Sorted by date Results 1435 - 1459 of 3210
In 2009, all Republican and two Democratic senators killed Obama Care’s proposed “public option” that likely would have led to a national, single-payer health care. Now Hillary Clinton has suggested reintroducing this Medicare-for-all option. Thus hopes are raised of reducing health care costs, impossible until health insurance companies lose control, while also increasing Obama Care’s improvements in coverage. Canadian single-payer universal health care costs only 60 percent of the U.S. system, with better results (life e...
I am proud to be a supporter for the campaign of Joe Pakootas for U.S. Representative for the 5th Congressional District. I have volunteered to help campaign for him in 2014 and 2016, by phone work, sign waving, encouraging everyone to vote for Joe and funding support. I support Joe in the Cheney area and during his campaign debates, I was especially impressed when he referred to himself as a person of color and told how he was treated differently when he travels off the reservation. To me, he looks more American than I do....
Regarding “locker room talk” I can’t help but comment and share my own experiences. I’ve been using a gym of some kind now for 50-plus years and have heard hundreds of locker room conversations. Not once in 50 years have I ever heard any kind of demeaning of women. Mostly the conversations are about vacation trips, family matters, sports, medical issues and work related matters. I’m very proud of the quality of men that I’ve been privileged to get acquainted with in “locker rooms” either in high school, college or gyms...
Unfortunately, 5th District Represenative Cathy McMorris Rodger’s political ambition has left behind any moral principles. My party and McMorris Rodgers have crossed the line supporting Donald Trump and have abandoned not only standards of decency but true conservatism. I’m not sure who to vote for but it won’t be Trump or Rodgers. Tanner Morgan Walla Walla...
Jeff Holy (6th District representative, R-Cheney) must go. Reading his biography in the Spokesman Review convinced me he is not a proper representative for this legislature. He has a positive stance on charter schools, which is contrary to the business of Cheney, Wash. Education is the business because the two largest employers in town are Eastern Washington University and the Cheney Public Schools. The major contributor to the business of our country has been and still is education for all, which the Cheney School District...
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, our representative in the U.S. House of Representatives 5th District for over a decade, boasts of three major accomplishments — hydropower, which almost nobody is against, and two bills which benefited the disabled or families of the disabled. That is wonderful, and is likely a result of her having a child who has Down Syndrome. Despite this condition, she voted more than 50 times against the Affordable Care Act otherwise known as Obamacare that has already helped millions obtain health care. It is t...
It’s D-Day for American voters. With Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump carrying unusually low approval ratings and having a deep antipathy for one another, no matter which one ultimately is elected, the nation will be bitterly polarized. Hopefully, each has a plan to bring us back together after Nov. 8. America thrives on a peaceful transfer of power. It is one of the important traditions which has been handed down since John Adams succeeded George Washington on March 4, 1...
In the 1973 Western classic “High Plains Drifter,” Clint Eastwood’s man-with-no-name character is asked by another what they are supposed to do after the citizens of the town of Lagos kill three cowboys they backstabbed after hiring them to protect the town. “What about after?” Mordecai asks. “What about after we do it? What do we do then?” “Then you live with it,” Eastwood replies. With the 2016 election rapidly, and mercifully, coming to a close, those of us who vote will be faced with that same realization — wha...
Ballots are out and we must choose between deeply flawed candidates. Choose the lesser of evils? While questions of personality/character are important, they never invalidate our responsibility to vote. Everyone must consider his/her personal principles — non-negotiables — against the policy proposals of every candidate. My list of deal-breakers follows. Abortion on Demand. Life begins at conception — unquestioned. By the time pregnancy is known, differing DNAs declare “it’s my body” only a partial truth. (Most abortions?...
I had the honor of representing the West Plains and Cheney for 12 years in the House and eight in the Senate. Now as Senate Majority Leader I have a fond spot for the area and want the best for our schools, higher education and business climate and my many friends I made representing the district. The person best prepared to handle this job as state representative in the 6th District is Mike Volz. I have known Mike and his wife and their families since their days in high school in Ritzville and know them as quality people...
According to MSNBC Fact Finder, a lot of Mr. Donald Trump’s accusations towards Hillary Clinton and others have been proven false. Like so many other areas, including policies, etc., he has no idea what he is talking about. Mr. Trump owes so many people huge apologies, starting with the Kahn family. He owes apologies to a number of women he has assaulted and to all women in general for the things he says. It’s degrading, embarrassing and humiliating. He owes all of our children and grandchildren an apology for being a bad...
I’ll be honest, I am a little sick and tired of the election and I am waiting for it to be over. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the importance of this year’s presidential race, it will decide the next person — Republican nominee Donald Trump or Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton —who sits in the Oval Office for the next 4-8 years. But the election itself is not the problem. What is aggravating to me is all of the mudslinging, insults and name calling that is going around, not just between the Trump and Clinton camps, but al...
Uncoupling state timber sales revenue from public school construction funding doesn’t make sense. It is akin to killing the goose laying the golden eggs. That idea came up during this year’s campaign for public lands commissioner. Democrat Hilary Franz, a Seattle environmental attorney, and Republican Steve McLaughlin, a retired Navy Commander, are the finalists. Franz stated her position in a candidate questionnaire, according to the business publication, Lens. She wrote the...
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ empty promises and lies, and her allegiance to Donald Trump’s racist, hate-filled misogynistic message belie her self-proclaimed image of a caring individual. Her voting history is a matter of public record, and her lack of support for basic needs such as food (voted against SNAP), health care (voted more than 50 times to repeal the ACA) and fair wages (voted against equal pay) is appalling. As a woman, I find it unconscionable that she voted against the Violence Against Women Act. To...
This November voters will consider Initiative 1464. Spanning 23 pages and 37 sections, I-1464 is a very complex proposal covering many aspects of campaign finance including a proposed repeal of the current ban on giving tax dollars to political candidates. Starting in 2018, I-1464 would allow eligible individuals to give up to three taxpayer financed $50 contributions (available until funds are exhausted) to “qualified” candidates for their private political campaigns. Thi...
A word or two, if I may, regarding the two pages you see about you. At the top of this page, note the heading: Opinion. According to Webster, the simple definition of the word “opinion” is: a belief, judgment or way of thinking about something : what someone thinks about a particular thing. There is more of course, but I leave that to you. I write this because I sometimes receive comments and criticism about what appears on the Cheney Free Press Opinion page. It’s good to hear, and one came in this week, so I thought I’d u...
All in all, Homecoming 2016 at Eastern Washington University looks like quite a success. If measured by last Saturday when over 10,300 people packed Roos Field to watch the Eastern Eagles score a 49-31 Big Sky Conference victory over Northern Colorado, and remain undefeated in the conference, it only adds an exclamation point to the week. Along the way, however, there was one notable glitch that gained some ink on these pages, that being the unfortunate cancellation of an Oct. 7 event being promoted by the Cheney Merchants...
As ethologist Konrad Lorenz wrote in his classic 1963 book, “On Aggression,” we humans are closer to prey than predator — but that makes us more dangerous in some terrible ways. A “real” carnivore very rarely kills members of its own species. They have instinctive signals that allow for surrender and subservience. The dominant animal will almost never cross that signal to kill another of its species. Prey, however, do not expose their jugular vein to fellow members of their species. And since they do not possess fearsome...
I do research and vote according to my conscience as someone must fill these government offices or we would have complete anarchy. However, I also recognize that changing leaders and parties in and of itself will not resolve our issues. I continue to seek “a better way” of relating to one another than we have now. We need to rise above the consciousness of “us” and “them” and see our essential oneness as members of one human family. When we begin to see how interconnected we all are, regardless of the many human labels that...
It is estimated that annually, police in the U.S. have 385,000,000 contacts with the public and make 11,205,833 arrests, in which 48,315 police officers are seriously injured and 990 people are killed by police. According to the Dolan Consulting Group (Richard R. Johnson, PhD), since 1971 police shootings have decreased at approximately 3.3 percent annually to historic lows. Locally, here in Cheney officers responded to roughly 32,000 calls for service last year, and physical force was used in only 13 cases, with no deadly...
October is known for Halloween and cooler weather, but it is also known as a month for awareness of breast and liver cancers. Chances are we’ll see pink ribbons on numerous products at the grocery store. We’ll also see pink during athletic events — NFL and college football players will throw pink into their uniforms and gear during October. However, Liver Cancer Awareness Month, which is symbolized by a green ribbon, does not get as touted. Cancer, in any form, is something that touches people’s lives. According to a study f...
What’s that they say about people who live in glass houses should not it throw stones? It’s been interesting the past several days to watch once again the media coverage of Donald Trump’s income tax issue. For me, it’s what they cover, and why. But more importantly from this vantage point is what is so often left out. While the current “scandal” has moved off the front page and out of the lead in most newscasts — displaced by Hurricane Matthew — it should only be a matter tim...
I’m not sure who scares me the most. Hillary Clinton and her history of lies and criminal activities or Donald Trump and, his self worship and incoherent rantings. What I do know is that the political class failed us big time in giving us these choices. I’m tempted to fear for our country — but then I realize that Clinton and Trump are so deeply flawed that they can’t possibly succeed as president. My guess is that by the 2018 mid terms, this will be obvious to the voters and the party in charge of the White House will pa...
The $15 minimum wage is an example of elected officials with tunnel vision passing sweeping legislation while ignoring the cumulative impacts of all of the other government mandates on employers. They only zero-in on the costs and benefits of a single issue, such as the $15 an hour wage, when they ought to focus on all of the taxes, fees, regulations and laws. Seattle’s ordinance took effect on April 1, 2015. It directs businesses with fewer than 500 employees to pay the $...
Now that Eastern Washington University is back in session, that means not only more people in Cheney, but more vehicles on its streets and roads and more pedestrians and cyclists trying to cross or co-exist on those thoroughfares. As a story in last week’s Cheney Free Press noted, transportation in the city is only going to get more congested over time as well. So, it’s not a bad time to remind people about a few important aspects of using our streets and roads so that everyone can travel safely in the community. Those asp...
