFTERMATH

Ward should surrender driver’s license

Cooper Jones was one of my best friends. We were a part of Boy Scouts together, and competed as a biathlon team, Cooper the biker and I the runner. We had plans to race together in the future.

But all of our future together has been brutally ripped from me because of one woman’s inattentiveness behind the wheel of a car.

My family and I are outraged that Glenna Ward has received only a tap on the wrist in exchange for a promising young man’s life. I wonder how Ward can live with herself, knowing she’s given only $250 for a life?

We believe the proper thing for her to do would be to sacrifice something in her life, her driver’s license, for example. Out of respect for the family, whose members still have to drive on the same road she uses, as well as the general public, also in danger because of her inattentiveness, we urge her to please do the right thing. Lucas Angelo DeSmet, Idaho

Ward has also been traumatized

I am a little upset with Doug Clark’s column of Sept. 30 regarding Cooper Jones. I feel he was looking at the entire situation with blinders on.

The article made it sound as though Glenna Ward was barreling down the road and not paying attention when she hit Jones. I know for a fact that this is not completely true.

I work for the insurance company that insures Ward. When she called to report the accident, she stated that she was coming up over a rise and was blinded by the setting sun, and so was not able to see Jones until it was too late.

As a mother, I can only imagine how Jones’ parents must feel. But one should look at the other side as well. Ward has also been traumatized and will have to live with the fact that she killed someone for the rest of her life. Having this hanging over your head can be just as difficult as the loss of a loved one.

Every article your newspaper has printed about this accident has been slanted toward Jones. It’s time to look at the other side and think about how Ward is dealing with it. Loretta J. Donaldson Spokane

Speak up for better justice

Glenna Ward took Cooper Jones’ promising young life and in doing so, she caused the family a undefinable amount of grief.

In treating her offense so lightly, the district attorney’s office and Washington State Patrol have made this unbelievably horrible situation even worse.

If you share my disappointment in how this incident is being handled, contact your representative. The legislative hotline is 1-800-562-6000. It’s a question of accountability. Katie R. Droter Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Double jeopardy protection ignored

I don’t not know exactly what happened on Ruby Ridge back in 1992. Perhaps Kevin Harris should have been found guilty of murder, perhaps not. There are, however, two facts of which I am certain.

First, the Fifth Amendment clearly says no person can be tried twice for the same offense. Second, Harris was charged with murder, then tried and acquitted in federal court. Regardless of the wording in some arcane Idaho law, the attempt to try Harris a second time for the same offense is just plain wrong. James V. Hogan Newman Lake

Review not fit for a former Prince

It’s obvious from your paper’s review of “The artist formerly known as Prince” that staff writer Winda Bennedetti hates him. She stated her disdain for him in terms of size, calling him “little man” and “impish.” Glenn G. Bonacum Spokane