During my 80 years, Washington has drifted left. Time to say goodbye | Opinion

Farewell to lefty side of Northwest

I have been a resident of Washington State since birth, almost 80 years ago. Most of those years passed without complaint or concern about the political agendas of the state government. Then things changed.

Gov. Christine Gregoire proposed resolving the K-12 shortfall with an income tax. That one lurks in the background every legislative session. Interesting that K-12 is a mandatory funding item, according to the state Constitution.

Then Gov. Jay Inslee’s incompetent response to COVID destroyed businesses. He fired unvaccinated state workers.. He also increased the cost of living in the name of climate change.

Initially you were a breath of fresh air: a voice of reason. But you caved to the demands of a partisan Legislature and taxes rose again. Controlling spending just wasn’t politically expedient.

Enough is enough. The movers come Oct. 1. We move into a new home out of state Oct. 3, where we will be free from the ridiculous tax environment of the left coast state of Washington.

And I haven’t even begun to express my feelings about gender policies, immigration idiocracy or your support for all the other items on the progressive agenda. Goodbye and good riddance.

Lester Sousley, Kennewick

Newhouse: Halt sex trafficking

For 30 years now, Republicans and Democrats have allowed the cover-up of child-sex-trafficking by and for our rich and famous. We slapped a band-aid over cancer.

Thank God, on Sept. 3 a bunch of courageous women went public. They stood side by side with lawmakers— from both oarties — in support of a new bill: the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Many of them gave very personal, powerful testimonies about how our broken system re-victimized them.

What an amazing breath of fresh air! It felt like democracy at its very best.

Mr. Newhouse, it’s time! Sign this transparency act.

We know, our president hates this bill. So you’ll have to choose: more loyalty to party politics, or, finally, loyalty to America’s thousands of female victims!

Mark Douglass, Kennewick

Richland: Think before you vote

Richland residents, before you vote on election by district, please listen to the opinion of someone who has been there and done that.

When I grew up in San Francisco, supervisors were elected by the whole and looked after the city as a whole. Then came district voting.

Think you will have a bigger voice? Think again. Special interests that were small fish before will suddenly find themselves in a smaller pond. Prepare to be shouted down.

NIMBY will rule the day with less populated districts getting the shaft. With district voting, why would the government pay any attention to light industrial areas and communal/uptown areas? If you work there, I would not vote for this.

Most importantly, in my opinion, I saw an erosion of legacy things that made San Francisco special; Anchor Steam Brewery, etc., withered. Treasures became “their” problem. Meanwhile, powerful districts got benefits at the cost of the city as a whole. Others suffered.

And that’s the thing.

A city has to grow as a whole. I can testify that one district cannot thrive when its neighbor suffers. We are all connected. Vote no on election by District.

Matthew T. Ruane, Richland

Jan. 6 rioters ask for compensation

The pro-Trump rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election now want compensation for what they believe were unfair prosecutions for their seditious activities.

A proposal put forward by a lawyer for the rioters could be a major step in attempts to rewrite the history of that day, effectively designating those who stormed the building and fought police as victims deserving of reparations from the government.

On his first day back in the White House, President Donald Trump granted clemency to those who had committed crimes during the Capitol riot. In the subsequent months, he permitted his Department of Justice to dismiss many federal agents and prosecutors who had worked to hold them accountable.

Despite now being free and having those who sought justice for their crimes punished, the rioters now want financial restitution.

Sedition is sedition. While the Pro-Trump rioters may have been pardoned by their chief agent provocateur (Trump), their actions were inexcusable. If they want reparations for the trouble they received for their criminal actions, they should sue their chief agent provocateur for reparations, not the government.

Bill Petrie, Richland