Credit where it is due

[Chief]

----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Koski
To: letters@columbian.com
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 8:08 AM
Subject: Credit where it is due

Dear Editor;

What is missing from the story "Senate, House approve tolls bill" in the March 7, 2008 Columbian is any indication that the local Olympia Delegation made any attempt to help ease the pain of 60,000+ Clark County workers who are paying significant personal income taxes to the State of Oregon,

In addition, our Legislators seem unaware that every employer in Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas Counties pays Trimet taxes based upon the salaries of their employees. According to the Oregon Department of Labor:

"Effective January 1, 2008, the rate increased to 0.6618 percent ($6.618 per $1,000) of the wages paid by an employer and the net earnings from self-employment for services performed within the TriMet district boundary."

That means if you earn $35,000 at your job in Clackamas County, your employer will remit $231.63 to the State of Oregon in your name and under your SSN this year. That tax is paid by the employer, and does not come out of the employee’s salary as a deduction.

I welcome the construction of a new bridge (sans light rail) at the Columbia Crossing, realize tolls will pay for a significant part of the bridge itself, and electronic tolling will give the Bridge Authority a means to credit every Clark County commuter with an amount of free tolls equal to the amount already remitted to the State of Oregon.

Clark County commuters should settle for nothing less.

Robert J. Koski

1807 SE Briarwood Drive

Vancouver, WA 98683

360-***-****

bkoski@worldaccessnet.com

www.clarkblog.org

[Chief]

Paging Craig Pridemore! Don Benton! Jim Dunn! Jim Moeller! Deb Wallace! Bill Fromhold! Joe Zarelli! Jaime Herrera!

White Courtesy Telephone, Please!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/63af_1.jpg

[Waterbuffalo]

Sorry but I honestly think Chief.. That may not get published and going to get ignored.

[Chief]

Why don't you buy yourself a nice legal pad, and scribble comments like these to yourself, instead on on my bandwidth?

These subjective opinions are neither appreciated or welcome. I suggest you keep them to yourself if this is all you have to add to the conversation at hand.

8)

[Chief]

----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Koski
To: Lou Brancaccio ; John Laird
Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2008 6:26 AM
Subject: You're in violation of your own policy! I withdraw my letter.


Gents;

Your very own letters policy states clearly:

We encourage readers to express their views about public issues. Letters to the editor are subject to editing for brevity. Limit letters to 200 words and allow 30 days between submissions. Include name, address and daytime phone number for verification; only the name and home town will be published. Each month the editorial staff selects the Winning Wordsmith Award.

In Saturday's "Letters" column you inflicted the second "letter" from Larry Patella this week. I thought that one was enough when you published him on Wednesday, and I was not expecting another on Saturday.

I have no desire to be affiliated with that kind of sloppy "journalistic" standard, and I am withdrawing the Letter to the Editor that I e-mailed yesterday. You do not have my permission to publish it and I insist that you discard any copies of it that you have immediately.

I continue to be at a loss as to why you insist on publishing the rants of Larry Patella at all, especially when he has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be wrong much more often than he is right about anything. And for your staff to take one of his horribly written "Local Mailing List" rants, and turn it into a "Letter to the Editor" is outright fraudulent. You made significant editorial changes to that rant of Patella's and gave it a great deal more credibility than it was ever due.

Your publishing decisions are your own, but I do suggest that you raise your standards for scrutiny of your letters to the Editor, especially when they come from either of the Patellas.

And no, these words are not for publication either.

Bob Koski
www.clarkblog.org

[Chief]

I wanted to say that I finally received acknowledgement from John Laird this morning that he will not run this letter of mine per my request, but also wanted to ask me not to mention his name on the internet.

Sorry John, your name is already all over the internet. (Not my call either...if it were up to me you'd be back home in Texas writing bad sports copy about AAA baseball...) In any case John, how can I thank you properly without mentioning your name??

In any case, that was the last goddam letter to the editor I ever pen in this town...

Cheers!!

8)

[Waterbuffalo]

I'm starting to wonder myself if its even worth continuing to go the political meetings if there really isn't much I can do to change any thing?

Well I'm going to turn on cvtv in about an hour to watch the Board of commissioners start their meeting.

Catch you all later.