Letters for Wednesday, May 13

Baumgartner spending hypocrisy

Rep . Baumgartner recently wrote “our country is on an unsustainable spending path. We are now over $38 trillion in debt, and we are spending more on interest payments than we spend on our military. That’s not good for our country right now and it’s terrible and unfair to future generations.”

This is entirely true. I couldn’t possibly agree more. Which makes it all the more infuriating that he’s done nothing during his time in Congress to address this – indeed, he’s voted repeatedly to make matters worse. Our national debt increased by $2 trillion in less than a year and a quarter while every word the administration says would have us think things are improving.

Baumgartner voted to strip funding from programs that help constituents while supporting blowing billions of dollars every week on unnecessary military aggression in other countries – countries, plural, as if starting even one war wasn’t more than enough. Voted to defund nutrition and health and education at home while handing out tax cuts to billionaires and Trump toadies. He’s encouraged the decimation of the Department of Education while simultaneously bemoaning the cost of college tuition and doing nothing to support the elementary schools in our district.

I am weary beyond telling of being represented by hypocrisy. Government should work for us, not strip us to the bone to make the rich richer.

Jessica Adams

Colville

Children don’t belong in detention

Last month, Congressman Michael Baumgartner voted yes on a Republican budget aiming to give DHS an additional $70 billion for immigration enforcement activities.

Apparently, when asked about children detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center, Baumgartner chuckled and said, “I don’t know Camp Dilley.”

Eleven-year-old Karla Tiul Baltazar, a local asylum-seeker, didn’t have that luxury. She and her dad were detained at Dilley in January.

You may know Dilley because of the boy in the blue bunny hat, sent there with his father. Maybe you’ve seen Ms. Rachel sharing a petition that calls for the immediate shutdown of the facility, or the drawings and letters from children incarcerated there, or the report concluding that “inhumane conditions, routine mistreatment and due process violations experienced by families at Dilley are pervasive and systemic,” including “limited access to clean water, nutritious food, sleep, personal hygiene, privacy or clean or appropriate clothing.”

Dilley is operated by prison contractor CoreCivic, funded by Congress. In 2025, five executives at CoreCivic received a combined total compensation of $20,499,555.

Family and child detention is inhumane.

“The overwhelming and distressing evidence presented … confirms that the revived policy of family detention is a humanitarian and systemic failure that lacks any legitimate legal or policy justification.”

We the people can choose to fight for better than giving our tax dollars to corporations who get rich off of locking up kids; better than “representatives” who look the other way.

Let’s start with replacing Baumgartner.

Elise Martinez

Cheney

Progressives in Inland Empire?

Where are the courageous visionary progressives in the Inland Empire with a “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” attitude? A confluence of risk/reward opportunity for the Inland Empire/Eastern Washington is creating tremendous opportunity, but “leaders” are mired in minutia and self-interest. We have a Trump apologist aiding the Republican fascist caucus and a Democratic Party that’s clearly not progressive or courageous. We recently passed a $200 million referendum for schools/parks that ignores the radical changes needed to maximize the value of AI, leaving our kids uncompetitive in their futures. And our largest company seems to be guarding the wealth of its out-of-state institutional investors while spewing natural gas/methane which will damage the planet and human health.

Where are the passionate youth willing to risk criticism for the right cause? Where are the visionary public servants more interested in their people than the job and notoriety? This is a time for the Inland Empire/Eastern Washington to rise, don’t miss it.

John Emery

Spokane