Merry Christmas.

As this nightmare year of democrat-controlled government at all levels comes to an end and Obama's plan to make this entire nation look like the train wreck of Detroit, (we're only $15.1 trillion in debt.... not to worry, we can always print more) so typical of democrat-controlled government at every level... the disaster of our economy, the disaster of our foreign policy, the disaster of state budget deficits (real OR imagined... because a reduction in an increase is NOT a deficit) the frequent idiocy of our democrat-controlled county-commission; from non-referred tax increases to county employees not paying anything approaching the private sector costs of health-care benefits to their failure to scuttle the CRC (and the county commissioners COULD end that nightmare, except that Boldt has turned democrat, so he won't, and Stuart's a union butt boy, so HE won't.) and the the largest trainwreck, locally, of our double digit unemployment county; Tim "The Liar" Leave-it's personal fiefdom, the city of Vancouver... with a government moronic enough to give a guy already making $167,000 a 3.5% pay raise.

It's not the size of the pay raise that's shocking.  It's that Leave-it and his fellow morons on the city council are giving ANY city employee in ANY position a pay raise in this economy.

Such stunning stupidity is legendary for democrats.

But all of that said, we've survived, more or less intact. Except, of course, for our bleak future, where the leftists in charge locally want to enslave 65,000 commuters to a toll of $1300 a year and more just to go to work in Oregon by tolling both of our bridges so they can engage in truly, stupendously idiotic bridge replacement to get loot rail over here... a complete waste of $10 billion that will shackle hundreds of thousands of people, directly or indirectly, to a permanent, life-long toll.

The GOP can be just as stupid, as Boehner's latest idiocy shows... so, I suppose it's a matter of degree: democrats want us to hurtle over the cliff of destruction, while the GOP wants to head on over there at a more sedate pace.

Ultimately, the result seems to be both the same and pre-ordained.

Happy New Year.