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I stand corrected. I erred in stating that the inflation rate of 17.1% stated in the 6/11 letter “Rumor Mill” was wildly inaccurate. Using the InflationData. com calculator inflation from 01/2021 to 10/2023 it was actually 17.62%. However, this is a measure of the cumulative inflation rate, not yearly. For instance, the cumulative interest rate from 01/2017 to 01/2021 was 7.72% The cumulative rate from 01/2021 to 01/2025 was 21.4%.
Breaking down inflation rates by year yielded these figures: From 01/2021 to 01/2022 7.48%; 01/2022 to 01/2023 6.41%; 01/2023 to 01/2024 3.09%; 01/2024 to 01/2025 3.0%. So inflation, while high, was steadily decreasing from 2021 to 2025. What made the cumulative numbers from the Biden presidency look so horrible? The pandemic and the huge influx of money the government added to the economy to stave off an economic meltdown drove inflation up. This is the why to accompany the what ignored by the Rumor Mill writer. So for the writer of the 06/02 letter who wanted an apples to apples comparison, yearly inflation was 1.40% from 01/2020 to 01/2021 and 3.0% from 01/2024 to 01/2025. Numbers tell a story but context is important to understand them.
Steve Bennett Newport
Reason to believe in science
I have a friend with whom I ran around with in high school. We are both 82 now, at that time he was night blind from a hereditary disease. When we left parties, he would follow my taillights, and I would lead him to his house. We may have been under the influence, no more from me on that!
He joined the Marines and was kicked out when they discovered he couldn’t see the Officer of the Day on after dark night guard duty.
His name is Perry, he lives in Portland, our west coast Portland. He was a body and fender man who as he grew almost totally blind came to depend on his hands to feel what he was doing.
He became very successful. He couldn’t paint anymore but he could do magic just by feeling the surface he was restoring.
He just told me a process has been invented and is waiting approval by the FDA which, by receiving a shot in each eye will give him the ability in the shadows to be able not to walk into walls anymore. Approval is expected in about a year, if you know anyone with this affliction, please tell them to look into it!
And we have an idiot president, king, dictator, whatever you want to call him who doesn’t believe in science.
Roger Castle Newport
A threat to whose ‘Democracy?’
People are subject to emotional and psychological manipulation, which the ruling class ceaselessly exploits by waging an information war against we commoners.
It appears that the ruling class has developed its own language.
They use plain English words, but with dual meanings: the ordinary usage of the word and a coded message to their fellow elite.
The word “freedom,” for example, means “freedom for the ruling class to exploit the world’s resources” which justifies their endless wars. President Trump wants to end endless wars; hence their obsession with taking him down.
Similarly, “democracy,” evokes warm feelings of political power vested in the people. You may recall hearing this phrase “[…] is extremely dangerous to our democracy!” repeated ad nauseum by the mockingbird corporate owned media throughout Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump. The elite have perfected the ability to herd the masses using the news media, social media and predictive programming in ways that ensure their continued rule. This is the “democracy” for which an awakened citizenry is a danger.
Neither Nigel Farage nor Donald Trump could be controlled by the ruling class. Both campaigned on restoring power to the people; hence the elite’s unceasing hatred of them.
Kamori Cattadoris Newport
Lift income cap on Social Security tax
A crisis is unfolding right under our noses, and too few are sounding the alarm. According to the latest Social Security Trustees report, the program’s trust fund is projected to become insolvent by 2034—just nine years from now.
Without decisive action, over 70 million Americans will face an automatic 20% cut in benefits.
That’s not hypothetical. That’s devastation for retirees, widows, and people with disabilities who rely on Social Security to survive. This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s a moral one. Americans paid into this system with the promise that it would be there when they need it. That promise is now on the brink.
Congress has had decades to act. Delay is no longer an option.
We need solutions now—fair, sustainable reforms like lifting the income cap on payroll taxes so the wealthiest contribute proportionally.
To our elected officials: Do your job. Secure Social Security before it’s too late.
To fellow citizens: Let your voice be heard. Call. Write. Vote.
Demand better.
Ernie Hood Newport
Lunacy
To many of my left leaning friends the moon is always full.
They turned a blind eye toward an open border that allowed many millions of illegal aliens into our sovereign nation and complain adamantly when the problem is being corrected.
ICE is a federal agency that is enforcing federal law. Those cities and states that harbor illegals should be penalized.
Immigrants are welcome to America when they apply in a legal manner. There are some Dems that are naive enough to say why did the U.S. bomb the Iranian nuclear sites, they did not use their arsenal against Israel or America.
Answer: Because they have openly vowed to do so and agents on the ground verified that their nuclear program was close to completion.
Why would not one Dem congressperson vote to cut taxes for American workers. Was it because the rich would also get a tax cut?
Seems reasonable, that the top 1% pay 40% of the total taxes deserve a break as well. America reached the tipping point with the chaos the last administration created. Trump was elected with a mandate of bringing prominence back to America. Dems have neither ideas or solutions other than tax and spend and of course obstruct.
K.C. Hunt Newport
Objects to Brunell column
This is in response to recent guest opinion by Don C. Burnell titled “Trump foils plan to take down the Lower Snake River Dams.”
There was no “stealth” in the intentions of Inslee and Murray researching the mitigation of the possible removal of the dams.
Trump stopping federal agencies from exploring dam removal leaves the salmon in dire straits.
The Snake River has a huge importance to survival of fish in the Columbia. This research is not a “secret scheme,” but a necessary action supported by science.
Our money spent on saving salmon has not been wasted. It has brought the science to this point of understanding that dam removal is the lynchpin for salmon recovery.
The actual dismantling of the dams, restoration of the riparian areas, building train infrastructure to move grain, research into more drought tolerant crops, developing alternative energy sources and recreation profits brought in by improved salmon runs will be a financial and ecological renaissance for the Pacific Northwest.
Important, also, is the honoring our treaties with the Indigenous People.
Eleanor Mattice Colville
Supreme Court hands Trump wins
Recently Trump has had some big wins at the Supreme Court (SC). The SC overruled District Court Judges (6-3). District Court Judges can’t do nation-wide injunctions. Trump is now free to deport illegal immigrants as well as the eight to South Sudan.
The SC also ruled that States can defund Planned Parenthood.
They upheld the ban on Medicaid funds for Planned Parenthood.
In another case, the SC ruled that parents can opt out of LBGTQ+ books for their kids at school. A win for Religious Freedom. The SC also upheld age verification to view porn in TX. We thought the wins would come from the SC. It’s great to see cases get in front of a body where most of them understand the Constitution.
Trump withheld Federal funding from colleges and universities that implemented DEI rules.
UPenn is getting rid of DEI and has to apologize for allowing men in women’s sports. They are stripping the medals and awards given to men and are restoring them to the women. They also took the men’s records down and are recognizing the women. Several other schools are following suit. One would think this should be common sense.
Glen Pierce Spokane/Cusick
GOP: The poor must suffer
Isn’t it amazing how Republican politicians can convince poor and middle-class citizens that someone below them is going to take their hard-earned government benefits, and that they must agree to huge tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy to prevent the loss of those benefits.
Most of us know someone who is below us on the economic scale. What is the purpose of blaming them for their plight and lower position? They are getting government food and medical assistance, while we must pay for ours. Are we so jealous of them that we would want to trade places with them? Instead, we want to see them suffer and be punished for their life misfortunes and decisions.
Meanwhile Republican politicians and political media stars are passing laws and promoting the systematic neglect of those poor and marginalized citizens. Those people must suffer for their sins, and we must be rewarded for our exemplary lives. That’s the religious political tone they use.
The punishment for people below us on the ladder of life is to work in the fields replacing deported farm workers or go without food and healthcare. We will stand on a mountain of suffering humanity and feel great and exalted.
Pete Scobby Newport
