Island Guardian

Wenatchee Reflections

I was blowing up a balloon getting ready to tie it off when it got away from me. It whooshed across the room spiraling out of control ending up a flat little yellow blob on the floor. Well, that is a good description of how things are now.

A few days before the verdict on the governor's race Chris Vance and the Rossi re-vote team of lawyers were all puffed-up with confidence. I'm glad the convention took place before the judge read off his conclusions Monday. It would have been a bummer for all but the lawyers. They won. Gregoire won. Time for us to cowboy-up, move on, and put on a happy face.

But it will not be easy. Wow are we ever in debt! If Dino had won the contributions he was counting on to cover at least half of the debt we owe to the lawyers would pour in. Now it is doubtful. We are in a big hole. But never fear. Some of the lawyers are Republicans and may not sue us if we are tardy with payments. That is what Chairman Vance said. Personally I have never met a charitable lawyer.

The last attorney I asked to make a contribution to charity told me about the hardships he faced in his own family. His dad was in a convalescent home, mother had cancer, and his sister's husband was a deadbeat dad leaving her with 3 kids to raise and no job. I was feeling sorry for him until he said, "Why should I give to charity when I don't give them anything?"

In other news there is a ton of pressure on Dino Rossi to run against Cantwell for the Senate in ‘06. This was a big topic for discussion at the convention. It could be a problem however because he has already said no. This excerpt is from the King County Journal April 28:

Rossi, however, seemed to slam the door on that possibility (running for Senator) Wednesday.

``I have four small children and I'm not sure how I'd make it work with the family without upheaval and difficulty for the kids. So, that really is not my focus,'' Rossi told the Journal during an interview at his campaign headquarters in downtown Bellevue.

Not everyone thinks that Rossi is immune to persuasion, however.

Chris Vance, chairman of the state Republican Party, said Wednesday that while he doesn't think Rossi will run, others may not take his ``no'' at face value.

``There are people and organizations who will want to change his mind,'' Vance said. ``The senate campaign committee will try to persuade him otherwise.

In addition to his role as state party chairman, Vance has been mentioned as a possible candidate for U.S. Senate. Other possible candidates include former U.S. Rep. Rick White and insurance company executive Mike McGavick, chairman and CEO of Safeco.

``I can't see a scenario where it would pan out for me against Cantwell,'' he said. ``The polling says I'd beat her, but I don't need a political career.''

Asked if there were any circumstances under which he would consider a run against Cantwell in 2006, Rossi said he doesn't see it happening.

There were many other things that went on in Wenatchee over the weekend. Doc Hastings spoke to us at lunch Saturday. He is on the Congressional Ethics and Rules committees. He pulls some serious weight in D.C. Doc opened it up to questions from the floor. He was asked about the lavish spending habits of Congress. Some of us have a hard time understanding why, given the fact that Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House, they can't seem to say "no" to spending.

His answer was that discretionary spending has seen few increases. It is the fixed cost non-discretionary spending like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense after 9/11 that has put us in this situation. Congress is taking a "closer look" at this non-discretionary spending. I wonder what non-discretionary spending looks like under a microscope? Can you actually see money disappear into the black hole?

I was not satisfied by this answer. When it comes right down to it the only real non-discretionary spending in our household budget is taxes. We can choose to reduce or eliminate almost everything else. But politicians have canned excuses for everything. Spending to them must be like a very addictive drug.

Doc was asked about the filibuster and the "Constitutional Option". He said that all sides and personalities involved must work together in good faith. That is the essence of the compromise reached by the 14 moderates. But he thinks that by July it will all fall apart.

What about breaching the Snake River damns? Interestingly enough that idea has a lot of supporters from back east. The NY Times has been running full-page ads about ripping out the damns. Doc is opposed to this idea. However judges govern the Endangered Species Act. So we don't know how that will turn out.

What about immigration? Should we give them blanket amnesty or ship them all back? Doc favors a guest worker program and tighter border security. There are larger issues here. How can we fight a war with enemies that hide in our midst and still live free? The Patriot act needs constant review. He said that there is much that the public does not know about homeland security. The evidence to support this is the fact that we have not been attacked since 9/11.

That brings up the "Minutemen" resolution that came to the floor of the general meeting. Should the WSRP give a big atta-boy to the Minutemen of Arizona? No. We voted to do nothing. It was argued that we should not poke the President in the eye with a show of support for the Minutemen contrary to his policy of . . . What the heck is his policy anyway? Oh yeah, pretending to watch the border while millions of illegals pour across into the welcoming arms of our entitlement society. Perhaps we can concentrate on border security after the next attack.

No New Gas Tax! I was excited about this one. The WSRP, as a rule, does not take stands on Initiatives. The gas tax repeal is no exception. So our group in District 2 voted 100% in favor of suspending the rules and endorsing the gas tax initiative. This issue however, never got to the floor. Freddie Simpson, Vice Chair, announced that the vote was 48 yes and 43 no to suspend the rules. It takes 2/3rds to change rules. So no dice. The strange thing was that our group in District 2 took a straw vote. No one voted on the floor. I have no idea how this vote-count was determined.

Then a guy from Pierce County passed out a memo from a group called the "Transportation Partnership." It seems that folks down sound are ticked off because they have to sit in gridlock all the time.

I can think of some easy solutions to this. Go somewhere else! Move closer to work! Ride a bike! But no. Instead they want to throw-in with the tax and spend crowd and the unions and the who's who list of King and Pierce County¹s elite. They will no doubt be disappointed ten years from now when traffic congestion will be worse. They will have paid much and received zip. Here's why.

Our state now ranks 10th in spending for transportation. You would think we would have something to show for all that money spent. But our State is at the bottom of the list when it comes to services delivered. We have some of the worst traffic jams in the U.S. It is the same locally where our ferry fares keep going up and service gets worse. No amount of spending has made a dent in the problem leading me to conclude that the problem lies elsewhere. And there is more.

The money collected for the gas tax will go into the general fund. There is a projected list of transportation projects that are prioritized over a 16-year period (mostly in the Puget Sound Basin). The budgets for these projects have not been specifically worked out yet. There is no guarantee that the money raised from the gas tax will fund any of these projects.

A large percentage of the costs of these projects will be eaten up on the front end in planning, permitting, studies and lawsuits that will inevitably be filed by environmental groups. The actual construction work is years away and when it does happen traffic will be terrible. I guess they will want even more money then to fix the gridlock.

The chance of the I-5 daily commute getting better before 2016 is about the same chance of finding the winning lotto ticket in your box of Cracker Jacks. I will be working to get petitions signed. Let me know if you are one of the endangered species of Republicans who favor lower taxes and want to help out.
And about the loss in court, I don't think anyone saw it coming. The standard set by the judge to set aside an election due to errors is literally impossible to overcome. I personally don't like the idea of elections being settled by judges anyway. If enough people believe that our right to vote is something worth fighting for then election reform will happen. That is one positive thing that I hope will come from this election challenge. I wish Ms. Gregoire the best of luck. Hold on to your wallets while I try to blow-up the balloon again!

Thanks for reading this.

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