Joe Tanner's responses to me.

As promised, I am posting Joe Tanner's responses to me (for which I appreciate his time) unedited in any way.

Kelly, I owe you an apology. I never did see a message from you, but I have now discovered that you did indeed send it. E-mail from my campaign account forwards to my personal e-mail, and when it does it looks like I am sending myself a message. I just missed it, sorry.

I have attached my DD-214 and the statement I wrote providing more information. I tried to post this message on your blog, but I could not figure out how to do it (guess I am cyber challenged). Please feel free to post it. 

I have already changed the word “combat” to “meritorious Medals and Awards” as you suggested. And Kelly, next time Lew and I have lunch I hope you will come also. Best wishes

Attached was a copy of his DD214 that shoes a solid, concientious record of a hard working technician, service that I appreciate and thank Mr. Tanner for directly.

Here's the statement attached to the document:

I appreciate Mr. Tanner's acknowledgement of  this situation and his subsiquent modification of his Bio.

That addresses my concerns and puts an end to this matter.

And, I might add, shows a great deal more class on Mr. Tanner's part then on the part of the Columbian.

When Stephanie Rice Lies, Number 2.

Earlier today, I responded to Stephanie Rice's latest effort at character assassination directly on her Columbian facebook page, on the off, unlikely chance she was interested in something remotely resembling the truth.

She's not, of course, but I thought, "what the hell, it's worth a try."

Her response?

To delete everything I wrote and then print this lie:

I'm not suggesting that she didn't delete what I wrote... that much is obviously true, just like she ignored it, and me, and Lew Waters in her most recent hit piece.

What I'm suggesting is that deleting my posts had nothing to do "The Columbian's policy" since what I wrote DID have my real name in it.

She deleted it because it was from me, and used the name lie as cover for it... and she extended the lie to my wife, who posted on the article using her name, "Danielle Hinton," thus:

Unfortunately, my wife's comments were deleted as well, though they were not inflammatory, rude or obnoxious in the least.

But what they DID do is dispute Rices latest effort to smear someone she disagrees with.

The result?

Danielle's comments were deleted as well, though Stephanie claims that SHE did not delete them:

Well, the certainty is that SOMEBODY deleted them... and they were deleted only because they attempted to explain what I had been attempting to do... they supported me... and that was reason enough to delete them.

There's a term for that: despicable.

And to lie about it?

That's even worse.

When Stephanie Rice lies.

Rice's exaggerated and misleading nonsense blog post, deliberately misstating what fellow blogger Lew Waters and I said while giving Joe Tanner a chance to play victim begged a response, which I provided over on her facebook page since the scum at the Columbian will not allow me to reply on their web site.

I set her straight, laying out the facts of the matter in the forlorn hope that the truth would actually make a difference to a fringe-left reporter.

I should have known better.

What she did is delete my posts that provided proof of everything I had written including my motives for writing it, which had absolutely NOTHING to do with any partisan effort: I have blasted war hero wannabe and alleged Republican David Hedrick for his fake war hero meme so for Tanner to fall back on that political hack bullshit that its "politically driven" is a crock. 

His deliberate decision to ignore my email?

THAT was "politically driven."

Again, isn't it bizarre that Rice finds time to talk to Tanner but has no time to talk to me or Lew Waters... like she doesn't know how to get ahold of us?

Clearly, the Columbian has made their choice for commissioner since they hate Tom Mielke's guts.

So, if anything, the rags handling of all of this is the thing that's "politically driven" because it damned sure isn't driven by the truth.

And Stephanie, that you deleted my post on your page where I listed my real name so you'd know it was me?

That means that clearly, you didn't WANT to know the truth.

But then... what else is new?

So, Tanner's response on the fake combat medals thing wasn't a response... it was a rather bogus press release.

When the entirety of your political reporting staff has never bothered to serve, I suppose this kind of thing is to be expected.

Let's remember here, boys and girls, I NEVER disputed that Tanner served in Vietnam.

What I disputed and STILL dispute is that he ever received "numerous combat awards" for that service.

Stephanie Rice, never big on accuracy when it comes to me, responds with this political blog post, again put up without contacting or calling me, falsely inferring if not claiming that I questioned that Tanner had ever served in Vietnam, or more specifically, in the waters around Vietnam.

I, of course, never did any such thing.

What I questioned is whether, while serving as an electricians tech that he ever received any COMBAT MEDALS, a claim mentioned on his campaign bio.

Of course, he did not.

He received Combat THEATER SERVICE MEDALS, obviously a distinction without a difference to the non-veterans writing about this, yet another subject they know absolutely nothing about.  he did not, apparently, even earn the lowest level award for combat the Navy issues, the Combat Action Ribbon.

Naturally, Rice left out the part that I had contacted Tanner's campaign requesting that he list his "combat medals," or that Tanner had never bothered to respond; it's not like she didn't know... she just chose to leave that little factoid out under the broad heading that I, along with Lew Waters, "questioned how Tanner earned combat medals."

Well, guess what: Tanner never responded to me... but in his response/press release to Lew Waters, he provided evidence that I was in fact, correct, that Tanner had not, in fact, earned ANY MEDALS OF ANY KIND FOR COMBAT.

Since the closest Rice ever got to serving in the military was to drive by a recruiter's office, it's not surprising that she holds me and Waters up like Pinatas because most out there are unable to differentiate between "service medals," the "I was there" variety, and COMBAT Medals... like the Bronze Star with V device that Infantry veteran Tom Mielke received as a member of the 82nd Airborne in Vietnam back in 68.

I've contacted Rice via Facebook with this information.  Will she do anything with it to correct the record?

Are you kidding me?

Tanner (Finally) responds, though not to me: he has no "combat medals."

Joe Tanner finally responded over his claim to "numerous combat medals," and the result is, as I suspected, that he has precisely none.

And while he starts off by writing "I look forward to sharing my military service," he apparently doesn't look forward to sharing it with me; his response was to Lew Waters.

To someone Harvard-trained like Mr. Tanner, words have meaning.  The definition of combat is very different from the definition of non-combat.  Generally, to have received a "combat medal," one has had to engage IN combat; that is, taken direct or indirect fire; or, at a minimum, DELIVERED direct or indirect fire.

Tanner has, apparently, done none of that.

So, why did he, to be charitable, exaggerate about that through a claim of having received "numerous combat medals?"

And if he'll exaggerate about that, then what else will he exaggerate about?  Like, for example, the reasons he's running?  Or that he's anything approaching a conservative?

To his credit, and that of every other Vietnam vet (And please don't misunderstand me: I was not disputing his claim of service in the area of Vietnam or that he spent 27 months in the vicinity... apparently, all of it on ship) he does have the Vietnam Service Medal (with 6 stars) and the Vietnam Campaign Medal.

In addition, he claims the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the National Defense Service medal.

He was serving on a guided missile cruiser, the Providence, that served as a fleet flagship. 

In fact, the awards mentioned all come under Navy regulations as "service awards" and NOT "combat awards."

The Navy has awards for particpation in combat.  The Combat Action Ribbon is one:  Had Tanner been in combat operations he likely would have been awarded said ribbon:

(14). Combat Action Ribbon

a. Authorization. SECNAVNOTE 1650 of 17 February 1969.

b. Eligibility Requirements

(1) Awarded to members of the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard (when the Coast Guard, or units thereof, operate under the control of the Navy) in the grade of captain/colonel and junior thereto, who have actively participated in ground or surface combat.

(2) The principal eligibility criterion is, regardless of military occupational specialty or rating, the individual must have rendered satisfactory performance under enemy fire while actively participating in a ground or surface engagement. Neither service in a combat area nor being awarded the Purple Heart Medal automatically makes a service member eligible for the Combat Action Ribbon (CR). The following amplifying guidance is provided: SECNAVINST 1650.1H

(a) Direct exposure to thedetonation of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) used by an enemy, with or without the immediate presence of enemy forces, constitutes active participation in a ground or surface engagement.

Eligibility under this criterion is retroactive to 7 October 01.

(b) Personnel who serve in clandestine or special operations, who by the nature of their mission, are restricted in their ability to return fire, and who are operating in conditions where the risk of enemy fire was great and expected to be encountered, may be eligible for the CR.

(c) The CR will not be awarded to personnel for aerial combat, since the Strike/~light Air Medal provides recognition for aerial combat exposure; however, a pilot or crewmember forced to escape or evade, after being forced down, may be eligible for the award.

(d) Current DON personnel who were formerly in the U.S. Army and earned the Combat Infantryman Badge or Combat Medical Badge, upon submission of official military documentation to their commanding officer, may be authorized to wear the CR.

(e) Under Public Law 106-65, the CR may be awarded retroactively to 7 December 1941. See Chapter 8 for information regarding retroactive eligibility determinations.

c. Eligible Operations. SECNAV, or his designee, determines which operations meet the criteria for this award. Appendix E to this chapter lists the operations for which award of the CR has been authorized. A n individual, whose eligibility has been established in combat in any of the operations listed in Appendix E, may be awarded the CR. Only one award per operation is authorized. The listing is not all inclusive, as the CR has been awarded in minor operations, as - well as for specific actions. Chapter 8 contains information regarding requests for eligibility determinations for personnel no longer on active duty.

To the non-veteran, this entire issue may seem ticky-tac.  To the politically initiated, what this seems to me to be is an effort by Tanner to mitigate Mielke's status as a genuine, close-combat veteran of the Vietnam War; or an effort to equate his relatively luxurious service on a fleet flagship with that of a ground-pounding grunt.

Regardless: that Mr. Tanner ignored me as a prospective constituent and that he appears to be, at minimum, playing in quite unnecessary word games does him no service.

Words matter.  And Mr. Tanner did NOT, contrary to his claims, receive a single award for combat of any kind... period.

Message sent to Lars Larsen concerning Joe Tanner's alleged "numerous combat medals."

So, we've got a guy running for county commissioner against Tom Mielke... named Joe Tanner.

In his announcement in the newspaper, Tanner claimed Vietnam service for 27 months as an electronics tech.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/mar/05/ridgefield-businessman-challenge-commissioner-miel/

In his campaign bio, he claims he has "numerous combat medals." He doesn't list them.

http://www.votejoetanner.com/?q=node%2F1

I have contacted his campaign requesting that he list the "numerous combat medals" he's claiming, the latest effort a week ago and still no response.

I was just wondering if you could look into this and get him to respond... because I know for a fact that Tom Mielke IS a combat veteran of the 82nd Airborne with a Bronze Star and "V" device.

Thanks.

K.J. Hinton
Clark County Politics.

http://clarkcountypolitics.blogspot.com/2012/04/day-4-no-response-complaint-on-joe.html

Columbian.com - Ridgefield businessman to challenge Commissioner Mielke

http://www.columbian.com/

Ridgefield resident and former state legislator Joe Tanner, who has spent more than two decades out of the public arena working as a corporate executive, said Monday he will run for a seat on the Board of Clark County Commissioners.

I've also contacted the Stolen Valor facebook page with this information.

Now.... we'll see.

When Republicans are slime: Lugar to target cell phones around Mourdock

Sen. Dick Lugar is a much more senior version of our own Jaime Herrera.  And right now, he is in serious political trouble and is likely to lose his primary race.

"Sliminess" is not limited to those on the left, we Republicans also have a slime factor in those we, unfortunately, support: Romney, McKenna, Dunn, etc... the list of those who, IMO, positively ooze is both long and distinguished.

But here's an example of pure filth, courtesy of Professor Jacobsen:

Dick Lugar to target cell phones near Mourdock events

Posted by William A. Jacobson    Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 11:28pm

Dick Lugar has announced that his campaign will target cell phone users browsing the internet in zip codes where Richard Mourdock events are taking place.

The targeted ads will repeat the misleading claim, already debunked by FactCheck.org, that Mourdock cheated on taxes.  This is yet another sign of Lugar desperation.

Here’s the pertinent part of the Lugar announcement today:

As Richard Mourdock fails to answer basic questions surrounding the illegal tax deductions he received for three years, Friends of Dick Lugar today launched an innovative geo-targeted mobile advertising campaign to make sure every Hoosier within the same zip code of a Mourdock campaign event has the opportunity to learn more about them.

Using advanced geo-targeting technology, cell phone network users browsing the Internet on their mobile devices within the same zip code of Mourdock campaign events will see display ads linking to the TV ad “Trust,” which explains Mourdock’s illegal tax deduction problem.

It’s not clear how the Lugar ads will work, but if they work like most online ads, it will cost Lugar money each time someone clicks on the link, which will use up the funds allotted to running ads.

I’m not suggesting that Mourdock supporters obsessively click on Lugar cell phone targeted ads near Mourdock campaign events in order to run up Lugar’s bill.  Really, I’m not.

Day 7, No response: Joe Tanner wants to be my commissioner but he continues to ignore me.

So, what's the deal?

Why won't Tanner respond?

My guess is he'll be responding to the Stolen Valor types real soon, but he could cut to the chase and just let us in on the secret:

I guess we're already seeing the contempt Tanner holds his prospective constituency in... and that really doesn't play all that well.  We've got enough arrogance in Stuart and Boldt as it is.
What are Tanner's "numerous combat medals" from his Vietnam service as an Electrical Technician?

Simple question, really.

And if Tanner doesn't answer it... it's going to be an extremely long and painful campaign for him.

The dream world of the Columbian as they wear out knee pads for the democrats: Murray still on the prowl.

Clearly, the non-serving, non-VA using democrats who write for the Columbian live in an alternate universe.

Like everything else in politics, there's really only one question to ask: under Murray's amateurish ignorance as a non-veteran with zero experience in the VA system, are we veterans better off now then we were 4 years ago?

They're kidding.... right?

Had any of the fringe-leftists... or even Murray herself, ever thought their country mattered enough to serve it in uniform... had they been forced to rely on the VA system, they might have a different point of view.

You see, like most democrats, which means like this newspaper, we hear crap like this:

The Democratic senator from Washington last week was once again reprimanding Veterans Affairs officials while they were doing a pretty good job of embarrassing themselves. At yet another hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee -- which Murray chairs -- haunting suspicions about military veterans’ difficult access to mental health care were confirmed. Last week’s report showed that wait times far exceed what the VA previously reported and the wait times that the VA mandates. Murray correctly called the news “deeply disturbing.”

Yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.

The question missing from the rag's partisan, fantasy rant against the system is this:

Under Murray's watch... what's changed?

Last June, I was admitted to the VA Hospital for observation.  I was there for 11 hours.  I was charged $1100 for the promised, life-long FREE medical care I was "given" when I ENLISTED during that little tiff in SE Asia in 1972, asking for and getting the 11 Armor Career Group/Armored Reconnaissance option.

Right now, as I type this, on Murray's watch, there are NINE HUNDRED THOUSAND pending disability claims.  This was a chronic problem BEFORE Murray's horrific appointment; it remains a chronic problem now.

That the clown who wrote this editorial garbage has a better drug benefit ($10 for 3 months supply of many drugs) then I, as a VA patient have ($27 for a 3 month supply of many of those same drugs)  which means that non-serving fringe-left nutters like Brancaccio or Laird can walk into a Fred Meyers or a WalMart and get cheaper medications then *I* or any other veteran can... and they never served a day.

When I discussed this with Murray's Veteran's guy he told me, point blank, he wasn't even going to bring it up with the good senator.

And then, this beauty:

2 months ago, I was experiencing symptoms of an umbilical hernia.

I get an appointment for an evaluation... and I'll be seen... on May 9.

Two and a half months.

Because the VA Hospital around here only does hernia patients one afternoon a week.

So, here's the reality:

Where it MATTERS, and the only place it DOES matter, Murray has made absolutely no difference at the street level, where the rubber meets the road.

As a veteran, a Veteran who ENLISTED at the age of 17 and one fricking day and who was, in returned, promised FREE, LIFE_LONG medical care, including dental (Which I can't even get since I am neither a former POW or 100% disabled) I can provide the end-user's perspective of Murray's efforts... and that is the only perspective that matters, the Columbian's hyperbolic fantasies about Murray actually getting anything done aside:

Except for being a campaign prop, Murray has accomplished absolutely nothing as Chair of the Senate Veteran's Affair's Committee.  And, as perhaps the dimmest bulb in the Senate and yet another leftist who refused to serve our nation in uniform, I never expected she would.

But for the moron who wrote this garbage to act like she's actually getting something done?

That's just more pro-democrat crap.

ALL politicians must be judged on results, and not rhetoric.  Rhetoric isn't cutting back the inexcusable number of pending disability claims, the price of drugs for those of us who have to pay for them, the costs of hospitalization when their should be no costs, or reducing the amount of time to get a simple surgical evaluation for a hernia.

Murray has been a disaster, precisely as I said she would be.  But these clowns, who never served and, as a result are just so enamored of her kool-aid drinking press releases, wouldn't know that.

More leftist idiocy from the Columbian: State Boosts Construction

Continuing on in their socialist meme, the local democrat newsletter and public relations arm tells us:

Gov. Chris Gregoire last Monday figuratively hit the nail on the head when she proclaimed: “Jobs are the way out of this recession.”Washington workers will literally hit the nail on the head as a consequence of what Gregoire did with her pen that same day. She signed a $1 billion construction bill that is expected to create 18,000 jobs. The work will affect numerous sectors of the state’s economy, most significantly education, water quality and economic development. By putting her name to the collaborative, bipartisan product of the Legislature, Gregoire sets in action a process that will use debt financing to launch numerous shovel-ready projects.

It is not, of course, and never HAS been the government's... at any level... function to "create jobs."

What they've done here is rip us off for more unnecessary crap like the CRC extortion while strengthening their union base's ability to fund their campaigns, a lesser, included but ignored feature of this criminal enterprise... because every one of those "18,000 jobs" these morons babble about will be paid for by removing money from MY pocket... and yours.

No, government's function is to create a climate where the PRIVATE SECTOR can "create jobs."  It is not their function to sink their fangs deeper into our jugulars to pay off the special interests who own their "collaborative" legislators like the Emancipation Proclamation was never uttered, and the 13th Amendment was a suggestion, and not the end of slavery.

Putting a point on it, let's divide our state's population into this figure to see how much each of us are going to have to unscrew at the left elbow to pay for this garbage:

1,000,000,000/6,830,038= $146.41

So.... looking around at my family of 4, We're responsible for over $600 of this crap.... money getting sucked out of OUR pockets to pay for this prevailing wage crap that makes the newspaper positively giddy.

Why is it the rag never seems to break it down to our level?  Could it be?

They don't want us to know?

Why shades of Jim Jacks and the Columbian's ongoing cover up of his alcohol fueled misconduct with female staff in Olympia.

That our local legislators (And, of course, there were TWELVE legislators "serving Clark County," a figure that will climb to 15 by next session and not the "9" these morons tell us about) voted for this is not something to be proud of.  It is, instead, a reason to question them... their motives and their vision... plus their ability to see the smaller picture... the picture that asks the question: how are those of us writing the checks supposed to pay for this as well?

The continuing wastes of money for garbage like Vancouver, the obvious political aspects of this nonsense are dismissed out of hand by the democrat lackeys running the rag... but not by those of us paying the bills.

Day 4, no response: Complaint on Joe Tanners "numerous combat medals" claim.

A brief recap.

Below is a post wherein I indicate concerns over an apparently false claim to "numerous combat medals" allegedly earned in Vietnam by then Navy Electrician Tech Joe Tanner.

I requested that Tanner provide me with a listing of said "medals" in an email that went out 3 days ago to his quite active campaign website, joe@votejoetanner.com.  As a veteran and prospective constituent, I have a right to know and a right to ask.

So far, Tanner has not seen fit to respond.

As a result, I am going forward with a request for an investigation of what appears to be a "Stolen Valor" claim, particularly insidious when utilized for political purposes like those Tanner seems to be engaging in today.

The biggest problem I have with this nonsense is that the incumbent in this race, Commissioner Tom Mielke, IS a combat veteran having served a tour in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne and having received a Bronze Star with "V" device for DIRECT combat action, quite unlike that Electrician Tech Tanner likely encountered with his soldering iron... likely on a ship offshore in the waters of Vietnam.

So, I am forwarding the following complaint on the matter to the two per-eminent "Stolen Valor" organizations for the investigation and action.

The complaint is as follows:

I am a veteran living in Clark County, WA and as seems to be the case more and more, a candidate by the name of Joe Tanner is running for office is with what appears to be a false claim on his website where in he claims "numerous combat medals" for service in Vietnam... where he served as an "Electrician Tech."

What makes this particularly insidious is that he is running against an incumbent who IS a combat veteran, a guy who received the Bronze Start with V, a holder of the Purple Heart and a veteran of a tour with the 101 Airborne as an 11B back in '68... and, if memory serves, there was a lot of stuff going on in their neck of the woods back in '68.

As a result of these claims on the part of Tanner, I've sent him an email requesting that he list these "numerous combat medals."  That email went out 3 days ago to his campaign email address (joe@votejoetanner.com) and so far, he has ignored me.  His failure to respond is something I warned his campaign about day before yesterday, wherein if he did NOT reply, I would bring this matter to your attention.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Day One, No response from Joe Tanner.


Having been troubled by reading about Joe Tanner's "numerous combat medals" claim from Vietnam on his bio, I actually thought I'd go to the source to find out, sending him the following email:

Mr. Tanner,

I understand you are running to replace our North Clark County Commissioner.

As a prospective constituent, I noticed something quite troubling to me, personally, in doing my "due diligence:"

In your bio, you make the following claim: "As an active duty Vietnam veteran, Joe Tanner received numerous combat medals."

I would appreciate it if you would list them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will be blogging your response, whatever it may be, unedited.

K.J. Hinton
Clark County Politics

Although I am a prospective constituent of his, he has not seen fit to respond.

So, here's the deal.

If he does not provide the requested information by COB tomorrow, I will turn this case over to the "Stolen Valor" experts at stolenvalor.com and pownetwork.org organizations, and they can deal with it.

Clearly, talking to constituents, particularly those from the opposite end of the political spectrum, is not one of his priorities. But making a claim of "numerous combat medals" and failing to back it up when asked?

There's no excuse for that from any politician.

And here's the basis for my claim:

Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Troubling questions for Joe Tanner

We have a Republican county commissioner, an actual combat veteran of Vietnam with the 82nd Airborne Division. He has actual "combat medals." People actually shot at him. he actually shot back.

Then we have democrat Joe Tanner, who ALSO served in Vietnam.

His service in Vietnam in the Navy, for 27 months, was as an electronics technician.

How, precisely, does a Navy "electronics technician" get ANY "combat medals," let alone "numerous?"



I'm not sure. So this email is going out today:

Mr. Tanner,

I understand you are running to replace our North Clark County Commissioner.

As a prospective constituent, I noticed something quite troubling to me, personally, in doing my "due diligence:"

In your bio, you make the following claim: "As an active duty Vietnam veteran, Joe Tanner received numerous combat medals."

I would appreciate it if you would list them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will be blogging your response, whatever it may be, unedited.



K.J. Hinton
Clark County Politics

I'll keep you posted.

at 11:27 0 comments Links to this post

At the links in the article above are first, his claim to service in Vietnam as an "electronics tech" for some 27 months and next, the screen shot from his campaign website bio where he makes the claim of "numerous combat medals."

Tanner is a businessman in these parts, well educated (as he'll tell you) and like all politicians, he knows that words have meaning.

Why he's claiming "numerous combat medals" is a mystery to me.  But that he's doing that when his opponent IS a combat veteran?  It seems to me to be a ploy to level a perceived advantage for political gain.

Of course, Mr. Tanner COULD just provide the details of his "numerous combat medals."  But his failure to respond?

That speaks volumes.

As always, regardless of what I learn, I'll keep you posted.

So, Jaime got her committee. The question: will she do anything with it?

It's been my position all along that our congresswoman, Jaime Herrera, has completely supported the CRC, the bridge replacement, light rail and tolls.

Her actions, to date, have accomplished absolutely nothing that changes any of this.  Her PUBLIC face on all of this is that she's looking out for us and trying to force some sort of vote.  She claims that she wants an utterly worthless, gerrymandered CTran district vote when, at a minimum, it should be for the entire project and the vote should be the entirety of Clark County since the entirety of Clark County will be expected to pay for this crap.  In fact, she's been smacked around by Tim Leave-it like he's been paying her for it... actions that should have resulted in the immediate death of this entire project as an abject lesson.

Herrera wants us to think she's somebody; her carefully crafted press release tells us:

“It’s a tremendous honor,” Herrera Beutler said Thursday in a news release. “We need a bill that strengthens our nation’s transportation system and creates jobs — both paramount priorities to Southwest Washington residents.”

(Yeah.  Like she actually "said" this.) Of course, she's dead wrong: the last thing we need is for GOVERNMENT to "create jobs," a euphemism for over-paid, taxpayer money-sucking union slime ripping us off.  That she calls such a scam a "priority" just tend sot show how ignorant this poor woman actually is... unless she's going full-blown democrat.

Actually, her getting this gig is not an honor.  After all, she's just going to be another back bencher, last in seniority out of 46 memebrs, a woman who couldn't even get the Republicans on her committee to agree with her amendment... and how incompetent is that?

She was picked, more or less at random, and certainly not based on what she's actually DONE, because that equals precisely zip.

So, here's the question: now that she's been given this "tremendous honor," will she do anything with it?

No more then she has done, I'm thinking.

And that's precisely dick.

Gee... you suppose she'll have a townhall meeting about THIS?

Cross posted at Jaime Herrera Watch.

Day One, No response from Joe Tanner.

Having been troubled by reading about Joe Tanner's "numerous combat medals" claim from Vietnam on his bio, I actually thought I'd go to the source to find out, sending him the following email:

Mr. Tanner,

I understand you are running to replace our North Clark County Commissioner.

As a prospective constituent, I noticed something quite troubling to me, personally, in doing my "due diligence:"

In your bio, you make the following claim:  "As an active duty Vietnam veteran, Joe Tanner received numerous combat medals."

I would appreciate it if you would list them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will be blogging your response, whatever it may be, unedited.
 

K.J. Hinton
Clark County Politics

Although I am a prospective constituent of his, he has not seen fit to respond.

So, here's the deal. 

If he does not provide the requested information by COB tomorrow, I will turn this case over to the "Stolen Valor" experts at stolenvalor.com and pownetwork.org organizations, and they can deal with it.

Clearly, talking to constituents, particularly those from the opposite end of the political spectrum, is not one of his priorities.  But making a claim of "numerous combat medals" and failing to back it up when asked?

There's no excuse for that from any politician.

When Tea Party Freshman Republicans betray us: bring back earmarks.

Unbelievable hypocrisy.

I just finished reviewing a letter with signatures quite surprising (Both for who signed it... and who didn't sign it) wherein 65 REPUBLICAN freshmen House members, including members like Allen West (Who I have been a personal fan of since his rise) put their names to this missive... a letter requesting the return of earmarks.

Currently, House GOP rules state:

GOP rules state that “it is the policy of the House Republican Conference that no member shall request a congressional earmark, limited tax benefit or limited tariff benefit, as such terms have been described in the rules of the House.” House rules say a bill has to list all of the limited tariff benefits in it or carry a certification that there are no such benefits in it.

The "reasoning" of the hypocrites?

That’s where supporters think they’ve found a loophole. The benefits aren’t “limited,” they say, because they don’t specify a particular company. If that’s the case, the bill could move to the floor with a certification that it doesn’t include a “limited tariff benefit” — a nifty loophole just big enough to squeeze thousands of earmarks through.

This is the parsing of a genuine slimeball like Tim Leavitt or Steve Stuart.  The GOP was supposed to be better than that.

How many of these 65 turn coats ran on a platform opposed to this insidious drug of OUR money?

Who didn't sign the letter?

Our own Jaime Herrera.

How bizarre is that?  Herrera, who has shown her politics to be somewhat charitably "malleable."  But I reviewed every signature on the letter, a pdf located here, and hers is not on it.

I would have bet my dog it would have been there, and it wasn't.  I was, and am, stunned, that one of the least likely people I've ever known to take a principled stand would actually do so against the tide of the rest of her class.

There may well be hope for her yet.

Cross posted at Jaime Herrera Watch.

Gee. You 'spose this is OUR Joe Tanner?

26 Tanner, Joe D  Defendant Clark Superior 79-2-01442-1 08-16-1979

28 Tanner, Joe D  Defendant King Co Superior Ct 93-2-00877-5 01-08-1993

29 Tanner, Joe D  Defendant King Co Superior Ct 83-2-10919-1 08-05-1983

30 Tanner, Joe D  Defendant King Co Superior Ct 94-2-27340-0 11-02-1994

31 Tanner, Joe D  Defendant Clark Superior 83-2-02110-7 Available 10-12-1983

32 Tanner, Joe D  Defendant Clark Superior 79-2-01443-9 Available 08-17-1979

33 Tanner, Joe D  Defendant King Co Superior Ct 85-2-05976-0 04-15-1985

34 Tanner, Joe D  Defendant King Co Superior Ct 84-2-13573-5 09-20-1984

35 Tanner, Joe D  Defendant King Co Superior Ct 81-2-14331-8 Available 09-30-1981

36 Tanner, Joe Donald  Defendant Clark County Dist 1Z0218492 05-03-2011

37 Tanner, Joe Donald  Defendant North District Court 1Z0470772 07-14-2011

38 Tanner, Joe Donald  Defendant Battle Ground Muni 15187 06-09-2009

Just wondering....

Had a bad day? So did these guys. (Video)

Troubling questions for Joe Tanner

We have a Republican county commissioner, an actual combat veteran of Vietnam with the 82nd Airborne Division.  He has actual "combat medals."  People actually shot at him.  he actually shot back.

Then we have democrat Joe Tanner, who ALSO served in Vietnam.

His service in Vietnam in the Navy, for 27 months, was as an electronics technician.

How, precisely, does a Navy "electronics technician" get ANY "combat medals," let alone "numerous?"

I'm not sure.  So this email is going out today:

Mr. Tanner,

I understand you are running to replace our North Clark County Commissioner.

As a prospective constituent, I noticed something quite troubling to me, personally, in doing my "due diligence:"

In your bio, you make the following claim:  "As an active duty Vietnam veteran, Joe Tanner received numerous combat medals."

I would appreciate it if you would list them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will be blogging your response, whatever it may be, unedited.

K.J. Hinton
Clark County Politics

I'll keep you posted.

Better late then never, Columbian: Monica Stonier to lose again in the 17th.

Regardless of any other ability Stonier, the Obama "super-delegate" may have, her problem is the same problem just about every democrat has this cycle: they're democrat.  And frankly, I believe the people have had quite enough single-party control of a government that has been utterly clueless in dealing with our financial difficulties.

I, of course, pointed out quite some time ago that Stonier would run for Probst's open seat... just like  indicated several days ago that Probst, afraid of taking on Julie Olson, would cut and run and lose to Benton on the way out.

The Columbian.  So 29 seconds ago.

"Probst running for Senate" Ya think? Scooping the Columbian - just one of my hobbies.

As this blog has reported... repeatedly... Tim Probst will be the next democrat served on the Republican altar of politics as he goes forth to be sacrificed to Republican State Senator Don Benton.

Good luck, Tim.... we hardly knew ye.

That said, a quick reminder: I have reported this twice over the past few days: in fact, this blog was the basis for the story where-in Probst lied to the newspaper and indicated he was "thinking" about a decision that had already been made.

Not an auspicious start for the challenger.

Just sayin'.

Oh.... and BTW? Fringe-leftist union hack and Obama "super-delegate" Monica Stonier has stepped up to get flattened... again.

Stonier will announce for Probst's open seat.

Must be a glutton for punishment.

The local rag hates democracy when it opposes their agenda.

This spew was in the daily sewer:

Jeers: To the usual gang of light rail and Columbia River Crossing opponents. The group thus far has failed to gather signatures on a petition that would attempt to limit the city of Vancouver from spending money on extending MAX light rail across the Columbia River. Their two-thirds failure rate on last week’s signatures was not surprising. For one thing, they apparently failed to ask many petition signers whether they were residents of the city, and thus eligible to vote. Most weren’t. But finding out that only 35 percent of the signatures were valid cost taxpayers an estimated $31,000. Even if the signatures had been valid, and there had been an election, and the voters had gone along, and the law had been upheld by the courts, it still targets the wrong agency. It’s the federal government that will pay for the light rail construction component, and C-Tran will pay for its operation. Nonetheless, the group claims it will keep trying.

Fascinating how this slime shed such crocodile tears over an alleged $31,000 when they so rabidly support the waste of BILLIONS.

One of the problems the scum down at the daily democrat have (And they have many) is their use of invective against those wise enough to oppose their agenda.  They know words have meaning, and so they denigrate by belittling, ala Alinski's Rules, those attempting to utilize our democratic system to derail their agenda.

And among other things, they do that by using a word like "gang" to describe those they hate... those who have the temerity to act against their utopian, screw-what-the-people-want view.  And "gangs" around here have a very negative connotation. 

The choice of the word is deliberate; equating those trying to utilize the democratic system to force a government that is completely deaf to listen can hardly be a "negative" in the way this despicable waste of wood pulp would have the casual reader believe.

That sort of thing is why these slime are dangerous, a cancer on our community that we would be well rid of.

See, it's not that these two groups disagree: its that the scum like Brancaccio and Laird at the top will use every weapon they have to destroy their opponents, assaulting them while they keep their skirts clean as they do all they can to enslave this community on a wide variety of issues they want US to pay for.

In this era of "bullying," these low-lifes ought to look in a mirror.

The idiocy of their observation ("....it still targets the wrong agency. It’s the federal government that will pay for the light rail construction component....") completely and deliberately misses the point:

Some how... some way... the people deserve a voice.  And since this rag, and cowards like Leave-it are going to do all they can to silence the people on this issue, precisely like they did on the Pollard Hilton, well, you would think they wouldn't mind terribly if we tried to rise above their Taliban vision of society and exercise a little of that democracy that so many of us paid for with our service to this country, a concept entirely foreign to Leave-it, Stuart, Boldt, Brancaccio, Laird and the majority of the rest of the downtown Mafia.

Expect Tim Probst to announce early next week against Benton.

Why he's gaming the local rag, I don't know... but my sources in Olympia tell me to expect an announcement Monday or Tuesday.... likely Tuesday.

As I said, the decision was made days ago and he IS going to run.

Just sayin'.

Democrat Steve Stuart in full moron mode.

Steve Stuart is, to the dismay of many, a county commissioner around here.  And that's really a shame.

He's tried everything he can to shaft us: he tried to ram a ballpark we didn't need or want down our throats... without asking us.

He was re-elected on a lie; specifically, that we would all be allowed to vote on loot rail in November, 2011.

And now, garbage like this:

State lawmakers approved tolling, and Stuart explains concerns brought up by Commissioner Marc Boldt, the chairman of the board. Boldt ultimately directed the county's lobbyist to testify to those concerns.

For years, a group of CRC critics have been attending county commissioner meetings, city council meetings and other meetings, where the people in charge had no authority over tolls, to voice opposition to tolls. For years, Stuart and other local elected officials have been telling them, "Look to Olympia."

Then, when the subject finally came up, not a single one of the regulars bothered to go to Olympia.

"If they cared that much about tolls, then why aren't they up in Olympia fighting them?" Stuart said. He called it "disappointing."

Garbage in, garbage out?

This hearing, held during a business day DURING THE WEEK, included babble from someone this county PAYS TO BE UP THERE.

Even though Stuart and Boldt KNOWS that a large number of citizens they govern oppose this project, oppose loot rail and oppose tolls, did they present that perspective?

Of course not.  It's as if that opposition didn't exist.

Why weren't we up in Olympia fighting them, you idiot?

It's because WE HAVE JOBS.  WE HAVE TO WORK.

Have that committee come down HERE for the hearing.  You know damned well there would be a quite different outcome.

So, I've got to tell you: what's "disappointing" is how much you lie, and how little you give a damn what anyone but the special interests who own you think or care... not to mention your great idea to enslave 65,000 commuters with life-long tolls.

The fact is this: you DO have the power, and HAD it a LONG time ago... you just made a deliberate choice to LIE about it.  It's like Boldt's idiotic vote to take our guns away from us in the event you cl;owns decide to declare an "emergency."  No one FORCED you morons to implement such an ordinance; the fact that the legislature gave you the obviously unconstitutional authority to do so doesn't mean you can... or should.

YOU, YOU, PERSONALLY can kill tolls, Stuart, and you damned well know it.

Exercise that fricking "block veto" that Leave-it is so fond of, on every single vote until tolls are off the table.  And if this crap pile doesn't get built as a result?

Than so much the better, you arrogant ass.

The Liz Pike saga continues.... when the email fiasco hit, why did she call Steve Stuart for advice?

The dichotomy continues. 

We're all aware of the recent debacle where Liz Pike used Sen. Don Benton's email list to first, infer Benton's support and second, to go out and ask for money.

So, when this hit, what did Pike do?

Among other things, she called client and democrat county commissioner Steve Stuart and asked him for advice.

Now,  why she would discuss this issue with a political opponent of Benton's is a subject for speculation that I can't even begin to enter into.  But that she would discuss this issue with ANY democrat official?

That's not what Republicans do, Liz.  Really.  It isn't.

Uber hypocrite Leavitt to Madore: Oooohhhh.... you offend me.

The problem for Tim Leave-it is when you're elected on a lie and govern on a lie, to call someone else out for issues related to "integrity," or being "offensive" is the ultimate in hypocrisy.

Here, Tim... let me break it down:

You
Are
Scum.

Leave-it lied to get elected, had his girlfriend whine on his behalf as if she was Suzy Sixpack and not exchanging fluids with him; he acts like you're a card-carrying member of the Taliban and he rhetorically wants to shoot anyone who disagrees with him... and HE whines about CIVILITY? 

And whenever someone nails him for it, he acts like a play ground punk and BECAUSE HE CAN'T TAKE IT.



This is, by far, the most accurate picture of Tim Leave-it *I* have ever seen, and that he finds it offensive to be confronted with the truth is of no concern to much of anyone, save him.

That SW Washington is cursed with Leave-it in elective government is a shame that we're likely to never live down.  That actions like this anger Leave-it or offend him isn't 1% of what his efforts to screw us have done... and when it comes to being "angered" or "offended?"

Well, Timmy.... I'm pretty sure you ain't seen nothing yet.

And Timmy?  By the way?

Can't stand the heat?

Feel free to resign, you sniveling putz.

You ever wonder why we never see Jaime Herrera on national media but we frequently see Allen West?

I don't.  The reasons are obvious.

It's unfortunate that we're stuck with a back-bencher in Congress who will never get anything done..

Allen West Schools Soledad O’Brien: ‘I don’t care’ what the Communist Party says

Posted by  The Right Scoop on April 19th, 2012 in Politics | 85 Comments

Allen West once again isn’t backing down, even when Soledad O’Brien tries to press him on his comments about the the CPC members having a commie ideology. She even quotes the Vice Chairman of the National Communist Party refudiating his comments, but West’s response to those remarks is the best part of this whole clip:

(via Newsbusters)

Cross posted at Jaime Herrera Watch.

Wenatchee's Toyota Town Center debacle: saved by a vote.

Arrogance on the part of elected officials isn't limited to Vancouver and the Clark County Commission.

In Wenatchee, a town of 32,000, a bunch of folks came in and took advantage of the simple country-bumpkins, filling their rather greedy for government cash eyes with dollar signs by providing wildly optimistic (read "fraudulent") projections of revenue to a group of ignorant local yokels all-too-eager to jam it up the voter's behinds by putting them on the hook for tens of millions in bonds to build a palace that Vancouver likely couldn't support, and our little county is, perhaps 14 times the size this region provides for this palace.

Here, locally, the same kind of scam was run by the Yakima Millionaires, using the same kind of rip off projections, wildly optimistic (Read "fraudulent") revenue projections to a bunch of overgrown teenagers who desperately wanted to jam a ballpark down our throats.

And what did these two frauds have in common?

Neither set of cheerleaders wanted a vote.

The palace in Wenatchee was bonded and built without asking the people presumptively on the hook for the costs of building it.  That lead to idiocy from the biggest cheerleaders when it failed, like this:

Someone should have stopped us

Wenatchee World Editorial Board

Saturday, December 10, 2011

If only ...

If only someone with sense and financial acuity could have dug through the wishful thinking and pipe dreams and told us it wasn’t going to work. Maybe a quick dose of sobriety might have saved us, and we would not have built Town Toyota Center. We would not be saddled with a $42 million debt and no means to pay it. We could not be blamed for financial contagion or embarrassed by our foolishness, lack of foresight, empty due diligence, poor judgment and pending insolvency. Maybe we would not be waiting for the lawyers of the world to scour us clean to satisfy part of our horrid debt. If only ...

More:

So.... what "vote" saved them?

A little background: two of the legislators behind this debacle, State Senator Linda Evans Parlette and Rep. Mike Armstrong, did everything they could to try and arrange for all of US to pay for THEM.  They HAD to do something; in the eye of the local voter, THEY were largely responsible for putting them on the hook for this delusion of grandeur: Think locally, the Pollard Hilton which has yet to approach break even as we subsidize the Hilton's/City of Vancouver's failure.

But those efforts went nowhere as the rest of the state saw the inevitable outcome: if these two and this ripoff were bailed out, that would end any requirement that ANY government act responsibly in these matters because they would know, at the end of the day, that the state would come along and bail them out.

So, they FINALLY did the only thing left to do... what they SHOULD have done before one shovel of dirt was turned... what the clowns running the show around here SHOULD have done before they set up their own debacle called the CRC before they wasted one of the tens of millions they've dumped in the sewer:

They held a vote.

And they won.

To the people of the area, I envy you.  You were FINALLY allowed to have a say, and that's a hell of a lot more than we ever get around here.

And correspondingly, as you VOLUNTARILY (but quite unnecessarily) assumed a debt you DID NOT HAVE TO TAKE ON, you lose the sympathy vote and are completely on your own as this waste of space continues to drain your revenues... since this tax is but the start and you can bet there will be more added later.

But then, just color me a cynic.  Your governmental bodies would NEVER do that to you....

Would they?

Amazing how that democracy thing works, isn't it?

Campaign 2012 through the eyes of UW faculty and students

Wenatchee dodges disaster from failed arena project

Posted by Allison Int-Hout on April 18, 2012 at 2:48 PM

A tax increase in Central Washington that passed on Tuesday will help the Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee pay off its $42 million debt. If the measure had failed, the arena most likely would have had to close its doors. (Photo by Larry Int-Hout)

In a special election Tuesday, voters in Central Washington approved a tax increase to bail out the Town Toyota Center. Debt on the arena threatened to force Wenatchee into bankruptcy.

WENATCHEE, Wash — Seattleites can probably remember when financing for Safeco Field was a topic of heated debate. A 1995 tax increase to help fund the stadium was narrowly defeated with 49.9% of the vote, and the city was left to ask the Washington State Legislature for help.

To help finance the stadium, Seattle formed a public facilities district with other surrounding cities to convince the state to contribute to the project.

Wenatchee had the same idea when they were looking for funding for an events arena in 2006. They formed the Greater Wenatchee Public Facilities District (PFD) with several surrounding towns and got tax money from the state to finance an arena.

But unlike Safeco, today Wenatchee’s Town Toyota Center is in serious financial trouble — to the tune of $42 million of debt that it appeared impossible to pay off, possibly forcing the city into bankruptcy.

That is until a special election in Chelan and Douglas counties yesterday yielded surprising results.

Voters in nine Central Washington municipalities approved a .1% sales and use tax increase that will help pay off the $42 million debt on the area’s community arena. The measure needed a simple majority to pass, but unofficial results show that it won about 65% of the vote.

More:

The SMART play would have been this:

To others, like former Chelan Mayor Jay Witherbee, this tax increase to cities all around the area is not the answer. He says that the situation would have cleared up on its own. Without a tax increase on the table, he argues, the bond holders would have felt the need to negotiate a settlement when the PFD defaulted on the loan in December of last year.

“Greece just settled for 38 cents on the dollar, because bond holders know it’s better than nothing,” Witherbee said. “You’ve made an investment, taken a gamble, a risk, and it didn’t pay off. But it’s better than nothing.”

That would have been the SMART thing to do.

But no one ever claimed that these people, like Leave-it or Stuart or Boldt, were anything LIKE "smart."

So, I was wondering what Marc Boldt might have had to say on his campaign web site...

(Full disclosure: Marc Boldt is my brother-in-law and I was his Legislative Assistant for almost 6 years.)

Interestingly enough, he hasn't updated it yet, so he's still running for 2008.

Not surprisingly, his fellow democrats endorsed him... and in 2006, that's the year HE endorsed democrat STUART against fellow Republican, 3 year room mate and desk mate in the House of Representatives, Tom Mielke...

Turn about being Fair Play, Marc endorsed STUART in his last election in 2010:

But most interesting of all?

This tidbit:

For the record.... what he "believed" ultimately bore no resemblence to the reality.

Marc Boldt has increased... and supported the increase of taxes and fees every year since his last re-election.  Weird how soon he blew off that promise, and how meaningless his words have become... isn't it?

Here's another:

Really?

I look forward to his efforts to explain specifically what he, personally, has EVER done to stop loot rail from coming over here.

In fact, anyone reading this knows damned well that Boldt has done everything HE can, just like the other democrats, TO bring loot rail over here.

Looks like he's much closer to being a Tim Leavitt than I thought.

And the heading over this crap?

"Marc Boldt Standing Strong on the Issues."

Really?  Seriously?

On these things... it doesn't look like he's standing at all.

Unsolicited product testimonial: Summit Racing

Some readers may know that I'm into drag racing. I have an 85 Camaro that is race only: I've only been able to put it down the track around 10 times, but I did click off a 12.72 @ 109 in the 1/4 last year.



This year, as budget conscious (tight) as I am, I'm going to go faster for cheap. (Usually, when the question is asked, "how fast do want to go," the answer is "how much do you want to spend?")

This car has an automatic. Car with automatics usually need special torque converters to go faster.

You can spend a LOT of money on torque converters... $1000 plus is not uncommon.

Well, I'm not going there. This is a hobby... not an obsession, so I spent $329 on a Hughes GM-30 with a 3000-stall rate.

Well, Summit includes shipping on many purchases... so the included shipping, ground transport, was something I expected to have to wait 7 to 10 days delivery time to see.

Slightly less then 40 hours later, that TC was on my doorstep, having come out of Summit's Sparks, NV warehouse... and that sucker looks like it can withstand nuclear war.

But that's not the point of this, really, although kudos to Summit for the price and the quality of the unit in question.

The point is that yesterday, I ordered a polyurethane transmission mount... particularly since I couldn't find one around here. (Trans mounts, like engine mounts, are usually rubber, and not really built to

withstand full race applications. Poly mounts are, but there's much less "give" so the smoothness factor is reduced.) And when I checked delivery today, and saw that the mount will be coming out of Summit's EASTERN warehouse, I again anticipated a much longer wait.

Imagine my surprise when I read:

Scheduled Delivery: Thursday, 04/19/2012, By End of Day

While it's likely not going to be back together this weekend (The car is in the air on my four-poster lift with the transmission hanging in the air... not the easiest job in the world) I can realistically aim for next week end at Portland International.

When companies "deliver" good customer service and products, it's a good idea for ALL of us to pass the word around.

Just sayin'.

Tough day for McKenna.

Actually, he's not fit to carry Walker's luggage. 

Just one of the reasons I can't vote for Rob McKenna is spelled out here:

Politics

Rob McKenna's 'I Am Not Scott Walker' Tape Leaked By Dems to Embarrass GOP (Video)

By Rick Anderson Wed., Apr. 18 2012 at 7:30 AM

Comments (3)

Categories: Politics

The most-read story on Politico this morning is headlined GOP Gov. Candidate: 'I'm not Scott Walker.' That would be Rob McKenna, hoping to become Washington's first Republican governor in three decades, telling a group of union carpenters that he's no Scott Walker, Wisconsin's anti-union GOP governor who is hoping not to be recalled in June. McKenna's taped disavowal of his fellow conservative was leaked to the D.C. website by Dems hoping to embarrass both Walker and McKenna.

Dems' ad

"We need to have a good strong relationship between labor and management in this state," McKenna said at the April 11 campaign talk, according to an audio tape that was secretly recorded, Politico says. "Now unfortunately because of a couple of governors, particularly Scott Walker - everyone thinks that someone who's going to be a Republican governor, they're going to be Scott Walker. I'm not Scott Walker. This is not Wisconsin. This is Washington state."

The tape went over big with some of Walker's Democratic detractors in Wisconsin, happy to hear a Republican shying away from the embattled first-term governor. The tape was also a hit with lefties Rachel Maddow (below) and Ed Schultz on MSNBC. Washington state Dems pounced, of course, seeing it in another light: McKenna really is Scott Walker.

More:

The problem, of course, is that Rob McKenna, who NEEDS to be Scott Walker, lacks the testicular fortitude to do what has to be done.

We've already seen the impacts of Walker's efforts in Wisconsin; compared to Washington, Wisconsin is Utopia.

But McKenna, who early on referred to Walker as "terrorizing" unions equates obviously needed reforms with terror, clearly either doesn't know the meaning of the word or he intends to not even pay lip-service to getting rid of the collective bargaining that rapes us all on a financial basis every day in this state... ignoring Walker's example of what MUST be done... all in the name of his own political expediency.

Of course, McKenna... a Harvard-trained lawyer, was quoted as saying: “Collective bargaining is a right. It’s not the problem."  My response then, as now?

Collective bargaining, or "collective extortion" as the taxpayers call it, is, of course, NOT a "right."

Public employee unions are not a right, so, of course, anything connected to those unions is not a "right."

Clearly, McKenna will sell us all out to get elected. Public employee unions and their democrat puppets have buried us in debt, with unfunded retirements, pay and benefit increases in the midst of a horrific recession, law suits to keep screwing us, and a failure to even pay a fair amount for health care premiums. Our income goes down, and our taxes go up. And Rob seems OK with that.

To that I add, this is a system abused at the negotiating table every time, as unions "negotiate" with those they've paid off or intimidated, either directly through campaign contributions or indirectly using their typical threats and intimidation to get what they want.

I don't blame the dems for using this as ammunition against Walker.  They'd be fools not to.

But I damned sure DO blame McKenna for providing them with their bullets.

Don't believe the Columbian: Probst IS going to run against Benton.

There was one other individual under consideration, but his recent destruction at the polls made him a distant second.

Recruited to be the next sacrifice to Sen. Don Benton, Rep. Tim Probst has made the decision and will be running.

Why he's gaming the Columbian is anyone's guess, althought it couldn't happen to a nicer group.

And remember: you heard it here first.... and man, does the rag hate to see that.

Breaking hard: Probst to run against Benton.

More to come.

Why would a clown like Campbell announce for commissioner? Is he looking for an acting gig as a POLITICAL zombie?

Yeah.  I said clown.  Pat Campbell was humiliated just last August when over 2/3rds of the city of Vancouver rejected his arrogance and ignorance and tossed his ass out of office... in the PRIMARY... a total embarrassment.

This guy, who has been a total lackey for the bridger's/looters couldn't even survive a 3-way primary in Vancouver, and he thinks anyone would elect him to dog-catcher across Clark County?

Ever since the days over a decade ago, when Campbell's monumental arrogance and partisanship drove him to run AGAINST Boldt, he's been a political joke.

For Campbell to say that he "...he’s a fan of Boldt’s ability to compromise in his swing position on the three-member county board," is the HEIGHT of hypocrisy, since both Boldt's, and now, apparently, Campbell's, view of "compromise" is usually to do whatever the democrat wants while ignoring Mielke as if he isn't even there.

Think of Campbell as slightly to the right of Jim Moeller, meaning there is a serious reason he was kicked out.

And this garbage he's spewing about Mielke?

Well, that may very well be the reason he's engaging in this jihad... though rather stupidly.

Does he believe HIS bizarre support of Boldt, a guy he ran against is likely to INCREASE support for Boldt by conservatives?  On the contrary... it's yet ANOTHER endorsement of Boldt by democrats, showing, once again, that the GOP's actions in busting Boldt's chops was dead on target.

Clearly Campbell, or whoever is running him, has but one purpose: to be the equivalent of a political suicide bomber.  His "service" on the Taliban city council of Vancouver has trained him well for that role.

And that's fine, because, since Campbell knows he can't win, it won't take all that long to ferret this guy out and destroy him again... and the splatter will do far more damage to Boldt then it does to Madore.

More idiocy from Herrera: Clark County Residents Support Light Rail Vote.

So, Jaime has figured out (as if she didn't know... hell, my Cavalier Spaniel knew) that we want a vote on loot rail.

We WANT a vote on ALL of this garbage... NOT just light rail... so did Herrera have to waste $31,000 of our taxpayer dollars for a campaign piece masquerading as a "mail survey" to figure that out?

If Herrera had a clue, she could make all funding for this project conditional on a county-wide vote.

No vote?

No funds.

So far, her half-hearted, amateurish efforts have accomplished absolutely nothing except to prove that her efforts are, well, half-hearted and amateurish.

One question: If Murray were to make this conditional, do you think SHE couldn't get it done?

Of course she could.

And now that Herrera finally "knows" what she already knew... 

What is she going to DO about it?

My guess?

Absolutely nothing.

Cross posted at Jaime Herrera Watch.

The idiocy of estate taxes as illustrated by the lottery.

Recently, we had something of a record lottery... $640 million or so.

While three different tickets won, for purposes of this exercise, I'll use a single winner for all of it as the example.

Congrats!  You just won $640 million dollars!

The people of this country, as generous as we are, spent an estimated $1.5 BILLION to win that amount.  The various taxing agencies made $860 million or so at the jump.

For the winner, if you take the lump sum (And I believe it would be insane NOT to take the lump sum), that $640 million was reduced to about $347 million after the fed and the states feel compelled to take another $293 million in taxes and you figure in the "lump sum v. annuity" penalty.

With me so far?  That's $1.153 billion in taxes this ticket has already generated.

So, of the money this ticket has generated, 77% or so of that $1.5 billion figure has already gone into taxes... not including state income taxes, if your state has any.

So, let's assume the fine folks in Olympia (and, apparently, in this state, if you get $100M plus, you've got to pick it up in Oly) hand you a check, you're walking out the door, and you drop dead.

Hey.  It happens.

Guess what?  State and Federal ESTATE taxes kick in, and you lose AT LEAST ANOTHER $173.5 MILLION!  That's right... State and federal taxes will have taken $1.326 billion out of the total taken in for this ticket... or, taxes up to 88%+.

So, this ticket... this one piece of paper that has already generated state and federal taxes will not confiscate ANOTHER $173.5 million of money the state and federal governments have ALREADY TAXED, leaving you (actually, you heirs) with, out of the $1.5 billion spent on this ticket and the $640 million you "won," $173.5 million.

And as long as that figure stays over what, 4 or 5 million?  Any time anyone with that kind of cash dies, the government gets around half!

Not that I'm going to win this kind of cash, you understand, or much of any kind of cash, really, but I prefer the English system where, as I understand it, lottery winnings are tax free, because the PURCHASE of each ticket is taxed... so government makes their money up front.

The idea that our government can tax the same dollar repeatedly is absurd on it's face.  Is it any wonder so many people work so hard to move their money off shore?

Imagine how much better off we'd be if the government tax system approached equality and fairness... and, by the way?

Taxing the rich, who do not use most taxpayer services, more then we tax the poor, who use them the most... or not taxing the poor ANYTHING, which gives them no skin in the game and just strengthens the entitlement aspect of our society... is NOT fair, no matter how much the poor want the government to GIVE them more of OUR money.  (And no, I am not, and am not likely to become, "rich" or have an estate that the taxers will notice when I leave this mortal coil, so to speak.)

Just sayin.