I was more impressed than I usually am with the Jan. 24 column (“Concern for common good is buried by greed”) by Rich Elfers. It was factual, relevant and particularly timely in light of the recent reports that Paul Ryan was rewarded a million dollars for his work on the new tax bill (which balloons the national debt and grossly exacerbates income inequality) by a $500,000 gift by the Koch brothers, and five separate $100,000 gifts from five other billionaires.

Our economy, along with our political system, is broken and indeed destroying our democracy. The Adolph Hitler quote from Mein Kampf (“Tell big lies long and loudly enough and people will believe you”) is also timely in that it not only applies to the Koch brothers but to our current president as well.

Jim Merrill

Enumclaw