Letters

In 2016, I returned home to Spokane and received amazing training, care and opportunities through an AmeriCorps position, as I finished up my graduate program. My six months with Second Harvest of the Inland Northwest and their partnership with Spokane Regional Health District provided me with life experience that allowed me to move to Portland, Oregon, to pursue a career in public health.

Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador was a leader in blocking the repeal and replacement of Obamacare. My understanding is he wasn't consulted enough and the replacement bill didn't have all he wanted in it.

Humpty Trumpty sat on a wall (to be paid for by Mexico) not caring for truth and justice at all. With Rep. McMorris Rodgers at his side, he pointed at inauguration crowds and the popular vote and lied. Humpty Trumpty promised to make health care affordable and available to all, and they did nothing but fall in the polls as the Republican majority in the House broke and could not be put back together again.

With regards to the pro (March 26) and con (March 13) letters commenting on the KSPS-sponsored politicized travel talks by Rick Steves, I would add this analogy. If he came to deliver a lecture about travels to the South and described the confederacy in the same manner as he did Nazi Germany (this year) or Palestinian Arabs (last year), would Spokanites accept his views as enlightening and balanced? I doubt it, and I doubt KSPS would sponsor such a "travel" lecture.

Thank you, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, for always looking out for the little guy, if your definition of "little guy" includes the big internet providers. Rep. McMorris Rodgers was one of the multitude of Republican members of Congress who sold their vote in order to overturn the internet privacy protection for the ordinary citizen, approved just last year, in return for campaign donations by said internet providers.

Regarding Rich Landers' March 9 article in the Outdoor section, I absolutely loved it. Loose dogs are huge problem out and about in the area. I am a service dog handler, which means I have a disability requiring the use of the dog and we frequently encounter loose or badly behaved dogs (or badly behaved owners) all over the place.

What's going on? In the land of Piers Morgan, strict gun control and kumbaya, people are still being killed. All over Europe mass murders are attempted, and succeeding, not by using guns but rather by the use of explosives, cars and knives. In jolly old England they blew up a couple of buses, cut a guy's head off in the street and used a car and knife to kill four and injure over 40.

President Trump's budget proposal released March 16 calls for reduction or elimination of the budgets of many crucial government agencies. One agency slated for funding elimination is the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). At the same time, he proposes to increase the current defense budget of $584 billion by $52.3 billion.

She said what? Yep, on national TV, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said of President Trump, "I trust him. He is shaking things up." Well, we must agree that he is shaking things up by cutting $3 million from Meals on Wheels for needy citizens, yet spends $3 million each weekend on golf jaunts to Florida.

Regarding the March 25 article on child-care costs: I hate to sound uncaring, but should people really be having children who can't afford to take care of them? People depending on the government to take care of them is the attitude that is ruining this country and our state. Another free handout to people, many of whom make bad decisions in their lives, is costing the taxpayers millions of dollars.

One of the little recognized features of the Affordable Care Act was the elimination of the doughnut hole, a part of Medicare D which has been a bane and a burden to millions of Americans on Medicare and thousands here in the 5th District when it comes to pharmaceuticals. The hole has shrunk, because of the ACA, down to its present level of 40 percent, with the planned elimination by the end of 2020.

The Spokesman's publisher and editors are increasingly appearing to be apologists for the Trump administration as they continue to bury what should be front page coverage of the most troubled early presidency in American history.

The press has been having literary coronaries over President Trump's claim that "Obama" had his phone "wiretapped." Based on multiple sources and most recently based on comments made by Rep. Devin Nunes, it looks increasingly likely Trump's staff was indeed surveilled and that numerous conversations were recorded under Obama's tenure. I say surveilled, you say wiretapped. A distinction without a difference, and therefore not worthy of a coronary.

Our attorney general was quoted recently as saying, "Are we not a democracy?" Unless we are acting through a vote on an initiative or referendum, the answer, he should have known, is no. We have a republic, a representative government in which those we elect to the legislative branch make the laws, supposedly according to our wishes. Benjamin Franklin famously said, when asked about what kind of government had been created, "A republic madam, if you can keep it." I'm afraid we won't keep it if some elected officials don't know what kind of government they work for.

I recently read with interest the March 20 letter by Megan Tucker. I agree that students need be provided education in basic financial topics, including the value and potential pitfalls of student loans. Basic information on other topics such as credit and debit cards, checking accounts, real estate and personal loans, stocks and bonds, and the power of compound interest should also be addressed. However, I believe this financial information is important to everyone, not just prospective college students, and should be provided to all high school students, prior to graduation.

In reviewing the list of top 10 happiest countries (March 21 article), I couldn't help but notice a common thread among them beyond the qualities identified in the article: all but one have long offered universal health care, either single-payer or two-tier (the exception, Switzerland, offers health care that is mandate-based but tightly regulated by the government to ensure universal affordability, access, and efficacy).

I'm taking this opportunity to praise The Spokesman-Review for recent changes. The only additional improvement I can think of is Michael Ramirez. The less Ramirez the better. I can appreciate a clever dig from the opposition but the guy has nothing. He's as childish as he is mean-spirited.

Why would you impose a tax only on soda drinkers to fund police staffing? What happened to the millions of dollars of tax revenue generated by the legalization of marijuana? Wouldn't that be a better option for funding additional police staffing issues?

As an independent pharmacy owner serving several thousand patients and employing over 13 people, I would like to thank Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers for her leadership as an original cosponsor of H.R. 1038, the Improving Transparency and Accuracy in Medicare Part D Spending Act, to bring greater price transparency to pharmacies and Medicare beneficiaries alike.