Letters for July 1, 2023

Crystal clear language

Are Trump’s supporters illiterate? A fair question, given their woeful lack of knowledge or respect for our Constitution. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment disqualifies Trump from ever again holding office. Don’t argue that Trump is not guilty of insurrection as his words and actions belie that argument.

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

Bruce Market

Spokane

The poor, misinformed public

Sources matter. From self-imposed ignorance, to corrupt manipulation, in the end does it matter?

Ignorance may be bliss until they come for you and no one speaks out. In federal tax law, prosecutors by policy do not let defendants’ plea to lesser charges. It’s called the “major count” policy. Example: If you were looking at two felonies and three misdemeanors in a federal tax court, the prosecutor could offer to plea to the top felony and dismiss the rest of the charges. Which can be fairly standard. But for a prosecutor to offer a different plea bargain, such as plea to a misdemeanor and drop the felonies, as was done in the Hunter Biden case, the prosecutor would have to get permission from one of three people. The head of the IRS, the United States Attorney General, or the president of the United States. Further diversionary court in Federal Court is only offered in 0.001% of cases and never offered in tax cases and or cases involving a gun. Wesley Snipes served two and a half years in prison for similar charges, minus the gun charge. That is a two-tiered system of justice.

Cameron Vessey

Spokane

Climate policy may bring change

I applaud former South Carolina Congressman Bob Inglis for calling for immediate passage and implementation of a national carbon tax to fight the impact of climate change (Opinion, June 24).

That idea has been knocking around the halls of Congress for a number of years with most reps, especially those of the GOP, showing little appetite for it. His support of an American cross-border tax has been pre-empted by the EU, which passed a border tax two months ago as part of broader climate change legislation. The skeptic in me says aggressive U.S. congressional action on taxing fossil fuel producers will remain dead on arrival. It certainly won’t come from conservatives like Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who seem to measure American energy leadership by low gas prices and the size of our strategic reserve. The optimist in me hopes that the EU cross-border tax will force American exporters to reduce their pollution production.

We will see.

Tom Benemann

Spokane