Are you better off now than two years ago?

Are you better off than two years ago? Grocery prices. Gas. Rent. Health insurance. Fertilizer. Have your wages gone up? Is your Social Security guaranteed? 

This is what happens when big money rules the government. They take our taxes, and give them to big businesses and the wealthy, and take away public services.

My daughter says she loves Idaho but would never live here. She hopes to have kids, and has heard the horror stories of physicians having to consult a lawyer before they can perform lifesaving interventions for the mother. Our closest labor and delivery services now are in Coeur d'Alene.

Then there are the dangerous roads. What if you were trying to race to Coeur d'Alene, 90 minutes from Bonners Ferry, and an accident shut down the highway in both directions? It happens all the time.

Jim Woodward and Mark Sauter were working on these issues. Folks didn’t exercise their right to vote, and they lost their primaries. Now we have three Idaho Freedom Foundation-funded candidates, Scott Herndon, Cornel Rasor, and Jane Sauter (no relation to Mark) in the R column for November. Their platform includes eliminating property taxes, which fund public schools, road maintenance, veteran services, etc. More tax returns for the wealthy, less for public services.

We have excellent non-Republican alternatives: Steve Johnson versus Herndon, Kathryn Larson versus Rasor, and Karen Mathee versus Jane Sauter. We need representatives who will work on critical issues affecting our quality of life in North Idaho. Vote Nov. 3.

KATHLEEN PAINTER

Bonners Ferry