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Mr. Daugharty (Letters, Oct. 17) clearly needs help interpreting history (and economics). Indeed the passage of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was necessary at the time — it established minimum wages at 25 cents an hour. Adjusted for inflation in 2018 that same wage would be $4.45/hour — hardly the $12/hour in Washington State, already set to go up to $13.50 in January, 2020. That’s effectively trying to compare today’s minimum wage scenario to paying 75 cents/hour in 1938, which clearly did not happen. As well, W...
You did it again, Cheney. It will be a warmer winter for many thanks to the hard work and generosity of the Cheney community. A total of 422 coats were donated to this year’s coat drive. Of those, 360 were given away at three separate distributions. This is the largest distribution to date. The remaining coats have been donated to the Cheney clothing exchange. Special thanks to the Cheney Kiwanis without whose work this event could not happen, Big Wash for laundering many of the coats, Copy Junction for printing the p...
Please vote! It is not required that you know everything about everything on the ballot. If you know something about an issue, then vote. If you do not then you can leave it blank. If you are disgusted with all of it then send in a blank ballot. At least you are participating in democracy and you send a message. If you see some position with only one person running you can leave it blank. It will encourage someone to run next time. If you don’t get what an initiative, referendum, advisory, amendment to the constitution or c...
My kids caught me reading a book. An actual book, printed with ink on real paper. I was lectured about my abuse of the planet and was told how many trees went into making paper. Paper that would likely line the bottom of our birdcage and eventually be discarded. I argued that I own books I have treasured for many years. They ignored my nostalgic argument and went on to demonstrate how easy it is to dial up an electronic copy of whatever I wanted to read. Instead of a traditional newspaper, my kids get an abbreviated version...
During his campaign for president, Donald Trump said that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” without losing voters. Now, in a case before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (and probably when appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court), the president’s attorney William Consovoy told the three-judge panel that immunity would also temporarily shield Trump from prosecution for that act. “This is not a permanent immunity,” Consovoy said, when asked by U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin to respond to a police...
Buried in the back of your voter’s pamphlet is a little discussed vote on Senate Joint Resolution 8200. The measure cleared both the state Senate and House with comfortable, bipartisan approvals. What is SJR 8200? Its text is pretty simple – a proposed constitutional amendment to add the phrase “catastrophic incidents” to the specified times of emergency where the Legislature can take immediate actions to ensure the continuation of government and governmental operations in areas impacted by these incidents. That applies...
The Cheney School District passed a capital projects bond in 2017 to remodel and improve several schools. Many of the projects are finished on time and under budget. The high school will be completed May of 2020. Citizens of the district can be proud of the fiscal responsibility of the district in providing for our kids. After seeing projections that the student population will double in the next 10 years, the school district is responsibly planning for the future. Land will never be less expensive; now is the time to purchas...
I am writing this letter in support of the Capital Levy being proposed by the Cheney School District. This levy makes TOTAL sense. We need to make the community aware of the projected growth that will most likely take place over the next 10 years. For example, Cheney High School is projected to grow from its current 1,350 students (approximately) to over 3,000 students in 10 years. That type of growth needs lots of planning... starting with purchasing property for future schools. Property prices will only rise. Before you...
The Washington State Transportation Commission, which has led the effort to study, test and report back to the Legislature on the feasibility of a road-usage charge, agrees the money drivers would pay should be protected for highway spending only. If implemented, a road-use charge — also called a mileage-based user fee, per-mile charge, vehicle miles traveled tax, and mileage tax — would require drivers to pay a tax on every mile they drive, rather than on every gallon of gas they purchase. The commission met recently to ass...
There is a branch of our government that is independent of the three branches we study in school. This branch usually operates in the shadows overlooked by both the people and the Legislature. It makes its own rules with the same force as law. It has the power to levy fines and seize property. No one in this branch is elected and, therefore, is generally unresponsive to public opinion. It is virtually independent to do whatever it pleases, and I have never known it to admit a mistake. This shadow government is made up of the...
Amid the myriad of topics and candidates on this year’s general election ballot, voters in our state already have a 20-year tradition when it comes to two measures. Statewide, voters have twice overwhelmingly told lawmakers to hold the car tab fees at $30. And statewide, voters 21 years ago overwhelmingly told lawmakers to stop injecting race, gender, etc. into government hiring and college admissions processes. So, I’m at a loss as to why government employees and elected off...
It would be wonderful to see President Trump’s tax returns and a breakdown of all expenses of his and his family’s trips to their golf courses and hotels since taking office, along with a tally of the profits he is making while disregarding the Emolument Clause in the Constitution. How much has the security detail for Trump, his family members and Vice-President Pence cost us taxpayers, some now being used for campaign rallies for the 2020 election? In the meantime, he and his buddies are is so heartless they can’t provi...
Like Frank Watson, I’m also a Vietnam-era, retired Air Force officer, with similar life experiences, and yet my values are very different. For example, Frank’s dire warning against the evils of socialism (CFP, 8/1/19) is interesting coming from a guy who spent much of his working life living under a model socialist system. One of my minor conundrums in getting through my first weeks as a civilian after retirement from the Air Force was deciding what to wear every day. The Air Force not only decided that for me, they also pro...
I commend Lee Hughes for his fine Write to the Point opinion column of Oct. 3, 2019. He documents the fallacies proclaimed by Frank Watson and Don Brunell. Unfortunately, the latter two gentlemen and others who write articles expressing the same thoughts are quite effective. As proof I offer the letter to the editor by Ms. Paula Thornton who suggests Mr. Hughes needs to study economics. Sadly, it is she who needs the course in economics. The minimum wage of the successful New Deal did much to speed the recovery from the...
The United Auto Workers Union strike against General Motors has entered its second month with no end in sight. They are using tactics developed years ago when the big three automakers ruled the industry. Rather than strike across the board, the union would target only one of the three. That way they could keep two-thirds of their members employed while they brought one to heel. Then they would use the results to bargain with the other two. I’m not sure those tactics would work today. Times have changed. Big corporations a...
Taxpayers are getting ripped off, everybody knows it, and politicians refuse to fix it. That’s why 352,000 voters signed petitions to get Initiative 976 on the ballot. Taxing a $10,000 vehicle like it’s $25,000 is fraud. I-976 repeals the dishonest vehicle valuation schedule that politicians are currently using to artificially inflate our vehicle taxes. If a private company was price gouging its’ customers like this, the government would shut it down. But here, because it’s the government taking more than they should with a...
“Buy the ticket, take the ride,” or so wrote journalist Hunter S. Thompson in his book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” While the context of Thompson’s comment was certainly different, on the surface it’s perfectly relevant for I-976, the newest car tab reduction effort placed on next month’s ballot by serial initiative activist and anti-tax campaigner Tim Eyman. His fourth effort to reduce the cost of taxing licensed vehicles in the state, if passed, would pull a $2 bil...
Jill Weiszmann is a community gem and we need her to continue serving us on the Cheney City Council. Jill has already proven her outstanding effectiveness representing all of us during her terms in office on the council. As retired educators, a former mayor and active participants in the community, we have known, worked closely with and been friends to Jill for the past decade. No one is better connected with the local community or more active in participating in local events or organizations. Jill is honest, energetic,...
Like Frank Watson, I’m also a Vietnam-era, retired Air Force officer, with similar life experiences, and yet my values are very different. For example, Frank’s dire warning against the evils of socialism (CFP, 8/1/19) is interesting coming from a guy who spent much of his working life living under a model socialist system. One of my minor conundrums in getting through my first weeks as a civilian after retirement from the Air Force was deciding what to wear every day. The Air Force not only decided that for me, they also pro...
In the Oct. 3 edition, Lee Hughes closed his column with “It’s simple: tax the rich.” The only thing simple in that statement is the nature of Mr. Hughes understanding of economics: simpleton. The fact is, while that may ‘seem’ ideal to increase revenues by taxing the rich, in reality the facts don’t bear out. It has been repeatedly shown that when taxes are are raised on the rich, the total revenues go down and the reverse is also true, when the tax rates go down the revenues go up. It would appear that Mr. Hughes has...
Throughout our nation, 42 percent of schools have contributed $789 million dollars to local foods through farm to school programs. This October marks the eighth annual National Farm to School Month, a time to recognize the importance of improving child nutrition, support local economies, and educate communities about the origins of their food. In the U.S., 23.6 million students have become engaged in programs such as school gardening, locally-sourced lunches, and sustainable agriculture education. These hands-on activities...
News flash – Nancy Pelosi learned President Trump is using his office for political gain so the House has begun impeachment hearings. I thought using the power of office was pretty normal in American politics. Members of Congress begin to campaign for the next election before the votes are counted for the last one. It is hard to unseat an incumbent. They have free news exposure, free mailings to constituents, free transportation for photo ops that make them look good, etc. They also have the opportunity to transfer pork b...
Some thoughts on impeachment. Under the Constitution, the House has the sole power of impeachment, which it has done 19 times in the past, a record that includes 15 federal judges and two presidents. That’s Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5. Under Article 1, Section 3, Clauses 6 and 7: “The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be con...
I bought my first electronic calculator several years ago when I was in grad school. It was made by Texas Instruments and was a little bigger than a deck of cards. It could add, subtract, multiply, and divide much faster and more accurately than I could with my old slide rule. I paid $100 for it. After a couple weeks, I put my slide rule away and never used it again. Today you can find smaller calculators with more power at the Dollar Store. As manufacturers skill increased, the price went down. The fancy economic term for...
The proverbial bovine fecal matter has been piling up recently. According to columnist Frank Watson, in his Sept. 26 piece, the minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage, but an income for “untested, unskilled labor.” Meanwhile, Don Brunell complained in his Sept. 12 column about the skyrocketing national debt, blaming it on so-called entitlement programs and government overspending, noting “taxes must be affordable.” Both perspectives are patently misguid...
