by Archie L Thomas & Merry Schrumpf, Corvallis
We are approaching six months under this new national regime. What effects does this regime agenda have on the ground in Ravalli County? Are Ravalli County elections more secure than the 2020 election? Are real estate sales up? Is there less dust coming from your road? How are tariff uncertainties helping new house pricing? Is your house payment cheaper? Is your child care cheaper? Are there more youth job opportunities? Is nursing home care more available and cheaper? Are we better prepared for the fire season? Is FEMA available should fires flare up? Is GSK in a confident hiring mode due to world vaccine markets? Is the USFS fully staffed to help manage our forests? How are the 50-100 federal laid off workers between the USFS and the Rocky Mountain Labs helping grow our local economy? Is Social Security on sounder financial footing?
What are the constructive actions taken by local governments? The Hamilton city council has taken affirmative actions supporting local laid off federal workers! Thank you!
The county commissioners are silent, justifying federal lay-offs as a necessary evil to reduce the national deficit and not offend the king. The commissioners will not issue a support statement for laid off employees or request of NIH, USFS, Senator Daines or Representative Zinke the reasons for local federal payroll and service losses. The commissioners’ apathy and hypocrisy is highlighted by their recent funding request totaling more than $18 million through Representative Zinke’s help to rebuild a bridge, a sewage treatment plant and rebuild Old Corvallis Road. These infrastructure projects are necessary and needed county projects, but why are these projects not also contributing to the national deficit while millions of lost payroll over multi years are acceptable losses to the local economy?
The commissioners’ hypocrisy is put in focus when millions in lost federal payroll is acceptable against the average lifecycle for infrastructure of 20 years. Lost millions in federal payroll would be continuously spent yearly over the same 20 year period. Infrastructure is worn out in 20 years and in need of replacement. Further, the 20 year payroll losses adversely affect forest management and public health research.
Deficits are raised by $3.3 trillion, annually national debt interest is projected to be $1 trillion, debt ceiling is raised by $5 trillion, 1 million plus earners save $89,390, bottom 20% wage earners save $90 in annual taxes due to reconciliation bill.
Welcome to making Ravalli County Great Again through apathy, hypocrisy and plain good old boy silent bowing and winking before the king’s political graft.
Archie L Thomas says
Bill It is your choice to be vaccinated or not but as Howard so precisely stated you are free loading on the vaccinated based on long established herd immunity .research. Further you choose to accept medical advice from political practitioners while disscribing others as crack pots.
WMA says
As a matter of fact, I am a big cheerleader for needles in arms, and have for sure been triple boosted. Furthermore, I await announcement or the new booster. Goes much beyond that, however. I have been vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella, not to mention smallpox, pneumonia, flu, and tetanus. Also been cubed for polio. If you are old enough, you’ll know what that means.
Bill Cavanaugh says
That statement is so sad, I am at a loss for words.
WMA says
Can you honestly say you have never been vaccinated?
Howard S. says
Even if he has never been vaccinated, he’s been benefitting from the fact that most of the people he comes in contact with in the community are vaccinated, or years and years of consistent vaccination have drastically reduced his chances of encountering many of these pathogens. He’s basically a herd immunity freeloader mooching off other people willing to subject themselves to the minor inconvenience of a jab in the arm to not only protect themselves, but also society as a whole. People like him never think of how their actions affect others. It’s all about them personally. The current president is a shining example of this mentality.
When a kid in his family contracts whooping cough or a serious case of measles, I’m sure Bill will totally change his tune. But it’s sad that that’s what it will take.
WMA says
Sound about right, Howard.
Bill Cavanaugh says
You sound like a barrel of laughs as well Howard. Explain to me how come My father got one vaccine in his life, kids in the 70’s got about 5, and now there are like 70? IS it because our illustrious science community is discovering new virus, or Big Pharma see’s it as an economic windfall. The flu vaccine is POKE and HOPE. As in they poke you and hope they caught the right strain of flu.
Bill Cavanaugh says
“IS GSK in confident hiring mode due to world vaccine markets?” What are you a cheerleader for people sticking needles in your arm? Why don’t you two crackpots say you’re triple boosted, without saying you’re triple boosted
Gomez says
Bill C. Over 200,000 Americans died needlessly because they refused to get the COVID vaccine after it had become freely & widely available.
200,000.
Only 900 died in Jonestown.