The ‘Top 2’ primary election bill has a poison pill in it. Our legislators tonight have changed just three words that will allow the Republican and Democratic party bosses to successfully challenge th
We have Kelli Linville and Doug Ericksen voting against democracy and for the iron grip of the two political parties on our election process. Shame on them.
SB6453 passed the House late this evening by a vote of 51 to 46. Now - if Gov. Locke will just sign it. More when we have more facts. The morning papers should cover it decently.
On Friday morning at 8 am, the WA House committee on government will hold a hearing on the “Top 2” primary election bill - Senate Bill 6453. This is the hot bill this legislative session. The House wi
If WWU gets their way, $20 million in state taxes will be spent on jack-hammering out good roads and building new ones a hundred yards away. No increase in safety nor traffic movement. A big in
Empty and rigged voting system or citizens choosing their representatives? Which will our state legislators choose? The US Supreme Court on Monday made final the requirement that our state legislature
Dean link is moved down as his website will continue to push for change in this country. Kucinich link is at top as he needs to be heard and paid attention to. Kerry - not a great candidate and not a
We see 1/100 of one part per billion or less of benzene to water during most of the year 2000 and into the spring of 2001. Then in the summer we see the amount rise by ten fold to over 1/10 of one par
Motor boats off Lake Whatcom? What was that apology from City Senior Planner Chris Spens at the city council on Monday? El-bull-in-china-shop Chris got the word from el mayor that the motor-boat initi
We have mercury contamination all over our county. That we know. Lake Whatcom and Bellingham Bay. Georgia Pacific’s chlorine plant leaked mercury for about 35 years and neither GP nor our environmenta
He will certainly have my support if he gets the nomination. And it looks like the Democratic party machine will give him that at the convention in Boston next July.
Let’s hope the Democrats select Howard Dean at their caucuses tomorrow in Washington State. Let’s select the guy with the best potential to beat Bush. And let’s hope we get a Cajun primary from our St
a much better chance of beating Bush than John Kerry? Because Kerry will be tarred and feathered by the Republicans if he is the nominee. Kerry is a guy who puts effort into his image and little into
Hell, he was a deserter. Now, now. It is quite true. I’ve been through this several times over three years now with conservative friends. They end up changing the subject or getting all excited about
Know how to stop Western Washington University from repeatedly trying to destroy the neighborhoods around it? By limiting its potential size and by starting a new university in Everett or Port Angeles
CBS said ad too controversial for Americans Super Bowl is nice family occasion FCC refused to speak out or monitor CBS Ad with horse farting in woman’s face is OK Ad with dog biting man on
Am adding a link to the Evergreen Freedom Foundation down in the Reference section. They post fiscal information on government agencies, state and local. They are the folks who uncovered the hundreds
Moveon.org has a TV ad about the huge national deficit that George W is giving us. They have raised the million or more dollars to run it during the Super Bowl broadcast this coming Sunday. But - CBS
The Town Crier has a nicely improved home page which lists all articles with dates of publication. This Bellingham-based website is worth your checking for a more conservative viewpoint. You can find
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."
