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Letters - 12/22

various
Dec. 22, 2011

About middle class tax relief bill

At a time when American families are struggling in this tough economy, the last thing they need is the federal government hitting them with a tax hike.

Yet that is exactly what could happened January 1 if the legislation is not enacted into law.

The House of Representatives recently passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, a bipartisan bill that will create jobs, spur small business growth and extend the payroll tax cut so working American families, on average, will take home an extra $1,000 of their hard-earned paycheck this year.

This bill has many common-sense provisions that are a rarity in Washington, D.C. For Americans struggling in President Obama’s economy, this bill will extend unemployment insurance, while prohibiting millionaires from receiving this benefit and allowing states to screen recipients for drug use. This bill also creates programs to restore integrity to the system with a new data standardization to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse.

One element of this bill that I support is the construction of an American energy pipeline that would create thousands of new jobs. Serving as Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, I have been focused on harnessing American energy sources to create jobs, grow our economy and reduce our nation’s dependence on energy from hostile foreign countries. The Keystone XL pipeline does just that and is truly a shovel-ready project that can put over 20,000 Americans back to work at a time when our economy needs to create private sector jobs.

Changes to Obamacare and reforming healthcare entitlements are also part of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act that I support.

This proposal includes a two-year ‘Doc Fix’ to protect Medicare physicians from large reimbursement cuts scheduled to take place next year, and ensures that our seniors can expect the quality care and attention that they deserve.

It also reforms Medicare so high-income seniors pay a greater share of their Part B and D premiums, which will result in over $30 billion in deficit reduction over the next decade.

Perhaps most important to Central Washington, this bill reverses a provision in Obamacare that prevents physician-owned hospitals like the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center from expanding and renovating.

This bill allows greater access to physician-owned hospitals and gives them the ability to renovate, expand and better serve their communities.

In short, this bill will create jobs, give a much needed boost to small businesses, provide certainty for American families and help get our economy back on track, all while reducing the deficit. While there is more work to be done, I am happy that this bill passed the House and hope it is enacted into law quickly to protect working families from a tax increase in 2012.

— Congressman Doc Hastings

The cost of one ticket

I remember how our family would stop for gas and goodies in Quincy as we drove between Wenatchee and Spokane to visit family.  That all changed one day and I have not driven through Quincy since 1974.  I wonder what that has cost you folks in lost gas sales, restaurant business and sales at the grocery store?  My family avoids Quincy as do many friends.  This all goes back to a speeding ticket I got as a high school student driving home to East Wenatchee from Spokane. 

As I was leaving Quincy I was approaching a 35 mph speed limit sign and sped up to that speed.  About a mile and a half down the road I was pulled over by a Quincy city police officer who informed me that I was doing 35 mph about 20 yards before the sign.  He was smug and happy to write a kid a ticket.  I paid the ticket, the first I had ever gotten, and moved on. 

Recently I was in Wenatchee and mentioned that I never go through Quincy and it got me thinking, was that speeding ticket revenue that important to the town?  All I know is that I felt I was wronged and I haven’t been back since.  I know how much that ticket cost me, but I’ll never know how much it cost the folks of Quincy.

— Duane Regehr, Spokane