Letter showed writer's hatred

Calm down Mr. DeForest, your hatred is showing. Seems to me Mr. Robertson's comments about Kerry were made from first-hand knowledge, your letter was so full of hatred for our sitting President that your defense of Kerry was lost in rhetoric.

The Idaho heat must be making you cranky.

PATRICIA LABRUM

Sandpoint

Biased letter belonged elsewhere in paper

I read with interest the "letter to the editor" by Iris J. Byrne of Kellogg, on June 24, 2004.

This letter is in the form of a report, or commentary, on President Bush's visit to Spokane and the attendant protest. Ms. Byrne reports on the number demonstrating against President Bush versus for him. While I have no means to assess the accuracy of her statements ("1,000 versus a few"), they do appear to carry a strong liberal bias.

However, my real concern is that Ms. Byrne's letter appears to be more properly labeled a "report, or commentary" rather than a true letter to the editor". And, curiously enough, the very same letter appears on the editorial page of the Spokesman Review, on the same date.

If Ms. Byrne is on your payroll as a reporter, shouldn't her commentary appear elsewhere in your newspaper, and the Spokesman Review's pages, rather than on the editorial page?

Yours for unbiased reporting,

FRANK J. CIPRIANO

Sandpoint

Neither side gets blame for recession

Bob Wynhausen certainly has the facts at his fingertips and is quite adept at twisting them to suit his partisan agenda. Case in point — his letter to the Bee stating that the recent recession did not start until March 2001, after Bill Clinton was out of office.

As I am sure Mr. Wynhausen knows, the powers that be have arbitrarily decided that a recession does not officially become a recession until there are three consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. I am sure he also knows that the stock market generally anticipates changes in the direction of the economy, usually by several months.

The market peaked in April 2000, well before the end of the Clinton administration. That signaled the start of the downturn in the economy, which by the way, according to historical standards, was way overdue.

Whether Mr. Clinton had anything to do with this, or was even aware of it is debatable, as it seems he frequently had his mind on things other than his job.

It is also debatable whether the Bush Administration deserve all the credit for the current recovery. It does not take a degree in economics to know that our complex economy is cyclical, always has been and always will be regardless of which party is in power. Monetary and fiscal policy has not been the strong suit of either Mr. Clinton or President Bush and, unfortunately, John Kerry appears to be totally clueless.

Bob, we all appreciate that you are an active and dedicated Democrat and more power to you, but you would have more credibility if you would try to be a bit more objective.

DAVE REYNOLDS

Hope