Letters to the editor

Driven to lead

Power brakes will take winner far beyond the state

Editor, The Times:

In a better time, the decision to vote for incumbent Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, or Democratic challenger Darcy Burner for the 8th Congressional District would come down to where each stands on the issues. But today's partisan reality renders the vote of one of 435 House members inconsequential: The real impact of the election is how the elected candidate affects the party that runs the show.

Reichert may be a heck of a guy. But his election empowers a House leadership that refuses to police itself or rein in the excesses of the Bush administration. We have de facto one-party rule.

Power has gone to the heads of the House leadership like Everclear to a drunken driver. The road is strewn with the wreckage of Iraq, a massive budget deficit, Medicare D and corruption indictments. It's time to take the keys away.

— Joan Benoit, Seattle

The great race

The challenger won't get very far running on empty

I'm voting for Congressman Dave Reichert and not his liberal opponent, Darcy Burner.

I was shocked to hear Burner on a local radio show say that her taxes were too low. It's not difficult, therefore, to figure out that she thinks a whole lot of 8th District residents' taxes are too low.

We in the 8th already work hard enough and have no desire to be represented by someone with Burner's likely assumptions about everyone else.

Burner even claimed she sent money to charity to "make up" for the fact that she thought her taxes were too low. But that simply decreased her own taxes further with tax deductions. It would've made more sense had she sent that extra money to the U.S. Treasury, where the rest of her tax dollars went in the first place.

Please stop Burner from financially harming your already overtaxed family by re-electing Dave Reichert, who respects 8th District residents by recognizing that they already work hard, only to see huge chunks of the family budget taken just from taxes alone.

With Reichert, we'll have more economic freedom, not less.

— Michele DeRouis, Sammamish

The course is brutal

I disagree with The Times' endorsement in the 8th District.

You make much of Dave Reichert's few — far too few — votes reflecting the values of his constituents instead those of Speaker of the House Denny Hastert's autocracy.

But you miss the point: It is imperative that House leadership be changed this year and Democrats take over committee direction, priority-setting, and subpoena powers of investigation into the Pentagon's political vetting of appointed reconstruction officials, into no-bid contracting, into FDA political trumping of scientific advisory panels, into Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo abuse, and on and on.

If one could guarantee that Democrats would become the majority without the 8th, then one might listen to an argument that — maybe — Reichert is a sort of Republican with whom one might collaborate. But no one can make such an assurance of a Democratic win; there are too many risks of gerrymandered incumbencies, of electronic-voting-machine screw-ups and/or tampering, of Republican election officials' efforts, as in Ohio last time, to depress Democrats' turnout.

This year, party label must take precedence. We must vote in Burner to assure a change at the top of the House and restore two-party governance to the country.

— Fletch Waller, Mercer Island

Shift out of low

The endorsement of Dave Reichert makes no sense. You say we need a change in Congress but then don't want to change the people serving in Congress. By the most optimistic of standards, this Congress has been a dismal failure. The 2006 election is one of the most important elections in all of history. To fix the damage done by the Republican Party, the balance of power must shift. Even leading Republicans realize that the only way to rebalance our democracy is to get the Republicans out of power in the Congress.

On Oct. 17, a day that will be remembered as "Torture Tuesday," President Bush signed the torture bill. Reichert supported this bill even though it's widely believed to be unconstitutional.

The current batch of Republicans is neither compassionate nor conservative to the average voter. They'd rather protect their power than protect 16-year-old pages. They've rolled back civil rights, educational standards and environmental standards. And the "war on terror" Reichert defends has done nothing but multiply the number of terrorists.

We need a person like Darcy Burner who will serve as the voice of her constituents rather than as a rubber stamp for the president.

— Richard Borkowski, Seattle

Disgracing stripe

Darcy Burner's campaign strategy to unseat Dave Reichert is disgraceful. I would call it un-American to portray her opponent as the lesser choice because he has been photographed with our president. Reichert is a Republican and agrees with George Bush on many issues — so what. By "our" president, I mean George W. Bush — the most powerful leader in the world. He is not the president of the Republicans but the president of the United States of America.

Burner is a young Democrat who thinks disrespect is her right. It is not and I hope the people she hopes to represent can figure out this would-be leader before the election.

— Pam Schmoll, Woodinville

Days of blunder

There have been several articles in the local papers recently that portray Dave Reichert as a centrist, someone who can appeal to voters on both sides of the political divide. However, as I listened to the recording of the Oct. 10 debate between Darcy Burner and Reichert, I was surprised by the number of red flags that I heard in Reichert's comments. His own words indicate that he is far more extreme-right than portrayed by the newspaper articles.

The most glaring of these red flags came when Reichert responded to the topic of failed U.S. policy in Iraq. He said, "First, we have to remember, we were attacked. The United States of America was attacked."

Experts agree that Iraq and Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. Even George Bush has had to admit that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

This is the worst kind of fear-mongering that I know. To use the deaths of 3,000 innocent civilians to justify the deaths of hundreds of thousands of other innocent civilians is morally wrong.

— Linda Ellsworth, Bellevue

The slow threat

I'm not sure what Darcy Burner has done to receive the sneaky one-two punch given her by your newspaper both in the debate you sponsored and your quick endorsement last Sunday of her opponent.

In the debate, moderator Editorial Page Editor James Vesely showed his political stripe by continually admonishing the pro-Democratic audience, seeking at one point to give Rep. Dave Reichert "more time," and restating questions to Burner when he didn't like her answer, demanding that she answer to him. When she mentioned the word [liar], Vesely verily chuckled with delight as he offered Reichert extra time to "defend himself."

It was the big strong ex-cop who bristled with emotion, while the young mom showed coolness under pressure.

Then [according to] The Times' endorsement, we're expected to give Reichert kudos for parting ways with the Republican right wing on [the issues of] Terri Schiavo and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Please. The endorsement carries on a full paragraph about Burner's voting record, which my research shows to be six out of eight times in the past four elections (including primaries.) Not perfect ... but spare the civics lesson and parental chastisement! Please.

And to compare Burner's campaign tactics to Karl Rove, when we are forced to watch outright lies on TV on a daily basis by the Republicans running the Mike McGavick Senate campaign and Reichert congressional campaign. Triple please.

While Reichert is well-intended, intellectually he seems to be playing "catch-up" to understand important issues like global warming and stem-cell research.

The problem in Congress today is that we have too many intellectually challenged people making decisions for the rest of us. The Eastside and the country deserve better.

— Robert Horn, Woodinville

Bringing home victory

On a personal level I empathize with The Times' endorsement of Dave Reichert for re-election. He is a good man with a long record of public service.

However, your picture of him as an independent voice in Congress is misplaced. Analysis of his record reflects response to heavy pressure from us, his constituency, on literally all votes opposing his party and president — and none when it finally really mattered.

He is not just a congressman — he is a Republican representative and his record proves it. No one is known better by the company they keep than politicians. Reichert's friends and fundraisers have included George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential adviser Karl Rove.

Re-electing Reichert will reward misplaced loyalty to a pitiful Congress and failed administration.

On a political level, the polls are predicting a very likely turnover of control of the House to the Democrats ["Polls see slide in GOP support," News, Oct. 10].

Return to emphasis on improved education, more affordable health care, Social Security protection, reversing the deficit and supporting our troops by bringing them home as soon as possible should and will be the priorities.

It remains to be seen if Darcy Burner will be a better member of Congress than the incumbent. We do know she is a smart fresh voice running an impressive campaign and can more than hold her own in debate with Reichert. She is also a Democrat — the only party that can take our country in a new direction. It's time to do that!

— David Olson, North Bend

Housing explosion

Hurry, these won't last

Wait a second. North Korea tests a nuclear weapon and we can't verify it until a week later? ["Air samples confirm N. Korea nuclear test," News, Oct. 16.]

How is Seattle supposed to prepare for a possible nuclear attack from North Korea if it takes the experts a week to verify that North Korea has launched a missile?

Seems to me that we'd better prepare for a doomsday scenario right now and give the Pike Place Market fishmongers lead gloves, and the downtown condo owners a few days to sell their units to Californians.

— Brent Stavig, Seattle