Well, we're going to find out today how much the GOP Senate screwed us on the McCleary Scam.

As regular readers know, we are going to be ripped off at levels that are, up until today, simple unheard of as the GOP Senate screws us by trucking in cash to the WEA trough in their effort to buy off teachers and the absolutely unnecessary hoop the 9 robed dwarves of the state Supreme Court.

Make no mistake: the Court has zero power over the Legislature.  None.

Leftists want us to THINK that they do, but a quick read of the state constitution tends to confirm otherwise.

What the Senate SHOULD have done is go home.

Instead, they ceded their power... their LEGISLATIVE power... to the nine Puget Sound leftists infesting government who have neither the right... nor the ability... to enforce ANY legislative edict of any kind on anyone.

Until now.

Now?

There's no end to what these people can do.

Hell, after today, there isn't even a NEED for a Legislature.

Just let the Supreme Court make all the laws.

Among other ways we got screwed, according to the Daily Democrat:

The outline of the education plan provided Thursday sets a minimum starting salary for teachers at $40,000, with adjustment for inflation and regional differences. Under the plan, the average minimum salary for instructional staff will be $64,000, and adding in regionalization, it will range from $66,194 to $82,081. School districts can pay a salary over the maximum of $90,000 by up to 10 percent for educational staff associates or teachers who teach science, technology, engineering, math or in bilingual or special education programs. 

Also under the measure:

• There’s a mandatory 10 percent increase after 5 years of employment.

• Starting in 2020-21, the minimum state allocations for salaries must be adjusted annually for inflation.

• Starting with the 2023 session, and every six years after that, the Legislature must review compensation to make sure they are adequate based on the market and economic differences between school districts.

Anything in there about teacher accountability or outcomes?

Nope.

So the leftist unions get their palms greased... the teachers will make hundreds of millions out of this scam with absolutely no increase or requirement for standards... no rewards for excellent teachers... no punishment for poor.

We are going to waste additional billions on a rotten education plant because the GOP controlled senate DID NOT DO THEIR JOB to protect us... or the education of our children.

Money doesn't cure education ills.  If it did, Baltimore schools, who spend $18,000 per student to pump out mostly semi-literate cretins, would, instead, be pumping out geniuses.

The usual RINOs will vote for this bill, which, of course, we are not allowed to look at.

How... democrat of them.

And those who DO vote for this should be booted out on their butts, immediately.

First by their party (as if they had the guts) and then by the voters.

But this will just be the biggest betrayal... since the last one.  And the one before that.  And the one before that.

And anyone believing that the Court won't do this again... on another issue... say, a state income tax?

Well, they're delusional.  Since they know they can screw the Legislative process thanks to the GOP Senate caving to the court, what's to stop them?

Who do we appeal to when the thought circling the heads of the Court grows from a buzz to a full-blown roar?

I lost my humans last night.

My name is OliPants

I'm a 7-year-old King Charles Cavalier Spaniel.

I lost my humans last night at around 10:45.

I fought so hard... for so long.

To a greater or lesser extent, all us Cavaliers have heart problems.  Our heart issues are genetic and a result of massive inbreeding.

I had been in congestive heart failure for two years and I have been on 4 medications that had to be given to me in different amounts 4 times a day.

My heart expanded when one of my valves began to fail.  Fluid began to back up in my lungs... I was breathing as much as 70 times a minute... for hours. Yesterday morning, I was in pretty bad shape, so my dad human took me to the emergency room.

They tried everything.  I was so tired... and so confused... what's happening to me?  Why are they hurting me with those needles?  Where are my humans?  Have they abandoned me?

I wish they were here.  I wish they could hold me.

They can't tell me what's going on because I've been deaf for several years.  When I could hear, they'd say things like "he's as dumb as a box of rocks."

And they'd also day "he's the best dog ever, THE most loving animal they have ever seen!"

I wish I could hear them tell me I'm a "gooboyyyy" like they did when I COULD hear them.

I wish I could go home and play with my buddies... Daisy and Minnie.

I am so tired.  It's so hard to breathe.

What is happening to me?  I used to be so strong.  I could chase the ball for hours and run and play and bark.... man, could I bark.

It's been hours in this oxygen cage.  They've stopped giving me needles... All of that and none of it made any difference.

I want to go home.  I want to play with the laser again. I LOVED playing with the laser.  Daisy and I could do THAT for hours, too.

Was it only 5 days ago that we played with it last?

My dad human had slowed that down quite a bit over the months... so it isn't like it was... I'd hang out in his office, usually sleeping... hoping that he'd play... it got to just a few minutes a day, but I loved that... and I want to go home.

Hey... what's this?  ALL of my humans are here!

They DIDN'T abandon me!  They LOVE me!

The doctor human is talking to them... they don't look happy.

We're going into a new room... a different room.  It looks like a living room.  My dad human is holding me now... and tears are rolling out of his eyes... why is he crying?

They keep that oxygen thing close to my nose.

I really like it when my humans hug me... but I have to get down and walk around a little bit. My dad human and his son-in-law human take me outside... good thing, too.  I do what dogs do out there.  It feels so good to be outside.  I'm breathing so fast.

It's getting hard for me to stand, now.  My dad human picks me up and carries me back inside.

He sets me back down in the room.  The doctor human comes back in and my humans talk with her. The tears are falling more freely now... why are they sad?

They all pet me.... and I'm so sleepy.  That last shot must have been to make me sleepy.

I walk over to underneath a rocking chair, just like at home.  I lie down.  My eyelids are so heavy. The humans talk some more. Two of my humans have to leave so now it's just me and mom human and dad human.

As I relax, my dad human gets down on the floor next to me and I feel him petting me.  I go to sleep.

I wake up a moment later as my dad human picks me up and puts me in his lap, like he's done hundreds and hundreds of times before.  The doctor human comes in....  Tears flow freely from my humans now.  Mom human is talking to me.  I can't hear her, but I know what she's saying as her soothing hands pet me.

"Everybody loves Oli... he's a gooboyyyy."

It feels so good to be in dad human's lap again.  I feel his hand holding my chest.

I go back to sleep. 

RainbowBridge.com

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
           
When a doggy leaves his human family, he goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the dogs who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The dogs are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss their human family, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown... 

George G. Vest: US Senator from Missouri

Gentlemen of the jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. 

The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.  

Gentlemen of the jury: A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. 

When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. 

If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death. 

It seems the LDD was so abysmal that Gellatly couldn't even GIVE tickets away.

I've been contacted by folks who got late calls from the man-child running the GOP show.

The upshot is that there were so many tickets left over that Gellatly, personally, called people to GIVE away entire tables and seats... and in one instance at least, a major sponsor of GOP events that clown-boy had refused to comp, told Davey to get stuffed, as did many others.  There were, I'm given to understand, something in the area of 50 tickets that he had to eat.

Having heard this from multiple sources since the event, and having known from the get go that this idiocy was going to be a flop, when I get multiple people telling me this, it's hard to ignore.

On May 6 this year, I posted the opinion below. I had no idea that it was as close to being terrible as it actually turned out.

The "Tomi Effect."  CCGOP has to discount LDD tickets 

Odd, isn't it?  The LDD is over 6 weeks away, and the local GOP has already been forced to discount their massively overpriced Lincoln Day Dinner tickets. 

Can't imagine why that might be, or the reaction of those who paid the full price.  They can't be happy.



$120 per ticket was an inexcusable price to begin with. 

But I guess it ain't $120 now... 

Is it?

Apparently, in many instances, FREE wasn't even a low enough price.

How weird is this: the democratian tells us that "Oregon Toll Plan Bad Idea," but they were all ABOUT screwing Clark County commuters for $8 a day...

Bizarre, isn't it?

When the rag WANTS our commuting public to be tolled $2000 per year or so to begin with to pay for a bridge replacement that we don't need, don't want, and can't afford to get loot rail in here, why, they are all OVER that.

So... why is it such a bad idea for Oregon to do... what this very same newspaper has wanted to do for well over a decade... and implement tolls?

Don't misunderstand me, I oppose tolls ANYWHERE.  That's what we're paying humongous gas taxes both here and soon in Oregon.

But how can the "champion of tolls" when it's for the bridge suddenly change their minds when it isn't?

Here's the reality... the reality the rag has known as long as they've been carrying Portland's water on the loot rail scam:

Oregon has NEVER given a rip about us.  And except for obvious moral reasons, why should they?

Clark County is Oregon's welfare source.  With horrific taxes as it is, imagine how much higher they'd be south of the Columbia River if Clark County didn't exist to pump 100's of millions of our dollars into their pathetic, quasi-socialist state.

They take the money of those working there but living here and those who make that decision to commute will now utilize their system with full disclosure ahead of time... and many (particularly those without kids) will be more likely to move back to Sodom on the Willamette... if they can find a way to pay for the ungodly high rents/real estate prices.

And except for the fact that the daily democrat, which will NOT have to commute to do business, knows that paying an already in-place toll in Oregon will galvanize even more people to oppose their bridge scam with the tolls THAT will bring in addition to the tolls Oregon wants now, the reality is they could care less about tolls.

The added irony of the democratian's snivel fest is that they laud the Washington State Legislature for jacking up the biggest gas tax and tab fee increases in our history... without asking us, of course.... but clearly, the Oregon legislature fears their constituency while the Washington Legislature doesn't even care that some of them lie to get elected... and hang a $700 Million bill around our necks... which, oddly enough, the rag failed to mention.

The rag sees the Oregon toll plan as a further obstruction to their wet dream of a loot rail bridge that will increase our already horrific Oregon tax serfdom even further... while doing nothing to address congestion, freight mobility or safety... all while piling on to the already over-burdened Oregon taxpaying commuter.

Otherwise?

They could care less.

The Lincoln Day Dinner (Or whatever they call it this year) after action report.

I originally posted this May 5th.

Obviously the LDD hasn't taken place yet, but we already know what is going to be said by those still going:

"It was, without a doubt, the BEST LINCOLN DAY DINNER EVER!!!!!"

Well, I won't know that for sure because I'm not going.  And I'm likely never going

But to buy the ticket is to express approval for what has happened here and Tomi Cleavage has said and is going to say... as if the wisdom drops off of her like pearls cast before swine.

The reality here is this: no matter what happens, the Davey will tell us, repeatedly, that no LDD on earth has ever been better.  He'll give us some version of "Tomi whatsherface is better than Bill Buckley ever COULD have been!  She's the new face of ___________.  She's a brilliant political philosopher and theorist!  She should run for president! (If she ever gets old enough) and she got a standing ovation that lasted for an hour!"

Because what else can they say?

"We spent 15 large on THAT?  It was terrible.  She spent her spiel trying to defend herself from the embarrassment she has become.  She was taken out of context.  She meant what she said, of course, but not the way we took it.  And the rubber chicken menu sucked."

Not likely.

But that is what the Chair of the local party decided to do.

And whoa be unto anyone who disagrees.

I wrote that Tomi Lahren polluting the LDD was "Reason enough not to go."

That was all I wrote.

That one line.

And when the Chair of this "Big Tent" organization weighed in?  (use your browser to increase the size of this to make it easier to read.)

Playground histrionics at its finest on his part.

Because, I've got to say I am NOT the only one that shares this particular view concerning Tomi Girl.

But all of us who do are belittled, patronized, trashed, and insulted by the whiner-in-chief.

OK.   That's certainly Davey's privilege.  Just like it's mine to let all of you, including those who may absolutely agree with him, that this is not leadership.  This is ego on David's part.

It is becoming apparent that the current party hierarchy, which is sanctioning the betrayal of so many electeds in office around here today through their silence and inaction is as far out of touch as those engaging in the betrayal.  And they care just as much as those same office holders.

Not at all.

I'm sure that over the remainder of his tenure, we'll see many more tone deaf decisions that alienate many more of us who used to be bedrock conservative Republicans... but are now just conservatives.

What an interesting time it's going to be!

And, for those of you going to this kabuki theater... have fun!

Memo to Gellatly: my "obsession" isn't with Rivers...

... my obsession is with getting rid of liars who claim to be in the GOP.

As expected, the cowardly lion running the local GOP has no position and will take no action on the matter of an allegedly "Republican" state senator with a history of lying to her constituents to get elected; now being bought outright by a democrat campaign/consulting firm with a history of running leftist campaigns including electing candidates and tax increases, along with a history of "difficulties" when it comes to following campaign laws.

When asked about it directly, Gellatly responded thus:

KJ Hinton Swell. By the way, what are you going to do about Rivers?

David Robert Gellatly I will be boating on the River all summer! Love this weather ;)

Now, if this moron wasn't the Party chair, that kind of gutless, cutesy response might have been appropriate.

But he is the party chair, to our everlasting shame.

That a sitting state senator allegedly of one party is hired by a campaign firm of the opposition party... while negotiating with that same opposition party over billions of dollars of our money that she will cheerfully turn over to the leftist WEA as a result; well, that smacks of a conflict of interest so obvious that clueless idiot like Gellatly should even be able to see it.

The conversation continues:

KJ Hinton David Robert Gellatly So, nothing. It would have been easier to just admit that you don't give a damn that an allegedly Republican state senator with a history of betraying her district has been hired by a leftist campaign consultant to get other leftists elected.

Next time, a simple answer addressing the question would be helpful. However, I understand the lack of testicular fortitude that resulted in the answer you provided.

David Robert Gellatly KJ Hinton, I just simply don't ever plan on contributing to your obsession with Senator Rivers. If conversations need to be had, it would not be with someone who has obsessed for years over that person, writing about them daily...

KJ Hinton I appreciate the fact that you again fail to address the issues, instead resorting to personal attacks.

I also get that you simply don't care... Or, in the alternative, you fear Gas Tax too much to act on her political betrayals.

Clearly, truth is meaningless to you. And if you actually understood your job, the idea of blowing this off would be anathema to you.

It would be one thing if what I wrote wasn't true. But everyone reading this knows that it is.

David Robert Gellatly Sorry if it's hard for you to understand, here... I am blowing off talking to YOU about anything to do with Senator Rivers, ever. Because of your past working relationship and obsession ever since. I am not attacking you, but rather refering[sic]to the facts that most, including yourself, are well aware of.

Anything else you'd like to discuss, I'd be happy to! Such as the great Soft Game we had, the packed house for tomorrow's LDD, the 45th LD, winning the Port...

Use of the word "obsession" in this context IS, of course, an "attack on me."  For Davey to claim otherwise is to show his ignorance of the language, or perhaps his self-delusion, or the reality that he really DOESN'T think the use of that kind of terminology is an attack.  It's the kind of arrogance that he's known for.

My "working relationship" with Rivers is irrelevant.  We weren't married and I am her constituent.

My "obsession," if you can call it that, is with holding politicians generally and those allegedly representing ME accountable for when they lie to get elected... and lie while they ARE elected.

It extends to the liar we have as the county clerk, the liar we have as the county auditor, the liar we had as president, the liars behind initiatives, the liars trying to once again rape us over the CRC and any OTHER liar involved in politics who can do us harm.

We are going to lose in the 45th.  We are going to lose the Port Commissioner seat to yet another Steyer Stooge.  End of discussion.

The softball game was a worthless travesty of fake civility and unification.  No matter how many times Gellatly babbles otherwise, that makes as much sense as his infatuation with Tomi Cleavage saying she's pro-life when her own words say otherwise.  The hatred still radiates from the left now as it has for years and will continue to do for years.

If the county GOP Chair has a position on Rivers' now-paid-for-betrayal of the Republican party and her constituents, he ought to put it out there.  And if he doesn't, he's an incompetent buffoon who should resign.

Because nothing he cited as reason to fail to give an indication of where he's at on this matter.  Would he, for example, respond to anyone else NOT formerly connected to Rivers?

Apparently, since the only reasons he cites are those... which are utterly worthless.

Instead of playing childish games, Dave, show some guts, take a damned position, and do your job.

After all, what's the worst that could happen if the Wizard pins the "Courage" medal on your chest?

Think Illinois is a mess? What about us, and why hasn't the legislature done anything about this?

Democrats and debt.  They go hand in hand as the left buys their constituency to, well, keep them in their constituency on the premise that part of the leftist thuggery will continue to vote democrat because they think they're getting paid to do so.

That sums up the IMPOSSIBLY high leftist bribery of Illinois public employee unfunded pensions, which are a paltry $251 BILLION underfunded, according to Moody's Investor Service.  And that's in addition to the several BILLION dollar shortfall (As much as $29 Billion by 2019) in their current operating budget.

Yes, The Land of Lincoln has become a state version of the Titanic... and that "bump" they're feeling has ripped out the fiscal side of the state.

They're listing to port (left) and there is no end in sight.  It is, in fact, beyond hopeless.

Now OUR little state has it's own version of this.  The left has been using our money to buy votes since the hallmark of the Welfare State's inception.

The obviously get the welfare vote, the union vote and, of course, the illegal alien vote.

They get those votes because they pay for them, fair and square.  With our money.

Just like Illinois.  Just like a great many other states.

Lie ours.

Washington State, as of 2013, has a pension liability of $31 billion.

But that sort of thing can't be happening HERE, can it?  SURELY the GOP-controlled (For the past several years) would grab the bull by the horns and actually addressed this issue...

...right?

Of course not.

A leftist reaction in the Ossoff loss in the GA06.

I freely admit to a "lack of civility."

Political opponents have frequently pointed to my, admittedly, occasionally "uncivil" approach at writing.  Party establishment types here locally have used it as a reason to ignore what I write, since, got forbid, the CONTENT of my words and the SUBSTANCE of those words isn't worth considering.

Well, here's a clue.

There are few around here with more political experience than I.  I'm not bragging about it, I'm merely stating a fact.

There are fewer still as immersed in this sewer than I.

My lack of civility is born out of frustration.  It's born out of being lied to, defrauded, berated and attacked when I've made a stand for holding candidates and electeds accountable not for what they say... but for what they actually do once they've been elected.

There's a big push for civility by the Establishment.  Never mind the outcome of the presidential election, which violated most rules of civility... at least as the Establishment practices it.

They long for the days of the Gipper and Speaker Tip O'Neill.

As for me, *I* long for the days where democrats were LIKE that, as opposed to what they are now.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a battle of ideas and messaging.  Democrats are losing because they remain fixated on socialism in a time where the leading face of socialism is, well, Venezuela.  They demand bigger and more expensive government as they seek income redistribution that would make Lenin blush.

Ideas presented under the veneer of "civility" are shouted down.  They are attacked and trashed.  Proven liars like Rivers are now going to be PAID to try and get leftist candidates elected and leftist initiatives passed... or, as a spokesman for serial philanderer Ron Dotzauer put it,

According to Jeff Reading, the company’s vice president for communications, Strategies 360 also has hired state Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, on a contract basis, to help the company identify new projects and opportunities in the area.

And new leftist candidates to help.

How does one remain "civil" in the face of that obvious corruption?

So, no.  I ultimately plead guilty to having tossed "civility" out the window.  The same way Lefty Lou Brancaccio trashed it years ago.  The same way John Boy Laird "cockroached" it. 

After all, isn't one motivated to write like a "professional?

So, I do.  And to the reader who complains about HOW I write in an effort to attack WHAT I write, you all can feel free to just pass me by... although for the clowns that keep complaining that I am, in ANY way, PAID to do this... they can feel free to ignore me regardless.

That said, here's a leftist who gets it.  His problem is that while he gets it, that doesn't solve the basic incompetence of leftist messaging and leftists, well, shooting people who disagree with them.

No messaging in the world can get them past that sort of thing.

4. Civility Will Never Work! Over at the The Washington Post, Paul Kane theorizes that Ossoff was too polite. “The most passionate Democratic activists have wanted a full-frontal assault on Trump and congressional Republicans, angrily denouncing party leaders for not aggressively supporting more progressive candidates,” writes Kane. “So Ossoff chose the high priest route instead of the fierce warrior. It was civil disobedience rather than civil unrest. And he still lost, by an even wider margin than the almost forgotten Parnell.” Yes, Democrats need to get more aggressive, speak more loudly, be ruder and more obnoxious. That’s the ticket! Democrats have been so befuddled by Trump that they now believe that Trump won by being vulgar, not because Hillary was an awful candidate. Never mind that Karen Handel is the most polite, milquetoast Republican candidate in recent memory and just shellacked Ossoff.

So, I take the warrior route.  And those who don't like it can feel free to block me, ignore me, or go do their gardening.

After all, I write the least read, most talked about blog around.  

Leave it to the fringe-left nutjobs at the democratian to allow the Seattle City Council to tell them what to do... when it suits them.

Stupid is as stupid does and that's the only explanation for the idiocy of the rag's latest screed against the oil terminal.

The idea that because the uber-leftist Seattle City Council has ANY input on the oil terminal isn't a reason to oppose that facility; it is, instead, a reason to SUPPORT it.

The communists on the Seattle City Council should have zero impact on anything outside the boundaries of the city of my birth.  That our local democrat newsletter would cite ANYTHING they've done, said or concluded as a reason to do... or not do... ANYTHING merely goes to show how closely the leftist nutbergers of the democratian are aligned with their big city brethren.

That Seattle opposes this project and the rag uses that as a justification to oppose it obviously means that WE should simply become a rubber stamp and super-impose EVERYTHING Seattle des (or wants to do) down here... because what THEY do means SO VERY MUCH to us down here.

Right?

So now, we should implement a county-wide income tax.  You know, to mirror that moronic effort of the Seattle City Council?  And let's not forget the Seattle City Councils idiotic $25 per gun/5 cent per round ammo tax that's been such an abysmal failure.

And we, too, should approve a $54 billion loot rail plan, because, well, the people of King County voted for it.  And let's not forget the moronic soda pop per-ounce tax those idiots just saddled the people with... and in fact, let's set up needle exchanges and high rise apartments for the homeless and sharia-compliant banking for the muslim population...

Clearly, the leftists at therag see Seattle's government actions as the Way, the Truth and the Light.  In fact, let's just change our name to "Seattle South."

Remember when the scum at the Columbian told us that the waterfront development was going to stop if the oil terminal passed?  How does THAT look?  When was the last time we heard about THAT? Why doesn't the rag beat that particular drum anymore?  Why didn't they bring THAT up in this editorial: you know, "if the terminal is built, the developer walks?"  Is there ANY lie these slime won't tell?

So, they start with a reason to SUPPORT the terminal, and then build on it with lie after lie after lie.

They ignore the reality (The oil tanker cars are going to come through here REGARDLESS of whether or not this terminal is built, so screams of "derailment!" and so forth are the typical sniveling from the rag that takes place whenever something opposing their agenda happens or is likely to happen) and then lie about what will happen if this thing is approved:

The oil terminal would invite environmental degradation through a vast increase in rail cars, the possibility of derailment, and emissions during the transfer process. It would present safety risks, as demonstrated by a spate of derailments that includes a tragedy in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people in 2013. And it likely would do little to enhance energy availability for local residents, with the oil being shipped out of the region and, possibly, to overseas markets.

The democratian itself is responsible for the worst local journalistic degradation imaginable.  A rag where character assassination, outright falsehood, issue exaggeration (like this one... and who can forget the CRC Scam they did their best to screw us with?) are the order of the day.

They have done and are doing the most damage possible to our community.

Yet, they continue to publish.

They whine about aesthetics, as if the Port should concern themselves more about how things look than how things are.

So, no, it's not terribly surprising that these morons would trot out what the Seattle City Council thinks about an issue that has zero impact on them, because, after all, they believe every leftist in the region should dance to their tunes.

The problem here is that no one living here cares what Seattle says, what they think, or what they do.  And the rag's reliance on the Seattle Babble tends to show how weak their position is real terms... that is, beyond the leftist desire to cut off our energy use while they, themselves, us the very  product they so despise.

The reality is that it's not likely the governor, who has difficulty stringing together a coherent thought on his own, will approve this project because, after all, he isn't worried about a job or a pay check or doing anything for our trade deficit.

But the babble of the democratian, full of all the bogus, panic-stricken "might" happens, exaggerations and their typical kowtowing to the leftist agenda, contains exactly zero compelling reasons NOT to approve this project... which should go forward as fast as possible.

Meanwhile, if you leftists see Seattle as some sort of neo-communist utopia, well, gather up your crap in your shopping cart and feel free to move on up there.

After all, you all hate oil... which is what you need to make gasoline... so you wouldn't want to drive up there when you can walk...

... would you?

I bet you didn't know the 18th District has TWO senators...

Yup... we're the only senate district in the state to have TWO senators.

Of course you already knew about democrat Senator Ann "Gas Tax" Rivers (D-Strategies 360) who scammed her way into the job during her 2012 election by lying about her position on gas taxes and tab fee increases that, when she betrayed us, resulted in the people of Clark County getting hung with a $700 million bill AND who is about to help screw us on the McCleary decision scam.

Sen. Rivers is Committee Chair of the Senate Health Committee.  So, when your health care is screwed up here in Washington State, you have her to thank in large part for that as well.

But did you know that we ALSO have ANOTHER Senator?

Of the K9 variety?  Or maybe in this case, the K3 variety?

Here's a picture of the OTHER 18th District Senator... Senator Maggie!

Sources tell me that Gas Tax is rarely without Senator Maggie.  Her committee chair office looks like Sen. Maggie just allows Sen. Rivers to hang around in it.

I'm reliably informed that Sen. Rivers' office smells like "dog," it's furnished in "dog" and it looks much like a dog food/dog toy/dog furniture warehouse.

And her poor legislative assistant is frequently tasked to bring the "dog," bizarrely known as a "comfort companion," to the Senate gallery while Gas Tax is on the floor, so Gas Tax can actually SEE Sen. Maggie.

That whole thing is just... weird.

Over the past two years, Rivers' behavior has indicated difficulty, apparently, with what we can call "mental acuity."

She has completely flipped from what she once was; a senator of the people to a senator of the special interests.

Give your word?  Pledge to oppose massive gas tax/tab fee or property tax increases?

 Screw that.  If a "business decision" comes along that makes her pledges into a lie?

Noooo problem.

She's sold us out on the gas tax/tab fee scam.  She wasted thousands of taxpayer dollars dropping that idiotic Sasquatch bill that had people laughing AT her and not WITH her; (What... you think these bills don't cost serious money in staff time and committee time?  Try thousands of taxpayer dollars... each) she voted to make it more expensive for citizens to get drivers licenses than it is for illegal aliens... who shouldn't get licenses for anything, anyway.  She's been promised her 30 pieces of silver by serial philanderer Ron Dotzauer and his democrat campaign firm... that hired the allegedly Republican Gas Tax Rivers WHILE she was involved in negotiating the GOP sellout of the McCleary decision.... that has cost the people of this state additional wasted billions.

No conflict of interest THERE, eh?  We're only talking billions of dollars getting raped from our wallets.

Wow.

It's a good thing the GOP controls the state senate.

If they didn't, well, we'd be in SERIOUS trouble.

I mean, more serious than we are now thanks to the fake Republicans running the senate.

As for Rivers...

...clearly, in addition to going to the democrats, she's gone to the dogs.

But at least we have two senators.  I wonder if Sen. Maggie is a democrat as well?

Leftists lose their shirts in the Georgia 06 US House seat.

Tens of millions of dollars wasted on a loser who never stood a chance.

Why?

Hatred.

The left and the Hollywood haters hate the President so much that they wasted 10's of millions of dollars supporting a nothing-burger candidate who... DIDN'T EVEN LIVE IN THE DISTRICT!

These ignorants thought they might... MIGHT... have a chance to defeat a Republican in a GOP-owned district.  And... they oddly believed that if they HAD won... that would have somehow damaged President Trump.

They threw everything they had at it and none of it stuck.

Why would they do that?

I mean, didn't any of them attend the Dem/Republican softball games around the country... that accomplished absolutely nothing?

No.

They wrongly believed that a win... ANY win... could then be used to beat the hell out of the GOP generally and the President specifically.

They were... and are... thinking with their hatred and not their political sense... which shows for them, all too often, they don't HAVE any political sense.

And that thinking isn't entirely their fault: after all, we've seen the effects of local hatred aimed at a politician... just look up David Madore.

But their hatred runs so strong that those financing this effort failed to remember perhaps THE main axiom of campaigns everywhere:

All politics are local.

Here in the WA03, we have a clueless, vacuous cardboard cutout of a congresswoman representing us; a congresswoman who has accomplished absolutely nothing, save for earning the enmity of the current White House.  Our cross river transportation issues not only remain unsolved, they remain absolutely unaddressed while the local RINO contingent of Rivers, Wilson, Harris and Vick flounder around looking like idiots accomplishing nothing to get this same issue addressed as they flip on the CRC Scam.

Herrera isn't getting re-elected for any other reason beside the fact that in this hard core GOP district would elect a brick if it had an "R" after its name.  And that truism is best illustrated by the fact that we have, in fact, done just that.

The reality is that until the democrats engage in a bit of introspection and begin to realize that their course has diverged so far from the course most Americans want to see for our country, they are going to continue to lose in greater numbers.

And as they continue to lose, the headline continues to blare:

POLITICS

Democrats just went 0-4. When will they win?

Jon Ossoff loses to Karen Handel in Georgia

By ERIC BRADNER , CNN

Posted: 1:26 AM, June 21, 2017Updated: 7:29 AM, June 21, 2017

• 0
• Join the conversation

Jon Ossoff loses Georgia House seat.

ATLANTA (CNN) - Democrats tried an inoffensive moderate message in Georgia. They ran a banjo-strumming populist in Montana. They called in the cavalry in South Carolina and tried to catch their foe sleeping through a long-shot in Kansas.

None of it worked.

____________

Until the left figures out that they've got it wrong... until they come to understand that becoming Venezuelan socialism light is not going to work...

They are going to continue to lose.

And as they lose more... their hatred will grow more.

And as their hatred grows... they become increasingly irrelevant.

I do political analysis for a living.  And yes, I was one of the few that actually concluded that President Trump would, in fact, become President Trump... in March of last year.

None of this is rocket science.  Sooner or later, the left is going to have understand that the solution to their political problems is not to swerve even farther left.  They are becoming increasingly bloodied AND bowed.

Repackaging rejected ideas will not change the outcomes.  Getting millions more illegals to vote might, but I believe that as time goes on, more and more efforts to require the obvious identification requirements to separate the wheat (citizens) from the chaff (non-citizens) is going to be the wave of the future.

The plan to bring illegals in to vote, which the last president alluded to in this interview:

Obviously failed... this time.

Even though the last thing the left cares about is election security, their posturing about Russia notwithstanding.

It wasn't that long ago that the GOP, having lost against a weakling like Obama, was running around like a chicken minus its head.

But I had long since determined that most of the GOP problem was not in policy: it was in the abysmal failure of GOTV: if your voters don't show up, you're not going to win.

The GOP demanded RINO introspection and wholesale changes in the messaging.  Well, they got it... just not in the way they expected.

The difference between the GOP then and the democrats now is obvious:  the dems increasingly leftist messaging may make them feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but sadly for them, they clearly don't understand that there are more than just democrats voting in these elections.

Their problems aren't logistical.  Their problems are what they stand for and who leads them.

Insanity has frequently been defined as doing the same thing over and over again.  How long until the left gets that and where do they go with it?

THAT aspect isn't my monkeys or my circus.  But as long as these people use hatred as their primary platform, they will increasingly find themselves on the outside looking in.

More on the horrors of Obamacare here in Washington.

Leftists, of course, love the rip off of the nightmare called Obamacare.

Well, guess what:  Because Congress has been sitting on their collective thumbs (Thanks, GOP!) It's going to get worse... much worse... here in Washington State.

Health-plan rates in Washington state’s individual market could go up an average of 22%

Originally published June 19, 2017 at 10:36 am

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, announcing proposed premium increases for individual health-care plans, called the numbers “upsetting” and partly blamed uncertainty over the future of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. (Ted S. Warren/AP)

Health-insurance rates in Washington’s individual market would increase an average of 22 percent based on filings under review by state officials. Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler blamed part of the increase on uncertainty about Obamacare’s future. 

By Bob Young

Seattle Times staff reporter

Health-insurance rates in Washington’s individual market would increase an average of 22 percent next year based on filings under review by state officials.

No insurers would be offering plans in the individual markets of Grays Harbor and Klickitat counties, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said Monday.

The increases are almost twice the 13.5 percent increase insurers proposed last year for 2017. Options would decrease as prices soar next year for the 300,000 Washingtonians who buy their health coverage in the marketplace for individuals.

This year 13 insurers offered 154 plans in the market and nine companies sold plans inside the state exchange created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare.

Next year 11 insurers would offer just 71 plans with just seven companies selling inside the exchange. About 62 percent of the Washingtonians enrolled through the exchange receive a subsidy to help pay their costs, according to Kreidler’s office.

“I know these numbers will be extremely upsetting to people who buy their own health insurance. They’re upsetting to me,” said Kreidler said in a statement. His staff will review the filings in coming months to make sure the increases are warranted.

In addition to the rising costs of prescription drugs and medical care, Kreidler said Republicans in Washington, D.C. are sowing instability in the health-insurance market. 

Kreidler is lying about the cause, of course.  As a democrat in a fringe-left state, he has no desire to commit political suicide by telling the truth: Obamacare has been an abysmal failure from its inception and it's been in a death spiral since it was first implemented.

"Uncertainty" is a outright crock of horse manure as the cause of these upcoming horrific increases, just like they've had nothing to do with every OTHER horrific increase that's taken place since the left got this insanity installed.

Costs, of course, are not based on "instability."  They're based on what things cost.

The lie of Obamacare is hurting us all.  Sadly, few if any democrats have the courage to tell it like it is... so they're reduced to the BS Kreidler laid out, which, instead of this nightmare being incapable of sustain itself under ANY circumstances, the left needs to do what they always do when their plans blow up in their collective face:  blame these horrific increases on the GOP.

If only Obama and the rest of the left hadn't been lying to our faces.  If only this rip off actually "saved" a family of four $2500 per year in premiums like that disgrace of a president lied to us about so much.  If only we could have kept both our doctors... and our plans.

If only.

I mean, why should anyone doubt the word of a leftist political hack like the insurance commissioner?  He'd never lie about this... would he?

The joke of "bi-partisan softball." It changes nothing.

Lately, there's been the bright, shiney political aspect of "bi-partisan softball."

RINOs take on their buddies on the left.  It's a game... an extension of the political game the leftist (allegedly) Republicans play with the democrat establishment, exactly like they did, for example, to get 39% Boldt elected.

These softball games changed nothing.  It changed nothing at the national level; it changed nothing at the local level.  Just for one example, the C3G2 hate group barely mentioned it.

This is the utter confusion of motion... with action.

"Motion" takes place when something happens that changes nothing.

"Action" takes place when something happens that makes a difference.

What is different today than last week?  The leftists don't unify.  They NEVER unify.

How long did their "unity" last, post 9/11?  Thirty seconds or so?

Those people in Alexandria are just as shot.  A hard core leftist did it.  Their hatred continues unabated.  The twitter universe can't unfire those rounds of hatred which a massive number of leftists fired.

Do not be fooled.  Do not be distracted.

The hatred of the left continues unabated today as much as it did when that Bernie supporter did his best to slaughter unarmed Members of Congress and their staffs on that softball field on the other side of the country.

No amount of softball will change that.

What COULD change it is for the leftist leadership to begin a year's long campaign to undo the damage cause by the moron who had the job of president for the last 8 years.

That leadership COULD demand that those engaging in this terroristic, riotous, speech silencing, assaultive behavior be given the maximum sentences if found guilty.  They COULD go after college campuses which allow free speech to be trampled.  They COULD CLOBBER those scum who claim that Congressman Scalise deserved to be shot, like those clowns in the media.

They COULD condemn this kind of activity whenever and wherever it happens.

They won't, of course.  They have no more of a problem with the blood of the right being spilled than they do with the Baltimore riots and the Mikey Brown riots in Ferguson.

No... they'll remain silent in the face of the killings, the shootings, the assaults of those who disagree with their perspective much like they remain silent about the slaughterhouse Chicago has become on the democrat's watch.

Because to do otherwise... to actually hold themselves accountable for this kind of an outcome is just... too... difficult when your politics are the politics of hate.

So, the news that Sen. Ann "Gas Tax" Rivers (D-Strategies 360) is now getting PAID to be a democrat. What has the local GOP done about it?

(NOTE:  for those looking for detail on this, read these posts of a week ago:

Gather 'round, 11th Commandment fans: how far does that go? And where's the suddenly silent Gellatly on THIS?

So, the Port blows a half million on a democrat campaign consultant, Ron Dotzauer, who then hires alleged "Republican" Ann "Gas Tax" Rivers. No conflict there, eh?  )

What has the GOP done about it?

Nothing.

Much like, given the inept leadership of their clueless chair, no one expected them to do anything.

I dunno... maybe those of us cursed with a turncoat Senator in arguably one of the most conservative districts in the state should feel special?

I mean, what other elected Republican is actually getting paid by a democrat campaign consulting firm?

Here's the thing: I get that the RINOs who want to run the local party don't care that Rivers is not only voting like a democrat... but she's going to get PAID by the democrats.

But this sort of thing isn't even subtle corruption.  It's the right-out-there, in-your-face variety.

Every day the party fails to react to Rivers becoming completely democrat in everything but name is another day that tends to show how utterly worthless and bereft of leadership they are.

Now is the time for them to man-up, act, and toss her butt out... while beginning the process of rounding up a candidate to primary her.  Time is available... but remember: Rivers is owned by rich special interests like the 13th Amendment is the 13th Suggestion.  It won't be easy... but with the right candidate, it can be done...

If Rivers has done everything but change parties in name only, then one has to wonder: how much more does it take?  And why isn't the party looking for an opponent?

I suppose once the chair implemented the Tomi Cleavage rule, that eliminated any limit... meaning there is no line in the sand a crook can cross to actually get expelled from the party.

After all, Boldt was tossed out on his behind merely because he had a democrat voting record... much like Rivers voting record over the past two years.

Add to that the fact that she is getting PAID by the democrats?

When is the party going to ACT?  When are they even going to ACKNOWLEDGE her corruption?

What's the hold up?

This isn't rocket science: any elected Republican who goes to work for a democrat campaign consultant is obviously not a Republican... regardless of what she may call herself.

And as stunning as this kind of arrogance actually is where a Republican was hired to defeat other Republican campaigns (face it, that isn't something you see every day) the lack of ANY reaction by the party to her perfidy is simply unbelievable.

But the unbelievable is what we've come to expect from the local chair.  And I am not surprised by any of this.

No blogging today: Father's Day and our monthly food bank work.

Not everyone will get it...