Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Street bond need compelling

The case for the street bond issue that will come before voters on Sept. 17 is a good one. While there are those who continue to bad-mouth any improvements the city tries to make, they cannot deny that our streets are deteriorating.

The simple truth is there are so many demands on revenue from other important sources that there is hardly anything left over to make necessary repairs to the streets.

While conspiracy theorists absurdly seem to believe the city has allowed the streets to decay on purpose, the truth is that the federal and state grants which pay for most major transportation improvements have been drying up. The burden of paying for improvements has been shifted to the cities.

Either we make a small sacrifice now and reestablish our arterials as dependable conduits for people and commerce or we will have to pay much more later and allow Spokane’s economy to suffer in the process.

A yes vote on Sept. 17 will ensure a brighter future for Spokane. Kevin Bommer Spokane

Dump the frills, then let’s talk

They just don’t get it, do they? All this controversy regarding the proposed $37 million bond to repair our streets, and the lament of the city fathers that there just isn’t any money for it and no way to get the necessary funds without taxing the citizens again.

Our leaders can’t seem to understand why so many citizens are against this added tax. When (if) our mayor and City Council ever get their priorities straight and stop spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants, retreats, pedestrian malls, unneeded trolleys, such failed and very expensive projects as the compost facility, etc., they will find the voters more receptive to taxation for the necessary improvements.

As things stand now, many of us are taxed to our limit. It is past time for the community’s leaders to begin listening to what the citizens want and act accordingly. M. Fisher Spokane

Humane Society procedure a sham

On Aug. 10, I viewed, as usual, channel six, for early news. I am always interested in the animal care tips provided by the Spokane Humane Society.

I noted that there was a 6-month-old yellow lab, AKC, that needed a home. My family has had these gentle, loving animals for many years and understand what wonderful additions they are to a home.

I quickly called my daughter, who has three small children and lacks the funds to purchase a pet of this quality on her own. She called the Humane Society and was advised to be at the shelter by 10 a.m., that she would be required to complete an application and be interviewed.

She packed up the little people. There were four other applicants at the shelter. Shelter personnel collected the applications and later brought them to the waiting area, dropped them on the floor and another employee selected one.

So now we know how the system works! There was no interview. The application didn’t question if the prospective owner had a fenced yard or if there were other pets in the home. I’m sure the family who gave their pet to the shelter, due to being transferred overseas, expected a more professional method of finding a suitable home. Carole Bonvallet Spokane

6TH LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT

Benson wrong or out to mislead

Brad Benson’s Aug. 19 letter, “Compassion the province of individuals,” begs for a little balance.

Does this candidate for 6th District state representative really believe the Old Testament author he quoted in Ecclesiastes 10:2, “The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.” He used the words “left” and “right” with the same meaning they convey today, in the modern political arena. That put him at odds with many biblical scholars. If that was not his intention, he must have been deliberately misrepresenting the Bible.

I checked Protestant and Catholic Bibles, and a fine dictionary, finding no evidence that there was any political meaning attached to either of these words.

Interestingly, many people quote Scripture out of context, using verses to make points that are actually contrary to the context of the passage. If Benson was deliberately misquoting the Bible, I would offer him this, from Matthew 18:2, about people who mislead others:

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck than to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

I wouldn’t think of taking this literally, but I can’t, in good conscience vote for someone who is either a bad interpreter or a deliberate misleader. Rich Bruce Spokane

IN THE PAPER

Cartoon racist and inaccurate

Upon reading the political cartoon by staff cartoonist Milt Priggee, in Sunday, Aug. 25, I realized the Spokesman needs to be educated.

First, what is Priggee’s experience at powwows? How would he know if powwows have or have not changed since tribes have started gaming?

Also, does he believe that it is acceptable for non-Indian businesses to operate Bingo halls and card rooms but not allow tribes?

Many readers believed this political cartoon implied that tribes are involved with the mob. Tribes are not and Priggee cannot show they are, so he printed this childish cartoon. I do not speak for any tribe. I only speak for myself and my family.

I believe this strip was racist. The Spokesman needs to reevaluate what it deems appropriate and stop printing racist material.

As a member of the Powwow Committee, I would like to invite publisher Stacey Cowles, editor Chris Peck and Priggee to next year’s Spokane Falls, Northwest Indian Encampment and Powwow. John Guenther Spokane

Bands battle undercovered

I was quite disappointed in the coverage of the recent fourth annual Battle of the Bands at Riverfront Park (“Local garage bands do annual battle in Riverfront Park,” News, Aug. 18).

It was too obvious that staff writer Brian Coddington actually witnessed only a tiny portion of the competition (let us hope he was on deadline) as he mentioned only of the first two bands and made no mention of the winners.

For many of the bands, this event was their first public appearance. For many others, it was their first shot at a major audience.

The Outlets came all the way from Missoula and electrified the crowd with its own brand of boisterous country. Pure, an instrumental group from Shadle Park, won the People’s Choice Award without the aid of a bass player.

Aunt Sophie’s Disease, a trio from Pullman, won a showing at the Spokane Interstate Fair and its guitarist, Leb Borgerson, won a guitar as the Best Guitarist. The band also won Best Band. Yet none of these bands received a post-concert mention in your publication.

Many other great talents were discovered/showcased, but your coverage left much to be desired. Certainly, if Coddington was indeed forced to leave after 45 minutes, an additional, concluding report was in order.

You owed it to the bands, as well as to the newspaper (your promotion of the event was excellent) to give equal coverage of all bands and publish winners. Wes Weddell Pullman

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Supply side scam is ingenious

Supply side economics is a brilliant business. Here’s how it works:

First, turn the welfare state into a military state and call Keynesianism “defense spending.” You’ll need an enemy, but any good marketing agency can create one. Fear is the easiest sell there is; just ask your local preacher.

Secondly, pass some puny tax cuts (which you’ll repeal later on) and then credit them for the economic growth created by your “defense spending.” Make sure you properly reward your campaign contributors, though!

Finally, when debt problems rear their ugly head, find scapegoats. Social misfits work wonderfully. Chris Farnam Spokane

Term limits enhance fairness

Joan Harman asked a good question in her recent letter regarding the voting booth and term limits. Why do fewer than half of the voters engage in limiting the terms of politicians they don’t like?

The ballot box would work as a method of limiting terms in an ideal world - a world without incumbency name recognition, special interest money, huge congressional staffs, franking privileges, media attention, etc. The power of incumbency is mighty and unfair.

Term limits create open races every six years for each House seat and every 12 years for each Senate seat. This is a healthy climate for our country.

There is no shortage of intelligent potential candidates for Congress - people who, if elected, can take a wealth of knowledge and experience from the private sector to our nation’s capital.

Knowing that a challenger will have to fight an uphill battle against the power of incumbency is enough to discourage an otherwise stalwart and qualified candidate. Open seating will allow exciting political races that are run on an even playing field.

I hope Americans will never forget their constitutional right to vote. And I hope that before too many years go by, Americans will have real choices at the polls, thanks to a term limits amendment. Sandy Clark Coeur d’Alene

Clinton record full of missteps

Are you ready for some football? How about some facts? One, between 1980 and 1994, Democrats received more tobacco money than Republicans, according to the National Library on Money and Politics.

Two, Dick Morris, President Clinton’s No. 1 adviser, was hired by anti-tobacco lawyers to do polling for them in Mississippi and four or five other states, to help them shape their litigation strategy. This is a clear example of conflict of interest. Tricky Dicky has not stated how much money he was paid.

Three, trial lawyers and friends were Clinton’s largest contributors by far, to the $2 million to $2.5 million in the first nine months of 1995. Four, Clinton’s brother-in-law, Hugh Rodham, is one of the lawyers suing the tobacco companies in a class action lawsuit filed in Louisiana - another case of conflict of interest.

Five, teenage illegal drug use is up over 80 percent in Clinton’s three and half years in the White House. Six, Clinton effectively dismantled the war on drugs.

Now that you have the facts, ask yourself why Clinton waited until the waning days of his presidency to take a stand against tobacco that is not only unauthorized and unlawful, but will put a tremendous strain on Medicaid and Social Security. Perhaps millions of smokers are now classified as drug users. As such, they are now eligible for payment under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Was this executive decision made for the sake of our children? I think not, but you decide. Katherine O’Sullivan Spokane

Events show character differences

The media are paying lots of attention to character these days. The recent Republican convention featured character profiles of presidents Reagan and Bush, their wives, and of Bob and Elizabeth Dole. The Republican Party intends to present Dole as a good guy and President Clinton as a bad guy.

However, Clinton is not hesitant to defend his character, as evidenced in his TV talk on “60 Minutes.” He said he will be judged by God and not by Dole.

Surprisingly, public opinion polls indicate the character issue is less important to many voters than many other issues.

Voters want to know more clearly the candidates’ ideals about the national economy, taxes, deficit reduction, welfare reform, crime, civil rights for minorities, Medicare, Medicaid, the environment, education, immigration policies, foreign affairs policies, etc.

Differences in the candidates’ campaigns are interesting. Recently, Dole and Jack Kemp visited the Illinois State Fair and also participated in a big rally of football fans near Buffalo, N.Y.

Meanwhile, newspapers reporting the Clinton-Gore campaign featured a photo of the two handling tools in the rebuilding of two burned-out churches, white and black, in Tennessee. Leo J. Alilunas Moscow, Idaho

Clinton doesn’t deserve votes

When I see President Bill Clinton, as my stomach roils and my heart is squeezed to the point of bursting, I can’t help but remember all the young people whose lives were taken in bloody battles while wearing the uniform of this country.

How would those countless thousands of youth feel about this president, a cowardly draft-dodger? They, in their brave youth, never had the opportunity to prove themselves as adults. They didn’t deserve their deaths. Rather, they should have been allowed to go to college (like Billy boy), have families, receive the love of their families that they left behind, and work toward our American dream, which is elusive. How many decent, strong and honest presidents were among those fallen kids?

My oldest brother was among those young people whose lives were so cruelly snuffed out. He had just turned 19, was a strong individual, honest, responsible and decent. Who knows what he might have become in adulthood?

How can I betray his memory and my family’s everlasting strong love for him by voting for a sneaky and evil man? Rest assured, my brother and all of your fallen comrades, I cannot and will not. You did not die in vain. Marlene Brazington Spokane

ABORTION

Anti-abortion laws do not work

The question of abortion - as in right or wrong - is not the question when it comes to legality.

Truth be known, when abortion was illegal, it was still done - but by laymen in back alleys with rusty equipment. It usually killed both mother and baby and/or the infection would sterilize the mother for life.

We can have all that again. Just make it illegal.

Did no one bother to find out why it was legalized in the first place? Take some history lessons. Learn that people were tired of finding their daughters dead and bloody in their little beds as a way to find out that they were pregnant and didn’t want the baby or the scandal or for their parents to find out, etc. That is why it is legal.

Making things illegal doesn’t stop people from doing them. It gives a chance for criminals to take advantage and make some cash. I guess when we find out women are having them anyway, as long as they’re not dead when we find out, we can throw the mothers in jail for their criminal activity.

That will surely benefit society. Debra Sullivan Spokane