Look, I have a lot of problems with Rep. Rick Larsen, D-2nd District. He gets over 75 percent of his funding from corporate lobbyists. He took over $30,000 from Caterpillar alone in his tenure as a member of the Infrastructure Committee. He has very little presence on the House floor, sponsoring or writing legislation, and if we had term limits, he wouldn’t be able to run at all. But that’s not why I’m writing.

I’m writing this letter because he deserves a lot more flak on the Boeing 737 MAX failure. He was the chairman of the House Aviation subcommittee, and any reasonable observer would say one of his top priorities is protecting Boeing. Boeing is an extremely important part of this district, but his job is to protect his constituents, not shield the company. His lack of oversight and tacit approval of the regulatory process not only cost over 300 lives. It cost local jobs, had a spillover effect on local businesses, and decimated employees’ retirement funds.

Larsen has a Democratic challenger, Jason Call, who regardless of differences in platform (which I largely support), has the integrity to reject the corporate interests that led to this disaster. Should we really continue to trust Larsen when he has failed us so dramatically?

Seth Bauman

Everett