A news article appeared just before Thanksgiving on banning land mines. The Obama administration has decided not to sign the Mine Ban Treaty after recently completing a policy review according
We certainly do need healthcare reform. The “debate” in the House has been a fascinating and conflicting mix of ideology, political power, idealism, facts, pragmatism and occasiona
Few of us advocate for the suppression of the human spirit. In fact we would be shocked if others characterized us as miserly, mean spirited or oppressive. Yet today we find ourselves in a so
We are looking at the all but certain demise of printed newspapers, and the conversion of TV and cable news into entertainment. Our last, best hope for getting hard news is the Internet. Or is
Compassion: We get it, and then we don’t get it. Merriam-Webster defines compassion as the “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.
It is time to change the guard at the Port Commission. Our two incumbents running for re-election just don’t get it. Commissioners Walker and Smith have been in office for 18 and 15 yea
Healthcare and other socio-political dueling monologues are beginning to wear thin. Not because the topics aren’t worthy of our consideration. Far from it. What is discouraging is how
One good way to better understand our society and culture is to visit another country. Many questions and a little bit of trepidation can arise before and during a trip, even for seasoned trav
You know you’ve failed when your action of last resort is to attack. Attacking is, in fact, a defensive response to the inability to persuade others to a particular course of action comb
There is a sense that in recent years our political and social discourses have become meaner. Our political system is increasingly seen as being more about gaining or retaining power than abou
The challenger for the Port Commissioner District 1 seat, John Blethen, has an uphill race ahead of him. John is certainly to be congratulated for an excellent showing in the primary. And
There is a lot of grit and fortitude on Bellingham’s streets this winter. Not the grit deposited by COB sanders, but the dedicated bicyclists who ride in rain and snow and dark of night. Some
You probably can’t be anymore politically incorrect than this. I would like to thankALL of our elected officials for their efforts this year. I know, I know….it is a lot easi
OK, citizen readers…what’s going on here? Are we witnessing a new war, right here in our backyard? It would appear so, and of course, we citizens are funding both combatants with our tax mo
Obama’s campaign may have reached its zenith. The emerging story about his position on partial and live-birth abortion could be the unraveling of his reach for history. A problem he has is th
At the Port of Bellingham meeting this week, the Commissioners voted to sue the City over failure to resolve a water connection issue at the airport. It would appear that the Port has strong a
I had to travel a long way to become mindful of the importance of math. Not calculus nor trig nor geometry….just math. With grandkids in tow this week, we rented a row boat on Lake Hume, high
Do you feel that you are a part of the waterfront redevelopment? If you are among the small group of folks who have gone to Port presentations and public hearings, you might feel that you are.
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."
