Don't be fooled, working-class Americans. GOP tax cut is for wealthy, not you
Most Americans rightly believe that the wealthy don't pay their fair share of taxes.
The inequality of wealth in our nation is glaringly obvious despite a relentless onslaught of narratives that flatter the wealthy and complain that the rich actually pay too much in taxes.
Economist Robert Reich has a 50-minute YouTube video on the subject that is entertaining, understandable and mind-blowing. It's actually a collection of shorter videos.
There is some overlap in the content of the presentations, which helps reinforce the viewers' understanding and also to reassure them that, 'Yeah, you heard that right!'
True rags-to-riches stories are very rare. Riches to ridiculous riches stories are much more common. The top 1% own 50% of stocks and 35% of all assets.
Current tax laws promote family dynasties and further concentration of power in ever-smaller numbers of hands. These are just a few of many fascinating and alarming points.
American voters need to know these things, and they won't hear it from Congressman Dan Newhouse. The GOP wants to extend and increase tax cuts for the wealthy while having working-class Americans believe it's for them.
Don't be fooled. Knowledge is power.
Greg Carl, Richland
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. According to the National Children's Alliance, the U.S. child welfare authorities investigate the safety of more than 7.5 million kids annually.
Of those, around 3 million children received an investigation or alternative response from child protective services agencies.
It is important to raise awareness and help engage the community to reflect on protective factors as parents/guardians. Some possible signs of child abuse and neglect include:
Sudden changes in behavior or school performance
Unexplained injuries
Frequent absences from school
The Support, Advocacy and Resource Center (SARC) has staff trained to document and report disclosures, as well as provide services to the victim as well as any non-offending family members.
Another way to get involved is to attend community awareness events happening in April, such as the Little Hearts Project at the Kennewick Mid-Columbia Library. SARC also holds a Kid Haven Benefit Auction in May to fund the joint venture between city and county governments and SARC.
For more information on how to donate or become a sponsor, or if you have any questions, call SARC at 509-374-5391 or visit the website at https://supportadvocacyresourcecenter.org/.
Lizbeth Salazar, Richland
This letter has to do about KEPR broadcasting out of Pasco.
Why do they claim to be a local news broadcasting station when they are not a local news broadcasting station at all?
They are only doing news articles as a minority for us here in the Tri-Cities. … (with) a majority of news articles of everywhere else. So how can KEPR call themselves a local news broadcasting station? ... They are lying like crazy.
The change I would love to see is that they do a good, strong majority of news articles of the Tri-Cities, Washington State, Benton and Franklin counties, and everywhere else that's local (to) this part of Washington State and get away from doing ... Ellensburg, Seattle and all those other areas that are not local to us.
I'm sure there's others who feel the same way as I do. And I would love to see others voice the same sentiment. … And also news broadcast stations are too dependent on artificial intelligence machines and not enough on humans.
Michael K. Walter, Richland
This week, our congressional Rep. Dan Newhouse did not directly respond to questions about whether he supports impeaching Trump from office. This is upsetting and I am unhappy seeing this lack of foresight and leadership from my district's representative.
As a concerned citizen and voter from Moses Lake, it's obvious that Trump is leading the country into authoritarianism. His threats not to leave at the end of this term are highly credible. Hyperbole about the danger of his administration — from immigration to the economy — has become reality. He and his cabinet are lawless, unaccountable to our justice system and have committed a multitude of crimes. If we don't impeach him now, American democracy may not survive his path of destruction.
I'm not willing to risk that.
I am encouraging Congressman Newhouse to publicly commit to upholding his most fundamental democratic role - removing tyrants from office. Commitment to these basic facts – that Trump is a tyrant and Congress needs to act now to get him out of the White House – will be a major litmus test for any 2026 candidate. I hope we get a good response on this critical issue soon.
Shawn Doherty, Moses Lake
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