TUBBS: Don't play feds' game

The Press' editorial piece published on May 20, 2011, The Trouble with Tubbs, commented on making Tubbs' trails more accessible. My letter does not speak to the merits or lack thereof of trail modification but rather to the editor's comment that the federal government will "bring pressure by withholding important federal grants until the trails are ADA compliant." I contend there are no "important federal grants." What is important are the needs to which those grants are applied.

We simultaneously scream about taxes, balanced budgets and fed's lack of fiscal responsibility while holding our hands out for federal aid. If this community has an extra $39 million burning a hole in its pocket, why don't we use those funds to address local needs and say no to federal welfare? It's a small step to reduce our dependence on the government and therefore reduce the size (and intrusion) of the federal government. Let's work to once again become the United States of America instead of the Federal Government of America.

JOHN D. WILLIAMS

Coeur d'Alene