Letters for Feb. 22, 2024

CMR could have finished the corridor

I have been retired as long as Cathy McMorris Rodgers has been in congress. During those 20 years I have made countless trips to and from Newport to the Spokane airport. I think of CMR every time on that gasoline-wasting trip. She opposed the North Spokane Corridor because the Republican Party wanted to get rid of “earmarks.” All she had to do was earmark the funds in her first term and we would have been driving on that freeway for years. Instead, we will wait until 2030 or longer. The freeway would have been completed more cheaply with 2004 tax dollars.

We could have had CMR and President Obama having a joint ribbon cutting just like Biden and McConnell did in Kentucky for a bridge. I recall that CMR wasn’t invited to the ribbon cutting for the first section of the freeway.

Instead, we heard all about gas prices and inflation from CMR. Imagine how much gas has been wasted on airport trips for 20 years. I didn’t want to spend part of my retirement sitting at endless traffic lights over CMR’s political ideology.

I am a single-issue voter for CMR’s replacement. Finish the freeway as fast as possible before we die. Let’s hope not from a heart attack or stroke while waiting at a traffic light.

Pete Scobby

Newport, Wash.

I hope she’s proud of her ‘help’

Slow down on rosy accolades regarding Cathy McMorris Rodgers, folks. Let’s not start planning to change street names, bridges or buildings to honor her. You need to come all the way out from under the rocks before you write. You’ve overlooked a lot.

I agree she did some very good things for the 5th District and our country in earlier years. Anyone in their right mind, however, cannot overlook the damage done by Donald Trump and his MAGA followers. She supported him during his presidency right up to this very day. History shows she supports the destruction of our rule of law, which will open the door for Trump and MAGA to destroy our Constitution and democracy, should he be returned to the presidency.

Since she is over age 50, she will complete her 20th year of service by the end of 2024. At that point she will be fully vested in her pension, along with any fringe government paid benefits. Wait, there’s more! She’s leaving Congress as a multimillionaire. Not bad for 20 years’ work. She’s been coasting since 2022 by simply following orders from Trump and the do-nothing Republican-controlled Congress. In her recent update, she’s looking for new ways to “help” us. We can’t afford more “help” from someone who willingly gambles with our democracy and walks away.

Quite a legacy, but I just can’t bring myself to say thanks, Cathy.

Randall Ulberg

Spokane

Voters trust bottom line

In a time long ago (2017), in a land far away (Oklahoma), my wife worked for the local county election office. When taxing elections came around, farmers in the area would show up at the office wanting a clear explanation of what the tax was about, what the benefit was, and what the actual cost would be. Given that the text of the stated item under consideration was often dense, confusing and leaned up against double negative wording, the usual view taken was in essence, “If I can’t understand it in simple terms, then the answer is no.”

Descriptions of items in the February special election were dense, confusing and attempted to screen away the bottom line that everyone is going to pay higher amounts. A couple of years ago there was an across-the-board property tax increase. I disagreed with the process then and predicted the very election outcome just shown. A school levy may be worded as being a replacement at the same rate, but that rate is attached to inflated property values. Call them taxes, levies, bonds, extensions, whatever, for me it’s all a bottom line of money coming out of my wallet.

Schools may need money, but I need a clearer explanation of why, compared to groceries, fuel, clothes and increased police protection and response.

Roll back property taxes on ordinary folk, increase taxation on very wealthy individuals and corporations, stop wasting money on painted crosswalks. It’s about the bottom line.

John Koehn

Spokane