How can you tell when Donald Trump is lying? I’ve figured out his obvious tell | Opinion

A certainty in politics

It is not necessary to turn on the sound when watching Trumps speeches and interviews. If his lips are moving, he’s lying.

Jim Tow, Richland

Biden’s economy thumps Trump’s

Voting should be based mostly on policies and results. Some facts:

Trump approved almost twice as much government borrowing as Biden. Because of his tax cut, Trump ran up the national debt by twice as much as Biden.

Under Biden, 277,000 jobs per month were created; under Trump, it was 182,000 per month (excluding COVID impact). Under Biden, policies helped create almost 800,000 manufacturing jobs. Trump says immigrants are taking all the jobs; right now, we have a huge shortage of workers.

Trump predicted the economy would crash under Biden, but the U.S. is the richest country in the world by GDP.

In general, seven of the 10 states most dependent on the federal government were Republican-voting.

Additional funding for the IRS allowed them to collect $1 billion in unpaid taxes. Republicans want to reduce IRS funding, thus lessen enforcement of paying taxes.

We are a capitalist country; so the president doesn’t totally control inflation and gas prices.

Under Biden, violent crime and property crime are the lowest in many decades, showing a double-digit decline.

Why do people say that Republicans are better at the economy and lessening crime than Democrats? These facts show that Democrats do well in both.

Joyce Scherpelz, Richland

Serrano, Sessler don’t deserve vote

Pete Serrano helped found a conservative nonprofit that has fought unsuccessfully against state restrictions on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines.

As general counsel and director of the Silent Majority Foundation, he tried to block COVID mandates, and defended physicians’ unconventional and ineffective treatments, which led to loss of life.

Since the primary role of Washington’s Attorney General’s Office is to represent the state and state agencies, Pete Serrano is not suitable for this position.

Jerrod Sessler is running as a former President Trump-endorsed candidate for the Fourth District’s representative for Congress. Go to his website at jerrodforcongress.com to view his ultraconservative positions in his own words.

Sessler has never held public office. He has made false claims that the Jan. 6 insurrection was perpetrated by paid agitators and that Trump won the 2020 presidential election. We don’t need another MAGA Republican in Congress.

I am not a fan of Rep. Dan Newhouse, but the alternative, Jerrod Sessler, will bring chaos and sow further divisiveness in American politics. As a country, we need to move forward, not backward.

Amy Small, Richland

Smiley campaign ads doomed her

I hope Jerrod Sessler and Dan Newhouse – as well as the candidates for every other office that will be on the general election ballots for November – will gain an important takeaway from the results of the August primary. After her previous statewide campaign, Tiffany Smiley should have been a strong contender for the 4th District Congressional seat. However, the messaging in her campaign ads this summer consistently never gave voters a reason why we should vote for her.

Instead, the campaign messaging on behalf of Smiley in the last several days before the Aug. 6 primary relied extremely heavily on ads that were about – and this was astonishing -- the dietary habits of one of her Republican opponents. The most baffling TV spot showed two farmers – these are people who grow plant products – saying they wouldn’t vote for that person because they believe he’s a “vegan.”

To the remaining candidates: Stick to the actual issues that voters care about. This would include things like the economy, crime or personal safety. However, it would not include things like the itemized list from a candidate’s grocery bill.

David Goehner, Yakima

Creationism not science equivalent

I read with dismay the guest opinion article by Sunday School teacher Lee Walter regarding his views about science vs creationism. His statement that “creationists and evolutionists have differing opinions” is the same tired old attempt by creationists to suggest, without saying outright, that creationism and science are equally factual that we’ve heard for decades. That suggestion is false. Scientists and Flat Earthers have “differing opinions” too. The Earth is still a sphere nonetheless. That the Earth is a sphere is a fact. The idea that it is flat is a belief, supported by no facts but primarily by the stubborn insistence that the believer is right.

Science is not a set of beliefs. It is a system for constructing accurate explanations of the physical universe based on facts and logic. The theory of evolution is exactly that; an explanation. In fact, in science, the word “theory” means “explanation.” Creationism is a belief. It accounts for everything but explains nothing. It is not based on facts and it does not inform us about the nature of the world around us. It is a sectarian belief system. It should not be presented in schools as an alternative to science.

Scott Goodman, Courtenay, British Columbia