Treasonous governors

The state motto for Utah is "industry." Hence, it is no surprise they want to bring a lawsuit against the federal government for control of some of America's most scenic heritage. Utah covets 22 million acres of public wildlands located within the state. The oil and gas industry is salivating.

Enter Idaho, whose state motto implies "Forever." The Idaho Legislature wants to perpetuate the ravaging of our national forests and rangelands by drafting legislation that mimic's Utah's land grab. Idaho wants 15 million acres of federally owned land and located within the state. The timber and ranching industry is drooling.

Utah and Idaho are two peas in a pod. They got one hand out in front looking for federal handouts, while the other hand is behind their back giving the feds the finger. The return of the Sagebrush Rebellion is upon us. Indeed, America's heritage and public wildlands are under threat from Western states and the corporations they serve.

If it were up to me, I'd charge Idaho Gov. C.L.(Butch) Otter and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert with treason. Bring the troops home and instead put them on the steps of these two state capitols. The real enemies are in our backyard.

Brett Haverstick

Moscow

Sequester fears overblown

The Trib's continued sensationalism of the "effect" of the "sequester," never ceases to amaze me. We see fearful headlines day after day since it "hit."

Lewiston schools may lose $100,000 and budget cuts could hit Fish and Game, in today's paper and others, we hear on national and local media.

President Obama's fear mongering media are continually preaching doom and gloom over $86 billion of cuts from a $3.7 trillion bloated federal spending spree.

What a bargain we American citizens have been getting all these years. For $86 billion, we have successful Medicare, aid to children, Head Start, millions of taxpayers' dollars to our local schools nationwide, wonderful national parks, clean air, clean water, healthy fish and game, Social Security that will never rob our kids futures, forest management, strong military, salmon and steelhead in our rivers, air traffic controllers being able to serve smaller communities with airport, Amtrak, etc.

To think that $86 billion out of $3.7 trillion has provided us with all these wonderful things. It must be true, right? Because since the cuts in future spending have begun, the rhetoric out of Washington, D.C., and put forth by the Tribune is these programs will be either destroyed or severely curtailed. Nowhere do I see the Trib print that the actual federal government spending for 2013 is about $15 billion higher than it spent in 2012. The "sequester" cuts future spending.

If we are getting all of the above and more for $86 billion, what is the other $3.6 trillion being spent on?

Mark Vuchetich

Lewiston