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Reform property taxes



This is in response to Senator Val Stevens’ article in today’s (June 25, 2008) Argus.

Washington state needs to reform its property tax law by putting in a prop.13 like in California.

I lived in California under Prop 13, and what a relief it was. And if you think about it, nothing but fair.

As it is now, only the state and local governments profit from higher property values.

The home owner only profits when the property is sold.

When a home owner improves his property at a considerable cost, he gets rewarded with higher taxes by people who have not lifted a finger to the project, but are sitting on their butts watching the money roll in.

The income of property owners doesn’t go up every time property prices are raised by greedy assessors and real estate companies. So yes, the tax laws need to be reformed and I vote Yes on prop.13 or something similar.



Bill Van Wyngaarden

Mount Vernon



Man has no part in global climate



It’s almost unbelievable how many people have been brainwashed into believing humans can control global warming on this huge earth. We can control our body temperatures with clothes we wear, buildings we live in, fires we build; all pin heads in this world’s size. We can pollute rooms of all sizes with smokers. That’s why we now have laws against smoking in public buildings, but OK a few feet outside doors where nature dissolves it. Vehicles’ exhausts are deadly in enclosed buildings, but I’ve never known of them killing anyone walking the streets in the heaviest town traffic known. Do you suppose gas fumes are biodegradable and decompose naturally in our huge atmosphere, or all gather together from all over the countries to fly up and make a hole in the ozone layer as global warmers believe humans are responsible for. Years ago, a group of astrophysicists were scaring many people into believing another ice age would start in a few years. It didn’t and it has been forgotten by most, as this present global warming will be, unless last winter and this cold wet spring are the start of it.

A trained astrophysics scientist, James Hansen, and Roy Spencer, a trained meteorologist, both employed at NASA with completely different beliefs on global warming. Hansen, not trained in meteorology, convinced himself and others on global warming from building climate models on computers and putting together elements imitating nature, without any proof that warming is manmade. Ignoring the fact there has never been a single scientific paper published which has ruled out natural climate variability for most of our warming. Spencer uses all past recorded weather facts. Christians who believe God created heaven, earth and everything in it, know God, not man, is the controller of volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, cyclones and of course, weather.



Lloyd Loop

Bow