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To the editor, In previous letters I raised the question: given evidence of Biden’s cognitive decline, who really runs our country?
My Democrat friends believed I had lost my sanity; Biden was sharp, on top of his game. However, mainstream media ever only showed them Biden at his best; hence their shock at Biden’s behavior at the presidential candidate debate.
Studies show that unless one exposes oneself intentionally to disconfirming evidence, our human minds assume that uncontested narratives must be true.
Mainstream “authoritative sources” repeat essentially the same narrative in lockstep. Dissent is summarily mocked.
The debate cruelly presented incontrovertible evidence that Biden is likely struggling with dementia. Incredibly, some people claim on X they will still vote for Biden anyway! In contrast, many former Biden fans quickly switched camps.
The Trump camp touted “We told you so!”
DarkHorse Podcast host Bret Weinstein declared: “The party is now run by a crime syndicate. Influence peddling is their business. Of course, they could win elections by representing the interests of average people— as they once did—but that would destroy their racket.”
David Sacks, a tech billionaire who formerly backed Biden, now backs Trump. He explained on X his belief that the Democratic party has become a collection of interests who want to remain in power to loot the Republic. Since no one would vote for that, they chose a figurehead and talk endlessly about how they’re “saving democracy.” They basically invent hoax after hoax, lie after lie to maintain their power. Now, “the mask has come off; the whole shell game has been revealed.
It’s obvious that Biden was always a puppet for these interests who were hiding behind him.”
So, why was Biden’s condition hidden from us for years, just to turn on him like vicious wolves now -Kamori Cattadoris Newport
Recent rulings
To the editor, The uni-party is losing their collective minds over Biden’s poor debate performance as well as the recent SCOTUS rulings. The wheels of justice turn slow, but they turn.
A recent ruling was on Presidential immunity.
They are losing their minds thinking that SCOTUS gave Trump immunity when in fact all Presidents have had it for ‘official business.’ Now they will try to make Trump’s J6 as ‘unofficial business.’ Good luck.
SCOTUS has ordered a new analysis of Trump’s J6 charges.
Trump’s NYC sentencing has been postponed from July 11 to Sept.
18 following immunity ruling. That means Trump will accept the GOP nomination in person at the convention in July. Judge Merchan will have to decide if he will sentence the nominee to prison right before the election. Election interference? Uncharted waters. Buckle up. This one might be headed for a mistrial anyway.
AOC wants to impeach the Supreme Court Justices for their recent rulings. One Democrat is calling for a constitutional amendment. They are simply losing their minds. Trump always finds a way to win and they can’t stand it.
SCOTUS recently overturned the ‘Chevron Doctrine.’ If you had issue with a Federal Agency, you had to deal with that agency. With the overturn, now you get a jury trial. This will cut down the number of cases the agencies invite.
The unelected bureaucrats (deep state) have lost their power and they know it.
The MSM and Democrats turned on Biden after his poor (dementia?) debate performance.
Biden wants stay in the race while the DNC wants him to drop out.
Obama wants an open convention to replace Biden as Biden can’t win. They seem to be imploding. Can they remove him with the 25th Amendment?
Panic in DC! It’s like a movie! Grab some popcorn!
-Glen Pierce Spokane/Cusick
Economic development is different than financial resiliency
To the editor, Norm Smith made misleading statements in his recent letter to the editor. For instance, he wrote “Under a 12/19/22 BOCC [Board of County Commissioners] Resolution, signed by Rosencrantz, the $4.2M[illion] LATCF money was earmarked for Economic Development under the Future Enterprise Reserve Fund … for ‘Future Enterprise Endeavors for the betterment of POC sustainability.’” Everything Smith wrote in the above sentence is untrue. None of this even appears in the resolution Smith refers to, which had nothing to do with the LATCF funds and never mentions “economic development.”
Pend Oreille County’s LATCF money is not earmarked for “economic development.”
When the term “economic development” was proposed I argued that it should be replaced with “financial resiliency.” I did so because I wanted to make addressing our county’s basic needs the highest priority for LATCF funds. “Resiliency” is the ability to recover from difficult conditions, and using LATCF funds to improve the difficult conditions of our roads is what I intended.
My fellow commissioners agreed to the change and on March 6, 2023, we voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 202317.
I also pushed for this change because I don’t have much confidence in the ability of government to create widely shared benefits through direct investment in economic development. The track record of bureaucracies in this regard does not result in most citizens saying, “That was a good use of our money.”
Mr. Smith observes that I brought up funding for roads outside of budget season to get my fellow commissioners to publicly state their positions. That is correct. The public has a right to know where their representatives stand.
We agree that stable funding is needed to adequately fix our roads.
Until that funding is provided, we must make good decisions about using scarce resources to preserve what we have.
Using some of the LATCF funds to improve our county roads before they fall apart is a sensible approach.
-Robert Rosencrantz Pend Oreille County Commissioner Newport
Road discussion is necessary, good
To the editor, Several good letters on our road issues were published last week. The next step is to save the paved roads that are being considered for conversion to gravel roads.
That requires speed and weight limits to prevent continued damage to the asphalt. In some cases, the speed limit should be 20 mph and the weight limit 10,000 lbs. gross.
Special permits could be used for exceeding the weight limit to move heavy loads. Trucks with more axles and tires would spread out the load factors on degrading pavement.
We usually see speed and load limits during the spring frost thaws to limit road damage. Those limits must be extended to preserve the life of the road and underlying bed that supports the pavement. Otherwise, we are looking at broken pavement and potholes to drive on.
The next option is to grind up the asphalt pavement and mix it with new gravel and oil to preserve the underlying roadbed.
Our county commissioners are functionally “road commissioners.” That’s why we have three commissioner districts. County commissions include other governmental functions. Currently, Pend Ooreille County focuses on the non-road functions.
The cracks in county roads can be sealed for $5,000 per mile. Chip seal is $40,000 per mile. Overlay with new asphalt is $300,000 per mile and reconstruction of a road is $1.5 million per mile.
If 10 taxpaying homes are located on a mile of county road, the math is easy. If the county commissioners wait until the road needs reconstruction, it will cost $150,000 per home.
Roads are essential for private, public and commercial transportation. One thought is to wait for Amazon and UPS to use flying drones that don’t need improved roads. We can all work from home and look up into the sky for all our needs.
-Pete Scobby Newport
Rosencrantz and the cookie jar – Part II
To the editor, Yes, Mr. Rosencrantz. “Resiliency” does means “quickly recover.” And “Squander” means “pissaway.” If it’s pissed away, it’s not coming back, is it?
Do you have any plans or intention to repay or restore any portion of the funds raided from the Reserve Fund Cookie Jar?
Who said, when questioned about renting versus buying a home in Pend Oreille County, that they would rather invest in something that made money than spend it on something that cost money?
Invest vs. spend? Sounds like a prudent philosophy, right?
But is this prudent financial philosophy limited only to personal finance, or does it also extend to public funds? Rules for me, but not for thee?
It’s not a far stretch to interpret Mr. Rosencrantz’s profligate intentions as a ruse to divert public funds for personal gain. In this case, petty payback, and the settling of old political scores.
Whatever shape our roads are in, you can rest assured that Rosencrantz will always take the low road.
-Norm Smith Diamond Lake
