Letters lobby to feed the hungry, protect Gaza, OK a Green Amendment, stop using military in cities
We pay enough taxes. No child should go hungry
When I hear about cuts to SNAP benefits, I think about how upside down our priorities have become. In Thurston County, 35,000 residents rely on SNAP. Half of those households have children, and most include someone who works. These are not people looking for a handout. They are neighbors stretching a dollar into two, just like I had to as a homeless teenager before joining the Army.
The truth is simple: Washington taxpayers already pay enough to guarantee no child goes hungry. Yet instead of investing in families, too much of our budget goes to corporate tax breaks, subsidies for billion-dollar stadiums, and even millions to redecorate government offices. That is not fiscal responsibility. That is failing our communities.
My philosophy is straightforward: Taxes should deliver a return. Families deserve to see it in their daily lives in free school meals so every kid eats, in one free ambulance ride a year so emergencies don’t bankrupt families, and in strong programs like SNAP that help working people keep food on the table.
This is not charity. It is fairness. When we pool our resources as taxpayers, the return should be strong, visible, and meaningful. Instead of giveaways to corporations, we should ensure Washingtonians get what they’ve already paid for.
I believe that’s how we restore trust in government — by proving that taxes don’t vanish into waste, but come back to us in ways that make our lives better.
Vonny Turner, Tumwater
For whom the bell tolls...
The Nagasaki bomb killed 60,000 initially and thousands more from lasting radiation. Israel has killed 62,000 in Gaza, and lasting impacts will ensure that total deaths eclipse that of the Nagasaki bomb. Tell me what justification exists for such mass carnage?
Jim Bamberger, Olympia
Help get a Green Amendment in Washington state
President Donald Trump’s administration is removing social and environmental protections with head-spinning speed and severity. One way for environmental advocates to get a stake in the ground is to approve a Green Amendment in Washington.
A Green Amendment (GA) protects the right to pure water, clean air, and a healthy environment, similar to constitutional amendments for freedom of religion or speech. A grassroots group in Washington is working to get it reintroduced in the 2026 legislative session. If legislators know the Green Amendment is backed by their constituents, they are much more likely to vote for it.
Three states have won a GA already: Montana, Pennsylvania and New York. The GA has been used in these states to prevent fracking and other major sources of pollution, and to provide legal redress for climate activists. Clearly, it is worth the effort.
Maya K van Rossum, the founder of the national forthegenerations.org movement, is doing a tour across six cities in Washington in September to educate residents and legislators. The tour will start with a fundraiser in Seattle on Sunday, Sept. 14, from 2-5 p.m. at the Old Stove Brewing Co. Olympia’s event will be Monday, Sept. 15, from 6-8 pm at the Abigail Stuart House, 1002 Washington St SE, Olympia. All are welcome.
Marii Herlinger, Seattle
What could go wrong?
President Trump is sending National Guard and US military into our nation’s cities in a show of force to allegedly fight crime and make streets safer — and now arming them. There is some history in America of similar actions when a locked and loaded military is deployed on city streets.
In Boston in 1770, British soldiers were dispatched to break up a protest against the King’s rule. Not surprisingly, the protesters protested and, feeling threatened, the soldiers fired, killing four and wounding nine.
Two hundred years later, in 1970, the Ohio National Guard was sent to the Kent State University campus by the governor to quell a Vietnam War protest by students. The students did not disperse and in the fog of tear gas and fear, the soldiers fired 67 live rounds that killed four and wounded nine.
In neither case were the soldiers ordered to fire. It just happens when protesters are confronted with an armed military force. If any soldier feels threatened, guns will be leveled and safeties off. Bang!
If Trump is truly concerned about making cities safe, bolster local law enforcement.
I find it ironic that during the really violent Jan. 6 insurrection that injured over 100 police and sacked the Capitol building that Trump ignored calls by the Maryland Governor, DC’s Mayor and his own staff to deploy the National Guard.
Sending armed soldiers to patrol the streets is just asking for more protests. And, let’s call it what it is: It’s not law enforcement, it’s a coup.
Sterling Leibenguth, Lacey