Don’t celebrate … too much

Don’t celebrate … too much

While the final tally is still not in yet, the Referendum 71 vote appears to have come down on the “yes” side. Expanded benefits for domestic same- and opposite-sex partners appears to be secure, but complacency is the biggest mistake gay rights supporters could make now. The vote could have gone either way, with counties on the eastern side of the state voting as much as 77 percent against it.

If marriage equality is the goal, there is much work to be done. As has been learned so painfully in California and Maine, the difference between a yes and no outcome seems to hinge on that word. With such a close vote, it is clear same-sex marriage would not stand a chance here if put to a popular vote today. All it takes are misleading ads about it destroying society and “the children” to get those results reversed.

Constant education on the real facts, not misleading scare tactics, is the only way to shift opinion. The day of true equality for all Washingtonians isn’t here yet, but Tuesday’s vote brought it a step closer.

Adam Quartarolo

Vancouver

Add toll, then bank future funds

The voters of Vancouver goofed again by electing Tim “No Tolls” Leavitt. He pandered to those parochial knuckle-heads, the shortsighted voters. He should be now known as Tim “No Bridge,” because without tolls there will be no new Interstate 5 bridge.

When they added tolls after the second span was added in 1958, they should not have ended the tolling, but reduced them and put the funds in a bistate trust fund to plan for a new bridge in 2006. If, by some miracle, we finally do get a new crossing, after paying off the new structure, we should bank reduced toll fees for 2056.

So plan on some freeway parking lots for the next two decades. This bad decision harms those north of the Columbia River far more than those to the south. As few (Fort?) Vancouver citizens will admit: By far, the best attribute of Vancouver, Wash., is its proximity to Portland, Ore.

Ross M. Hall

Vancouver

Social Security’s flaws are outrageous

I got my recent Social Security statement showing my earning record and estimated benefits. Along with it was a flier, “What young workers should know about Social Security and saving.” In the middle of the page there was the question, “Will Social Security still be around when I retire?” The column tells me yes, but that the Trust Fund will be depleted by 2037, just a few years before I’m eligible to collect. It continues saying that benefit payments would not disappear, and that “there would still be enough funds in 2037 from taxes paid by workers to pay about $760 for every $1,000 in benefits scheduled.”

This is outrageous. Here I am, working hard, setting aside money because Social Security will not be around for me, yet I’m still getting taxed and then told my tax “investment” is losing money. If Social Security was a bank, I would move my money.

Politicians all agree that it needs to be fixed, but nobody does anything. I have to wonder if the reason nothing is really being done about this is the fact that most people in power in Washington, D.C., are older and wealthier, and figure they won’t be affected when the crisis finally strikes.

Heather Kandoll

Vancouver

Paltry share recovered for our state

The Oct. 31 story reported, “Stimulus brings county big bucks,” implying that Washingtonians should be ecstatic with the stimulus money that our federal representatives have brought to our state and Clark County — $1.4 billion. But do the math.

Washington supplies our federal government with 2.1 percent of its revenue while the share of the $215 billion stimulus money our federal representatives got returned to us was a paltry 0.69 percent. Where did the other $3 billion go? Administration? Other states?

Our representatives should be ashamed of the paltry amount they have recovered for us, and even more ashamed of voting for this phony stimulus in the first place.

John R. Kimbrough

Vancouver

Give voters credit for intelligence

I am still looking for the rhetorical transparency that the president promised during his campaign. We have his proposed health care plan that he tried to get past the American people before they knew what was happening.

And now, since the debate is in process, we have boggling numbers of the cost. Every time I pick up the paper or listen to the news it’s always different. I have seen or read it as low as $800 billion and a high of $1 trillion. Before it’s said and done the actual cost will probably be $2 trillion if it gets passed. Well, Democrats have never been very good at math.

No one knows what is actually happening in this ongoing bill process other than what politicians sugar coat. Like for instance, the Democrats are bloviating about the cost not raising the deficit. What about the national debt?

Why can’t we “dumb” Americans be more informed with the so-called Obama transparency? Most of us are more intelligent than the congressional politicians.

Robert Kerr

Vancouver

Show those we elect some respect

Our forefathers came to this country seeking freedom, yet almost daily I find at least two of these liberties being roughed up in letters to the editor pages and other media. I’m referring, of course, to the freedoms of speech and our privilege to elect our government.

Although elected by a majority, the president gets a minimum of positive press. The Nobel Peace Prize is a distinction not afforded many people and, again, he’s criticized. He stepped into the presidency during a war and spiraling economic depression, but still had time to buy a dog for his girls, something else the public turned into a negative issue.

Regardless of who was elected president, not everyone was going to agree with them and it has nothing to do with gender or race. Had Hillary Clinton been elected, the press probably would’ve been following the antics of Bill. Had John McCain been elected, they’d probably be covering his brother. How do we expect other countries to respect us when we don’t show respect for those we put into office?

It’s a sad commentary when the public shows more respect toward celebrities who have adopted babies from foreign countries than they afford the officials they’ve elected.

Connie Stindle

Vancouver

Government efficiency doubted

If you like the way President Obama and his administration have handled distribution of swine flu shots, you will love government-run health care.

Tom Ramisch

Vancouver