Letters To The Editor

Government and politics

Keep estate tax in perspective

In a recent editorial John Webster stated the Heritage Foundation (a conservative think tank) has determined that Congress should reduce estate taxes because they punish family businesses. Let’s take a look at some statistics the Heritage Foundation conveniently ignores.

Only the richest 2 percent of Americans ever pay any estate tax, according to Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation. A 1991 study by the Congressional Research Service concluded that 94 percent of all taxable estates held liquid assets more than twice as great as taxes due.

Therefore, the heirs didn’t have to sell their physical assets to pay estate taxes.

While the estate tax rate can go as high as 55 percent, the average liability in 1996 was only 11 percent of estate valuation, according to a recent issue of Tax Notes (a professional journal for CPAs). The article also notes married couples who own a business can leave heirs assets worth up to $4.5 million untaxed and farm property up to $7.4 million untaxed.

An Internal Revenue Service analysis in 1995 showed farm property and family owned business assets accounted for less than 5 percent of assets taxable by the estate tax.

The estate tax is a modest correction to the great inequality of wealth in this country. It affects only the very rich and then only mildly. To say all estate taxes should be reduced because there might be a problem with the less than 5 percent that deal with family businesses is like using a backhoe for brain surgery. Paul Valanoff Moscow, Idaho

Eliminate anything-goes primaries

The primary election systems in this and other states is ludicrous. What sense does it make to have Democrats voting for Republican candidates, Republicans voting for Democratic candidates and independents voting for either parties’ candidates? Would the Mariners allow the Braves to decide their starting lineup in the World Series or vice versa? Would either allow the Indians to decide that for them? Absolutely not.

Only the parties themselves should decide who will represent them. Primaries are not to decide who will be president, just who runs. If independents want a say in who runs, they should declare a party, then vote within that party. Let’s start bringing common sense back into politics. David J. May Spokane

Things aren’t what they used to be

As we approach the Washington presidential primary election Feb. 29, it will be interesting to see how people vote compared to their congressional leadership.

Rep. George Nethercutt has endorsed his blueblood buddy, Gov. George W. Bush, which is a Republican death wish for this election. God forbid that the Grand Old Party leadership might back a man in 2000 who is a real war hero and actually took a real job before he turned 40 years old.

Then there are the congressional Democrats lining up like lemmings behind Vice President Al Gore. Only Rep. Jim McDermott from Seattle has broken ranks and endorsed Bill Bradley.

There was a time when Washington state sent bold, imaginative, independent leaders to Washington, D.C., from both political parties. What does it say about politics today when the only person in the state congressional delegation capable of thinking outside the box is a former psychiatrist? It is time to get out there and vote. Larry J. Armstrong Spokane

Bradley’s not all he used to be

Many years ago, I saw Bill Bradley speaking on the Senate floor, passionately denouncing apartheid in South Africa and calling for sanctions against that country. It was the stuff dreams are made of, phrased in simple terms. I was very impressed. Listening to Bradley lo these many years later, I find a touch of arrogance has crept into his professional oratory and his altruistic fervor often countered by sarcastic, often vituperative attacks. Perhaps this nasty repartee cost him a coin in New Hampshire.

“Sticks and stones … but names will never hurt me” may well be Al Gore’s mantra today. But Bradley is a force to be reckoned with, so watch your flank. A benign appearance shelters a very large ego that is on the prowl for the presidency. Isabelle Woods Spokane

Bradley has what it takes

Bill Bradley is our best choice for president of the United States for two basic reasons: He is far more intelligent than the other candidates and he is a real gentleman. Remember, he was a Rhodes scholar; this is testament to his intelligence.

He doesn’t just say what people want to hear but speaks his own mind. And he didn’t just fall off a turnip truck - he was a senator for 18 years.

Bradley would have the respect of world leaders, which is of the utmost importance in our troubled world. He may be too sharp to appeal to the mass of voters,but I truly hope not. We desperately need him right now to breathe some fresh air and intelligence into the government. Rose May Johnson Spokane

Regional economy

Bad policies weaken our region

Re: Paul Lindholdt’s letter on Jan. 26, which implies that students are leaving the Northwest due to our region’s resistance to the “national shift away from extractive industries.”

These industries literally built our nation and have provided some of our higher-paying jobs. The demise of these industries, and much of the Western U.S., due to overregulation and executive order have resulted in workers necessarily seeking work in lower-paying jobs in the service and tourist industries in our region. Students and others are thus forced to leave and seek higher-paying jobs elsewhere. Creating large national monuments and wilderness areas at the stroke of a pen, without even consulting local citizens or state governments, creates no jobs. Sooner or later we will all suffer from such misuse or nonuse of our federal lands.

Perhaps Lindholdt would like to give up his car, computer, refrigerator and house, which are all products of the extractive industries. Lyle W. Handlen Spokane

Resources nowhere near exhaustion

Several recent letters to the editor voiced concern regarding the imminent shortage of natural resources. This is a myth that requires correction. For those lacking the inclination to visit the U.S. Geological Survey in downtown Spokane, I will summarize a brief history of mineral resource estimation detailed in a USGS publication, Replenishing Nonrenewable Mineral Resources - A Paradox.

In 1992, a committee of geologists from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the USGS estimated that only 9 billion barrels of oil remained in the ground within the United States. Eleven years later, these 9 billion barrels had been produced and an additional 13 billion barrels had been discovered.

Similarly, in 1952, the President’s Materials Policy Commission estimated the nation’s copper resource to be 25 million tons. Twenty-five years later, 31 million tons of copper had been produced and an additional 57 million tons of copper had been discovered. Many factors contribute to the apparent contradictions cited in the previous paragraphs. In general, however, as demand increases, improved technology is developed to meet that demand. It is of critical importance that everyone recognize these facts and trends. It will enable the public to help their elected representatives create sound public policy based upon fact rather than alarmist rhetoric.

Misinformation regarding natural resources has contributed to the demise of both the domestic mineral industry and my career. It’s high time that the public be offered facts rather than fabricated crises based upon lies, anecdotal evidence and information taken deceitfully out of context. Jim F. Ebish Spokane

Greed is good; Parasites are bad

Bartja Wachtel (“Economy rough on poor families, kids” (Letters, Feb. 11) states one-fifth of Washingtonians possess 47 percent of the state’s total income. Even if true, it is a meaningless statistic. Washington is blessed with successful entrepreneurs like Bill Gates and Paul Allen, which skews income data. Remove a dozen people at the top of the list and the difference in income between the income categories is much less.

Wachtel bemoans the 45 percent of workers in Spokane who make less than $14,000 a year. This is another meaningless number if, as is likely, many of these workers are part time. Statistics can appear to prove almost anything.

Wachtel seems to think greed is bad. Greed is one of the driving forces behind the productive individuals who have made the best goods and living standards in the world available to us. Greed is good. The real villains are jealousy, envy and covetousness. These are the forces behind society’s parasites, who think others should subsidize, or pay for their transportation, housing and their children’s education and welfare. David Wordinger Medical Lake

Law and justice

Domestic violence units a ticket to ride

My heart aches for victims of domestic violence. But the branch of law enforcement meant to protect these victims makes a convenient tool to create new ones.

Innocent people get railroaded, with little defense other than “his word against hers.”

The conventional thinking is that women are the victims - that they don’t hit, hurt or abuse men. That mommies don’t lie. Don’t believe it.

Some do it flawlessly, creating a paper trail against a man they once claimed to love. How easy it is to turn their own acts of violence into accusations against the man. How easy to condemn a man with such accusations. And for what?

Often the “cause” is child custody - in cases in which, without the character assassination and criminal charges a domestic violence record carries, mom wouldn’t have a prayer. Throw in some good, old-fashioned, vindictive revenge and the Domestic Violence Unit is a Godsend to those with an ax to grind.

I have watched a kind, caring, devoted father be painted as a monster by a woman who knows how to work this system. The resources and police response meant for genuine victims, for whom they may be a lifesaver, are squandered on false alarms and trumped-up allegations. He is victimized, first by her, then by the system that gives her accusations credence. They have substance merely because they exist.

A woman scorned can be vengeful, creative and relentless. Allow her to use the Domestic Violence Unit as a weapon and she becomes dangerous. Rhonda Hart-Poe Chattaroy

Death penalty rife with injustices

Re: “Crime and punishment”(Feb. 7).

Capital punishment is state violence and nowhere in the United States is it fair.

The most visible case is Mumia Abu-Jamal, in 1981 a black radio journalist in Philadelphia, the most racially biased jurisdiction in the United States. While moonlighting as a cab driver, he saw his brother being beaten by a policeman. The policeman and Mumia were shot. His trial was assigned to a judge infamous for death penalty convictions, who allowed a pittance for hiring expert witnesses and assigned a public defender whose defense was so bad that Mumia objected and was banished from the court. Police bribed an indicted prostitute to finger Mumia, while witnesses for Mumia were excluded.

Years later, an appeal was unbelievably assigned to the same biased judge. Mumia is still on death row.

In 1995, an investigation showed Philadelphia police cruised black neighborhoods, beating, robbing and planting evidence. Five officers pleaded guilty and many drug convictions were overturned. Killing a police officer is one of the worst crimes but trials must be fair.

In 1967, the Supreme Court imposed a 10-year moratorium on death penalties. Michigan outlawed capital punishment in 1846, after it executed the wrong man. Massachusetts, Maine and Iowa also do not execute. In 1997, the American Bar Association called for an immediate halt. After nine death row prisoners were proven innocent, Gov. George Ryan of Illinois has proclaimed a moratorium.

The Moratorium Now! campaign can be reached via Quixote Center, P. O. Box 5206, Hyattsville, MD 20782. Mildred Stout Spokane

Other topics

Best preventative overlooked

Kathleen Parker’s Feb. 9 column about the pill really upset me. She makes it sound like a miracle drug when really it has brought on more problems than it has solved.

I was almost willing to discount this column as unworthy of reply until her statement, “As a pregnancy preventative, the pill has no rival.” How incorrect this is. Has she never heard of the little-used but most responsible alternative called abstinence? It is the only 100 percent effective, mature and right way to prevent a pregnancy. It is the perfect preventative for sexually transmitted diseases as well.

Parker also mentions educating teens of all their options. Would abstinence be one of these? I would guess not.

She did get one thing right in her column: abortion is gruesome. Steve Haxton Rosalia, Wash.

Support bill to stop cruelty

A pachyderm-size thank you to The Spokesman’s continued coverage of Sissy, the zoo elephant (1-25-00 and 1-31-00). Unfortunately, stories likes Sissy’s are too common. In fact, over half of our nation’s zoos and all circuses regularly beat their elephants with baseball bats, metal rods, hooks and other weapons in order to instill fear and obedience.

Such cruelty is in fact necessary to get wild animals to perform on cue. It has resulted in 30 trainer deaths and at least 70 spectator injuries in the past 17 years because of elephants fed up with performing, punishment and confinement.

Luckily, a bill has been introduced, HR 2929, the Captive Elephant Accident Prevention Act. If passed, the measure would end this cruelty and danger to the public by banning elephants for rides and traveling shows. Your help is needed. Please write in support of HR 2929 to: Rep. Bill McCollum, Crime Subcommittee chair, 2109 Rayburn House Office Bldg., Washington, DC, 20515.

Your efforts will finally give these intelligent, special and sensitive beings the respect and protection they have always deserved. Kelly J. Tansy Animal Crusaders, Spokane

Media choosy about flag propriety

It appears to be a matter of great moment that a symbol of the former Confederate States of America is flown over the state capitol buildings of South Carolina and Texas. Yet the inclusion of such a symbol in the banners that fly over the state capitols of Tennessee and Arkansas arouse no objections, passionate or otherwise or even any questions from the selectively inquisitive media.

Throughout Bill Clinton’s tenure as Arkansas governor, a symbol of the Confederacy flew above the capitol in Little Rock but no nosy reporter has made a big deal about that.

Meanwhile, notably unremarked upon by the press are the recent actions of a city in Texas that has chosen the flag of the Republic of Mexico to fly over its municipal headquarters as the symbol of its national loyalty. The town has declared itself a haven for unrestricted movement of immigrants from Mexico, legal or not and intends to conduct all official business in Spanish. Municipal employees will be punished if they cooperate with Immigration and Naturalization Service agents.

Such acts of insurrection deserve at least equal concern and publicity. Leonard C. Johnson Troy, Idaho

Reaction to Haider nonsensical

Regarding Austrian Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider:

The fact that Israel, the United States and other countries decided to punish Austria because Joerg Haider’s party is invited into the cabinet is sad proof that international politics nowadays is controlled and driven more by emotions than reason.

I’m not familiar with what Haider said about Hitler and his time. It was a difficult time and my family lost four children and three adults in the Holocaust. Yet Hitler was not a genius whose ideas are timeless and catching, and therefore dangerous. He ascended to power only because of misery in Germany. He himself was a paranoid idiot. In other words, to commemorate Hitler today is stomach turning but not dangerous. Hitler is over, kaput forever. The thought that Austria could somehow become a fascist state is ridiculous.

Haider’s demand to regulate immigration is, on the other hand, reflected in almost all “rich” states in Europe. Does the United States accept everybody just because they want to live here? Does Canada? Does Australia or New Zealand? So what is special about Austria?

From all I have read so far, it seems that we are punishing Austria for the expressed opinions of one politician. There are no evil deeds involved. Is that the American way, or are we for freedom of speech and ideas? Peter C. Dolina Veradale