TNT letters to the editor, 5/11/2021

Government spending

If one divides a trillion dollars by a US Census count of 331 million people, it works out to about $3,000 for every man, woman and child in the USA, both working and non-working.

This translates to $12,000 for a household of four.

Last year federal spending was nearly $4.8 trillion. Add to that a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that was recently passed, $2 trillion for a proposed infrastructure bill and another $1.8 trillion for an American Families Plan, and this year’s federal spending could end up being $10.5 trillion.

This works out to a $31,500 burden on each US resident, or $126,000 for a household of 4.

Add to that a Washington state budget of $59.2 billion for the next two years. Divided by a state population of 7.7 million, this works out to more than $3,800 for each Washington resident per year, or over $15,000 for a household of four.

This, of course, does not include county and city taxes.

In short, it would be nice to have elected officials who act more like adults than teenagers out to test the limits of their parent’s credit card.

William Acker, Gig Harbor

Tacoma housing

Re: “City working on hybrid model of rezoning project,” (TNT, 4/26).

I love the Home in Tacoma proposals. The large multifamily projects in the Proctor District and on Ruston Way have added value and beauty to their settings.

It seems reasonable to think that aggregate happiness increases when more residents move into places where it is relatively easy to be happy.

The April jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed worrisome manufacturing and construction job losses. Both sectors are crucial to living-wage employment of blue-collar workers, in particular men for whom unemployment may lead to increased violent crime, drug and alcohol abuse, and early death.

The COVID-19 recession sharply reduced non-residential building starts from April onward. As completing a building often takes more than a year and projects are often most job-rich near midpoint of construction, the reduced pace of building starts will have employment consequences for years.

Legalizing more forms of housing should help counteract the harm done to the job market by COVID-19, improve tax revenues for public services and allow more people to live in our splendid town.

Dawson Allen, Tacoma

COVID-19 recovery plan

Re: “Governor grants reprieve from tighter COVID restrictions,” (TNT, 5/5).

Gov. Jay Inslee’s decision that he will “pause” a phase move for King and Snohomish counties, as part of “a dozen or so” that do not meet his COVID-19 metrics, is so blatantly biased that it is appalling.

He would not entertain any such thing for Pierce, Cowlitz and Whitman Counties in April.

Is it because of the professional ball teams’ influences, his political support base or simply his decision to make an example for all, if you don’t follow these rules?

Do our county businesses and residents’ financial and emotional needs not matter? This double standard of picking and choosing when to implement his phase metrics is appalling.

If Inslee is pausing out-of-compliance counties, then allow Pierce, Cowlitz and Whitman counties the same Phase 3 status and we can all wait out the next two weeks until he issues his next declaration of phase status.

Lisa Isaacs, Fox Island

This story was originally published May 11, 2021 at 10:33 AM with the headline "TNT letters to the editor, 5/11/2021."