The Ritzville Adams County Journal - Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887

The poor are oppressed by the incompetent.

It is a phrase that increasingly rings in my ears as I watch government bureaucracies and politicians provide false hope instead of tangible assistance. The people who pay for these failures are often those who can least afford it. The examples in my home state of Washington are numerous, but are not unique.

My friend Kim Ngan came to the United States from Vietnam, and although she didn’t speak much English, she knew there was opportunity. Today she owns a cosmetology school in Seattle’s International District that caters to immigrants. Despit...