It’s wrong to bill all for fluoride

The PUD plan to bill all of its customers for fluoridation is dead wrong. What about adult-only households? What about senior-only households?

These consumers do not need nor will benefit from fluoride in their water. I believe that fluoride is very beneficial for your children’s dental health, but that is not everybody’s problem.

If people have children, they need to pay for their needs themselves and not expect public assistance. Forget the shared free lunch.

Richard Jon Kruml Sr.
Sedro-Woolley


PSE sale: Fiasco a la Enron?

Back in 2002, Puget Sound Energy was urged by the Washington State Attorney General to cut its fat dividend to shareholders in order to retain some of its earnings. Retained earnings were seen as necessary in order to provide for future expansion, proper customer service and improved credit in order to borrow at reasonable rates.

Management totally ignored this advice, continuing to shell out money at a fast clip, including generous compensation packages to its CEO and officers, a fancy headquarters in Bellevue, and political contributions to state officers, political parties and candidates. PSE’s credit has degenerated to junk bond status.

Now PSE has applied for yet one more rate increase, plus Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission approval of a sale, at a 25 percent premium, to a consortium of foreign carpetbaggers, known for cutting deals via borrowing to effect a leveraged buyout, a la Enron!

What can people do? A good starting point is to do your own online research to learn all you can about how to take simple, practical steps to oppose this fiasco.

Joan Schaeffer
Affiliate, Citizens for Public Power
La Conner


Supreme Court hits the mark

June 26, the day the Supreme Court confirmed the Second Amendment as an individual right to keep and bear arms, I should be dancing in the street, drinking whiskey and shooting holes in the sky. Unfortunately, the idea that the Second Amendment even required a Supreme Court ruling makes it more of a “day of infamy.” The Second Amendment is written clearly and concisely and is only clouded and confused by a group of anti-gun liberal Democrats with no other argument than smoke, lies and twisted words. Anyone familiar with the writings of the men, who fought for and penned our Constitution and Bill of Rights, has never been fooled by this 50-year campaign of propaganda.

Words like: George Mason, “Who are the Militia? They consist now of the whole people.” Noah Webster, “The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword, because the whole body of people are armed and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops.” Thomas Jefferson, “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”

Thanks to these famous words, some of us take some other famous words, by a more contemporary American, a little more seriously than others: John Wayne, “You can have my guns when you peel them from my cold dead fingers.” And my personal favorite, “When they come for my guns, they better send two, because one of ’em ain’t gonna make it.”

Eighty million gun owners in this country, and only 4 million members of the NRA. May your bullets always fly high and wide if you’re one of those hypocrites that leave the rest of us to pay for your freedom.

Jerry Hansen
Burlington