Re: “Complacency set the stage for attack in Benghazi” (editorial, 11-2).

One has to wonder if The News Tribune editorial staff actually reads their own columns. Your editorial trying to justify the current administration’s fumbling and coverup of the tragic Benghazi incident is stunning.

Four Americans were murdered by Islamic extremists. They begged for assistance before it happened. They pleaded in real time for help. They disobeyed orders to try to save their fellow Americans, and you believe that the president’s re-election effort justifies a total coverup and lies to the American people? And then you compare that to …

Read more »

Hurricane Sandy roared in with unimaginable fury before the 2012 election. President Obama suspended campaigning, stepping up with decisive, steady leadership. He is working tirelessly with state governors to repair the destruction. It is inspiring to see him and Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey collaborating to help the millions who are suffering.

Hurricane Sandy highlights some campaign issues. On the right, some want to shrink government down to the size of a pea. Yet when something occurs like Sandy, we see that an effective, strong federal government benefits us all. United we stand; divided we fall.

However, in …

Read more »

Though a citizen of Tacoma, I was raised in Philadelphia, spending summers at the Jersey shore. It breaks my heart to see the devastation there.

Watching President Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie respond to this disaster demonstrates just how irrelevant Mitt Romney is now.

Romney and Paul Ryan disdain the very concept of federal assistance, which my friends and relatives in Jersey desperately need. Romney would break our public labor unions, eviscerate the Federal Emergency Management Agency and “privatize” emergency aid, throwing us to the mercy of corporate scalpers.

Incidentally, FEMA only has 7,000 full-time employees and regularly …

Read more »

On our morning walk along the Ruston Way waterfront Friday we saw a sign announcing a proposed $4 million project ($3 million provided by the City of Tacoma and $1 million by the Federal Emergency Management Agency).

If the city is having difficulty balancing its budget, how can it afford this expense? If the money is available, but can only be used for construction, why not use the $3 million to repair the Old Town Dock, which has been closed to the public for several years, or some other badly needed construction project (like filling potholes)?

What is the purpose …

Read more »

Matthew Glans’ letter (TNT, 4-1) speaks the obvious: Don’t continue to build in flood zones. They flood.

FEMA subsidizes flood insurance sold nationwide, and we all pay federal taxes to make that possible.
Even FEMA has been unable to pay for all the flooding and other storm damage nationwide. Why add to that burden by permitting added construction in flood zones? Why add to federal spending? Why add to the debt?

What interests profit from construction of added developments in flood zones? The interests that joined the National Wildlife Federation lawsuit. Only they oppose stopping FEMA from subsidizing …

Read more »