Letters July 28

Supports Pakootas

For me, this 2016 primary election raises many questions and challenges with very few answers. Also, the fact that the two individuals who receive the most votes for each position, regardless of elected party affiliation, will advance to the fall election, adds to the problem.

That said, I want to express my personal choice in one race – selecting a candidate to replace Cathy McMorris Rodgers to represent us in the U. S. House of Representatives. That person is Joe Pakootas. I first learned about Joe Pakootas when he ran against Cathy McMorris Rodgers in 2014. I have tried to learn more about him in the ensuing years.

Joe is a Native American, a member of the Colville Tribe, who has lived in Eastern Washington all of his life.

He cares about the condition of our environment and works to leave the land in better condition than it was when we found it.

He also believes in the value of education for everyone, as the way to help develop a strong economy with opportunities for everyone.

He has worked as a laborer and is familiar with those conditions.

He is a graduate of the University of Washington’s Graduate School of Business.

After graduation, he returned to his home and became deeply involved in his community and the affairs of the Colville Tribal Federation, serving for 16 years as a member of the Council, five of those years as Chair.

Under his leadership the Colville Tribal Federation worked to eliminate a massive tribal debt. This was accomplished mainly by implementing sustainable business practices in their many small businesses. He also implemented integrated forest management practices, the first of its kind, which has become a model for other tribes.

Joe also believes that women, minorities and all middle class Americans need a voice in Congress. One who will show up for work, work hard and keep in touch with constituents. This is unlike Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who has been shown to have missed the vast majority of her committee meetings in Congress.

For these and other reasons, I will be voting for Joe Pakootas in the Primary election and I hope that he will be our candidate in the fall election.

Donna Hanson,

Pullman

Market Driven

Initiative-732 is proposal to put a price on C02 emissions while reducing sales tax by one percent. While promoting this initiative around Whitman County, a farmer told me that it would greatly affect farming families, and he opposed any tax on carbon. So I decided to do more research on the impact of this initiative on farming.

There is a 40-year phase-in period for farming diesel in I-732 as opposed to a two-year phase-in on highway fuel. Currently farming diesel is exempt from fuel tax, yet there still is sales tax on it. Thus, I-732 should provide a net benefit for farmers with respect to their fuel use.

There is no specific tax on carbon, but that does not mean that there is no tax on carbon. Just as it does not cost people throwing trash out of their cars unless they are caught for littering. Someone, typically volunteers or farmers who own adjoining property, end up spending time picking up the trash.

Rising sea levels means that residents of small island countries in the Pacific will not have a place to call home in a decade or two. Rising sea levels are already costing residents of Florida coastal communities their ocean front properties. True, the Palouse is a long ways from the ocean, and threats to coastal communities do not seem like a threat to us. I frankly could not care less that Donald Trump has to spend money to build a seawall at his luxury golf resort because it is eroding into the sea due to global warming and rising sea levels.

Emission from power plants and vehicles create hazardous air quality in large cities like Beijing, Mexico City and Paris. We, too, experienced hazardous air quality last summer when we were surrounded by forest fires. The warming climate and changing precipitation patterns directly increase the chances for dangerous fires.

Rising C02 levels are acidifying as well as warming the oceans. This directly impacts shellfish farmers around Puget Sound. If you like oysters as I do, this affects you!

Rather than government bureaucrats picking winners and losers, I-732 is a market-driven way to reduce C02 emissions. A similar rule put in place in 2008 in British Columbia reduced fossil fuel use in British Columbia and reduced their corporate tax to the lowest level in North America.

This is why I-732 is supported by Republicans like former senate minority leader Bill Finkbeiner, Democrats and Independents and many business leaders.

Charlotte Omoto,

Palouse

Someone Else

What's not to love? Cathy McMorris Rodgers has been part of the Republican party's establishment long enough to rise to No. 4 in the pecking order of the House of Representatives.

She's been around long enough to vote no to equal pay for women as well as against raising the minimum wage.

Her contribution to solving affordability issues with our health care programs has amounted to voting over 50 times to repeal Obamacare.

Oh wait, I forgot, she's introduced a bill to privatize VA healthcare.

We've seen how well turning prisons over to private operators has worked out.

What could possibly go wrong? Especially when we can count on her to support Veterans' Affairs funding; it was only cut $1.4 billion on her watch.

So either quit griping about the fact that she makes $174,000 per year and has been a multi-term star in the Republican led do-nothing congress, or vote for somebody else.

Preferably Joe Pakootas.

Steve Swoope,

Colfax