This was forwarded by a friend. I’m not professing an opinion one way or the other, but thought it was worth sharing as it provides some food for thought — or at least for those thinking people with an open mind who aren’t blindly harnessed to any specific political philosophy…

Dr. Hunt is a social and cultural anthropologist. He has had nearly 30 years experience in planning, conducting, and managing research in the field of youth studies, and drug and alcohol research. Currently Dr. Hunt is a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Scientific Analysis and the Principal Investigator on three National Institutes of Health projects. He is also a writer for American Thinker. read more »

Instead of looking for more places to cut spending, the legislature has voted to suspend I-960, the taxpayer initiative that required a 2/3 majority vote to increase taxes, and also forced the legislature to address the cost to the taxpayers of any proposed legislation.

Suspending the measure came on a simple majority vote, and means that the Democratic-controlled legislature couldn’t muster a 2/3 majority that agreed there aren’t more spending cuts to be made before raising taxes in the worst economic times since the Great Depression. read more »

The Chicago-style backroom deals that have been done over the healthcare bill, and have become the hallmark of the Obama adminstration, are enough to make you lose permanent faith in honest and transparent government. Meanwhile, here at home, taking its cue from the “leadership” being shown on this issue in other Washington, the Democrat-controlled State Legislature blatantly introduced in your face legislation to undo the will of the people — Senate Bill 6843 — which negates Initiative 960. read more »

In what could only be called a Republican’s wet dream — will Dino Rossi challenge Patty Murray for the U.S. Senate seat she has held for three terms? According to a recent poll conducted by the Portland-based Republican polling firm of Moore Information, Murray and Rossi are locked in a statistical dead heat.

In a survey of 500 registered voters in Washington done on Jan. 24-25, 45 percent of the respondents said they would vote for Rossi, who twice lost the election for governor — the first time in a highly contested 2004 election considered by many to this day to have been fraudulent. read more »

For years, 35th District Senator Tim Sheldon (D-Potlatch) has routinely introduced bills to private liquor sales in Washington. This year is no exception. We are one of the few states where alcohol is still state-controlled, as most long ago understood the wisdom of collecting the taxes without the overhead of store leases or state employees, along with their hefty benefits and taxpayer-funded pensions. read more »

The legislature isn’t even is session yet, and the talk of implementing a State Income Tax is already beginning to dominate the discussion of how to close the budget shortfall the legislature has spent us into.

The problem as I see it, is even if we eliminate some taxes — like the hated B&O tax for example — as a trade off to institute an income tax, once the economy improves, the legislature can’t be trusted not to spend us right back into the very same position it now finds itself. Once that inevitably happens, they won’t even hesitate to bring those old taxes back. The result will be an even more regressive tax system than we are already saddled with. read more »

Talk about unbridled greed… In spite of the bad economy, the state’s dire financial situation, and Governor Christine Gregoire’s proposal to cut $1.7 billion from schools, and eliminate the Basic Health Plan to solve the budget shortfall, state employee unions are refusing to forego a five percent increase for more than 21,000 people already averaging read more »

Considering both the financial situation of our state and the City of Bremerton, I was certainly surprised to see the Bremerton City Council approve spending $250,000 of state money on the installation of some statues of fish and fisherman on Pacific Avenue. Ostensibly, these statues are going to bring tourists downtown. read more »