Letters to the editor, July 15, 2009

Important House vote
to fix VA health care
H.R. 1016, which Disabled American Veterans helped develop and strongly supports, would create a new advance appropriations process for veterans’ medical care, a solution to VA’s health care funding problems that has strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, as well as from VA Secretary Shinseki and President Obama.
H.R. 1016 would provide Congress with new tools to provide VA with sufficient, timely and predictable funding for veterans’ health care. The legislation would authorize Congress to approve veterans’ medical care funding a year in advance to avoid the problems that come with late-arriving budgets. It would also create a budget framework requiring the administration to provide detailed information regarding the future costs of veterans’ health care to assure Congress and the veterans community that VA’s medical care budget was sufficient.
H.R. 1016 was approved by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on June 10 with a bipartisan 21-0 vote. A similar Senate bill (S. 423) also received unanimous bipartisan support at their markup session in May.
Robert Caruthers
Port Angeles
 
Naturalized
citizen’s concens
Fom one very concerned recently naturalized U.S. citizen:
How many of you know that we had our first Tea Party in Sequim on the Fourth of July?
Just in case this is not reported in your local paper, I am writing this letter, which I hope will get published, to let people know there are a lot of like-minded people who are afraid to speak and communicate and that they found it refreshing and energizing to be together on such a day.
It was quite a turnout as about 100 people came together for a couple of hours, peacefully holding signs and voicing their concern over the government takeover of our lives and the very dangerous direction this country is taking. 
It was not your usual crowd, for many it was their first time picketing and some were well past their mid-70s.  And these were not Republicans or Democrats, these were Americans.
Just for the fun of it, we started counting the thumbs up, cheers and honks and were pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming support we got, 417 vs. 10 thumbs down.
And yet you wouldn’t know it unless you were there.
That’s what happens when the silent majority gets noisy.
I say, “Keep up the noise and keep talking.”
Marine Hirschfeld
Sequim

Special interests
and Electoral College

Under the present system of the Electoral College, candidates are encouraged to appeal to special interest groups who then control us.
Thus, candidates spend the majority of their efforts towards those special interest groups.
Under the one vote per voter direct vote, there will be no way to influence a small group to the disadvantage of the majority, who at present are forced to support those special interest groups through the manipulation the Electoral College allows.
Thus, we will have a more democratic and honest election.
Clint Jones
Sequim

Think about starting over
It is time to throw out everyone in the federal government and start over.
If we do not stand up for our rights under our Constitution, we are going to lose the U.S. as we know it. We are already on this path; every president since Johnson has been a puppet for the banking elite in this country.
We have got to stand up and tell Congress to stop pushing new taxes down our throats. We have got to say “hell no” to this energy bill, aka “cap and trade,” which is going to give us a massive new tax on our energy in the thought that it is going to reduce greenhouse gases. The U.S.A. does not need to take the lead and have the highest energy taxes in the world.
No new taxes on the American taxpayers.
The federal government is getting way out of control and it is time to rein them in or throw them out. They are spending too much and wasting our money. We are way in debt to China, Japan, U.K.
We need to stop spending and start paying off our national and trade debts.
Noelle Levesque
Sequim

A referendum in November
On June 18, I was invited to appear at the Sequim Realty Association office on East Washington Street in order to answer questions that were being put to the candidates for the forthcoming city council election.
I met with board president Bill Humphrey and several of his associates. We had a very constructive discussion.
I explained to the group that most Sequim residents were extremely upset with the pro-developer city council that existed before 2007. These passionate advocates of taxpayer-subsidized rapid growth are opposed by most residents who want a small-town atmosphere with a semi-rural character, undergoing gradual growth.
The city council is now split between the developer interests and the pro-taxpayer forces.
Traditionally, the Sequim Realty Association has sided with the pro-developer candidates and provided financial support to them.
I urged Mr. Humphrey to at least remain neutral this time; the majority of Realtors that focus on resales are not well served by being lumped in with the developers in the eyes of the public.
Unfortunately, they have elected to endorse Mr. Schubert.
The November election between myself and Mr. Schubert is not just an choice between two candidates; it is nothing less than a referendum on the future direction of Sequim.
Ted Miller
Sequim

A fine day at the market
The members of Olympic Driftwood Sculptors would like to thank the Sequim Open Aire Market for their generous use of the community booth on Saturday, June 27. We had great fun demonstrating driftwood sculpture techniques and visiting with people. We also had a very successful day selling handmade driftwood wreaths and raffle tickets for twig wreaths. The ambience and community spirit at the market is truly exciting. We look forward to participating again next year. For information on Olympic Driftwood Sculptors, call 683-6860 or 681-2535.
Members of
Olympic Driftwood Sculptors
Sequim, Port Angeles