President Obama and Democrats in Congress say that starting over on health-care reform is akin to stonewalling. They are wrong, just as wrong as those who want to do nothing.

The problem is there is too much testosterone flying around the nation’s capitol and Americans are tired of the antics and political gamesmanship. It’s time to give them all an ice cold shower and send them back to work.

Reforming health care is not about social engineering; it is not about jamming an unpopular and expensive experiment down our throats. It is about building upon what is working and fixing what is not. read more »

I listened as people testified on the impacts of the House tax proposal. Two rooms had to be set aside for the crowds that came to town. Lobbyists were not allowed to testify until as many others could speak in the two-hour hearing.

As the hearing came to a close most legislators said they were not happy about the situation. But in the end, the tax bill passed out of committee on a party-line vote. Class sizes trumped jobs. read more »

According to the Associated Press, the Washington State Senate narrowly approved a spending-budget cart without a tax-package horse to precede it.

Per the AP story:

Lawmakers are trying to bridge a $2.8 billion deficit, which represents the gap between current state spending and expected tax collections through June 2011. The Legislature solved a $9 billion deficit last year through a combination of spending cuts, one-time accounting fixes and billions of dollars in federal bailouts. This year’s Senate budget plan calls for about $830 million in spending cuts, along with the roughly $920 million in tax increases. read more »

Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, has been selected by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to serve on the Olympic Peninsula Resource Advisory Committee (RAC), an organization which represents recreation, environmental issues and commercial industry issues on the Olympic Peninsula. read more »

The Kitsap County Bremerton Athletic Roundtable (KCBAR) is honoring Winter Olympian Bree Schaaf, a native of Bremerton who placed fifth in the bobsled at the Vancouver Games.

The KCBAR will hold a celebration for the Olympic High grad on Wednesday, March 10, at the Kitsap Golf & Country Club. The event is open to the public and starts with a 6 p.m. social hour. The dinner program starts at 7 p.m. Cost is $20 ($15 for KCBAR members) and $5 for youth under 14 and includes dinner. read more »

I was disrespectful of Governor Gregoire when she signed Senate Bill 6130, gutting voter-approved I-960. I attended the public bill signing wearing a suit-and-tie and standing beside her, I held my nose with one hand and went thumbs down with the other for the official photo. Some found it offensive, others funny, some heroic. To me, it was just my way of peacefully protesting an enormous injustice.

The voters have three times approved initiatives requiring either two-thirds legislative approval or majority voter approval for tax increases. I-601 in 1993, R-49 in 1998, and I-960 in 2007. The people are being forced to pass it again and again because politicians keep refusing to abide by this voter-approved law. read more »

The Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Tues. March 9 at the Canterwood Golf and Country Club will feature David Shoup as the guest speaker. Shoup will present several ideas on how a more powerful memory will help effectiveness and reduce stress. Find out how to remember names and faces, presentations without notes, to-do lists, numbers, dates and appointments, as well as information from books and conferences. read more »

He knew something wasn’t right when he heard that actress Brittany Murphy died from “natural causes.”

“Usually, 32 year-olds don’t die of natural causes,” Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna has told parents and teens in recent weeks. “After hearing from so many parents who’ve lost kids in prescription drug-related deaths, I suspected the worst.” read more »