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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2005)
The INDEPENDENT, March 3, 2005 Page 3 Letters Bush “reform” would harm Social Security To the Editor: According to President Bush, Social Security is going broke and must be fixed now! This is not true! Let me tell you a story, a story of progressive progress. In 1939, two thirds of Ameri ca’s seniors were living in poverty. Today, that number is only 10 percent. That, my friends, is progress born out of the New Deal and the Democ ratic Party - Social Security. The very same program that Bush, Greenspan, Wall Street investors and opportunists in Congress insist is doomed and faces an imminent financial cri sis. These ‘Chicken Littles’ need to face the truth: 1. The system is now taking in way more money than it spends. As a result the Presi dent has borrowed from the so cial security trust fund, leaving lOUs for future generations to pay back with interest. Stop it now, I say. No more tax cuts or wars paid for by stealing money from our retirees. 2. The system does not need to be “reformed” by privatizing our accounts, pushing people to put their social security nest egg into the stock market. The same market that saw Enron stock fall from $97 a share to 57 cents in only one year! 3. The system needs a plan that will deal with the long term deficit occurring in 2052 - forty seven years from today! Presi dent Bush’s proposal for priva tization actually increases this long term deficit and his admin istration has admitted this. So why make the change to “pri vate accounts”? Someone gets rich off of them and it is not you or me. Can you say Wall Street? Why not worry about Main Street? 4. The system does not need to raise the retirement age to 70 or slash benefits for anyone. 5. If we really wanted to make the system more pro gressive why not exempt the first $20,000 of one’s income from Social Security taxes and then remove the cap that al lows billionaires to only pay tax es on the first $90,000 of their By Ann Krutsinger, Library Assistant Banks Public Library The theme for March’s Preschool Storytime at the Banks Public Library is as follows: MAR 2: “Home Again” MAR 9: “Magical Mu sic” MAR 16: “Puppy Dog Tales” MAR 30: “Spring Fever” During the week of Spring Break (March 23rd) there will be no Preschool Storytime. If you haven’t tried our Sto rytime and you have small children, please Dome! It is usually a small group and Miss Cathy is lots of fun! The Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Banks Library was held Saturday, February 12th. A new board of directors was elected. They are: Kirk Andrews, President Tami Stewart, Vice President Margaret Holland, Treasurer Ann Krutsinger, Secretary Joyce Krull, Recycling Coordinator Thank you to all of these folks for committing the time and energy to maintain a viable Friends’ organization. Did you know that the single most profitable fund-raiser for the Friends of the Banks Library is through monthly Recycling at SWATCO? We are responsible for providing volunteers to help man the monthly 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. recycling at earnings. This would be a truly progressive tax cut, the bene fits would fall on the truly needy and the truly wealthy would pay their fair share into the Social Security trust fund. What President Bush is cur rently planning is not reform but Social Security ‘deform’ and Social Security destruction. We can and we must do better than this. Craig Frasier Scappoose Thanks for facts in everyday English To the Editor: I opened the February 17 paper, read the Editorial and then my second choice, Letters to the Editor. My congratula tions and deepest appreciation to Glen Purvee for his letter en titled Letter to Geo. W. Bush. Mr. Purvee’s ability to present facts in plain everyday English could really help our President to be a more caring human be ing. I guess we could start by sending it to our Legislators. I have often thought how great presenting my thoughts and SWATCO on Sellers Road. So, if you want to help the library and can offer two hours at recy cling every few months, please call the library and leave your name and phone number. Recycling help is a great way for kids to earn volunteer hours, too! There are some require ments and, generally, those under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. The date of the Annual Friends of the Library Plant & Book Sale has been scheduled for Fri day, May 6th and Saturday, May 7th. This is an excellent time to purchase flowers, shrubs, trees, vegetable and herb starts and yard and garden art. New on the shelves are some exciting best sellers. The Book of the Month Club has named James Patterson’s newest, Honeymoon, the 2005 International Thriller of the Year. Robert Crais’ newest thriller, The Forgotten Man, has re turned to some of our favorite characters, private investigator Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike. Crais’ novel, set in Los Angeles, re volves around Cole's search for the identity of a mystery man - his own father. Banks Public Library: 111 Market Street. Hours: Tues., Wed., Thurs., 12 - 7:00 p.m.; Frl. and Sat. 1 2 - 5 p.m. Preschool Story Time: Wednesdays, 10:15 a.m. Phone: (503 ) 324-1382 Internet: www.WILInet.wccls.lib.or.us. to browse library resources or to reserve materials electronically. feelings, so honestly, accurate ly, without emoting, “just tell it like it is” would contribute to our community if I could do it like Mr. Purvee. What our former City Councilman has shared is an education to be honored. Thank you, Glen. Isabelle McDaniel Vernonia Letters som etim es too long to complete To the Editor: Perhaps The Independent could limit the length of these letters. I could read War and Peace for the third time before finishing Glen’s letter of Febru ary 17, 2005. Pat Knight Vernonia Vandals don’t deserve friends’ protection To the Editor: This subject is too hot for my Bits & Bites column. I am incensed past the point of being mad. I am truly without words and it is best that I am. But - Friday, February 18, was a beautiful day so I decided to stroll Webb Way. What did I find? Some person or persons has utterly destroyed the Eagle Scout project so thoughtfully given to the folks of Vernonia. Post 7 is the only one still in tact. 8, 9, 10,11, 12 and 13 are ruined. Of one, only the post re mains, another is just a piece of board, on yet another the frame has been pried away, the pic ture gone, glass shattered. The rest have broken plexiglass. Why and by whom? Did it give you some sort of high, knowing you were de stroying public property? Did you brag to your pals of your deed? If so, I pray they have guts enough to turn you in. You not only need to claim the deed publicly but pay for the replace ment of each and spend some time in a cell thinking of where you are headed. This was not a Prank. It should not be laughed off as such. You will sometime in your life pay for what you are doing but you may not see it coming until it is too late. You can’t turn back the clock of your life. Jacqueline Ramsay Vernonia Rep. Wu makes multiple appearances in Vernonia Congressman David Wu met with three different groups in Vernonia, February 23, stop ping first at Vernonia City Hall to meet with staff and elected officials, then holding a town hall meeting at the Scout Cabin and appearing at an assembly at Vernonia High School. While the conversation at city hall dealt more with the nuts and bolts of government fi nance, a broad spectrum of topics were discussed at the other two meetings. Social Security was a topic in both venues, but the ap proach was different. The town hall audience was highly skep tical of President Bush’s claim that Social Security is in critical condition and needs immediate changes. At the high school, Wu told the young audience that the president’s plan de pends on their belief in his statements that Social Security is failing, and their acceptance of a reduction in guaranteed benefits, plus heavy borrowing to fund privatization. “Social Security has been, and will be, available for every generation,” Wu said, and “will be there for you,” with moderate changes. He was more outspoken at the general meeting saying a big lie is being told that Social Security can’t be saved without radical surgery. “It just ain’t so,” he emphasized. Many of the town hall ques tions dealt with the administra tion’s current and proposed budget priorities. Three people expressed anger at the grow ing difficulty of finding ade quate health care for veterans. Wu agreed that the govern ment has failed to keep their agreement with veterans, and said many in Congress are up set about it. Nevertheless, he added, the Republican leader ship replaced their own commit tee head because he was “too considerate” of veterans. When the administration’s proposal to make Bonneville Please see page 4
