Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

We must wean ourselves from cars

I agree with County Commissioner Steve Hasson that moving the air quality monitoring station is like cheating on a test.

I have lived here all my life, 44 years. I was always told by my parents that Spokane was built down in the valley because of the river. We have had an increasing number of bad air days. Everyone, including myself, is too selfish to get out of their automobiles. Corporate America is not willing to do its fair share in finding solutions to our pollution of the Earth.

If President Clinton were to sign an executive order that all government vehicles were to become electric or solar, that would affect 200,000 vehicles. A production facility would have to be created and the cost of such vehicles would come way down.

We can spew only so much pollution into the atmosphere. It is time to make a move for our future generations.

I read in the paper that in Singapore one pays a high premium upon entering inner cities with a vehicle. Also, there is a 25 cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline. Revenues from it go directly to help pay for mass transit.

These types of programs are happening all over the country in areas where we need to be forced out of our cars. It’s not enough to have catalytic converters on vehicles and require scrubbers on smokestacks. These are simply Band-Aid solutions. Bill Hagenbarth Spokane

Directory available to help seniors

With so many people today needing help in so many ways, are area seniors and their families aware of a comprehensive directory designed specifically for them? Compiled by Gail and John Goeller, The Complete Directory for Seniors and Their Families is available at most local book stores.

Covering everything from ideas for active retirement to a listing of over 300 housing alternatives, this directory puts you in touch with services you probably had no idea were available.

Examples: Care Cars for Elders, a volunteer escort program providing transportation to doctors and other essential destinations for people 60 years and older; Family Home Care, offering personal care services in your home when authorized by your physician; Respite, supplying relief to unpaid caregivers; Alzheimer’s Association of Spokane, giving information and support to caregivers and many more.

Many of these services are free; some require modest fees. Some are funded in part by private, federal, state and local programs, including Aging and Long-term Care of Eastern Washington.

Help is available. Maybe you hate to give up your independence. Maybe you haven’t known where to turn. Now you do.

So please, reach out. Avail yourself of the services you need. There are more caring people out there than you know. Dorothy Fredericks Spokane

Give ‘candy cops’ new assignment

We were appalled at reading that the “gutter guys” were kicked out of the parade for handing out candy.

We witnessed the alleged criminals handing out candy to children who were sitting on the curb, enjoying the parade. There was no rush or riot that would have caused any danger or fear of being trampled. The most dangerous situation we witnessed was the candy cops in their golf carts speeding up and down the parade route.

Is this the next step Big Brother is going to take to save us all from ourselves? Common sense dictates that a parade traveling at a velocity of two miles an hour is not an imminent threat. As long as the children don’t run under a horse or a float to retrieve the candy they should be reasonably safe.

Is it not the parents’ responsibility to ensure the safety of their children, as well as their amusement? The traditions we remember of Independence Day were ones of celebration of freedom and personal rights. Neil and Sheila Patterson Greenacres

WASHINGTON STATE

Keep hospital for mentally ill

We of the Spokane Alliance for the Mentally Ill are the primary advocates for persons with serious mental illnesses in Spokane County. The Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration proposal to turn three empty wards at Eastern State Hospital into a prison for 80 juveniles is anything but a done deal.

The Alliance urges that this hospital be reserved strictly for the mentally ill. The MICA Program is ready to occupy the three wards with mentally ill people who have a chemical abuse problem. At least 35 percent of homeless persons on Spokane’s streets are mentally ill. Many of them need additional care at Eastern State Hospital.

We implore the state Department of Social and Health Services not to take away all or any part of the Eastern State Hospital facility, which has always been only for those with a serious mental illness.

We also implore legislators in Olympia to stop cutting back on DSHS funding. Don Crippen, vice president Spokane Alliance for the Mentally Ill

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Think tank’s figures sort of figure

Hal Dixon writes that the poor became wealthier during the Reagan years. He uses statistics to back up his claim. Thankfully, he also lists the source of the statistics: the Heritage Foundation.

This foundation is Pat Robertson’s think tank. It is hardly an unbiased organization.

Under Reagan/Bush, how did we really do? From 1979 to 1993, the poorest 20 percent in our United States were socked with a 15 percent decrease in real family income. The second-poorest 20 percent staggered in with a 7 percent decrease. The middle sector stagnated with a 3 percent decrease in income, as did the next wealthier 20 percent. But, at least they had a modest 5 percent increase.

The richest 20 percent were the big winners, with an 18 percent gain.

Thanks to President Clinton’s economic plan, all sectors are now experiencing more-equal growth.

Dixon is correct when he states that Reagan supported the earned income tax credit - a break in taxes for the poor. This is the same earned income tax credit Republican legislators now want to abolish so they can afford another capital gains tax break for their wealthy masters.

The above statistics are from the Bureau of the Census. John Griffith Spokane

Foundation a Republican operation

Hal Dixon’s July 13 letter rebuking Andy Kelly cites statistics from the Heritage Foundation to back up his argument that the poor got richer under Reagan. If readers might then get the impression that that foundation is an unbiased source, it is not.

I’ve corresponded with them and read their material. They are actually a pro-Republican advocacy group headed by William Bennett, secretary of education under Reagan and drug czar under Bush.

There is much I admire in former President Reagan but, outside the venue of personal income tax legislation, I think he contributed to the increase in poverty by undermining the principle of collective labor bargaining.

Further, whatever the tax load on rich individuals (assuming they don’t access deductions not routinely available to the middle class), major corporations have moved to have their income tax load cut in half since 1963 (if U.S. News & World Report qualifies as an unbiased source), and continue to receive enormous subsidies despite exporting more jobs overseas.

In an effort to become less accountable, they’ve become less American, too. Some CEO’s are renouncing U.S. citizenship to duck personal income tax and making products (notably automobiles) more multinational in character to avoid import taxes.

We taxpayers subsidize sweatshop garment industries in Puerto Rico and a sugar industry no longer in need of protection.

I hope that’s a more-rounded argument about rich vs. poor. Philip J. Mulligan Spokane

Smart women backed Reagan, too

After reading another partisan attack on Republicans and Ronald Reagan, I’ve decided to put some facts to Andy Kelly’s July 9 letter (“No GOP wool over most women’s eyes).

During the Reagan years the middle class did find tax relief, evidenced by the fact that the effective tax rate of a married couple with two dependents earning $25,000 dropped from 8.5 percent to 6.5 percent. A couple earning $35,000 saw its rate drop from 11.6 to 9 percent. Couples earning $50,000 saw their’s drop from 15.6 to 11.6 percent, all while tax revenues increased from $600 billion in 1981 to $990 billion in 1989.

As for social issues, the Americans With Disabilities Act and Goals 2000 program passed during a Republican administration. More recently, the Republican Congress tried to make much needed social reforms, only to see President Clinton veto piece after piece of legislation, ie. welfare, education, budget reduction, etc.

Reagan’s accomplishments occurred when Democrats held an average voting margin of 255 to 180 in the House. Although Republicans did have a slight advantage in the Senate for six of Reagan’s eight years.

I agree with Kelly that women are the smarter sex, as Reagan enjoyed their support, outpolling Democratic opponents in both his election and re-election. Maybe Kelly should save some of his criticisms for all the Democrats who voted for Reagan and all the Democrats in Congress who felt Reagan was right and voted with him. Charles G. Peckham Greenacres

Nethercutt pro- votes also notable

Terrence Sawyer’s July 16 letter (“Nethercutt record asset for Kaun”) made Rep. George Nethercutt sound like he had only a negative voting record. Far from it.

Our congressman cast many positive votes. For example, he voted with House Speaker Newt Gingrich over 95 percent of the time. Different big business groups gave him ratings of 96 and 100 percent; Ralph Reed’s Christian Coalition gave him 82 percent; the American Conservative Union gave him 88 percent; and the National Right to Life Committee gave him 85 percent.

Nethercutt also voted to give defense contractors $11 billion more than the Pentagon requested, so he is definitely positive on welfare - as in corporate welfare.

Perhaps Nethercutt was so busy casting his pro-specialinterest votes that he had no time to vote for programs that benefit his constituents, such as for education, jobs, senior citizens and the environment.

After all, a congressperson can’t vote positive on everything. Julian Powers Spokane

Clinton lame at fighting drug abuse

On July 15, President Clinton was on “Internight,” the interview portion of MSNBC’s new 24-hour cableInternet news channel. Host Tom Brokaw asked him about increasing drug use. Clinton responded, in part: “In our 1993 budget, we increased funding for enforcement and treatment.”

He got it half right. According to the July 21 Washington Times, the following facts contradict the “I didn’t inhale” president.

According to Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, marijuana use among 12th-graders is up 80 percent since 1992; among eighth-graders, 145 percent. LSD use has doubled among high school seniors. Conversely, according to a University of Michigan study, marijuana use in 1992 among high school seniors dropped to its lowest level since the 1970s. Whatever gains the Reagan and Bush administrations made from 1981 to 1992, Clinton destroyed in three years.

According to former drug czar William Bennett, Clinton “gutted” and “destroyed” the Office of National Drug Control Policy, from 146 staffers to only 25. He also slashed funding for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Even liberal Democrat Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said, “I’ve been around Congress for two decades. I’ve never, never seen a president who cares less about drugs.” Mark Duclos Spokane

Correction:

Ed Meadow’s letter of July 17 contained an erroneous statement. He said, “Nethercutt welcomes donations from the tobacco industry and would have you believe that teenage smoking is cool.”

Nethercutt said he has a policy of not accepting campaign contributions from the tobacco industry or their political lobby. When two political action committees for tobacco companies contributed $500 each in 1995, the campaign returned them, Federal Election Commission records show.

OTHER TOPICS

Being humane is not so terrible

David Hayward Jr. (“Halt animal rights extremism,” Letters, July 13), why are you worried? Are hamburgers, leather shoes and fur coats really all that necessary to your health and well-being?

What if you found a veggie burger that tastes every bit as good as ground cow? What if you were to find shoes made from synthetic materials that feel as good and last as long as your favorite old leather shoes? Will you freeze to death without a glamorous fur stole wrapped around your shoulders?

Animal research is by no means the only, or even the most effective, form of medical research. And don’t you think it is wise to curtail pet breeding until demand catches up with supply? (Perhaps you should visit the local animal shelter on euthanasia day before answering that last question.)

I don’t understand why compassion for animals is such a threatening concept. And I really do not understand why people would want to “stick together” in favor of inflicting unnecessary suffering on any living creature. Kerry Masters Liberty Lake

System painting bull’s-eyes on us

If Bob Smith (“Armed park visitors would be safer,” Letters, July 13) is reluctant to be part of the federal bear snack and welfare program, I bet the recent passing of a law in San Francisco requiring unarmed pizza delivery in virtual free-fire zones really sets his teeth on edge.

People think the judicial system is breaking down. What can be expected when laws are so stupid as to preclude the most basic of human instincts: self-defense? Bill Reynolds Republic, Wash.

Gas price situation suspicious

Have you heard that the price of gasoline has gone down nationwide another 2 to 3 cents? I think the local reasoning that our prices are still high ought to be reinvestigated, but what can somebody who only spends a President Jackson a week do?

I have resolved that when I go into the convenience/ gasoline superstores I will purchase only gasoline and not the Big Gulp or the impulse candy bar, and I will let the clerk know. Greg Eik Liberty Lake

Novel approach comes up short

While connections made in “Joseph Conrad novel may have influenced alleged Unabomber” (July 9) might have justified interest during a desperate FBI manhunt, they may not bear a more measured consideration. Readers should recall that:

Conrad’s professor didn’t take part in the bombing; he only provided the explosives to anyone who would use them. Neither Greenwich Observatory nor astronomy was a specific target of his fervor.

The unsuccessful bombing in “The Secret Agent” was organized by enemies of the professor. The bombing was intended to raise a “howl of execration” that would result in suppression of such bombings.

Your piece says that a “brilliant but mad professor abandons academia in disgust for the isolation of a tiny room.” Conrad’s “professor” didn’t earn his title in academia. He does not flee to isolation; he openly flaunts his explosive presence on the streets.

The phrase “that idol of science,” implied in your piece to be from “The Secret Agent” does not appear in the novel.

Unlike the fictional character, Kaczynski was an ex-professor, and allegedly did have a political motive, plan a “successful” crime, work secretly and carry out the bombings personally. That the connection with Conrad’s character is only vaguely analogous does not, of course, preclude “influence.” As the professor says, “what one of us may or may not know as to any given fact can’t be a matter for inquiry to the others.”

Fiction is often contrived to prejudice objective response. Your AP piece, while entertaining, does little to avoid similar service. Mark Chilton Spokane