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The wealthy do pay their fair share
As an independent, I remain unaffiliated with any political party. This enables me to conduct research on both sides of an issue void of any preconceived biases, particularly when confronted with questionable assertions without any receipts. For instance the March 5 editorial titled, “Trump cuts, Baumgartner submission hurts rural areas,” published by D.G. exemplifies this. Isn’t it interesting how some individuals use initials in their professional writings?
While doing research, despite the author’s claims that most tax cuts benefit the wealthy, Investopedia provides a breakdown of the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts: - The two highest wage-earning brackets experienced a 2% reduction.
- However the middle class saw the most substantial reductions, resulting in an overall 10% reduction across all three middle-income brackets.
Furthermore, Newsweek reported that the $880 billion cut to Medicaid was questionable. The Republicans delegated the decision to make cuts to the Energy and Commerce Committee which oversees various programs, including Medicaid. They did not specify any program.
Always the same, the wealthy should contribute their fair share. While the author never defines a “fair share,” the IRS indicates individuals with incomes exceeding $626,350 for single filers and $751,600 for married filing jointly are subject to a 37% tax rate for 2025.
Forbes reported the 400 wealthiest individuals collectively held a net worth of $5.4 trillion in 2024, while the national debt is approximately $36 trillion. If these individuals were to pay their entire net worth in taxes, it would represent a relatively small percentage of the current total debt.
Lastly it was written that Donald Trump legally paid minimal federal income tax, begs the question: should we prioritize billionaires over the tax code itself? Of course, the author provided no remedy.
-Renee Webster Newport
EDITOR’S NOTE: The March 5 editorial was written by Newport Miner editor Don Gronning.
Strange times
Watching the news, a lot of people are stressed and frankly scared. Plans are being discussed to eliminate many Federal programs, from tax dollars paid for by mostly the middle class, and also taking aim at Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This administration is laying off thousands of people, reducing veteran benefits, and deporting legal green card holders, accusing them of treason.
And, not to overlook the return of Covid, the spread of bird flu from animals to humans, and measles, which was once eliminated, is spreading.
Taking care of ourselves and our communities will become vitally important if these changes are made.
Taking care of yourself is important. Eat right, stay hydrated, do your exercises.
Do you know of some writings that inspire you to be brave? To endure? To not freak out and despair? To help as much as you can when things seem overwhelming? Stay sane in the middle of chaos, with whatever tools you have available. Prayer, meditation, community, avoiding social media, adopting a rescue animal, whatever. We also can’t be immobilized by panic, but need to figure out ways to help each other.
How can you help others through these difficult times? A local school is providing over 100 students to do brush clean-up. There are probably elderly or disabled people in your area who need this help, dealing with the winter debris.
Maye someone who has enjoyed gardening is no longer able to do this because of physical limitations. Building raised containers would allow them to continue enjoying this.
Supporting our local food banks might be very important, both monetarily and by volunteering. What other ways could you help your entire community, maybe one person at a time? And look beyond your immediate congregation, club, or other organization. Reach out to neighbors who could be seriously impacted by these changes.
-Bon Wakabayashi Spokane
America is unstable
Almost everything in our society has become more complex and electronic. Our economy has become more automated, replacing many jobs. Our brains haven’t adjusted to the change, and we have difficulty with coping with the higher level of complexity.
We seek simple answers to complex problems and issues. Adults are now thinking like children. A child wants something fixed and demands satisfaction without considering the complexity of what they are asking.
Every social, political, economic and medical facet of our society has been affected by our need for simple solutions. Every action we take or decision we make has consequences. We want a fix, and the simple solution often creates more complexity.
Our current political situation was created by voting for change and now the change is turning our lives upside down. I feel the same way I did in 2007 when the housing bubble caused banks to fail and took 30% of my savings. It took ten years to earn my losses back. I am now afraid to travel because identity politics has spoiled the experience. Who wants to spend time and money to feel unwelcome and fearful?
A simple presidential vote created a complex set of social and economic issues that make living in America less worthwhile. I feel less safe and more vulnerable from the politics of uncertainty. America isn’t great; it’s unstable.
Where are we going? Should I stop saving or defer major purchases? Should I close my gate and start carrying a gun? Should I fear the current government run by vengeful political operatives? Am I going to be arrested because I write letters to the editor? Everyone that opposes the great orange pumpkin president’s words and actions is an enemy of the state. Our world is on fire and smoke is in the air.
-Pete Scobby Newport
Judges mix politics
First, a little history about DOGE or Department of Government Efficiency. Obama created it in 2011 and handed it to VP Joe. Joe didn’t do much with it. Trump dusted it off in 2025 and handed it to Elon. Musk is using it as originally intended.
The Constitution addressed only one court in America. The Supreme Court. Congress built the rest of the judicial system. It takes five Supreme Court Judges to decide what the entire nation must live with. Now congress has the obligation to get rid of the parts of the lower courts that don’t work. As of today they are writing up articles of impeachment on five activist Judges.
Nowhere in our Constitutional ‘system’ is there room for activist judges. Judges over one district implying law over the entire nation? These judges have appointed themselves as Co-President. They are trying to dictate what the Executive Branch can and cannot do. Sorry, it doesn’t legally work that way. Judicial tyranny. Trump could ignore these Judges as he sort of did deporting gangs back to El Salvador, but he’s playing along, waking Americans up to the corrupt system that we have. He wants Americans to learn.
District Court Judge James Boasberg (DC) ordered the plane loaded with gang members headed to El Salvador to turn around and come back. They didn’t. AG Pam Bondi stated that the plane was already over international waters. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele (who wanted the convicts) sent a message Boasberg was tagged in, ‘OOpsie, too late’. Judges have no jurisdiction in foreign policy or national security.
Sit back America. Trump will win most if not all of these cases. Judges trying to stop Trump at every turn. Rogue Judges turning judicial review into judicial rule. National Emergency? This is a Judicial Coup D’état.
-Glen Pierce Spokane/Cusick
You didn’t see the news
If you are only getting news from the major media channels, the ones that are more Opinion than real news, you should consider reading something else.
Try reading “Letters To America” by Heather Cox Richardson. She puts a Historical perspective on todays news.
Or read Robert Reich’s Podcast, he has a lot of knowledge of how government works and what is going on.
Sign up for your local Individual Project Newsletter.
Look into the Medias Touch Newsletter podcast.
All four of the above mentioned Podcasts are funded by people just like you and me, not by Billionaires or Political Parties.
Get the News You Didn’t See.
-Joel Jacobsen Newport
EDITOR’S NOTE: We also recommend reading The Miner.
We the people
I have lost much sleep in the last few weeks over the insanity imposed on us by a crazy person and his few minions.
Getting medication is something I want to make sure I get a 90 day supply while I can.
Medical attention is something we all need at one time or another. There is nothing decent about denying medical treatment because we lose our Medicare or Medicaid. Remember hospitals denying treatment if you don’t have insurance or a co pay?
Social Security is something many of us live on. We depend on it to put food on our tables and pay our bills to keep heat in our homes and on lights on.
I am seeing more people speaking out and protesting 47th insanity. He wants to gut the department of education. I think education is important.
I notice more and more bills lately with the inspiring numbers 8647.
Keep up the protest and stand up for our rights. Don’t let a greedy childish old senile man destroy our country.
Jeannie Hutchins Newport
It has been done before
If you think Donald Trump created tariffs, you would be wrong.
President Calvin Coolidge won the passage of three major tax cuts. Using powers delegated to him by the 1922 Fordney-McCumber tariff, Coolidge kept tariff rates high in order to protect American manufacturing profits and high wages.
During Coolidge’s presidency, the United States experienced a period of rapid economic growth known as the “Roaring Twenties.” Unemployment remained low while the country’s gross domestic product rose from $85. 2 billion in 1924 to $101.4 billion in 1929.
Trump inherited a mess and has a relatively short time to fix things.
With a single issue (stop Trump) obstructionist democrat party looking for direction and some competent leadership the tasks at hand will take some time. Some of the all in for EV liberals are now selling their Teslas. I guess that saving the planet hoax has run its course.
-K.C. Hunt Newport
Media undermining democracy
I am learning how to sentence-by-sentence dissect media articles that pose as “news” but utilize nearly every known propaganda “trick” in existence. A case on point: the NYT March 11 article headlined, “E.P.A. Plans to Close All Environmental Justice Offices.” The article discusses a leaked memo from new EPA Director Lee Zeldin wherein he recommends closure of sub-department offices for all 11 regions. The NYT said these offices were “trying to ease the burden of pollution on poor and minority communities.” Trying? How?
The NYT quotes former E.P.A. official Matthew Tejada saying that many of the canceled grants were “designated for environmental justice” and closing these offices proves “this administration gives not a single damn for the people of the United States.”
Notice how the author imputes motives for the entire administration, the better to stoke outrage. The obvious implication was that Trump and Zeldin are “racist” and are putting poor people “at risk.” But precisely how?
The article never cited a single concrete example of these offices ever accomplishing anything. Instead, it used fuzzy generalizations (“three decades of work”) and appeals to authority (E.P.A. official Matthew Tejada).
Professional journalism, in order to remain neutral, quotes both sides of an issue, letting the reader decide what’s true. This article never explained Zeldin’s argument for his decision, nor did it summarize what EPA critics say or quote anyone who supports the decision, yet it quoted multiple critics of the closures at length. Many sources were “anonymous,” like unnamed EPA employees.
I also noted: persuasion through careful curation of true information with selective omissions; emotional appeals instead of evidence; and framing to shape perception – all in one article!
Subjected daily to outrage- stoking propaganda, I believe critical thinking is obliterated as distorted views become one’s identity; outrage/identity politics usurps an informed citizenry.
-Kamori Cattadoris Newport
Hypocrisy anyone?
Isn’t it interesting that we never heard any complaining from the right about activist judges or judicial overreach when President Biden was pushing the envelope of executive authority? Hypocrisy anyone?
-Steve Bennett Newport
Democrats don’t support American values
During President Trump’s address to Congress on March 4, 2025, the Democratic side of the assembly displayed an appalling lack of civility and decorum, as befit their position as the people’s representatives. Nothing Trump said, no matter how positive, could stir them from their turpitude. They demonstrated that they do not support the values or concerns of most Americans.
Now that we know what the Democratic Party does not support, the following is a list of things they apparently do: They support the terminating the life of an unborn child, for scant reason. They support the chemical and mutilation of children, in order to accommodate the cult of dysphoria. They support allowing biological men to compete against young women in sports, leading to serious injury of some of the female athletes. They support the unvetted entry of criminal illegal aliens into our country, who have raped and murdered many U.S. citizens. They support the unchecked importation of thousands of unaccompanied minors, many of whom are lost track of by the system and end up in the child/sex trafficking underworld. They support sending billions of dollars to Ukraine to support “democracy” yet that country doesn’t even have free elections. They support censuring their critics and waging lawfare on their political opponents.
Truly the Democratic Party has lost its way, and its soul. It can no longer offer a rational, moral argument for its agenda. Perhaps this will be a wakeup call for the American people, who should clearly see the choice they must make. It’s not a matter or right or left, but good versus evil. President Trump loves America. Biden does not, he has blood on his hands of the killing of 13 Americans solders in Afghanistan.
-Curtis Bedore Blanchard
