Letters To The Editor

WASHINGTON STATE

Republican right has strange ways

It seems that every time Republicans control the Legislature dozens of special interest bills become the primary focus of our legislators’ time. This seems ironic from a majority that claims to want less government control.

This year, it’s not just the usual big business special interests. We’re also seeing more church special interest bills. Some bills deal with subjects that have already been decided by the voters in statewide initiatives or referendums. That, and the fact that Helen Craswell lost her bid to become governor, should make it clear that the people of Washington want to retain their personal freedoms.

They don’t want to redefine “fetus” to “child” (HB1666).

They don’t want the government telling them or their children what kind of sex life is expected of them (HB1628, B5592 and SB5398), or to use public money to pay church groups to teach abstinence.

They don’t want the state to micromanage everything taught in our local schools, as HB1598 threatens to do.

What happened to the cry for local control of schools? Why should public schools be subjected to competency testing of students with results affecting funding, while charter schools would be exempt?

Nor are citizens so anxious to lock every potential criminal up that we would or could support such a vague, unenforceable law as HB1441 (voyeurism) appears to be. In the case of HB1587, the intent of sexual gratification could rarely be proven, but anyone could be arrested.

This year’s Legislature seems bound to divide the people. Richard Reed Spokane

Political meddling not appreciated

These are difficult times to make ends meet for many Americans. Most who are struggling are tired of having everything they must deal with turned into a political football.

The flap raised by State. Sen. Jim West in questioning the propriety of a settlement with Prudential Insurance Co. of America reached by Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn is the latest example.

Senn is an outstanding insurance commissioner whose decisions have reflected her concern for and protection of the people of Washington state. That’s her job.

We who count ourselves among the victims of Prudential’s questionable practices appreciate her efforts toward the resolution of this issue, especially since Senn is one of only seven insurance commissioners who held out for a better settlement than most states accepted.

Had West dealt with Senn one to one, instead of assuring negative publicity, the matter might have been easily resolved. Instead, by his tactics, he has questioned Senn’s integrity.

Some Republicans are having a difficult time letting go of get-even tactics by continuing to attack elected officials of the opposite party through innuendo or suggestions of impropriety.

It would be great if West would attend to issues that are so prominent, especially on the east side, and by doing so avoid having folks wonder about how involved Prudential and other insurance companies were/are in his campaign fund raising.

Officials we elect are expected to do their job in an honest, forthright fashion. Get-even tactics between parties serve no good purpose and only detract from efforts to resolve our state’s problems. B. Fred and Pat Wilson Mead

Suddenly, tribes are sovereign

Regarding the GOP bill to outlaw tribes’ donations to political campaigns.

Sen. Bob McCaslin wonders why a sovereign nation would want to make campaign contributions. What other way do we have to get officials who will deal with us fairly? If we are considered a sovereign nation, then quit trying to control the water, mineral and gambling rights in our nation. Richard D. Garry Spokane

Tribe member McCaslin, Morton have quite an idea

Cheers for state Sens. Bob McCaslin and Bob Morton. In their efforts to deny Washington’s tribes the ability to spend money promoting initiatives, they have proposed a radical interpretation of U.S. history.

They claim Indian nations are sovereign in the sense that foreign states are. Many tribe leaders and political theorists have promoted this view. It was proposed in the U.S. Supreme Court by Justice Smith Thompson in 1831. However, Thompson’s view was a dissenting opinion: he lost. Instead, Indian nations were encoded in U.S. jurisprudence as “domestic dependent nations.”

Washington state may choose to embrace Thompson’s more expansive and reasonable view. This radical action might raise some interesting constitutional and historical questions. How would our Supreme Court balance its activist state’s rights views with its clear antagonism toward Indian nations?

Of course, if the state would have negotiated in good faith with the Indian nations, initiatives 651 and 671 wouldn’t have been necessary, SB5776 would not exist as an attempt to limit the spending of domestic dependent sovereign gambling enterprises that compete against the state’s voluntary taxation plan (as well as charity gaming enterprises). James Stripes Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Don’t overlook earned income credit

As April 15 creeps nearer, it’s important to let Spokane’s working families know they may be eligible for a tax break of up to $3,556 this year.

President Clinton’s earned income tax credit helps put money back into the pockets of those whose family income was less than $28,495 in 1996. Those who qualify could owe less in taxes and get cash back.

So far, nearly 300,000 Washington families have benefited from this credit, which encourages families with modest incomes to stay on the job rather than on welfare.

How do you get the earned income credit? If you were raising children in 1996 and your family earned less than $28,495, file federal tax return Form 1040 or 1040A, not form 1040EZ. Be sure to attach Schedule EIC.

If you weren’t raising children in 1996 and earned less than $9,500, just file the right tax return for your situation. You may still get back as much as $323.

For more information or to find out how to get your tax forms filled out for free, call the Internal Revenue Service, 1-800-829-1040. Lisa Brown, state senator Spokane

Consumption tax fairer, simpler

I see in “IRS struggles to meet demand for help” (Feb. 22) that its assistance program’s number of abandoned calls was up from 2.4 million in 1989 to 6 million in fiscal year 1994, and staff members make “numerous errors” to inquiries that do get through.

A system so complex and flawed only encourages people to cheat. This is immoral.

My blood boils when I see how many people pay no federal income tax - the underground economy, we call it. I’m constantly being offered the option of working for cash. This is certainly illegal, but it’s encouraged by a system so complex that it dares people to beat it.

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, promoted a national tax on consumption. Neither Washington nor Florida have state income taxes; both use the sales tax to finance services. Washington and Florida are also two of the most progressive states in the union.

If you buy - and you have that choice - then you pay. The receiver collects the tax and sends it to the treasury. What could be simpler? We wouldn’t have to pay an accountant $60 per hour to decipher a complex tax form, either.

The above-mentioned story was published on George Washington’s birthday. He would turn over in his grave if he knew this was happening. Harry G. Merrick Chattaroy

IRS needs reconditioning

A Feb. 19 article in The Spokesman-Review only underscored how unreasonable and excessive the Internal Revenue Service has become in dealing with taxpayers. A senile 93-year-old man sending money to this agency by mistake is understandable. For the IRS not to detect this error and return the money is not.

Compound this hypocrisy with a Supreme Court decision upholding the IRS ruling and you have a government agency out of touch with the individual taxpayer.

If, as Justice Breyer stated, Congress is responsible for upholding the rules and regulations governing this bureaucracy, we as taxpayers need to petition for changes in our taxation system. It is outdated, unrealistic and sorely in need of compassion. Coleen Hussey-Delgado Moses Lake

Logic lapse at both ends of spectrum

Conservatives and liberals switch places when it comes to law enforcement.

Conservatives want strong group rights and weakened individual rights. The group must be protected from the individual and the individual placed in custody until trial and verdict.

Liberals believe the individual should be free and unencumbered until trial, regardless of the risk to the group.

It’s interesting that there is no consensus for conservatives and liberals on which rights they want to bolster. Conservatives always battling for individual rights (capitalism?) and liberals always battling for group rights (socialism?) would seem to be the proper fight but it does not work that way.

Why don’t conservatives and liberals adopt a standard position for group rights and individual rights, instead of flip-flopping around on different sides of that issue? How can you properly identify with a group if it has inconsistent goals for individual and group rights? Dirk Reith Spokane

Democrats do it again

Once again, the balanced budget amendment has been doomed, this time by a single vote, that of Sen. Robert Torrecelli, D-N.J.

A two-thirds vote in the Senate was required to pass the measure along to the House, where a two-thirds vote would have been needed before it could be sent to the states for possible ratification. Republicans could not pass it without help from Democrats.

Isn’t it interesting that this amendment always seems to lose by a single vote and that the vote killing it is always cast by a Democrat? G.L. Nelson Colbert

LAW AND JUSTICE

It’s time to lay on bat control

Something must be done to limit the easy access to deadly weapons.

On Feb. 15, William Enright is alleged to have beaten his father with a baseball bat, sending him to the hospital with two broken arms and a broken leg.

On Feb. 23, a clerk at the Maid O’Clover at Broadway and Fancher was beaten with a baseball bat, and the store was robbed.

It is time to do something about the proliferation of these weapons. Virtually anyone can purchase a bat without a background check and without a waiting period. Even young kids are allowed to buy these weapons and carry them to school - inside the supposedly weaponfree school zone.

These weapons are designed for hitting and striking. Nobody can deny that. They are dangerous and we must do something to protect society. Enright used an aluminum assault bat. These aluminum bats are so offensive, even professionals will not use them.

The Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have both confirmed that baseball bats have become the “preferred” weapon.

We must urge Sen. Patty Murray to work with Sen. Edward Kennedy to impose reasonable restrictions on these implements of terror and destruction. David H. Wordinger Medical Lake

OTHER TOPICS

Gay, lesbian young most suicide prone

I read the Feb. 25 guest column addressing youth suicide with great interest but am saddened that no reference was made to gay and lesbian youths.

Studies have consistently shown that as many as 30 percent of homosexual youths seriously consider or attempt suicide. They are disproportionately at risk but are rarely mentioned in suicide prevention programs.

Lesbian and gay youths are two to six times more likely to attempt suicide than other youths, and they may account for only about 10 percent of teens. Among these teens, the distress leading to suicide may be well hidden - not apparent to even the most caring adults. Few mental health providers even recognize that regardless of ethnic, religious, or racial background, some adolescents are lesbian or gay.

The Bush Administration Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Youth Suicide (1989) concluded: “The root of the problem of gay youth suicide is a society that discriminates against and stigmatizes homosexuals while failing to recognize that a substantial number of youth has a gay or lesbian orientation.”

If our society is to provide hope for these youths, we must cultivate an affirming environment by educating ourselves about lesbian and gay youth suicide and informing ourselves and our youths about the wide range of human sexual experience. We must encourage individuals and institutions to show respect to all youth and stop hate speech.

We must also advocate for change, so all gay and lesbian people can be open about their sexual orientation without fear of discrimination or loss of employment. Marion Dumoulin Spokane

Estrogen replacement? Consider horses

The Spokesman-Review recently ran a huge ad for the North American Equine Ranching Information Council (NAERIC). I have trouble believing any of its claims are true, based on what I know.

Charlie Knockaert, president of NAERIC, says in the ad, “We are proud that, by collecting pregnant mares’ urine, we contribute to the production of an important estrogen replacement therapy that helps millions of women every day.” What he doesn’t say is how they collect the urine.

Thanks to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ publication, Animal Times, and all the people who research and investigate claims like these, I know the truth about what organizations like NAERIC are doing.

Pregnant mares are cruelly confined on “pee farms” in North Dakota and Canada. They are tied for six months of every year in stalls so small they cannot turn around or lie down comfortably. They’re given up to one-third less water than normal so their urine is concentrated. They are sold to slaughter when they’re old or broken down. The collection bags strapped between their legs can cause painful sores. Since their babies are unwanted byproducts, most are slaughtered.

Brand names for the estrogen drugs NAERIC helps make are Premarin and Prempak-C. Women can ask their doctor to prescribe synthetic or plant-based estrogen-replacement drugs.

Be responsible and ethical citizens. Please don’t use Premarin and Prempak-C, for the sake of these mares. Less demand of the product will save more horses from this horribly cruel treatment. Deborah Peterson Moses Lake

Chemicals vital to photo longevity

Re: the Jan. 12 article about preserving your photo memories, I feel I should take issue with Henry Wilhelm’s choice of photographic paper. Although I think Kodak’s reputation for quality and endurance can certainly stand on its own, there is another point I would like to make that Wilhelm did not touch on.

The first side to proper processing is the chemistry side. Without proper control of concentration, agitation, temperature and timing of the chemistry, it doesn’t matter what brand of paper your print is on, it will not be processed up to its standard and will probably not endure to it’s full potential. Find a lab you can trust to keep a quality standard. Lori Hiatt Bedlington Spokane