TO THE EDITOR JUNE 2011


House vote record wanted
printed in the Spokesman-Review
I believe the final solution to the current budget/debt issue will fundamentally drive a generational change in America. I also believe that The Spokesman-Review has an obligation to its readership to accurately and regularly report on those issues as they are debated in Congress and in communities around the country.
Towards that end, I have often wondered why the Spokesman does not have frequent reporting on our congressional representative's views, votes and opinions. When one goes to her website, we see that she has voted to "save us from the Affordable Healthcare Act." That vote was taken in January.
No mention of her vote on Ryancare, her position on eliminating tax subsidies for farmers, oil companies and other government giveaways. I suspect I know her position on taxes since she is beholding to Grover Norquist after signing the Taxpayers Protection Pledge.
I am not aware of any "town hall" meetings that have been held Recently, or that are planned for the near future. With Congress in Session one week out of every three you would think she would have Time. The only time I see her is, like Forrest Gump, peering over Boehner's shoulder. Do I blame her? No, indeed. Why would she do That when the local pap0er gives her a pass?

Barry Cross
Spokane
June 25, 2011

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McMorris website entertaining
printed in the Miner
Free entertainment is available from the website of our congresswoman, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. It contains some fiction and fantasy characters like the mysterious "job creator" or "small business job creator."
Please ask her to post a picture of these characters, so we know who to ask for a job considering the double digit unemployment in rural Eastern Washington. What I am looking for is a list of small business job creators in the Fifth Congressional District who have actually hired workers based on McMorris Rodgers touted Republican economic policies. In January, the Bush tax cuts were extended for two more years, so how many new jobs have been created in the last six months because the small business job creators paid lower taxes?
Another issue on the cngresswoman's home page is extending the national debt ceiling. She posted a survey and asked if the government's power to spend and borrow money should not be limited. That's very different from extending the debt ceiling to pay for wars and programs already in place. The congresswoman voted for Plan D Medicare, which was the largest federal social program expansion since the 1960s. She voted for the Federal Department of Homeland Security, which is the largest federal bureaucracy and made TSA screeners federal employees. She also supports the credit card funded wars in the Middle East, which have become the longest in our nation's history. When she votes to not extend the national debt ceiling, then she is saying that she doesn't want to continue funding for the very bills and programs that she passed.
It's time to ask the congresswoman to forgo the fiction and make believe and admit that she doesn't represent the citizens of this district. The script she follows doesn't originate in Eastern Washington, but at Washington D.C. lobbyist/PR firms and political think tanks.

Pete Scobby
Newport
June 22, 2011

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Overdosed on Fox
printed in the Spokesman-Review
One thing's apparent from Sue Lani Madsen's letter (June 16) supporting the Ryan plan to replace Medicare with that voucher plan which would cost seniors $6,000 more per year. She spends too much time watching Fox, which mischaracterizes Democrats' views, rather than MSNBC, which broadcasts their actual comments.
While Democrats do oppose the Ryan "death voucher" plan because it's just another way to siphon off trillions of dollars more for the medical insurance industry, most also do point out that in order to make Medicare sustainable it must be changed.
The problem with Medicare is not that it's inefficient.
Medicare overhead amounts to only a few percent as opposed to the 20 percent plus overhead charges in the private medical insurance racket. The problem is that it's underfunded.
Medicare taxes cover no more than one-third of projected costs. Hence the most cost-efficient strategy is just to Increase the tax rate of Medicare, which has not been increased for several decades while medical costs have skyrocketed. We could save even more if we demanded that hospital, doctor and drug costs be no more here than in other civilized countries.

William Betz
Newport
June 20, 2011


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