They are calling our Social Security benefits we paid into all our working lives an entitlement benefit. We are getting a 0.2 percent raise in 2017; that is about a $2 raise for someone getting $1000 per month. They say we will run out of money in 2034. If our government would return the one and a half trillion dollars they stole out of the Social Security fund, we would be in great shape. On top of this they are raising the part B to $149 from $121 in 2017! They cannot give us a decent raise but they can bring in 10,000 Syrian refugees and pay all of their expenses. It is time for our government to start taking care of their own folks who are living on the streets.
If you want to see what party has messed with our Social Security, just Google it and you will find a whole list of one party. We need a change in Washington, D.C. Hillary Clinton is not the answer; she is part of the problem!
Jerry Petricko
Hood River
Time for change
It’s time for a change in who runs our state’s elections. Our state has elected Republican Secretaries of State for 52 years. It’s time to elect Democrat Tina Podlodowski as Washington’s next Secretary of State.
One important issue is whether the Secretary of State is aggressive enough in getting voters registered and turning them out (Washington State is 18th in voter turnout). For example, states that have provided postage-free ballots in early voting have experienced 50 percent increases in turnout.
Further, Kim Wyman, the incumbent Republican, wasted $11.5 million on a meaningless presidential primary in May and broke her promise to produce primary voter guides for all voters.
Finally, we have had four chances to enact The Washington Voting Rights Act, but it has been blocked by our Republican controlled Senate. The act would enable minority communities to elect people who might actually represent them. It would have set up ground rules in which communities that are underrepresented on their local elected boards and councils could seek better representation by allowing municipalities to switch from an at-large system of electing officials to a district system. California enacted it in 2001. Wyman has resisted getting the act passed.
Tina Podlodowski supports the Voting Rights Act. Podlodowski also supports postage-free ballots and same-day voter registration. Vote for Podlodowski.
Mary Fowler
White Salmon, Wash.
Melting cheese
We originally moved to this area in 2009. We lived on the Oregon side, but my husband’s office was on the Washington side; we paid Oregon income tax.
We bought a home in Washington, but my husband’s office was moved to the Oregon side so we paid Oregon taxes again. Imagine making a monthly car payment for a shiny new car that you don’t get to drive. It’s not fun, and it’s very stressful on a budget.
Today my husband’s office is on the Washington side but we have a governor up for re-election that will implement a Washington State Income Tax in addition to the sales taxes, gas taxes, property taxes, and school levies that we already pay. If you read Washington State Senate Bill 6559 (SB6559) and can manage to not go cross-eyed, you will find that the bold headings make bold statements that sound like an income tax will magically lower our tax burden. If you read the fine print, you will soon realize that they are empty promises. Each of the taxes that the bill claims to “eliminate” or “reduce” actually allows for them to be raised at a later date. Sneaky!
I once overheard my friend’s dad lecturing her that “you can put cheese on a pile of manure, but it’s still manure.” That’s what we are being handed with SB6559 — melting cheese on a steaming cow patty. If our state government can’t properly handle its budget now, SB6559 will only accelerate irresponsible spending. We have successfully defeated seven attempts at implementing an income tax since 1935. Let’s go for lucky number eight and defeat our current governor while we’re at it. Vote for Bill Bryant and get our state’s spending under control.
Lisa Evans
White Salmon, Wash.
Fox News-flash
I do not watch Fox News, but local writers have been encouraging me to do so as well as vote for Donald Trump and Congressman Greg Walden. I keep hearing inferences that Fox News and its followers are unbiased and express only truisms.
Bill Davis, in his Sept. 10 “Marching orders” letter, substitutes “semi-reliable sources” as the equivalent of “confirmed and reliable sources” in stating his case. Last week, Alan Winans in his “Clean house” letter encouraged me to vote for nine-term incumbent Congressman Walden as a way to clean house politically and start fresh.
I have a real bone to pick with my English teachers. They obviously do not watch Fox either.
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