The war in Iraq is widely regarded to have been the “hot button” issue of the last election. I don’t buy it. Americans seem to like a good fight. After all, we get into a lot of them. The problem with
Bellingham’s new, old mayor, Tim Douglas, got off to a great running start at his new job by dealing quickly and firmly with an important issue that threatened to embarrass the City forever - the form
Congratulations, Americans. That was certainly worth voting for! Voters thoroughly routing the entrenched Neo-Con administration will help restore our world image, so badly damaged since re-electing t
Nope. I didn’t make it up. It’s from the subtitle of a book by Steve Bhaerman, under the pen name Swami Beyondananda. I have to admire the guy. At least he can laugh about it. But Americans should do
Results from the 17th year of a poll routinely taken by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News show that only 16 percent approve of the job Congress is doing. 52 percent of those polled said they’d pref
Hopefully the City’s new swirling logo will flush itself before it ends up glued on vehicles and emblazoned on letterhead. It’s horrible, but that’s only half the story. And we will probably never get
Heading into the last days of this election season, George Bush and his Neo-Con Republicans have been strumming a familiar tune to promote their candidates. Republicans, they say, will
My name is Tip Johnson. The usual editor of this publication has asked me to fill in for a bit while he is busy with other matters. Some of you have already written, following h
After today, a friend will take over writing to this space for a few weeks. I’ll let him introduce himself to you. I’ve some personal things that need my full attention for the next month or two. Even
Now Karl Rove starts his directing of emotional outrage comments on most any news item that is handy - in his effort to get people to vote with their emotions of the moment and not with their mind. Ro
George Will is a respected conservative columnist - and I invite you to read his current column in Newsweek. It is two pages - not long - and please read to the last two-word sentence. You know George
Free Rick Larsen is a new website by anti-war activists in Bellingham. These are serious citizens whom Rick has dissed and ignored. One has even been banned from his office for the rest of her life. T
Did Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad shoot and wound Margot in Bellingham back in 2002? NwCitizen raised this question in October 2002 and Bellingham Police Chief Randy Carroll laughed at the su
The Pentagon is blocking liberal websites, such as Wonkette, from our military in Iraq. Blatant censorship and violation of free speech and press - don’t let the soldiers know there are questions abou
We will have sent over 100 young Americans to their deaths in Iraq in October. The highest in almost two years. And the 4th month of increasing deaths. And perhaps up to 1,000 to a life with injuries
Why we need to vote for Rick Larsen and win a Democratic Party majority in the House of Representatives is illustrated in this new TV ad for Democrats. The ad highlights the absurdity of Bush now sayi
Want to do something to end the war in Iraq? Then vote for Rick Larsen. And Maria Cantwell. Rick’s seat is not secure. If even a small percent - say 5% - of liberals who are strongly anti-war refuse t
Gentle reader - if you are liberal and against the war, then please please vote for Rick Larsen. Hold your nose, but vote for him. And, a bit easier, vote for Maria Cantwell. I am meeting frien
We started to see it yesterday and by next weekend it will be well known. Bush is setting a timetable for pullout from Iraq - and the “October” surprise may well be a plan for getting out of Iraq - “w
State Supreme Court Justice - vote for Susan Owens. Keep her on the court. She has done a good job, respecting our rights and writing opinions supported by the other judges. Her opponent, Steph
Writer's notes: The candidates for State Representative in the 40th District Position 1 are: Dusty Gulleson (prefers Republican Party,) Chuck Carrell (prefers Republican Party,) Doug Revelle (prefers Happiness Party,) Mike Newman (prefers Republican Party,) Kristine Lytton (prefers Democratic Party,) Tom Pasma (prefers Democratic Party,) Thomas Boucher (prefers Democratic Party,) Justin Van Dyk (prefers Democratic Party,) and Donna R. Miller (prefers Republican Party.)
What follows are the two responses to questions I submitted to Chuck last Mon, Aug 2.
Why should I vote for you?
"I’m running this year because the Legislature and Governor continued their out of control spending habits despite our troubled economy, and we need to stop it.
The only way it will stop is to start electing strong leadership to the Legislature that can make the hard choices that will be needed.
I will not support any new taxes unless they will completely eliminate an existing tax and make the amount less overall to the people they affect.
I think people are taxed to their limit right now and the real long term solution is to have the state and local governments cut their spending and get back to the essential functions of what state government is supposed to do.
I will not accept money from, or be a representative for, any PAC or special interest group. That’s important when figuring out where to trim at least $3 billion dollars from our state’s budget next session.
When making cuts, these candidates will feel obligated to keep unnecessary programs due to the financial aid they received during their campaigns. The problem was highlighted this year, and electing those types of candidates will only bring the same issue to the next Legislative session."
What is important to you?
"The most important thing to me this next Legislative session is getting our fiscal house in order.
We need to simplify the tax structure and then get an accurate assessment of what the state budget will be.
Then we need to REALISTICALLY balance the budget. This means that we fund our most important things such as education and public safety first and then continue down until everything is funded or there is no more state money left.
When the state budget is down to zero then we stop funding programs. No matter how badly we want to fund a program, if the state budget is spent then they will have to get their funding someplace else besides state government.
Even within our top priorities we need to look at how to consolidate these agencies and programs to make them more efficient. We also need to look at reducing the middle management in these agencies and what I term “inner bureaucracies.”
Years of these types of hiring practices by state and local government has created an enormous drain on our resources and is not sustainable. Nor can we rely on Federal grants like we did this year to balance the budget."
