Letters for July 6

Respect, compassion aren’t partisan

I was recently invited to Rep. Michael Baumgartner’s office in Washington, D.C., to discuss access to reproductive health care. I was joined by one of the congressman’s constituents, a military spouse from Fairchild Air Force Base, who shared how state abortion bans disproportionately harm military families who cannot choose where they live. We wanted to discuss the importance of patients and doctors making informed medical choices – not the government.

We didn’t expect Baumgartner to agree, but we did expect to be treated with respect. Instead, we were asked to share personal stories of sexual abuse and medical emergencies with his legislative assistant in a public hallway. His constituent was visibly upset and needed comfort afterward. In contrast, Democratic members of the Washington Caucus in the House and Senate gave us private, respectful meetings. Sen. Patty Murray reserved a conference room to give us attention and dignity.

Rep. Baumgartner’s staff informed us that his “pro-life” stance stems from his Catholic faith. I would like to remind him and your readers that he represents all of his constituents, not just those who share his narrow interpretation of his faith. Many of us don’t want Baumgartner’s personal religious beliefs forced upon us.

Growing up in Spokane, I learned at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church: “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, so you do unto me.” The Bible teaches in Hebrews 13:2: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers …”

Respect and compassion are not partisan – and shouldn’t be optional.

Heather Mullin

Spokane

Protect PBS programming

I hope the recent KSPS public TV airing of the Hannah Arendt story was widely viewed. She was a German philosopher and Jew who experienced Hitler’s rise to power and life-threatening antisemitism. After emigrating to the U.S., she experienced the early warnings of Trump’s creeping totalitarianism in Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon before her death in 1975. She wrote a book called “The Origins of Totalitarianism” and coined the phrase “the banality of evil” to describe how ordinary people seeking power can lose the ability to think from the standpoint of someone else and commit evil acts without intending to.

Rep. Baumgartner proudly voted to rescind funding for public broadcasting, calling it inappropriate spending. He claims he must “carefully scrutinize every dollar spent” to reduce the deficit. This is pure propaganda disguised as commonsense household budgeting. The federal government can fund whatever it wants, because unlike households and states, it regularly prints more money. When new money is invested in human services, inflation is unlikely. Moreover, minuscule savings will have no effect on the deficit. Deficit reduction requires reducing the power of the rich to rig the economy and taxes in their favor. It’s greed and corruption that must be cut, not human services and economic lifelines.

The reality is many programs on PBS threaten the authority of insecure leaders like Trump and Baumgartner, and they don’t meet the broadcast criteria of commercial channels. If PBS disappears, so will this much needed prime-time history programming, which Baumgartner deceptively claims to support.

Cris Currie

Mead

Baumgartner ingnores constituents

In his weekly newsletter delivered to my inbox recently, our “Voice in Congress”, Rep Michael Baumgartner, states “Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting the 49 Degrees North ski area in Colville.” This is astonishing on multiple levels. Is he truly ignorant of the existence of our community? Is he incredibly lazy in his attention to detail? Does he hire people to write his nonsense who do not have a basic understanding of his district? Maybe all these things?

What we do know about Baumgartner is that he does not represent or advocate for needs of his constituents. In that same newsletter he brags about standing with veterans even though he voted to slash the VA budget. In regard to public lands, he claims to support the “importance of preserving these natural treasures for future generations,” while in fact he voted for the budget bill that opens 278 million acres of public land for sale to the highest bidder. And of course, he voted to slash Medicaid and SNAP benefits for the neediest of Stevens County residents.

I didn’t often agree with Cathy McMorris Rodgers, but at least I could call her office and talk to a real human and get a response pertinent to my concerns. If I needed constituent service, it was forthcoming. With Baumgartner, that is sadly not the case. With him, I have no voice in Congress.

Deidre McAuliffe

Loon Lake, Wash.