Letters to the Editor

Our representatives said, “The proposal to impose a state income tax on high earners should give Washington taxpayers pause.”
Why? A higher tax for those who pull the most money from Washington to pay the most money to Washington makes sense. Taxing theory has always been, you pay according to ability. Washington’s regressive tax structure hurts the people on the bottom, which is the place the majority of the people in LD7 inhabit. Who do you work for Reps Abell and Engell?
Abell and Engell’s arguments against this tax? Like always, fear-based talking points that don’t hold water:
The tax level will be lowered: if it happens, fight it then instead of forgoing revenue now.
The rich will leave: maybe some will; that’s their choice and loss. The rich don’t get to hold us hostage.
The constitution says no: I guess we’ll find out on this one.
Republicans are happy to impact people’s lives by taking away health care, SNAP, education, energy credits, bodily autonomy, and voting rights. What they miss is that government is meant to make people’s lives better, not worse. For all people, not just the rich. This tax will fund child care, early learning, health care, expansion of the Working Families Tax Credit, and more. This tax is an investment in the people of Washington. And 60% of Washingtonians support it.
What Abell and Engell should be concerned about is the fraud perpetrated on their constituents by the misuse of the legislative response tool.

Open Letter to Annie Bouscal
In answer to your letter saying that Michael Baumgartner voted in favor of the SAVE Act and that this would be voter suppression – I disagree.
I guess I am one of the 71% who support this legislation and part of the 75% who think that proof of citizenship is important if you want to vote.
Most people have their birth certificate and the other paperwork needed to prove that you are a U.S. citizen or they would not have a drivers license or a debit/credit card. Those who don’t, I guess are the ones who stay at home and don’t do anything.
If you have already voted, you will get your ballot in the mail just like before. If you want to sign up, you already have the paperwork needed.
I’m sorry you do not like Michael. I think he is doing a good job, just as Cathy McMorris Rogers did before him.
PS. And in case you did not know, Michael worked in Baghdad in 2007-2008 so he is well-versed as to what is happening right now in that part of the world.

Raise your hand if you were giddy about all the waste and fraud that DOGE eliminated last year. DOGE claimed to have found $214 billion in wasteful government spending, though watchdog groups put verifiable savings closer to $1-$7 billion.
In September 2025, the end of the government fiscal year, the Department of Defense had $93.4 billion left unspent in its budget; instead of letting the overage revert back to the general fund, Pete Hegseth went on a perverse spending spree. While DOGE was cutting congressionally appropriated funding for programs that fed hungry children and adults, Pete was furiously spending $93.4 billion, half of that in the last five days alone of the fiscal year. No, not just defense spending specifically. How do you feel about your tax dollars being squandered on lobster tails ($7M), crab ($2M), salmon ($1M), and ribeye steaks ($15M)? Let your fingers do the walking and see what else Pete purchased with the People’s Money.
DOGE was dissolved in November 2025 well before the end of their 18-month assignment. Did Elon and his Bro-Team warn Pete that this sort of frivolous spending is wasteful and exactly what voters wanted to root out? Or did Pete’s “Department of War” fully fund the DOGE going away party? I am under no delusion that Michael Baumgartner will demand any accountability from Hegseth for these outrageous expenditures, but I’d be delighted if he proved me wrong.

Dear Editor:
I enjoyed listening to what former Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Biden had to say about the Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. at his funeral on March 5.
They all spoke of his hope for America, the marginalized, the voices that continue to not be heard, those that support greed and who have nothing; that makes no sense to me.
Jesse was a great civil rights leader and he did it for all people – regardless of their color of skin, ethnic origin, or creed of religion.

It is not “anti-law enforcement” to expect our government to follow the law. That expectation is the foundation of our democracy.
We all agree immigration should be orderly and lawful. But the claim that the United States has had “open borders” is simply not true. Federal immigration law has remained in place under every administration, and border enforcement has continued. Millions were expelled or removed under Biden’s enforcement. The real issue is that our system is complex, backlogged, and long overdue for reform by Congress – including more immigration judges and clear, workable legal pathways.
Deeply concerning are documented cases in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained or targeted United States citizens and people who are here legally. When any agency violates due process, ignores court orders, or exceeds its authority, it is not “just doing its job.” It is breaking the law and it undermines trust in legitimate enforcement. Holding government agencies accountable to the Constitution is not radical; it is a basic civic responsibility.
Theodore Roosevelt wrote, “No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man’s permission when we require him to obey it.” That principle applies to everyone – including government agencies.
Americans can support lawful immigration and insist on lawful enforcement at the same time. Those principles are not in conflict. Respect for the rule of law must apply equally to all.
We are strongest when we defend both our borders and our Constitution.

As citizens of Washington state, we have the ability to register our position, either PRO or CON, on any piece of legislation being considered in Olympia. This can be done via a website, making citizen participation both easy and convenient. Our representatives are notified of the PRO and CON totals which can reflect public opinion.
Last week, Representatives Abell and Engell sent out an email purporting to show overwhelming public rejection of the Millionaires Tax currently making its way through the legislature. This is the opposite of public polling results. Because the “Sign-In” numbers seemed unlikely, progressive groups in Olympia dug into the data and discovered, shall we say, some discrepancies. For example, one of the bill’s sponsors had been signed-in CON, and yet when contacted, she denied she had done that.
In a Zoom press conference on Monday, data was presented showing fraudulent manipulation of the Sign-In system and called for investigations by both the legislature and the attorney general. Stay tuned.
We are told that even though election fraud is rare, we should be required to make it more difficult to vote, by demanding proof of citizenship many folks just do not have. The problem described here is not an election matter, but most definitely political fraud. And it is not a small number but extends into the tens of thousands.
I contacted the offices of Abell/Engell for comment. Thus far, no acknowledgment that they were duped or are purposefully misleading us.

I wanted to thank the Statesman-Examiner and Tamara Titus for the wonderful article about Woodland Theatre Kettle Falls and our 50th year of being a community theatre. I did want to invite people, if they were ever a Woodland audience member or a participant, to send in their "Woodland Memory" to woodlandstp@gmail. or P.O. Box 524 Colville WA. 99114. Thank you again and see you at the theatre!

On Feb 11, Rep Michael Baumgartner voted in favor of the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act, which, in brief, requires proof of citizenship to vote in elections. On the surface, that seems like a reasonable thing, but the devil is in the details, as they say. When you dig down, this is yet another Republican-inspired voter suppression effort, because when your policies hurt everyday citizens, the only way you stay in power is taking their vote away.
How do you prove you are a citizen? You will need either a passport ($165) or a valid birth certificate that matches the name you use today. If it doesn’t, such as in the case of married women who took their husband’s name, that will require a legal name change, filing paperwork with a court, and a fee of nearly $300. If you have an enhanced driver’s license, you have already paid some of these fees. But remember, that enhanced driver’s license program took nearly a decade to roll out, and Baumgartner said this bill, if passed, will go into effect for the November election. Nonsense!
In earlier times, this would be called a poll tax – charging money to be able to vote. That’s been declared unconstitutional by an earlier Supreme Court and the 24th Amendment. How today’s Court would rule is anyone’s guess. Baumgartner knows Republican policy hurts everyday people. Instead of trying to improve the lives of his voters, making it harder to vote is all he has left.

Imagine it is June, 2022, and the Supreme Court has just issued their “Dobbs Decision” overturning 50 years of precedent and banning abortion nationwide. Joe Biden goes on TV and says of the Justices they are “fools and lap dogs,” “unpatriotic and disloyal,” “a disgrace to our nation,” “an embarrassment to their families,” and “swayed by foreign interests.” Right, you cannot imagine that. Had that happened, Fox News would have called for his immediate impeachment by that afternoon.
Those quotes actually belong to Donald Trump from Feb 20, outraged that the Supreme Court would sustain rulings by multiple lower courts finding the Trump tariffs illegal. Fox News reports with tepid commentary then moves along. Baumgartner is silent. As a member of Congress, it would be Baumgartner’s job to design legislation regarding tariffs as the Constitution says and the Court has now reiterated. But is he smart enough to know tariffs are a tax on the American consumer? Fair question.
Either way, Trump immediately said he would defy the Court and then raised tariffs across the board. This abuse of power and disregard for court orders is an impeachable offense, but I have no expectations of Baumgartner and Congress.

This is happening now in America: It’s called Fascism, your ancestors fought it; it’s now our turn to recognize and reject the following:
Extreme Nationalism: “us vs. them”
Dismissal of Human Rights: conditional vs. universal.
Identification of Enemies as a Unifying Cause: creating scapegoats
Supremacy of the Military: disproportionate resources to the military.
Controlled Mass Media: tightly censored, intimidation, concentrated ownership.
Religion and Government Intertwined: leaders use religious language to justify actions.
Corporate Power Protected: big business allied to the government.
Labor Power Suppressed: workers’ organizations weakened, outlawed, and restricted rights to maintain corporate power.
Contempt For Intellectuals: academic freedom restricted, experts dismissed.
Disdain for the Arts: creative expression devalued, censored, or controlled.
Obsession with Crime and Punishment: harsh punitive measures favored over prevention or rehabilitation, law enforcement given extraordinary powers.
Fraudulent Elections: democratic processes undermined through voter suppression, intimidation, or manipulation of results, i.e. the S.A.V.E. Act.
Mass Deportations: forcible, inhumane removal of targeted groups, with no due process.
Elimination of Diversity Initiatives: dismantling of these programs.
Whitewashing of History: rewriting historical narratives to align with nationalist ideologies.
Cult of Personality: creating an idealized image of a leader through propaganda and media control.
Systematic Censorship: suppression of information and ideas contradicting authority.
Militarization of Police: law enforcement adopting military equipment, tactics, and mindsets. No more ‘Protect and Serve.’
Suppression of Scientific Freedom: restriction, defunding, or manipulation to conform to ideology and political goals.
Economic Nationalism: extreme protectionist policies justified through nationalist rhetoric, often leading to isolation.
The president’s name on everything.

Dear Editor,
Last year my son-in-law, a police detective, was shot through a windshield by a murder suspect. The bullet hit his arm but could have easily hit his head. He has young children at home, my grandkids. Every day, officers – including ICE – put their lives on the line. Radical groups spreading hate-filled rhetoric across our country don’t care. They de-humanize these men and women, making their job 10 times more dangerous. The attack on ICE is just the newest iteration of “defund the police.” Leftists have the right to peacefully assemble, but they do not have the right to riot, impede arrests, block roads, loot businesses, destroy neighborhoods, dox law enforcement, or radicalize public school children.
Americans are tired of the chaos and destabilization being perpetrated by these groups. They are tired of the constant leftist narratives claiming mass shootings, deportation of U.S. citizens and, most recently, the sensational claim that ICE has killed 53 detainees. These are lies. For instance, the majority of detainee deaths are due to medical emergencies, drug-related conditions, and suicide. These deaths are very sad, but they were not “murdered” by ICE.
The silent majority needs to call out these hysterical claims and take a stand to support those in law enforcement.
Please join our Law Enforcement Appreciation Flag Wave on Feb. 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. There will be groups along 395 in Colville, Chewelah, and Loon Lake. Please go to saveourstatewa.com for more information and God Bless America!

Some fellow citizens curse, scream at, or coal-roll the demonstrations against Trump’s actions and policies, although our displayed signs support laws of the USA and the values of our society and of common humanity.
We honor the Constitution, respect the prime authority which Article One gives to Congress, and support the legal and traditional limits upon excessive executive power. We also support legal and necessary government programs established for the common good, and the workers needed to implement them.
We honor the service of all veterans, and the Greatest Generation’s fight against authoritarian powers. We oppose policies which needlessly place our forces in harm’s way, or using our forces in an illegal manner.
We support diplomacy and respect the allies, treaties, and international laws which have historically strengthened our security and prosperity.
We want to protect the environment for ourselves and for succeeding generations.
We believe that the Golden Rule should underlie public policies; effective governance doesn’t need to be harsh or cruel.
These are universally accepted values with which we were raised. They reflect society’s expressed desire for charity and peace at Christmas, honor and gratitude on Memorial and Veterans days, and civic dedication and patriotic community on Independence Day. Why do our detractors call us idiots and traitors because we honor the very beliefs which our forebears have fought and died for?
Which of the above values do our detractors not believe in? Ask yourself, what do you believe in?