Letters To The Editor

IDAHO VIEWPOINT

Keep basis for taxation simple

Re: “Rankin rips candidate’s jail proposal,” (Jan. 6). Are the commissioners paying attention to what happened in Washington? The lesson learned is that we don’t mind paying a tax as long as it goes toward its intended project. The plan to raise sales tax with a refund in property tax is too fuzzy and will fail again.

Keep it simple and straightforward. Tell me what my cost for the jail will be and I might support it. Taxing has become like buying a new car - the cost gets so muddled you soon lose track of what the real cost is. Keep it simple.

Ronald V. Berg Post Falls

State should cap interest rates

A recent “60 Minutes” broadcast contained a piece about “title pawn” lenders - ones who extend credit to people at interest rates approaching 300 percent per year and have the right to take away their customers’ cars if payments are not made as agreed.

The segment was done in Florida where, apparently, there is serious debate as to whether some sort of usury law might be in the public interest, to prevent people from lending money at such unmanageable and outrageous rates. According to the broadcast, Florida until recently had limited consumer loan rates to something like 45 percent interest. Even that rate would have been seen as usurious and therefore unlawful just a few years ago, in most jurisdictions.

Idaho presently has no usury laws of any consequence, and a look through the yellow pages reveals literally dozens of pawn-type lenders doing business in Kootenai County. Many are in the title pawn business. Like the ones on “60 Minutes,” they let people borrow for interest rates of 25 percent per month or more - 300 percent interest per year. That, by any reasonable measure, is unconscionable.

What is surprising, however, is that unlike in Florida, I have not heard anyone in positions of public trust or power here questioning the wisdom of allowing this kind of state-sanctioned loan sharking to go on in Idaho. The state has the power to regulate lending, including setting maximum interest rates. This deserves a lot more attention. Cameron Phillips attorney, Coeur d’Alene

Good arthritis doctor remains

Re: Your article (“The doctors will be missed”, Dec. 21) and photograph of the doctors who are moving from Coeur d’Alene and who treat arthritis and other ailments. Your article stated that the departure leaves only “one other doctor in the Coeur d’Alene area.”

I believe that this one other doctor, Dr. Craig W. Weisenhutter, is without a doubt one of the best arthritis doctors in the entire United States. He has been treating me for years for a very severe, incurable type of this disease called pseudogout. Were it not for him, I doubt that I would be able to walk even short distances. June R. Rikard Post Falls

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Give scofflaws tickets, not free passes

Pardon my ignorance but I have always thought that the law is something to be obeyed and that law enforcement agencies are in business to enforce the laws - all laws.

In Washington state, if cars are being driven the law requires that they have current license tabs. People whose tabs expired in November or December and who chose not to renew their tabs until January were breaking the law if they drove their vehicles.

The Washington State Patrol, Spokane County sheriff and the Spokane Police Department are obligated to enforce the law by writing tickets to drivers of vehicles with expired tabs. I don’t recall a law being passed that allowed a 10- or 14-day amnesty for scofflaws.

I demand that our law enforcement agencies apply the law as written and ticket any vehicle being driven with expired plates. Sandra L. Christensen Spokane

OVER THE LINE

Washington voters only penny wise

As a longtime resident of Idaho, I am grateful that we have a state income tax. What a great way to distribute taxes between the haves and the have nots.

As Washington voters for Initiative 695 cheer its passage, they evidently don’t realize that they have destroyed the main tax differential between the rich and the poor. The I-695 tax saving for the average Washington household will be in the hundreds. The savings for those in the high range will be in the thousands. Owners of expensive cars are now adding their savings to their already-bulging portfolios. Now, the tax playing field is even.

I hope the yes voters on I-695 are happy, when they see people like themselves being laid off or their hours curtailed because of their misdirected vote.

In addition to our national income tax, all states must have some way to support their infrastructure. Washington has no income tax but Idaho, like most states, does have one. Here, if you are poor, you pay nothing. If you are average, you pay some. If you are rich, you pay more. What could be more fair than that? This is why Idaho license taxes on automobiles, boats, motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles are cheaper.

Where will Washington’s tax dollars come from now? You could vote in an income tax, which is fair, but you won’t because 55 percent of the Washington voters can’t see that far ahead. Ken Smith Mullan, Idaho

Siting, approval system lacking

The difficulty that Burlington Northern Santa Fe is having in obtaining approval for a fuel depot in Rathdrum again points out the nebulous process that is used.

Once, railroads were given significant incentives to expand their influence and open the West. Land exempt from local use control is but one example of the power they wield. Another is the separate police force that is maintained by the rail industry. They act independently of local or state agencies. Hopefully, they do work in unison with these people.

Finally, a comment on the freight railroads handle. Hazardous materials such as inflammables, chemicals and even nuclear materials are moved on an every-day basis. We would all be shocked at what is moved though Spokane every day. Freight traffic is not noted because tracks are elevated and nearly out of sight. Hopefully, a derailment in town won’t happen to make us all aware of what passes by every day.

I’m sure the present laws are a patchwork quilt of legislation developed over the years. Perhaps this is a good time to not only consider but to actively revise the body of legislation that is out there.

It doesn’t seem right to me that if a community doesn’t want some facility, that an end run can happen in federal court to accomplish the same result. Vernon J. Nelson, M.D. Spokane

Hearing examiner courageous, correct

Re: “Examiner advises against depot,” (Jan. 4). I commend the examiner for her courageous and forthright decision to advise against the refueling depot. The safety factor, while as good as it can be made, is still too risky. Like supposedly safe sex, there is no such thing - abstinence is our only guarantee.

I have nothing against a refueling depot, just do not locate it over our drinking water supply. Our planet is a living ecosystem and we are now a global society. We must make decisions now that protect the environment and future generations. We know better than to commit an act of potential harm. Thank God that Jean DeBarbieris was courageous enough to do better! E. Ione Jenson Hayden

BNSF reassurances not credible

Thank God for those with common sense. The hearing examiner who presided over the recent Burlington Northern Santa Fe public hearings is to be congratulated for the thoroughness in her examination of the evidence submitted.

The typical knee-jerk reaction by some, such as Burlington Northern Santa Fe, saying she overlooked unchallenged science that drinking water will remain safe, is to be expected. However, the expert geology witness testifying in behalf of the Friends of the Aquifer made it patently clear that the so-called BNSF model, which suggested it was impossible for spilled diesel fuel to ever reach the aquifer, had such extreme variances that it could just as easily be shown that such a spill would, in fact, reach the underground water table. In other words, BNSF was vigorously and effectively challenged with very credible testimony from highly qualified witnesses.

But there are those who will try and force this ill-conceived plan right down the throats of the citizens of Kootenai and Spokane counties. What’s good for General Bull Moose is good for the country, right?

I ask those who adamantly campaign for this system, based upon its fail-safe design, just how did huge quantities of diesel fuel get to the aquifers in more than 10 communities in Montana and North Dakota? Come on now, surely our aquifer is not that unique as to be absolutely guaranteed not to suffer the same fate as so many other BNSF yard operations. The only responsible thing to do is move it. John E. Bentley Post Falls

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Some of us just rue the day

Staff writer Jim Camden did a good job on “Moments to remember” but left out when Washington Water Power stockholders lost control. A “vista” was set up for the executives but a dark cloud was left for stockholders. Dividends dropped from $1.24 to 48 cents. The value of a share dropped from over $20 to little over $15.

WWP operated with a profit while paying a good dividend. Avista is paying only a meager dividend yet needs rate hikes to operate. Did wild dreams of expansion bring about this status?

Having fewer than 1,000 shares, we were not ruined, but many area seniors had invested their retirement funds in WWP, a solid company. Avista put a dark cloud on their futures. Bill Burnette Otis Orchards

Kaiser would understand union resolve

Henry Kaiser was a man whose achievements were based on his humanity and respect for family. He made sure his employees had health care benefits because of his own mother’s early death. It is too bad that so many of today’s corporations are controlled by such a privileged few, who have no concept of what it is to see a loved one die for lack of money or medical care.

When dollars come before people and the measure of success is the bottom line of a quarterly report, one can never be as successful a builder as Kaiser, and perhaps only a destroyer, like Kaisers Aluminum’s current owner, Charles Hurwitz.

A corporation’s first resource must be its employees and the owner’s and shareholders’ vision must be for humanity! That was Kaiser’s vision for his employees and that is the vision of the 2,900 Steelworkers locked out of their plants today.

We will continue to stand up for our right to receive just compensation for our labor. In the 50 years under Kaiser, that meant fair and meaningful negotiations that led to thousands of workers receiving top pay and benefits while building an incredible fortune for the Kaiser family. Today, that means 2,900 families who believe in Kaiser’s principles standing strong in the face of corporate raider Hurwitz and demanding what’s rightfully theirs, no matter how long that takes. Today, that means fighting back, in honor of Henry Kaiser. One day longer! Don Kegley Trentwood Steelworker, Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

What’s the alcohol content of poverty?

I read in the Dec. 31 paper an article that said one in four children lives with an adult who abuses alcohol. A few weeks ago, I read an article that said one in four children in the United States lives in poverty.

I wonder how much of a crossover there is between these two sets of circumstances. Does anyone have any figures to show us if there is a correlation between an alcoholic parent and poverty? Nancy Parker Spokane

Bring back `Cathy’

I was distressed to discover that The Spokesman-Review has decided to eliminate “Cathy” from the comics section. “Cathy” has been around for ages and is one of my favorites. I understand the need to keep up with the times but there are a lot of us of the age to identify with “Cathy.” Many women, I imagine, enjoy the antics of “Cathy,” which has a much broader appeal than some others such as “The Simpsons” and “Luann,” which are meant to appeal to the younger set, who do not take time to enjoy your morning paper over breakfast as we do in my household. I do hope you will reconsider this omission. Ann M. Edwards Coeur d’ Alene