Trial wasted valuable tax resources
I read the June 30 Columbian story — “Nude bicyclist agrees to pay $50 ticket to end criminal case” — about Matthew Vilhauer being charged with not wearing a helmet instead of indecent exposure with amazement. Vancouver has laid off firefighters, laid off city employees and cut public health programs because of budget shortfalls. Why in the world would we spend the money to have a jury trial over a guy riding a bike naked? What a stupid waste of resources.
Beth Fabel
Vancouver
No one can steal your patriotism
Robert P. Barnes’ June 16 letter asked, “How can anyone fly a stolen flag?” This is not an isolated incident. I also proudly flew my stars and stripes where I resided two years ago, only to find it removed two days before the Fourth of July celebration. I was unhappy and upset but was able to contain my attitude through my upbringing in the basic Christian foundation my founding fathers established for this free country I live in.
George Washington wanted a flag for this country to symbolize the freedom we stand for, and it was Betsy Ross he approached to help design and make the U.S. flag. It was designed with the 13 stars in a circle which represented the original colonies; this was to be made with six-pointed stars at Washington’s request (like the shape of the Star of David). But Ross suggested the working of a five-point star would be easier to craft. How about that for history?
So the American flag is the symbol of our country, not to be an idol, but to represent what it stands for in morals, ethics, hope and freedom to be respected and flown proudly. This is why we are the United States of America.
Lucille Deslandes
Vancouver
Limiting comments silences criticism
Our Clark County Commissioners earn $97,224 a year in salary plus expenses, hopefully by working a full eight hours a day like those who are lucky enough to have any job in this sinking economy.
Isn’t listening to the constituents part of a commissioner’s job description? By liming comments on public access TV to three to five minutes on vitally important community issues such as health and safety matters, they are failing in their official capacities. This is not a closed society. What are our commissioners afraid of? Why do they blatantly attempt to silence a community’s outcries?
When the truth hits too close to home, politicians often try to ignore the fact that public TV belongs to everyone and is paid for in part by the taxpayers. All American communities have the right to speak up, and speak out.
Jack Davis
Vancouver
Avoid harvesting wild fish
In a June 20 guest opinion column, “Columbia River fishery debate rages on,” Hobe Kytr’s arguments supporting gill nets and non-selective commercial salmon fishing in the Columbia River falls short of the mark. Historical mark rates are of little use in setting current fisheries, which are based on current mark rates. The vast majority of hatchery fish are fin clipped, giving reasonable assurance that an unclipped fish was reared in the wild.
Two new summer Chinook hatcheries will soon be coming on line in the upper Columbia, providing still more opportunity for mark-selective fishing gear. Kytr should look to the future and work to reform his industry to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. His assertion that conservation measures should apply only to protected Endangered Species Act-listed salmon is ludicrous. The goal should be to avoid harvesting wild stocks and avoid further listings.
Lyle Cabe
Vancouver
Government infringes on our freedom
On, July 4 we celebrated freedom and independence — most of which we no longer have. As long as numerous treaties (especially our UN membership) supersede our Constitution and Bill of Rights, we’re no longer independent.
When I was young, this was a free country. Today that freedom has eroded. Freedom is simply the absence of governmental compulsion. Every new law, every government control, every bureaucracy, every regulation, (yes, even those few that actually are necessary) are infringements on our freedom.
Our parasitic government, near-dictatorial President and spendthrift Congress confiscate almost half of our earning in taxes, and now impose more than $42,000 on each of us as our share of the national debt.
Our government today won’t even defend our southern border. It’s more of a threat to our rights than a protector of them. That’s tyranny, not freedom.
Robert Wassman
Vancouver
Senator’s math skills lacking
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is a co-sponsor of the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal legislation.
The CLEAR Act states: “CLEAR limits carbon pollution by requiring fossil fuel producers and importers to bid at an auction for ‘carbon shares,’ which are permits needed to sell fossil carbon into the U.S. economy. Of the resulting revenue, 75 percent would go back to the American people in monthly checks, keeping all low- and middle-income families whole for any resulting energy price increases.” Now let me get this straight, we all end up paying more for fuel — that is everybody — yet certain people well get more back?
If I was in the trucking business, I would have to charge more to haul, as would everyone else, so groceries and other transported and manufactured goods would cost more. It’s basic math. Who pays for that increase?
If someone manufactures and their cost of goods goes up, while some other country’s does not, then those imported goods are cheaper, thus goodbye to jobs, goodbye to tax revenue, and hello to more unemployment.
Cantwell’s math stinks.
Steven Silvey
Vancouver
Private displays need to be banned
Ah, the explosive joys of the Fourth of July! Window-rattling concussive booms followed by ballistic aerials and the repetitive splattering of firecrackers. And that was at 10:23 p.m. June 29. Such sonic disturbances five days before the Fourth of July had nothing to do with patriotic observance of Independence Day.
Popping of fireworks should be restricted to Independence Day alone. Better yet, civilian fireworks should be banned entirely. For obvious reasons of safety and neighborhood peace, Fourth of July fireworks celebrations should be handled exclusively by professional pyrotechnicians in an appropriate setting such as the Fort Vancouver Historic Site.
Reggie N. Coats
Vancouver
