Turn misdirection into stimulus
Now is not the time to try to change the name of Vancouver. It would be better to put out the “Welcome” sign and wait for the stimulus from all those confused, misdirected tourists who come here for the 2010 Olympics. If there’s no snow in British Columbia, they might have a better time here anyway.
Janice Evans
Washougal
Follow other states’ successes
The Woodrow Wilson Bridge spanning the Potomac River between Virginia and Maryland was originally built in 1964. It was entirely replaced in 2008. There was no problem finding the money nor was there a toll imposed on their commuters. Why do we have such difficulty finding the money for the Interstate 5 bridge replacement and why the toll?
Dave Herrera
Vancouver
Source provides understandable data
The Feb. 3 Columbian story “State backs bills to keep troubled banks’ information secret” quoted former Bank of Clark County client Florence Wager, who asked if there was a way that a person could vet a bank. An ideal source to measure a bank’s relative financial condition is through its “Texas Ratio,” a relationship between a bank’s serious problem loans and its equity capital. Virtually all banks that fail have ratios well in excess of 100 percent.
Providing this information is “Banktracker” a sub-unit of a Web site called “Investigative Reporting Workshop” (or simply Google “Banktracker”). This site also provides additional easily understandable financial information on any bank or credit union in the U.S.
Neil Leitner
Vancouver
Medical wisdom comes from God
I found the recent faith-healing trial of Jeff and Marci Beagley very sad. I believe in and have experienced faith healing. When I was 25, I spent six weeks in the hospital paralyzed from the waist down with polio, but on the Monday before Thanksgiving I woke up healed. The staff was awestruck. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Now with three daughters who are nurses, I hear a lot about all the new medical technology that is available. Two things come to mind. Wouldn’t that medical technology be considered wisdom? The Bible in Proverbs 2:6 says, “For the Lord giveth wisdom.” And the author of the book of Luke was a doctor. It seems to me like the faith healers are limiting the power of God.
Doug Moe
Vancouver
Proposition 8 is pure discrimination
I have been reading about California’s Proposition 8 and as near as I can interpret, proponents want to violate current anti-discrimination laws so they can legalize hatred of gay people and force them into second-class citizenship by denying them the right to marry. Equality simply means: “if they can do it I can do it.”
Everybody in America is guaranteed equal protection of the law. What proponents of “Discrimination 8” want to do is have their religious fanaticism replace hate crimes legislation so it will be legal to subject gay people to assaults, deny them employment opportunities or housing accommodations, among a long list of punitive measures. These actions are only possible if church extremists are allowed to impose their hatred onto our law books.
Larry Little
Vancouver
Casino coverage is slanted
The Columbian continues to publish slanted coverage (synonym: censorship) as related to American Indian tribes and casinos. I base this on the Jan. 25 front-page story, “Washington’s tribal casinos no sure bet.” Nowhere in the sundry figures cited is mentioned the potential hundreds of jobs that will open. Granted, they are not all high-level wages, but they are considerably more than the much-maligned minimums. Also noted was the relegation of the favorable financial situations evidencing good marketing/management by the Cowlitz Tribe casino along Interstate 5 to the closing paragraphs.
George Young
Vancouver
‘Don’t ask’ should not be eliminated
As a former member of the Army, I can see a problem with eliminating the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. If gays and lesbians are openly allowed into the military, they will get to undress, shower, dress, and bunk with everyone of the same sex, their preferred partners — while I, and all current male heterosexuals, were and are not allowed to shower with the women. I think it is discrimination and it is definitely not fair.
J. Marc Johnson
Vancouver
‘I inherited debt’ is convenient excuse
A Feb. 1 story reported “Obama proposes rent-a-rocket space plan.” What? According to Casey Research, from 2000 through 2009 federal tax receipts rose from $2.025 billion to $2.104 billion. From 2000 through 2008 federal expenditures rose from $1.778 billion to $2.978 billion, (thank you Mr. Bush), and in 2009 were $3.522 billion, (thank you even more Mr. Obama). Even though already mired in debt, our president’s current budget calls for spending even more — $3.8 billion.
Forget the “I inherited” excuse. The ending to the meaningless campaign slogan “Yes we can” is now revealed as “Yes we can fatten the already fat cats while financially destroying our nation.” Pressuring insolvent banks to loan to small business to “promote hiring” is pointless until the reason for layoffs, which is falling sales, reverses. And sales will not improve until people have some belief in their own job security.
Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people could be put to work, for example, clearing brush in our national forests — tinderboxes because of decades of ill-advised fire suppression — earning paychecks to spend. But there would be no million-dollar bonuses in this, would there?
Richard Willerton
Vancouver
Deficit had years to build
Republicans have suddenly found deficit religion. Sort of. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, recently said that the Democrats’ deficit spending “would pile debt on our kids and grandkids.” How quickly we forget. Ninety percent of the deficit was piled up under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush and George W. Bush. The deficit actually shrank under Democratic President Bill Clinton.
President Obama at least is trying something useful. He tried to establish a bipartisan panel to find ways to reduce the deficit. Republicans would have none of it. And they opposed pay-as-you-go rules, which would require spending increases to be matched to spending cuts.
It’s clear. Rather than be part of the solution, Republicans would rather sit on the sidelines and throw rocks.
