Letters

Not even two weeks since the city's annual "Spokane Gives" campaign ends and the city demands Blessings Under the Bridge stops serving homeless people at the location they've done so for years. Apparently Spokane is only supposed to care during April when it's politically expedient to do so and boosts statistics to promote the city's image on the national stage? This is at the same time we learn several facilities and services for the homeless and vulnerable are closing?

If my car is running poorly and my neighbor the NASCAR mechanic tells me how I can fix it, will I say, "Nah, that can't be right"? Only if I'm a fool.

I was saddened to read about the defacing of the Morgan family home ("'Get out' spray-painted on home of refugee family," May 9). This is not the way I want my fellow Americans treated, nor would I want immigrants or minorities to feel as though their communities are not safe for them to live in.

Ed Rogers' rambling and inaccurate column about health care ("Democrats are dishonest about AHCA," May 9) concluded with the statement: "I can't help but question whether Democrats really think people are buying the argument that Republicans don't just want to take away your health care, but want you dead."

Thanks Rep. Raul Labrador for your instrumental vote in narrowly passing the Republican health-care bill. Raul voted for the bill without bothering to wait for the CBO report that would show the cost of the bill or how it would affect his constituents.

I'm a freshman in advanced classes with older kids. I try to do my work and pay attention in class, but it gets difficult. It becomes extremely stressful and most nights I'm up late doing homework and studying; I know this is true for many of my peers, too.

During my 40th Bloomsday run (missed the first one), Rep. McMorris Rodgers was much in the news, noting Jimmy Kimmel's comments related to preexisting conditions to justify her lone vote among Washington U.S. Representatives in favor of Trumpcare. I lived and worked in Spokane for 44 years, before recently moving to the West Side, and still participate in events, follow local news and visit friends.

In the past, I have not agreed with everything my representatives have done, but I have always believed most of them have truly been working to make this a better country. Now, after the slew of recommendations, the party in power has weakened environmental protection, our education system and individual freedoms, and I no longer feel this way.

Society today is constantly telling women to "be themselves" but "not that way." At a very young age, we are pressured to fit a certain mold. It's time we stop telling women how to be and start letting them be themselves. We have pressure to be girly and feminine and petite. Yet we also have pressure from people trying to break stereotypes to be big, unapologetic, sporty and not girly. Why can't we be both?

The Republican leadership's plan now headed to the Senate repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replacing it with a poor substitute would prove particularly harmful for my business and for the more than 4 million small-business owners, employees and self-employed entrepreneurs who have gained access to affordable coverage under the landmark health care law.

I was saddened (but not surprised) that you allowed the "Shame on you, Cathy" full page ad that ran May 9 to contain so many false facts.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' recent column (May 5 edition) seems to reveal preexisting conditions of her own: deafness to her constituents, blindness to health care realities and mental delusions about the impacts and effectiveness of Trumpcare.

My compliments to Bob Strong for his May 5 letter, "Right thing to do." Universal medical coverage may not be an individual right but it is certainly a government responsibility and obligation. It provides for the common defense against disease and injury. It efficiently promotes the general welfare and insures domestic tranquility. Health care for everybody is essential to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. We have forgotten and forsaken the purpose of our government and ignored the establishment of justice for all.

I want to applaud the citizens of France for their wisdom and intelligence to vote for Emmanuel Macron as their president. In my opinion, Marine Le Pen was a female version, if not worse, compared to our current dictator. Sadly, the U.S. election process being hacked by the Russians impaired and blinded so many U.S. voters to believing that hatred and bigotry were the only solutions to "Make America Great Again."

In response to the May 5 column by Cathy McMorris Rodgers: "My son has a preexisting condition. He's one of the reasons I voted."

I am so impressed with the recent candidates who are running in the Lake Pend Oreille School District. Richard Miller is a no-nonsense individual, who is straight forward and will answer your questions clearly. If he doesn't know the answer, he will admit it and research the information. He worked his way through school and wants to help allow opportunities for other students who are willing to put their effort into it.

Two news stories and a political cartoon on April 29 showed interesting connections. The Northwest section reported anti-Jewish graffiti on the Community Building in downtown Spokane. Clay Bennett's cartoon on the French presidential election depicted a station with two trains, a modern train (heading into the future?) carrying the name of one candidate and a Nazi-era cattle car (headed back to the past?) bearing graffiti of the other candidate's name. Hate directed against Jews still exists in this world, even here in Spokane.

Wayne Attwood wrote a letter regarding his opinion the state excise tax on the sale of a house is unfair, and I just wanted to clarify a couple of issues.

Thanks for printing the article about the recently released review of the Tesoro Anacortes proposed coal terminal project. Last year many of us showed up at our Spokane Convention Center to testify at a hearing about that coal terminal. Millennium is hoping to build it on their former aluminum site and to help the local economy via more jobs. My hope is to support fisheries and alternative energy jobs, rather than jobs that come at long term cost to the environment.