Weighing in
A weekly look at reader comments and reactions to the news
Readers clashed last week over the release of a study showing that a new medical school in Spokane would spur economic growth, bring thousands of new jobs and help alleviate projected physician shortages, with some fearing that it’s nothing more than a ploy to raise taxes and others expressing disbelief that anyone could oppose the effort.
de3: Remember when we were going to be a high tech mecca? That disappeared off the economic strategy a few years ago. Read about our state’s policy for industrial clustering in Spokane? The government’s list of Spokane-area clusters has mutated wildly every two or three years, and when different agencies issued cluster lists at the same time, they identified different clusters!
misjustice: Wow, it’s attitudes like the ones expressed above that make me wonder how this nation ever did anything. Negativity runs rampant, and while not all new ideas may pan out as originally thought, if we didn’t continue to try new things (even if we sometimes may fail or fall short) then we’d never have landed on the moon, or found a cure for polio, or won the war effort in WWII. I welcome the Riverpoint Medical School, the jobs it will create, the students it will attract, and the new possibilities that will flow from it.
Spokanada: All people want to do is whine and complain without offering any alternatives. However, I do agree with de3 about the lack of follow-through with previous economic development strategies. It seems like we just don’t have the local leadership to get anything done.
Oneanddone: One thing not mentioned is who pays the bill. This smells like a bright idea by a few socialists being spurred on by a consultant who has something to gain. The economic impact is a SWAG but the cost to the taxpayer is cold, hard cash. If this is such a sure thing why not let those in favor pony up the financing and then get their money back from the billions in “economic impact.”
Daisy Minken: When the so called “whining” is from seasoned veterans who have seen this expenditure movie before, no alternatives need be generated. Do any of you know how much this will cost? At a time when there are sufficient MDs coming from the residency programs? This new proposed medical school is an expensive idea. It’s a liberal tax-and-spend extravaganza!
Lulubelle: It’s this very mindset that keeps poor ol’ Spokane stuck in the ’70s and wondering why we’re always the laughingstock of cities half our size.
Scoutster: So easy to complain, so difficult to imagine.