Letters To The Editor

OVER THE LINE

Railroads do as they please

Re: Donald Carnegie’s Aug. 1 letter concerning the refueling depot at Hauser, Idaho.

Be careful, you may get what you don’t really want. Having spent more than 30 years in this industry, I’ve watched what deregulation has done.

Carnegie and others seem to have the idea railroads are under some sort of microscopic scrutiny. Well, they are not.

Since the 1980s, the Federal Railway Administration, which is responsible for overseeing railroads, has been downsized to the point that its people are overworked and understaffed. There was a reason for this: The fat railroad barons weren’t getting fat enough.

Railroad accidents are on the rise. Service is poor and getting worse. Most of the work crews are gone, laid off or legislated out of work. The result is that the railroads have been given a license to do anything they want, including polluting our environment, without retribution.

I know railroading and I don’t want the depot over our water supply. You shouldn’t either. Bob Blangeres Spokane

Idaho unfair to lake lessees

As an East Side Priest Lake lessee of Idaho state land, I offer an explanation about the outrageous and totally unfair lease price of state-owned lots.

We can accept the 2.5 percent of the valuation. It’s the unfair appraisals made on our waterfront lots. Our lot is on a side hill and we have no beach. The valuation now is almost $250,000 for 131 feet of waterfront.

In 1991, there was an agreement between the lessees and the Idaho State Land Board that increases would be made over a number of years - not these big jumps. From 1997 to 1998, there was a 72 percent increase. For 2000, the lease will almost double.

The increase from 1 to 2.5 percent didn’t seem much to The Spokesman-Review but it’s the new assessed valuation that’s really hurting. Our lease for 1999 was $3,275 and will be around $6,200 next year. Most of us lessees use our places for only three months per year.

Is Idaho making Priest Lake a rich man’s lake? Many of us have been on the lake for 30 and more years and now we’re being forced to sell our lots. We haven’t been a burden on the state. All we’ve done is spend money, including improvements to the lot by local contractors, taxes, etc. The state has done nothing for us, i.e. no fallen-tree removal or improvements to the secondary roads. We had to pay for sewer and water lines that are normally paid for by the landlord. Bryant L. Smick St. John, Wash.

Let Aryans know you don’t approve

I am appalled at the rights given to the Aryans to march down Sherman Avenue again. I am all for freedom of speech but not freedom of hate. When is slander considered slander? In any other situation where one is telling lies and hurting the reputation of another, the slanderous party could be sued.

I protested at the parade last year. This year, I decided maybe it was the wrong thing to do. It’s a very fine line. I thought by ignoring them, maybe they would go away. I put a lot of thought into protesting or not. I was so proud of the young people who put up a human blockade at the last parade that I decided it was the right thing to do.

Being silent is quietly accepting what this hate group is saying. It’s like when you tell your children that if you are with a group that is stealing, drinking under age, speeding, etc., even if you did not do those things, you are still guilty.

These people are not what the Northwest is about. Please, let’s stand together and let them and America know that this hatred and behavior is not acceptable. Carmen Halpern Spokane

THE ENVIRONMENT

Special interests are what ails forests

Why can’t the U.S. Forest Service non-commercially solve our forest health problems?

The emergency bark beetle action in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest is an obvious scam by the U.S. Forest Service to cater to corporate and private interests at the expense of our public lads. There is no conclusive evidence of a bark beetle epidemic to warrant an emergency action nor is the proposed action a proven method for mitigating outbreaks. If the bugs were dressed in green uniforms, then I would advocate for their complete removal from the forest.

Prior mismanagement of forests is what causes forest health problems - insect infestation often occurs in artificially disturbed areas. Clearcutting will destroy the forest’s integrity and actually create a climate where further problems will occur.

The real forest health problem is the Forest Service’s dishonesty with the public. Be honest, debug the Forest Service of its corporate corruption and stop clearcutting! Jonathan Crowell Moscow

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Character lacking then, now

Rep. George Nethercutt’s telegenic and graceful golden retriever, Chestnut, died of cancer recently and any dog lover is saddened by this loss. (Hot Potatoes, July 29 and July news articles). I am truly sorry about Chestnut but that is where my empathy for Nethercutt ends.

People who know the difference between changing your mind and breaking a pledge should think about the effectiveness five years ago of Nethercutt’s TV commercials with Chestnut. Nethercutt implied that Tom Foley accused him of doing “everything short of kicking my dog,” and then Nethercutt looked at his golden and said, “I would never hurt you, Chestnut.” This commercial had great impact.

Now let’s examine this in light of what we know about Nethercutt’s character five years later. The ad, like Nethercutt’s campaign, was deceptive and vicious. Foley, having been finessed on term limits, now had to endure Nethercutt’s rhetorical implication that the speaker of the House would accuse a political opponent of kicking his own dog.

To make matters worse, Foley’s dog, Alice, a stray mixed breed they had taken in for 10 years, had been put down in 1992.

Any man who has loved his old dog and had “to bury him deep before the ground got too hard” has to be sickened by Nethercutt’s careless election campaigns.

Nethercutt could still salvage some dignity out of this mess by sticking with his original pledge but he just seems determined to make things worse.

Larry Armstrong Spokane Clinton foils tax cut to buy votes I find it appalling that President Clinton sees fit to tell Congress that the tax cut Republicans want to give back to citizens is too large. That $795 billion over 10 years amounts to only $79.5 billion a year. Compared to a budget of $1,760 billion per year, it amounts to only 5 percent of the annual budget.

It’s time to return some of this surplus back to the people who paid the taxes in the first place. Clinton has a lot of gall. He even says he’ll veto a smaller tax cut as long as it’s larger than the piddling $25 billion per year he would propose giving back. Twentyfive billion dollars per year is a pimple on the rump of the government’s white elephant. It amounts to about 1.7 percent of the taxes collected. That’s an insult to taxpayers.

Why does Clinton feel that it should be only his way or the highway?

It’s time we had a president willing to work with Congress instead of fighting it all the time. The president does not want a good-size tax cut because he’s interested in spending money to buy votes. That’s exactly what his proposal to cover prescription drugs for all seniors, instead of just those who are poor, is all about.

It is time we stopped electing officials who use our tax dollars to buy votes come election time. No more pork barrel politics. All it does is bloat the size of the federal budget and makes taxes too high for all of us. John Perkins Spokane

A congress scrooge would approve of

“Respect and honor your elders” is something my parents taught me from an early age. Now that I am an elder, those of the me generation in Congress are in control of my life and it is obvious they have never heard of that statement. Congress is playing political football with my quality of life and I’m in their way.

One team says, “Give me the ball and we will give all of you a huge tax cut.” In retirement, my income is from Social Security benefits and a very small amount from investments. A tax cut might net me around $2 a month extra.

The other teams says, “Give me the ball and we’ll fix Medicare and pay half of your prescriptions.” With my current condition of health, this could be in the range of $50 or $60 per month.

It would be an easy choice to decide which team to root for. However, the game is being played between the 20-yard lines and it seems neither team wants to score. I’m reminded of the old classic, “A Christmas Carol.” when Scrooge is asked to contribute to help the poor, his reply is, “Let them die and decrease the surplus population.” This attitude could apply today as well as in Scrooge’s time, but the spelling of Scrooge should be changed to C-o-n-g-r-e-s-s. Robert Armstrong Spokane

Comforting the comfortable again

The federal tax cut bill breakdown by income level printed in the July 29 Spokesman-Review was quite revealing. The House plan, voted for by Rep. George Nethercutt and supported by presidential candidate Gov. George W. Bush, has a little bit for everyone. You might say a chicken, or at least a bouillon cube, in every pot.

If you earn more than $346,555 per year, you get a $37,874 tax break each year. That will allow you to buy a new Lexus for each of the 10 years of the tax bill, and you won’t even have to trade in the old one. So you can have 10 shiny cars sitting in the driveway in the end.

Sorry, if you only male $154,900 per year, your tax break will only allow a new Lexus every three years.

On the other end of the income scale, under $16,426, you get a lousy $15. New cars are out of the question for you suckers but you are going to be able to buy a Big Mac once a month.

If you are lucky enough to earn between $16,426 and $30,964, you won’t be able to afford a new car either. But the $96 break should allow you to buy a new tire for your old heap.

I have to ask myself, how many voters in Spokane are making the big bucks? Could it be that wealthy contributors have influenced Nethercutt’s vote? No, we know that he is as good as his word. David R. Canterbury Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Bush was right about convict

As a resident of Texas for the last 35 years, I would like to respond to David F. Carroll’s letter of Aug. 2 concerning Gov. George Bush. I remember very well the execution of Karla Fay Tucker Brown and all the bleeding hearts who protested because she was a woman. She was sentenced to death for a horrendous act that she committed while under the influence of illegal drugs. How convenient to blame all your acts on someone or something else.

When she died, it taught many people that for every act there is a consequence. That is something a lot of people forget or were never taught. Would Carroll have wanted her to be saved if it had been his relative that she savagely hacked to death with an ax?

Call Bush whatever you want but he made the right decision. Almost every person on death row in Texas “finds God.” should we pardon all of them or only the women? Liz Marshall San Antonio, Texas

OTHER TOPICS

Do something about cruelty to animals

On July 30, Channel 6 News teased about a story on “94 horribly mutilated cats.” I quickly changed the channel, so i don’t know the details.

I almost wish reincarnation and karma were true, and that people who abuse other species would come back as that species and experience the same horrible abuse. Mutilation for mutilation.

Maybe it would help if people quit raising their children to believe that crimes against humankind matter more than crimes against animals. That belief is backed by the very stupidity which backs other forms of discrimination.

Anything capable of fear and pain deserves protection and reverence.

Empathy is a feature of intelligence. The more compassionate a person is, the smarter he tends to be. People, get smart. Gayle Borton Spokane

Writer a bit too judgmental

Re: Hannelore Sudermann’s “Friendly Faces” travelogue on Pakistan (July 18). Some objective reaction is appropriate.

Perhaps Sudermann means to be respectful of the culture, but not quite, as I read it. Perhaps a different choice of words would have done that. Let me briefly illustrate.

Prayer call is a “cry,” and “sad, chilling, masculine.”

What a description! Never heard? There is a mosque in Spokane.

“Pakistan is a Muslim country and women have limited rights.” Typical stereotyping. Non-Islamic countries also have such “limited rights”?

Women were not to be seen in Karachi? And all with heads-faces covered? Confusing with Iran’s Teheran?

“Modest” females seem ridiculed. Of course, in most non-Western cultures, Islamic or others, women tend to be modest and less “liberated.” And there are many here who yearn for more modesty and modified “liberation.”

Parasites in water? Her “I hope this does not kill me” scream does not seem too respectful. And while grateful, “tea in a chipped cup” seems insulting.

They “crouched on the floor to check me out … were not afraid to touch me” etc. - such observations suggest naivete, if not an ego trip.

Perhaps the writer knows that most societies, Islamic or non-Islamic, including ours, are patriarchal, with differences in degree only. And these countries won’t be less-developed if they had our “advantages.” We can’t expect a little United States of America in the Third World!

Clearly, such “ambassadorial” roles require someone with more compassion and understanding, without the usvs.-them baggage. S.M. Ghazanfar Moscow

Network poised to Springer into action

This is in response to The Spokesman-Review’s Aug. 4 report that USA Network is doing a movie, docudrama, biography or, more likely, hagiography of Mary Kay Letourneau. It should be interesting to see how the cable channel defends itself from charges of pandering to society’s dysfunctional bottom 5 percent, i.e., the audience that will watch it.

One wonders, what if it had been a 37-year old male teacher and a 12-year-old girl?

The title is to be “All American Girl.” I gather “Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!” is already copyrighted by someone else. Dave Thiessen Clarkston