i object to being called prejudiced kbra wrong klamath basin restoration agreement jefcoat kandra 070711

Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.

www.heraldandnews.com

I object to being called prejudiced; KBRA wrong

Herald and News letter to editor by Dennis Jefcoat, Chiloquin 6/24/11

Steve Kandra’s June 7 letter asserted I am prejudiced against Native Americans and their private interest.

My heritage is Anglo-Saxon, black slave and Cherokee Indian. I am proud of all my ancestors. They all contributed to making America the best country on earth.

I take exception to being labeled prejudiced because someone is losing a moral and political argument.

My father left Oklahoma in the late 1930s, giving up ownership in a 10-section farm and moved to California. Dad spent four years serving his country in World War II in the South Pacific and thereafter worked in a machine shop until retirement.

My dad didn’t know until the late 1950s that the 10 sections of land he owned in Oklahoma were on top of Oklahoma’s richest oil field. Dad and family would have been very wealthy had he made a different decision in life.

Nevertheless, I honor him and his decisions.

I lay no claim on land Dad previously sold. I would never think of using any legal or political process — example, the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, to take back that which does not belong to us.

Our family proudly accepts our heritage and accepts the responsibility to make our life the best it can be.

To the point: All tax dollars given out by the federal, state or local government is money belonging to the taxpayers.

It is my firm belief that tax dollars should be utilized only when the expenditure benefits at least 70 percent of the population such as law enforcement, roads, water works or forestland. The KBRA implementation uses tax funds and legal process that cost billions of tax dollars and fees to benefit 2 percent of our population at the expense of 98 percent of taxpayers. Income redistribution via tax dollars is un-American, immoral and legal theft at best.