Letters to the Editor

In 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case called Citizens United v. FEC (federal election commission) that corporations and unions have the right to spend unlimited money influencing elections to ensure that their interests are the ones our politicians are concerned about. This comes at the expense of the interests of the American people.

Now corporations are using hundreds of millions of dollars to buy our elections and, consequently, are drowning out the voices of average Americans. They don't even have to disclose their identities, hiding behind the Super PACs (political action committees), which were created to fund political campaigns.

We must restore our democracy and not have our voices be diminished anymore. We have the right to know who is funding a political candidate. Our elections should be free and fair for effective self government, not corruption in government controlled by corporations.

Many people are fighting back against this corporate takeover of the federal government. There have been many resolutions presented to city councils asking for an amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling. Several have passed and there are politicians in Washington, D.C. who are in favor of an amendment.

This is not a political issue. It is an American issue. If you would like to show your support for reversing Citizens United, go to movetoamend.org and sign the petition. A resolution has been drafted in Walla Walla to present to the city council. If you would like to sign the petition in support of this resolution, go to www.change.org/petitions/ overturn-citizens-united-2.

Pamela K. Elliott Walla Walla

How blessed we are here in Waitsburg, a town of some 1,200 citizens, to have our own newspaper. But why is it that the only information I get about the happenings in our town's city "guv'mint" comes from the Union- Bulletin?

The Waitsburg city charter requires the annual election of our Mayor and City Council, in such a dynamic paradigm, an informed electorate is key to maintaining the healthy administration of city business. Yet deadlines for filing candidacy will have already passed with this week's Waitsburg Times edition. Several pages are dedicated each week to local high school sports, is it so much to ask that our own media outlet inform us about upcoming election landmarks, let alone the date and agenda of the next city council meeting?

A publisher need not editorialize to keep its town's citizens informed about upcoming events and deadlines, but it is a journalist's duty to inform its readers of such. I'll keep reading the Waitsburg Times, hoping to read about things that have yet to happen. But I'll defi- nitely keep scouring the U-B to know what's going on.

Ross Stevenson Waitsburg