Letters To The Editor

Tue., Aug. 6, 1996

SPOKANE MATTERS

So much for being self-supporting

Re: “Taxpayers may pay to fix golf courses,” Region, July 31.

Where are all the angry golfers now? Now is when they should dig deep into their pockets and fix their self-sustaining golf courses. We should not have to fix their golf courses with our tax money.

My guess is that all of a sudden they’re whistling a different tune. Upkeep of parks and swimming pools is unimportant. But what is important is that we should keep those golf courses open for the self-centered.

Let’s face it, he who has the gold rules. Ken Thornberg Spokane

Story helped make our day

Sometimes we get so busy we fail to remember life’s little pleasures. Sunday morning, I read the article about the Spokane Marketplace, which my husband and I frequented when it was in the old location. A flood of memories washed over me along with a pang: we hadn’t been there in half of forever.

An hour later, we parked in one of the free spaces provided for Marketplace shoppers and spent the better part of the day strolling in the sunshine, greeting old friends and making new ones. We feasted on Lenny’s excellent burritos and fresh-squeezed lemonade from Raw Deal. We exchanged stories and ideas with jewelers, gardeners, antique dealers, and a photo-button maker. Later we returned home with some produce, plants for our garden, a few trinkets, a fine piece of inexpensive pottery and, most importantly, a sense of personal renewal and refreshment. Thanks, Spokane. Signe Lorentzen White Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Tweedledum, tweedledee both losers

What’s behind all this hype about President Clinton and Bob Dole? When the election is over, what difference will it make to the average American, regardless of the winning party?

Consider the track record. Which party has truly alleviated the tax on us, the suffering and the standard of living of the American people?

In 1912, the national debt amounted to $12 per person, with roughly 115 million American citizens. Today, 84 years later, the debt burden is over $26,000 per person and we have roughly 260 million people. During that period, we have had nothing but Democrats and Republicans in office, in power, in control. What relief do you expect with the incoming presidency and Congress?

Was former governor George Wallace correct when he said there wasn’t a dime’s worth of difference between a Republican and a Democrat?

If the American people don’t regain the ability to think logically, to analyze correctly, to ferret out the truth from all the lies and deceit that originate in Washington, D.C., we will have precisely the type of government that we deserve. If we do not take the time to search for the truth, we will continue with a flawed monetary system, exorbitant taxes and fewer and fewer freedoms. Earl G. Fox Spokane

Clinton follows public opinion path

The headline on Opinion editor John Webster’s Aug. 1 editorial, “Clinton on right path for welfare,” reflects graphically why so many of us are discouraged with the patent liberal bias of The Spokesman-Review’s editorial staff.

The adjective “on” should instead be the noun “follow.” Despite repeated statements to “end welfare as we know it,” this president has used every semantic trick available to him to avoid the political courage needed to address this issue.

Thank goodness there are courageous Republicans and Democrats who have taken the lead to write a bill to provide long-needed reform. This cowardly president has had to be drawn kicking and screaming into the process. The only path this president is on is one which is dictated by polling data of the moment. Tom Garrett Spokane

Look at waste, then vote Kaun

It’s time for women of voting age to take action. The Senate recently passed a $265.5 billion defense spending bill for fiscal 1997. This is $11.1 billion more than the Pentagon asked for.

What is it for? Things you really need, of course, like spiffy new jet fighters, helicopters, new oceanographic ships, new pre-positioning ships, multiple-launch rocket systems, anti-missiles defense systems and a space-based laser. I don’t know about you, but I don’t see the global threat in the world that calls for these mass defense expenditures.

Let’s elect some sensible women to get our nation’s priorities back on track. Let’s address affordable health care for all citizens, dependable and safe child care, child care for working parents, safe drinking water and clean air. The list goes on and on.

We have an opportunity this year to elect a woman to Congress from Eastern Washington who understands that the No. 1 challenge of America is to develop a strategy to address the well-being of our children and families. That woman is Sue Kaun.

She and her husband Don have successfully raised three children. She is bright, articulate, concerned and, best of all, she doesn’t need the job. Michele Zywiak Spokane

Emotional arguments worth little

Before we decide to take a stand on an issue, we should make a decision on how to defend it. We can play it emotionally or rely on facts and logic.

To use emotional appeal has many advantages. It sounds good. People understand it with minimal effort and we don’t have to bother with facts or logic. The fact that we are not conveying anything, or that what we declare as our stand makes no sense, doesn’t have to bother us, especially if we also feel good about what we’re saying.

There are many good examples of emotional positions that make no logical sense: abortion as a right and expression of woman’s value, and possession of guns as protection against government. The debate over welfare reform in The Spokesman Review is another example of how talking can sound good, even when the contents of the message are nonexistent.

Take for instance this statement by Bishop Skylstad: “As our system becomes less and less just, we will foster more and more violence.”

What exactly is unjust about the welfare reform?

Let’s assume that somebody considers time limitations unjust. Then the logical approach would lead to this clear statement: The time limits set in the bill are unjust. It is fair for people on welfare to stay on the dole without time limitations and it is fair for society to support them unconditionally.

How many people would agree? In either case, just to label the welfare reform unjust without specifics will not enlighten anybody. Peter C. Dolina Spokane

Bishop would keep taxpayers as patsies

In your headline story about Bishop Skylstad’s opinion on the welfare cuts proposed by Congress, he states, “Children have a right to the resources in our country.”

Having a right to resources and a right to a free handout are different issues. Everyone has a right and the opportunity to support himself. No one too lazy to work has the right to free handouts at working people’s expense. We all must have compassion, but we must also draw the line at the people who have taken advantage of our compassion.

The change in the welfare system should have been done years ago. It will eliminate the freeloaders and people too lazy to work. I am sick and tired of having my hard-earned wages taken to support the freeloaders in our country.

I’m a Catholic and Bishop Skylstad certainly doesn’t speak for me. The Bible clearly states that we are required to work. “If anyone will not work, neither let him eat” (2 Thes. 3:10) and “attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you” (1 Thes 4:11). The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “Work is a duty, work honors the Creator’s gifts and the talents received from him” (section 2427) and “Everyone should be able to draw from work the means of providing for his life and that of his family and of serving the human community” (section 2428).

Obviously, Bishop Skylstad’s opinion is just that - his opinion. Patrick G. Murphy Spokane

Needy children about to take a hit

In the name of “welfare reform,” Congress is poised to terminate or deny Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to more than 300,000 low-income children with disabilities.

Under this legislation, the individualized functional assessment (IFA) is repealed, resulting in the denial of benefits to hundreds of thousands of low-income children with significant disabilities.

Through 75 years of experience serving children and families with disabilities, the Easter Seal Society has learned that accurate measurement of disability must include assessment of function and age-sensitive development. Moreover, the cumulative effect of limitations in several areas of function, such as motor skills, communication and cognition, often results in a significant level of disability that is greater than any one impairment and comparable in severity to conditions deemed disabling to an adult.

Simply stated, the SSI provisions of pending welfare reform legislation will harm poor children with disabilities and further strain the human and financial resources of families and community agencies responsible for their care at a time when one-fifth of all U.S. children are living below the poverty line and an estimated 1 million more would join them as a result of this shameful legislation. Garry Wyckoff, president Easter Seal Society of Washington

Liberals’ views just too faulty

So many liberals, so little time. One can hardly refute all of the liberals’ letters to the editor. However, the July 30 paper contained letters with some particularly egregious assertions.

David R. Johnson claims that “AIDS is not a disease of irresponsibility … It is a disease of poverty.” Where does his science come from? I’m quite certain that even if I lost my job, I still wouldn’t get AIDS.

Then there was Walter Lane’s letter accusing the Republicans of all the standard Clintonesque falsehoods. Particularly galling is the oft-repeated claim that curing the budget crises created by Clinton’s veto, the Republicans “shut the government down to blackmail the president.” The majority of our elected representatives passed a budget that the majority of taxpayers favored, and a crisis was created by the veto of one elected representative who was elected with 42 percent of the vote.

It would obviously be more accurate to say that the president shut down the government to blackmail the taxpayers into continued funding of the welfare state. Jonathan H. Lundquist Spokane

Union ads are deceitful

It is truly sad when an organization forces its members to pay for political ads that lie to those members from whom it forcibly took the money. This is exactly what has happened to members of the AFL-CIO. The union is using compulsory dues to pay for ads telling the public, and its membership specifically, that Rep. George Nethercutt voted to cut Medicare. That statement is simply an outright, bald-faced lie.

Say that you earn $15,000 a year. Your boss tells you he will give you a $3,000 raise. The economy sours and he gives you only a $1,000 raise because he cannot afford to pay any more. Did he cut your salary? No, you still got a raise.

In similar fashion, Nethercutt voted to increase Medicare spending $2,300 per average recipient. Current Medicare benefits are $4,800 and Nethercutt voted to increase that level to $7,100, an increase of 48.9 percent over seven years. There is no way you can “cut” $4,800 and end up with $7,100. Try cutting a 48-foot rope and come up with a 71-foot rope.

Union members, unite! Tell your leadership you are tired of them taking your dues and using that money to pay for lies to you. Better yet, show them you are smarter than they think you are and vote to re-elect Nethercutt. He’s doing the hard job, making the hard votes to save our economy, to save Medicare. Jack Ranck Loon Lake

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