Re: “Interior Department plan would benefit Nisqually Refuge” (thenewstribune.com, 2-16).

One of the reasons I love living in the Northwest is easy access to Mount Rainier National Park. I was overjoyed when I heard that the president’s budget requested funding to protect Mount Rainier through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

I’m not alone. Many people and businesses locate in Washington, and choose to spend their money here, because of our unparalleled outdoor recreation opportunities.

The LWCF is our nation’s principal funding source for local, state and national parks; trails; wildlife refuges; and working forests, farms and ranches. …

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In 2008, candidate Barack Obama promised to change the tone in Washington and usher in a new era of bipartisanship. For those who believed him, they thought he was just what the country needed. What happened?

Within months, Obama broke many of his promises like transparency, C-Span coverage and posting bills on the web for five days before being signed into law. His stimulus package had virtually no bipartisan support, and he ignored the Republican plan which included more tax credits for small businesses and greater tax cuts for the middle class.

The stimulus worked great for the auto workers, …

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So Norm Dicks is leading the charge to ban pythons (TNT, 1-16).

I have a suggestion for the good congressman: Stop searching in the grass for something to occupy the time of Congress. Do lead the charge through the morass and swamps to bring the country to fiscal responsibility.

Everyone has biases. Unfortunately, allowing one’s bias to dictate the sole source of data one takes in will result in flawed results.

For example, those who credit President Ronald Reagan with lowering taxes and thereby turning around a bad economy during the 1980s fail to take into account the fact that he also signed off on at least eight tax increases during his time in office.

In 1981, he signed one of the largest tax breaks ever. In 1982, the deficit was growing out of control. Reagan was pragmatic enough to realize tax breaks were not going to turn things …

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You’d think by now we’ve been around the block enough to know that politicians will promise anything to get elected. No wonder Congress’ approval rating is only at 11 percent.

Maybe that’s why science fiction sells so well; people are entertained by something or someone unbelievable. Put another way: In politics after all is said and done, more is said than done.

Our elected officials irritatingly bounce from one elected office to the next. With a new congressional district centered in the South Sound, it seems unavoidable that our county will see two seated members of the Pierce County Council running full-time congressional campaigns against each other while also trying to perform their shared responsibility on the council (TNT, 12-29).

This trend of office hopping and campaigning while in office has become a career staple of our elected politicians.

What stands out is that our elected officials are paid, and often paid very well. It begs the question: If elected officials …

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Re: “Put a stop to all the madness” (letter, 12-28).

The letter writer sure nailed it. In addition to term limits I would suggest making it illegal for members of Congress to accept any kind of a gratuity from lobbyists. It’s a shame that most congresspeople go to D.C. for just wealth and power and their first concern is re-election.

The letter writer (TNT, 12-28) proposing we throw all of Congress out and begging for eight-year term limits must have been dozing during his high school civics class.

Senate terms are six years each, so eight-year limits would be tricky. Besides, we do have term limits; they’re called elections.

I do not want this sleepy student telling me who I can and cannot vote in for Congress. Should we, for example, throw out Sen. Patty Murray, who has gone to the mat on behalf of disabled veterans?