Letters: April 5, 2019

Hanford budget not under control

You have written about Hanford cost increases, proposed budget reductions and a GAO report about mismanaged subcontract audits, GAO-19-107. I did not see articles on two other reports. GAO-19-28 notes that DOE has provided inadequate budget materials and does not make good risk-based decisions. GAO-19-207 documents that DOE renegotiates milestones and does not track the delays. DOE’s ability to manage cleanup with milestones is identified as ineffective. Hanford is an example in both reports.

A subcontractor now proposes to treat 3 million gallons of tank waste in North Richland, upwind of homes, businesses and government offices. Billions of dollars have been spent on WTP, which was supposed to start processing this waste in 2007.

DOE and Ecology dispute whether tank 241-C-106 is “empty” after 15 years of exchanging expensive documents and with NRC saying they will worry about this “later.” This after 48 tons of oxalic acid were added to dissolve and transfer the waste (making even more waste).

Sens. Cantwell and Murray and Rep. Newhouse support adding money to the budget, but none has addressed the GAO-identified failures. Taxpayers should not have to pay for more of this.

Time to reject the unconstitutional?

I wanted to thank the sheriff(s) who declined to enforce the new gun laws. No, I’m not a gun nut. That’s not the problem.

In many countries, soldiers must swear an oath to their superior officer or the commander in chief. If the commander in chief says, “Storm the presidential palace,” you storm the presidential palace.

In this country, the president, congressmen, judges, state officials, and soldiers swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States. For good reason. If a general says, “Storm the White House,” you are expected to refuse that order. You can be held accountable for any unconstitutional actions you take. If you go ahead and storm the White House, and then wait six months for a court decision to confirm or reject the order, guess what? All those judges were shot five and a half months ago.

At some point, these people have a duty to question, and possibly refuse, unconstitutional orders. Hopefully before the damage is done. That’s part of what keeps “We the People” safe from those who would overthrow the government.

2nd Amendment sanctuary bad idea

I was disappointed to read in the Tri-City Herald (Monday, March 18, 2019) that the Benton County Commissioners are considering a resolution to make the county a Second Amendment sanctuary.

The commission’s mission statement is “The Commissioners’ Office is accessible to its constituents, with responsible elected officials who offer a broad, balanced perspective and services to the community.”

Taking this kind of obstructionist action in response to a voter-passed initiative is neither a balanced perspective nor a service to the community. If the commissioners have personal objections to firearm safety measures, this public, elected office is not the place to exercise them.

Beware state’s health insurance

Alert! Heads up! A proposal by Gov. Jay Inslee to dramatically alter health insurance in Washington state passed in the state House of Representatives (March 10 Tri-City Herald, p. 3A). The proposal would institute a “state insurance option with capped costs and likely competitive premiums,” likely “lower than those on a private-market individual plan, potentially by 20 percent or more.” Of course this will undercut the individual insurance market — who can compete with government’s deep pockets, flush with taxpayer dollars subsidizing “cheaper” insurance? We all know who will lose in this game. Do you want this future? If not, speak up! See http://leg.wa.gov/ for how.