Ambulance dispute disheartening

Since the late nineteen sixties the City of Stanwood, Camano Island Fire and Fire District 14 have signed contracts at regular intervals with Stanwood Ambulance to provide ambulance services. Now with the city's desire to get out of the fire business and the two fire districts vying for control of the ambulance along with the blatant refusal by the City of Stanwood, Fire District 14 and Camano Island Fire and Rescue to fulfill their contractual obligation with Stanwood Ambulance and it's employees one would have to assume that this contract had been drawn up in the sand as well as concluding that there is a severe lack of character in the leadership of the two Fire Districts and the City of Stanwood.

Integrity, honor and trust have been the pillars that the fire department has built its reputation on over the years, but now it would seem that egoism, power and control are the new building blocks of the fire department. As an employee of Stanwood ambulance I am left with a feeling of extirpation for this is not a game that we play at Stanwood Ambulance, we save peoples lives and we are very good at it. To be thrown away like trash by people we work with, break bread with, laugh and share stories with, in other words, people that we thought were our friends is a huge disappointment in humanity and one I'll never forget.

Bob Schroepfer
Camano Island

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald

Bush administration has failed U.S.

I truly now have to question the intelligence and sanity of the right wing. How can Americans blindly support the Bush Administration. They have lied about so many things that it literally makes me sick to think there are people out there who support this guy. They have failed America on so many levels that they are too numerous to mention in a letter of 250 words or less. Iraq is horrible where men and women are DYING for oil while this admin has never admitted they lied about every reason we went there in the first place. Bush has destroyed our civil liberties and the Bill of Rights with the Patriot Act. Our economy is collapsing, and our impending bankruptcy cannot be stopped. Global warming denial, lying to Congress, destroying separation of church and state, they go on and on and on. Please visit www.misleader.org and just read.

Paul Mcleod, La Conner

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald

Everyone has right to free speech

Why is it that freedom of speech to David R. Adams and others like him, is always so important as long as they are expressing their opinions, but hate it when someone disagrees with them? Why do they feel it is right for them but not for others who disagree?

Lets take a look at freedom of speech and what it should and should not be! Should we all be able to say anything we feel like saying about others, impugning their character, calling them names and trying to destroy them as a person, in others eyes, just because we disagree with them politically? I think not! If you don't like the policies of our elected president, yes you have a right to disagree, but if you do, have a viable alternative to offer up for debate. In 4 years your party will have another chance to get elected if they can get it together by then.

In case you missed his letter to the editor, here are some of the comments David R. Adams made. "Narrow minded and mean spirited side of conservatives, build your own goose stepping country somewhere and spew such a childish diatribe". Does this sound like someone that has an alternative to offer?

Incidentally, in the last 4 years, the majority of letters to the editor have been bashing President Bush and his policies without any alternate policies being offered. If there was, I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate any disagreement from the Republicans.

David H. Bates,
Sedro-Woolley

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald

Social Security mustn't be privatized

Social Security is a great system providing tens of millions of workers with a guaranteed, core retirement income, disability insurance to people during their working years, and survivors' insurance to the children of workers who die at an early age. I, myself, and various relatives have all benefited in one or more of these ways.

When Dean Brittain in the SVH of 1/25/05 considers Social Security the "riskiest investment", is he denying concern for his fellow men? This is "Social" not "Individual", "Insurance (i.e. Security)" not "Investment". Is he considering only his own financial status? If he needs to make investments and see his money grow, IRA's are available to all, and many firms have 401 K accounts. Privatizing Social Security will destroy it.

The limit on the amount of earned income on which tax is paid should be removed and other adjustments made as needed and the safety net that reaches out to all will survive as long as our Government exists.

Howard R. Christofersen,
Anacortes

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald

Bush is endangering retirement

President Bush is endangering my retirement and the retirements of millions of Americans by taking the first step in his plan to dismantle Social Security.

Recently, White House sources revealed their plan to cut promised benefits to retirees by nearly a third. And these cuts are guaranteed — whether you opt in to the Bush plan or not.

For those entering the workforce today, that means more than a 25 percent cut in the retirement benefits they're counting on; for their children, it guarantees a 46 percent cut. Not only do I think of my own future but that of my three children.

We can't stand by and let George W. Bush and the Republicans cut our promised guaranteed retirement benefits — especially when so many of us are counting on Social Security to help us lead a happy, healthy life when we retire.

What if we were to stop all his benefits of his retirement?

Tracey Squiers, Mount Vernon

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald

Josef's Public Journal

Josef's Public Journal

A Time Less Objective

A Time Less Objective

Social Security is an insurance

Social Security is not an investment, it's an insurance. By the logic that it is an investment is like the logic that your other insurance is an investment. Medical, Home owners, Auto, Fire, Theft, Liability. I think we can agree that all the other insurance you might carry is necessary but it is not an investment, it's insurance. And for the record, Social Security absolutely pays benefits at any age you are disabled and if you are killed it pays benefits to your survivors. I encourage everyone to invest independently in your future but not at the expense of trying to live without insurance. And like most insurance Social Security can and does pay benefits that exceed contributions because some people die early and receive reduced benefits. And if you and your wife had invested your Social Security money in Enron or World Com, how much would you be retiring on today? Social Security doesn't pay much but it's better than a sharp stick in the eye that Enron and World Com and many other companies that disappeared when the bubble burst, pays it's investors.

James Bonner
Mount Vernon

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald

Blind patriotism can enslave citizenry

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." n Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

This is a quote my debate coach at Mount Vernon High School, Mr. Potter, has hanging up just outside his door. And I find myself continually rereading these words that strike truth with such remarkable accuracy. For this is not a specific poetic dictation towards any state that employs this sense of citizenry betrayal. But rather a timeless warning to all individuals that patriotism, claimed in the name of preserving tradition, culture and glory, can also be used as a tool to turn a seemingly democratic system into a tyrannical power. Denounce the minority and claim national endangerment, and you shall have your way! Rights are given away to the state out of ignorance and fear. To that extent, the constant realization that patriotism must always follow reason is necessary to the very idea of democratic rule.

Eric Shellan
Mount Vernon

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald

Bush doesn't have all-out mandate

President Bush thinks he has a mandate to push forward his conservative agenda. Does he realize yet that the majority of Americans disagree with this agenda? Build a democracy in Iraq? Most Americans are unhappy with the reasons, the results, the cost in human lives and money. Most wonder if this is possible and why we are neglecting Afghanistan.

Taking credit for homeland security? Most Americans feel more vulnerable than ever. Beginning the privatization of social security? Most Americans oppose, seeing the risk, the cost, and the fact that social security is viable far into the future if the "borrowed" funds are repaid with the interest owed. Continue to roll back environmental laws for the short-term gains of big business? 74% of Americans support environmental protection, including higher fuel economy standards. Threaten other countries to "end tyranny" and promote freedom and democracy? 4% of the world's population demanding democracy at the barrel of a gun? We know this is the wrong approach and impossible. We cannot secure even Iraq, while decimating our Reserves and National Guard. Cut domestic spending even more to pay for adventures abroad? We, the people, don't think so. The real crises are funding for schools, health care, social services, and infrastructure and we know that. The President's teflon coating, paid for by big business, is thin and toxic for the large majority. His victory was 51% to 48%, with 39.3% of eligible voters not voting. 30.8% of eligible voters actually voted for Bush/Cheney. Teflon? Mandate?

Fred Curow
Anacortes

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald

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