"You will never be the best version of yourself if you allow other people to convince you, that you can't be better because of your skin color, because of your sexual identity, because of the community you came from... you must resist those narratives at all costs if you truly want to be successful in America." - Charley Kirk
First, I'd shoot myself before I'd vote for anyone that Mussolini Mikey Briggs (Or Mr 36% as he is more popularly known in the 18th District) supported politically and second, here's the list of morons and fringe-left whack jobs stupidly endorsing this leftist nutjob:
BIANCA BENSON
MIKE BRIGGS
TERRY W. CONNER
LINDA A. GREEN
JENNIFER R. GREEN
STEVE FOSTER
ANN FOSTER
BETTY SUE MORRIS
JACKIE LANE
CRAIG LANE
LEE JENSEN
LOREN LEE
JASON RAYNE
ESTHER SCHRADER
JUDIE STANTON
MICHELE WOLLERT
RICH WOLLERT
DAVE SHEHORN
ELIZABETH CAMPBELL
MELISSA VALO
ROY VALO
MARK MAGGIORA
PATTI MAGGIORA
BOBBI J. OLSON
DAVID F. OLSON
DYLAN NORMINGTON
KELLY LOVE
NICK RUARK
BRIDGET MCLEMAN
JERRY JEFFREY
Add to that list, apparently, RINO Carolyn Crain!
The lies from his campaign are not unlike those of Mussolini's which is why Briggs, who doesn't even live in Chuckie's proposed district, so rabidly supports him and will, no doubt, wear out several sets of kneepads in his efforts to have Chuckie fail... about as badly as Brigg's himself failed.
Chuckies nonsensical tag line comes with hidden conditions:
Unite, Grow, Thrive only applies if you agree with Chuckie. Oppose his view, and he will hate you as much as he hates Madore... and Chuckie's bogus political opportunism notwithstanding (Actually, rather reminiscent of the slimeball Jon Russell's low life efforts in the 'Shoug...) like every other leftist, with Chuckie... it's his way... or the highway.
Bad enough that Paul has caved on illegal aliens... but now, we can add Obamacare to the RINO mix:
5) Embraced Obamacare. What better way for Republicans to
distinguish themselves from Democrats than by agreeing to eliminate the
special health care subsidy given to members of Congress by the Obama
administration? Under the law, members of Congress and their staffs
cannot get any subsidies to shield themselves from the cost of the
exchanges, yet Obama illegally wrote a rule granting them subsidies in
contravention to the statute. When Sen. Vitter, as Chairman of the
Small Business Committee, tried to subpoena the D.C. government in an
attempt to ascertain which members of Congress helped secure these
subsidies, he was rebuffed by
his own members on the committee. Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Deb Fischer
(R-NE), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Jim Risch (R-ID)
joined with Democrats to oppose the subpoena. They gave every excuse
under the sun, but it’s quite evident why they want to keep their
subsidies.
Have I mentioned how much I loathe the RINO scams? The, "we have to vote for these scum because they've got an 'R' after their name" crap the so-called "moderates" keep scamming us with?
During the run up to the last cycle, I postulated that it would make no real difference if the GOP took over control of the US Senate, much like it's made no real difference that the GOP took over the State Senate.
I was right.
Just this past 7 days, here are the top 7 RINO moments of the US Senate... a pattern of sickening betrayal of the American people generally and the grass root supporters particularly.
Posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, April 24, 2015, 10:27 AM
Top 7 Rino Moments of the Week
The Conservative Review released this list of the Top Seven RINO moments of the Week–Including this tidbit – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell personally whipped for Loretta Lynch.
This was one of those weeks when those who voted for Republicans last fall are left scratching their heads, wondering if they are reliving the closing paragraph of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and form pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” In this case, we would just swap out man and pig for elephant and donkey.
2) Fought for Amnesty. McConnell and company pressured conservatives to drop amendments to a human trafficking bill. The Vitter and Sessions amendments would have ended birthright citizenship and closed a loophole for illegal alien human traffickers respectively. Instead, McConnell allowed a politically-motivated vote on a Democrat amendment pushed by the sexual identity cartel on the left, which would have discriminated against social service groups with religious beliefs. 10 Republicans voted for this amendment.
3) Didn’t Stand Up for Religious Freedom. Senate GOP leadership and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) are refusing to take up resolutions to disapprove of a pair of anti-religious freedom bigotry bills passed by the local D.C. government. Republicans have the ability to nullify those laws – one, forcing private employers to cover abortion services and the other forcing private schools to host transgendered and homosexual events – with simple majorities in both houses. They only have until May 4 to do so, but they are willing to consider every liberal priority under the sun before the deadline except for these resolutions. Issues pertaining to life, family values, and religious liberty are not welcome in the GOP-controlled Senate.
4) Pulling the Plug on Disapproving of Abortion-Mandate Bill. House Republicans initially marked up the resolution of disapproval to countermand the abortion-mandate bill of the D.C. City Council. But yesterday, CR got word that leadership has no interest in bringing the bill to the floor. In fact, they might pressure the committee chairman not to report the resolution to the floor, thereby preventing rank-and-file members from calling it up on the floor as a privileged motion.
5) Embraced Obamacare. What better way for Republicans to distinguish themselves from Democrats than by agreeing to eliminate the special health care subsidy given to members of Congress by the Obama administration? Under the law, members of Congress and their staffs cannot get any subsidies to shield themselves from the cost of the exchanges, yet Obama illegally wrote a rule granting them subsidies in contravention to the statute. When Sen. Vitter, as Chairman of the Small Business Committee, tried to subpoena the D.C. government in an attempt to ascertain which members of Congress helped secure these subsidies, he was rebuffed by his own members on the committee. Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Jim Risch (R-ID) joined with Democrats to oppose the subpoena. They gave every excuse under the sun, but it’s quite evident why they want to keep their subsidies.
6) Sketchy Accounting. Remember that $141 billion health care bill that passed Congress a few weeks ago? The one that will blow a $500 billion hole in the budget of 20 years? Now that Republican House and Senate negotiators are attempting to reconcile their differences over the annual budget blueprint, they have a minor problem. How do they tell the public they passed a balanced budget if they just enacted a new program costing $141 billion during the budget window? Well, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) have the solution. They just added in spending offsets in the budget to make it balance – except that they declined to specify the origin of those cuts! Hey, it’s all accounting anyway.
When
you have a neo communist occupying the White House, the last thing that
should happen is that he or she be provided with another neo communist
as Attorney General.
Ten fake Republicans, led by
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, voted to install this fringe
left tool to the highest law enforcement post in the land.
Slavishly
devoted to furthering Obama's illegal and unconstitutional agenda,
which includes granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens… Who she
then claims should have the "right" to a job… the RINO scum in the U.S.
Senate have reinforced the idea the GOP control of any legislative body
ultimately makes no difference whatsoever from their fringe left
counterparts.
The scum who sold us out are the usual
suspects: McConnell, Ayotte, Hatch, Flake, Graham, Collins, Kirk,
Portman, Johnson, Cochran.
It's this kind of thing the
goes to the very idea that whichever party controls either the Senate or
the House, the only thing that you can be sure of is that they will
betray the American people once they get there.
I
indicated several days ago that the GOP in the Senate would sell us out.
And that's precisely what they've done here, once again rewarding the
empty suited,, anti-American racist bigot in the White House with
something he wants in return for nothing that we need.
This
is why I can never vote for a RINO. This is why I believe that certain
elected officials claiming affiliation with the Republican Party are
utterly worthless, self-aggrandizing egomaniacs who are only concerned
with the furtherance of their personal political glory… While they
remain in office.
In voting for this troll, the GOP
Senate may as well have voted to legalize all of the millions of illegal
aliens infesting this country, taking jobs away from citizens, taking
seats out of our schools and reducing the ability of those who were born
here and pay taxes here are all of their lives to even attend a college
or university… As we provide in fo-state tuition for illegal aliens
By
all means, let's invite these lawbreakers to come into this country, so
we can treat them 100 times better than we treat our own veteran
population, even the veteran population that has bled on the
battlefields that we've sent them to allegedly to defend something worth
defending.
Let's rack up trillions of dollars worth of
additional debt, because after all it's only money, it's only paper,
and nobody cares… Let's screw up our healthcare system so that people
like me have to pay $9000 a year in healthcare benefits with a $9000 per
year deductible on top of a $250 cost per doctor visit if you don't
have what's left of the Veterans Administration... and let's watch the
GOP U.S. Senate do not one damn thing about any of it
Remember
all this the next time you get a letter asking you to send money into
the GOP. Remember all this the next time you get a letter from somebody
running for office claiming that it's always better to vote Republican.
Remember this the next time you give a damn who's calling the shots in Washington DC or Olympia.
Call to Action: In a year where we have almost half a billion in new
revenues, the state Senate, led by XXXXXXX,wants to run up our debt
by $250 million for multiple projects. It defies all logic to increase
debt when you have a large surplus! Contact your Senators and tell them
No More Debt! SHARE and help me kill this proposal like we did when the
House tried it last month. http://www.XXXXXXXXX.php?chamber=S #NoMoreDebt#YourVoiceMatters#Grassroots
The governor?
A Republican.
The State Senate?
Also Republican.
It's South Carolina, you see. Another state, not unlike ours, where the Republicans who control the state senate forget they're GOP, engages in corruption on a regular basis and does everything they can to get clobbered at the polls as our senators will next cycle and how they'll lose control of all of government because of that idiocy.
I enlisted in the military in 1972 during that little tiff in SE Asia. No, I didn't go (They weren't shipping 17 year olds... and I was 17 years and 1 day old when I enlisted.)
So, I took the only overseas assignment I could get back then: Germany.
This was right around the start of two different major policy changes in the US Army: VOLAR (Ending the draft and The All Volunteer Army) and the decision to begin the end of the WAC, or the Women's Army Corps.
That began the increased reliance of women in the military and the subsequent push for that elusive goal of "equality."
Equal is defined thus:
adjective\ˈē-kwəl\: the same in number, amount, degree, rank, or quality
: having the same mathematical value
: not changing : the same for each person
Yes... "the same for each person."
I was a Recon Scout in an Infantry Battalion (1/4 IN) and we were all briefed on this push for women to come in.
We were assured that they would have to be equal. That they would have to meet the same standards... the same weight standards, the same physical training standards, the same job standards.
We were also assured they'd have the same standard of living as we did.
It was all a lie, of course.
In everything from physical standards (These are the minimums for most job skills)
The following chart shows the minimum score allowed to graduate from AIT and the requirements for your semi-annual Army PFT there after:
Age Group
Gender
Push-Ups
Sit-Ups
2-Mile Run
17 - 21
Male
42
53
15:54
Female
19
53
18:54
22 - 26
Male
40
50
16:36
Female
17
50
19:36
These tables reflect the Army's bare minimum PFT requirements, however these scores are considered below average and could reflect poorly on your record. In addition the Army offers a Physical Fitness Badge to those soldiers who score 270 or above on the Army PFT.
.... to living conditions in the barracks, women were treated much better... and certainly not equally... than their male counterparts.
From the beginning, women have failed to either be treated equally or to seek out equality.
The reasons were not military, they were purely political.
It has NEVER been adequately explained why, for example, a female MP shouldn't have to exhibit the same upper body strength as her male contemporary... or why she shouldn't have to run as fast.
That they don't is the thing. And how many women have ever complained about this institutional double standard?
Of course, there's also the pregnancy dodge: get pregnant to avoid deployment, get pregnant to leave deployment.
If you're a male and you deliberately disable yourself to avoid deployment or end your deployment... what happens?
You get in serious trouble. And you should.
If you get pregnant?
Nothing happens, except you get paid as if you were performing your duties like everyone else instead of being exempt from duty and assigned to nothing much more strenuous than permanent CQ for the duration of your pregnancy scam.
This then is what passes for "equal" in the military.
And "separate but equal is not equal."
Especially when you don't need to meet the same standards.
And now, as expected, we can see even more of this so-called "equality" collapse as the Marine Corps.... and then everyone else... are going to be forced to lower standards for women and women only in order to get them into combat arms slots. And why is this happening?
Because, you know, a bullet don't care.
Because none of the women allowed to go to the Infantry Officer's Course have made it. Zero. And that automatically means the standards are too high, and, well, as a result... you can guess the rest.
And this is the kind of bullshit that is sickening because we can see with a certainty that the outcome of this insanity is going to be unnecessary casualties, shattered morale and the undeniable lie of artificial "equality" as the military becomes a cesspool of affirmative action crap.
As a former grunt and a former scout, I would refuse to go to war under a female officer generally, particularly one who did not meet AT LEAST the same standards I met.
That means they won't have to carry as much as far to qualify.
That means they won't be able to drag me out of harm's way if I'm wounded... or stay up with us on long range patrols.
They won't have to break track on a tank, or pick up an artillery shell or any of that... but they'll still be qualified for combat arms.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a damned disaster.
The only useful purpose this garbage provides is a forum to point out what we knew all along: it's never been equal and now, because of this kind of political crap...
It never will be.
And people... our people... are going to die because of it.
(FULL DISCLOSURE: I freely admit that I am totally opposed to Marc Boldt's election this time, just as I was last time, since he's completely sold out to the left; forgotten/ignored GOP principles, supports the CRC scam in it's entirety and wants to hang tolls around our neck for the next several decades that will destroy a great deal of small business in Clark County as a result. NO candidate or campaign or anyone involved or in any way concerned with any candidate or campaign was aware of or approved or had input into this post. Further, Marc Boldt is my brother in law, and I worked for him as his legislative assistant for 6 years while he was in the state house.)
As Molehill gears up to rape our wallets by scamming thousands of dollars more in unnecessary per diem, I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised to see this fringe-left hypocrite offer up the following observation in response to Lefty Lou's county commissioner pinata opportunity:
The irony and hypocrisy of that observation is simple and obvious:
This scumbag fought harder than anyone else in the House to bend us over and rape us for the next 45 years with ever-increasing tolls starting at about $2000 per year for a the CRC/Loot Rail scam, unwanted and unneeded, if the people of Clark County are to be believed.
He and his ilk wanted to vaporize $100,000,000 per year in disposable income from this county... uncaring about the massive negative impacts on that very same "American dream," both on those depending on that disposable income to survive (Small business... restaurants, movie theaters and the like) and those who must fork that cash over... the 65,000 or so commuting families of this county.
No one in politics lied more, insulted more, assaulted more on that project. No one led the charge for the idiocy of "No light rail? No bridge," more than he did.
And yet, HE now wants us to believe, that HE is concerned about the American Dream, this slimeball that steals per diem from us every session?
No candidate this scumbag wants to win, will win. Molehill carried more luggage than a Samsonite factory, and he has an abysmal record of success when it comes to getting people he supports elected... particularly county-wide.
Right Marc?
Right Ty?
Right Craig?
Molehill, best known for the crushed stupidity of his moronic "what is, what isn't" candy tax, is apparently entertaining visions of replacing Brad Owen.
I support that effort, since it would end his political career, permanently.
Meanwhile, Jimmy, feel free to stop babbling about something you don't know about... or care about.
I will be happy at this point, if, of the 3 candidates interested in the job, the one who wins isn't named Boldt.
(transcribed by Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking 12.5)
So, as I was looking at the Chief Hater of the C3G2 hate group's self-flagellating facebook page, when I stumbled across this idiocy:
it's a great little map… It reiterates that the majority of the people of this county are not interested in Chucky's vision or his efforts to ram the CRC scam down our throat.
Now, what makes this even more moronic is he claims that replacing the I5 bridge is his number one transportation priority. And he makes that claim based on the fact that his proposed district, according to him, voted 53% no on the question of the East County Bridge advisory vote. So what?
Another stupidity in this observation is obvious on several different fronts. The first front is that in District 3 and District 4… As well as countywide overall, the people of Clark County have made it clear that they are opposed to what he wants to do. Using his own warped "reasoning" whoever the County Chair is as well as whoever is representing District 3 and District 4 should resist any effort to stop building the East County bridge.
After all, under Chucky's reasoning, he should go balls to the wall to replace the I5 bridge because his district voted in opposition to the East County bridge. Assuming that is correct, the majority of voters in the rest of the county, and the voters overall, voted for the East County bridge. So since a proposed, elected Chucky would be outnumbered countywide and in districts three and four, then his babble should be ignored on this issue.
Also, of course, merely voting against the East County bridge option in and of itself, does not by any stretch of the imagination mean that you believe replacing the I5 bridge is the only other option available, or that the people of that district would support such an option.
Further, does that mean that when the time comes he'll demand a countywide vote as the people indicated in the same advisory on any question concerning bridge replacement or light rail? Of course not. That's the problem when you're a hating hypocrite.
You see, this is the kind of fringe-left reasoning that has resulted in the Democrats becoming mere footnotes countywide, politically.
This is a classic example of someone politically ignorant wishing for something without being careful what it is that he wants… He just might get it.
At the end of the day, the people of Clark County have repeatedly made it clear, they do not want light rail, and they do not want another I5 bridge… Until or unless two additional bridges are added across the Columbia River.
In fact, here's a map I'm sure Chuckle hates:
This is the map of the people who oppose his idiotic, asinine position on the I-5 Bridge scam.
Those supporting it are clustered, in red, where the I-5 Bridge crosses the river. The rest of Chuckie's district and the rest of the county?
Oppose his idiocy.
So, by all means, moron, PLEASE campaign on your bridge scam.
So in addition to his other failures, of which Chucky has many, you can add to that list his failure to be a mind reader.
When hatred drives your politics, there's no and to the twisting, exaggeration, and lies you'll tell to get elected.
Just heard on the news that there's going to be a vote on Loretta Lynch as the next Attorney General… Something of an affirmative action, communist version of the current Attorney General.
Among other things, this simple idiot believes that illegal aliens within the United States somehow have a right to a job… When in reality, they don't even have a right to be here.
Nevertheless, the "oh, it's so important that we elect these Republicans to the Senate" GOP controlled U.S. Senate is going to vote this idiot into office. Because they feel compelled to defer to the moron in the White House.
Every day, in every way, these kinds of decisions by Senate leadership show how dramatically unimportant electing the GOP is to any position… Since as soon as they get control, they forget what the hell they're there for.
So by Friday I fully expect that they will, once again, cave to the anti-American, empty suited, racist bigot in the White House… And we will get another neo communist idiot as AG.
(transcribed by Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking 12.5)
When I first read about this, I was sure it was some sort of sick April Fool's joke.
I was wrong.
This particular idiocy was taking place at Arizona State. (ACU's are the Army field uniform. CDT OER is the ROTC equivalent of the cadet officer evaluation report) Temple University ROTC has already done this:
The following pictures are of men, being forced to wear red high heeled shoes, purchased at their own expense, in violation of AR 670–1, Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia, the regulation governing the wear of the uniform.
There are other pictures at the link, many others.
But this kind of stupidity is what's permeating the Armed Forces of the United States as a result of the social experimentation that is the Obama administration. In fact, I believe that this is taking the new homosexuality policies a bit far.
Besides being an obvious violation of the Army uniform regulations, this infers that sexual assault only takes place on women, and that the Army's blindness to the problem of sexual assault is somehow going to be repaired by forcing men to dress like women.
Taking it a step further, do not think for one moment that our enemies in the Middle East do not have access to the same pictures. And that they will not take them down and use them as propaganda tools about today's U.S. Army. And they won't bother to provide these warm, fuzzy, nonsensical explanations as to the why of it.
As mentioned in the first picture, these were mandatory demonstrations of idiocy under threat of negative career consequences within the confines of the commissioned career of an ROTC cadet who would refuse to take part in this stupidity.
I am a 1981 graduate of the University of Washington Army ROTC. I am a distinguished military student/distinguished military graduate/regular army commissionee.
I would've cheerfully risked all of those things by refusing to take part in this kind of insanity.
This is just another one of the many things that now causes me shame on the part of my Army.
And for those inclined to engage in sexual assault, I somehow doubt that this will in any way end all those desires.
This is yet another symptom of what Obama has done to the Armed Forces of the United States.
(Transcribed by Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12.5)
Lately, I've been noticing more and more that those in the political field seem to lack any compunction when it comes to the issue of “representation” in the phrase “representational government.”
What is the responsibility of our elected officials? Where does one draw the line between presenting what one knows to be the will of the people over one’s personal agenda?
I choose to take the stark view: under the system we have in place in our state, we are told at the very beginning of the state Constitution that all political power is invested in the people.
Political Power
All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.[1]
In my stilted view, there does not appear to be anything particularly ambiguous or nebulous about the phrase “all political power.” Nor does the verbiage of "in the people" leave a lot to the imagination.
In a recent Supreme Court decision, Carcieri v, Salazar, (the decision that will likely cause the Cowlitz to lose their casino scam) the Court relied heavily on a standard referred to as “the plain meaning rule.” (In this case, the plain meaning of the word “now” in the phrase “now under federal jurisdiction.” Specifically, that the word “now,” meant in the year of the legislation as it passed at that time… Or, 1934.”)
Part of my arrival at the conclusions concerning responsibility of elected officials to their constituency is based upon the application of that "plain meaning" standard.
Frighteningly, more and more, we see those who, once having achieved elective office, subsequently put their judgments or their agenda ahead of that of their constituency.
Locally, democrat Steve Stuart has become the poster child for that variety of arrogance:
I believe that election to an office does not suddenly, magically, mean that the elected official is somehow relieved of their responsibility to those who elected them; to present their views, their desires, their needs, as a voice for those people.
Far too often, we see those in elective office exhibiting “leadership,” as they vote not in lockstep with their constituents but instead, in opposition to their constituencies. I find that personally to be an affront to the entire nature of representative government. The leftists infesting us are very fond of that characterization: when someone in elective office takes a leftist vote they know their constituents would hate...
... they call that "leadership."
It's not, of course: it's just the leftists supporting the betrayal of representative's constituency.
If that is how those elected are going to do business, then why should we even bother to have a legislature?
We’re told that by mere whim, the governor of this state can simply sign his name to a piece of paper and jack up the price of gasoline to the stratosphere. For a wide variety of reasons, I find this to be highly unlikely... Not the least of which is that since Washington became a State in 1889, no governor has dared do such a thing.
In taking it a step further, even if the governor had the ability to implement a massive tax/fee increase unilaterally, for a governor to do such a thing would merely be temporary, until such time as he… and most likely his political party… were thrown out of office by a statewide constituency furious at the effrontery and dictatorial nature of such an increase.
So on one hand, you have the political reasons that such an act is impossible combined with the legal reasons that such an act is impossible, yet Republicans in the Senate insist on using this as their excuse to explain why they are jamming a gas tax increase down our throats without allowing us a vote... that will be part and parcel of a $15 billion transportation package… Of which Clark County will receive around 1.3%... Roughly 50% of which will then be spent on a project we do not need and do not want; specifically what amounts to the replacement of the I-5/Mill Plain intersection… Heretofore a linchpin piece of the Columbia River Crossing.
Not only have those voting for this here locally sold us out… they've sold us out cheaply… for very little in return… A smattering of small, relatively unimportant projects that will accomplish next to nothing when it comes to the matter of increasing road miles to reflect an increasing population... and now, even those projects are pulled by the House democrats for an additional boondoggle at 179th and I-5... when if any intersection needs work, it's the nightmare of SR500 and I-5 north bound that should get the attention.
But I'm still confused: how is it that a project the size of the one of the horrific waste of that proposed for Mill Plain and I5 go forward when we're assured that in the districts where the senators have voted "no" on the transportation package, they are going to lose their projects?
I have seen and read nothing to indicate that because Sen. Cleveland has voted "no" on the transportation package... that her district is in danger of losing this project… And in fact, the house added several million dollars more to the overall project cost.
Now the elected individual who's told me this would certainly not be misleading me… Would they?
Hundreds of millions of dollars of this package will be devoted to projects that have nothing to do with roads, nothing to do with moving traffic, nothing to do with transportation.
The skulduggery by those involved in this scam is difficult to overstate. In the GOP State Senate, it impacts at all levels. The corruption of the lieutenant governor, who illegally determined that a GOP Senate supermajority tax vote rule was "unconstitutional" at the time the gas tax increase was being voted on, only to subsequently overturned his own decision and suddenly conclude that the previously "unconstitutional rule" is now magically "constitutional" is obvious. Think in terms of a light switch being turned on and off.
To the best of my knowledge, no one is subsequently demanding that the gas tax increase be re-referred under this rule, although why they are not reconsidering it is a mystery to me… Except of course it is no mystery.… This is just an example of corruption, once again, ruling the day in Olympia.
It's not just here in Washington State; lately, I’m noticing various mentions of the concerns of the South Carolina Legislature who have run headlong into Governor Nikki Haley’s veto pen.
“We are seeing a concerning trend. The House passed themselves a pay raise, we've vetoed. Then they tried to run up our debt by half 1 billion, we killed it. Yesterday they raise taxes for a roads plan, without a larger tax decrease, any year we have over 400 million in additional revenues. I will veto it. We didn't get to the position of being one of the fastest growing economies by sticking it to the taxpayers. Please help me stop this trend and share with your friends.”
On the surface, this would appear to be the business-as-usual approach of a Democrat House and a Republican governor. Not true.
Yesterday, Gov. Haley wrote:
“Your Republican House just voted to raise your taxes by $365 million next year. If that stunned you as much as it stuns me here’s how your legislator voted Y means they voted to raise your taxes, and means they voted to protect your wallet, and the means they didn't vote at all.”
There is a recurring theme in Gov. Haley’s protest: she is a Republican governor dealing with an unruly left-leaning allegedly Republican-controlled state House of Representatives.
Does anyone reading this remotely believe that the people of South Carolina support these efforts on the part of their legislators? And does anyone reading this now not understand why I could care less what the label is after a candidate's name?
You see, this is why I've long since abandoned the pretense of loyalty to a party label… Particularly a party label as meaningless as this.
I believe that the phrase “representation” is supposed to mean a great deal more than some sort of an ascension to a position with a title where special interests kiss your ring, and then, kiss a great deal more to get what they want as opposed to the people you represent… and what those same people who actually elected you want.
I spent six years on House legislative staff in Olympia, and I freely admit that very few can withstand the pressure, withstand the bribes, withstand the fawning deference, withstand the cults of personality, and withstand the seduction away from being true to yourself and true to those who elected you.
You compromise your principles… At first, just a little bit. But then, you can justify that, with a claim that for example: it’s “for the greater good” internal argument.
It’s not unlike killing people in combat. For most, the first time, it's really, genuinely, difficult. But each subsequent time it becomes easier, and easier, and easier.
The parallels with the legislature are frighteningly similar. The first time you walk away from principle, it’s very very difficult. But each and every time after that it becomes easier and easier.
For those of us on the other end of the equation, that is to say the part of the constituency who apparently quite foolishly expects those we've elected to represent our view and not their own in the legislative scenario, there’s only so many things we can do as a result.
Personally, once an elected representative has violated his or her sacred trust for their constituency, they are not unlike a dog that feels compelled to kill chickens.
A dog killing chickens cannot, I believe, be trained or have his behavior modified in such a way that chickens will ever be safe around such an animal.
Elected officials are no different.
In the past, I've extended my trust to a relative few elected officials. That trust is a precarious thing in that why I trust them has to do more with the fact that I believe that they sincerely represent me, instead of themselves.
Once that trust is broken, how do you go about ever getting it restored?
I don’t believe you can. The ease of violating trust comes at a horrific cost and usually happens at the worst possible time. What does the elected official say to apologize? “I’m sorry, I'm not going to do it again?”
What makes that problematic is that the damage that has taken place because of the violation of their trust cannot be repaired.
On far too many occasions, we are told that if we do not like the acts of those we elect, we can simply remove them from office at the next election. And on the surface, that’s correct.
But digging down a little further, one has to ask the question: does that get the multimillion/multibillion dollar project unbuilt? Does that get the tax that has been collected from us against our will be returned to us? Does that get the unneeded, unwanted project designed to appease the special interests that are behind that expensive betrayal unbuilt?
Of course not. And they count on that.
Meanwhile, for those paying attention...for those foolish enough to actually "believe"... the indignity of betrayal by those we've trusted results in a pain that cannot adequately be described.
I frequently wish that I was blissfully unaware of any of these things as so many of us are. I imagine how much simpler my life would be if I just lived in a vacuum of ignorance; unknowing and uncaring about the day-to-day operation of the government bent on stripping our wallets bare like a carcass out in the middle of the desert.
I wish I did not know what I know. It is a terrible burden to bear, primarily because so many of us who actually DO pay attention bear this knowledge alone.
Over the years, I've used this platform and many others to try and warn, to try and educate, to try and inform people of what is really going on in government only to frequently be ridiculed, attacked, and for the most part, ignored.
Usually, I'm proven to be correct. But being correct simply isn't enough. Because one of the biggest problems out of all of this is that those in elective office count on our short attention spans, our short memories and our ignorance.
I have no doubt that many in office will take credit for these projects… Without bothering to really discuss in detail how these projects came to be. And when attacked for this sort of thing in their next election campaign, instead of telling the truth and owning up to their betrayal, they'll just counterattack and deflect and lie and exaggerate in order to avoid responsibility for what they have done.
The only defense to this sort of thing is knowledge. The only defense to this sort of thing is accurate information, information as to how it came about, information as to who is being paid off and information as to who in fact benefits from these betrayals... either monetarily, politically or both.
Anything else? Well, it's just like bringing a knife to a gunfight.
(While no grammarian, I apologize for all the typos. The surgery on my hand and pain medication makes it seem like I'm a graduate of Seattle Public Schools even more than usual.)
(transcribed by Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking 12.5)
It was something of an entertaining… albeit poorly thought out… article concerning for items left to do in Olympia before the Legislature calls it a day.
What was missing from that mostly fantasy of an overview of the issues remaining?
Editorials of fire and brimstone, promising jail or worse for the legislators for failure to comply with their leftist newspaper fantasies as to what the state Supreme Court can and cannot do when it comes to forcing the people to pay taxes in this state. Not unlike the Senate GOP fantasies concerning the bogus ability of the governor to unilaterally jack up the gas tax $1.60 to pay for his cap and trade fetish.
So why didn't the newspaper mention that, considering how much ink they wasted on it?
It's because they know that the legislature is NOT going to jump through a hoop merely because the Supreme Court holds that hoop up. As I've stated in this blog repeatedly, the Supreme Court does not have the power to take any punitive action against the Legislature… Any more than the Legislature has the power to take any punitive action against the Supreme Court.
The Legislature… Legislates. The Supreme Court… Adjudicates. The Supreme Court cannot order the Legislature to legislate any more than the Legislature can order the Supreme Court to adjudicate.
In a governmental system with co-equal branches, those lines do not intersect in any way.
So why did the rag continue to insist on regurgitating that which they likely knew to be a lie?
It's not like the rag doesn't lie to get what they want. One need only review their CRC/loot rail coverage to see that they used that issue to lie to us for a decade.
Today, the Democratian stands as the very model of the leftist lie, leftist exaggeration and leftist political hackery. If they knew anything about government, than they knew they were not telling the truth when they babbled about Supreme Court threats.
Of course, there is a likelihood that they don't know anything more about government, how it works, what motivates it, or the state Constitution as a concept than they do the study of Sanskrit.
The rest is typically related to the Democratian's agenda: in reality, very few Southwest Washington residents give a damn about the oil terminal and its related issues… If it was what the Democratian was making it out to be than Democrats would have won elective office across the board… Given their multiple lies about who got money from who and who supported what.
And how did that work out?
Leftist visions of gloom and doom in danger and explosions and everything that goes with it notwithstanding, the fact is that the oil in question is coming through our community regardless of any other aspect, and for me the only question is this: does our community get a piece of that pie or not?
Led by the GOP-controlled Senate, the promise of Initiative (I-502) was shattered when their campaign-pledged tax revenue was reduced from 75% to 30%… Making an already horrific political lie of $582 million per year in campaign pledges an impossible dream… And letting the lying scum behind that initiative completely off the hook while serving to reinforce that lying to the people of the state of Washington is the way to get what they want... Whether it's a campaign for office or a campaign for an initiative.
This betrayal and subsequent acceptance of political corruption was the last straw for me and is directly responsible for ending my involvement in any political campaign. When combined with the subsequent political treachery, again by the GOP controlled Senate, on the issue of the gas tax where senators who promised to never raise the gas tax as a part of their campaigns for office suddenly forgot all about that… While remembering to put an emergency clause on the bill and simultaneously making sure we were not allowed to vote on it... combined to end my active involvement in any campaign since that burden was far too much to bear.
It is of note that when it comes to the issue of the bi-state bridge coalition, the only legislator mentioned in the article is the Vancouver hobbit, Annette Cleveland. She had absolutely nothing to do with its formulation or creation, and in fact was a huge opponent of the very idea of working on any solution to our cross river traffic issues that did not involve resurrecting the CRC scam.
But when you're carrying the democratian's water like Gunga Din, this kind of fawning sycophantic pro-democrat reaction is to be expected.
Cleveland's idiocy was well diagrammed with her efforts to waste billions of additional dollars by amending the transportation budget to resurrect the hated CRC… Which I have pointed out repeatedly here, is not dead as much as it's in a state of suspended animation.
I have a problem with funding a bistate bridge coalition that eventually is going to be dominated by the same leftists who attempted to ram this thing down our throats.
The democrats will not support a bridge replacement unless it includes light rail; and they will absolutely not support any other location for additional bridges. The only room for so-called "compromise" is that of those who oppose loot rail. Building a loot rail ready bridge is the same scam as building one with the cars up and running.
So, the democrats will not move on this issue. more than willing to punish this county out of their petulance and arrogance.
Not because additional bridges are not needed, clearly an additional bridge to the west of the I-5 bridge to Hillsboro would reduce traffic on that I-5 bridge and within the I-5 corridor geometrically… Whereas replacement of the I-5 bridge would merely serve to facilitate bringing the fungus of loot rail to Clark County… Which is what the entirety of the replacement movement has been about from the very beginning.
The democrats have repeatedly shown that they will not compromise on any of these issues: the only way is their way; they will accept no other.
Knowing this going in, why are we bothering to fund a committee whose real plan and whose ultimate goal will be to restore the CRC project to its former prominence?
Before this committee ever saw the light of day, those involved in transportation solutions should have secured the pledge of all parties involved to eliminate light rail for any bridge replacement. Failing to do that, which is what's happened here, merely sets the table for the ultimate democrat takeover and resurrection of the project… Since their goal of light rail in the Clark County has not changed one iota.
And when it comes to the issue of the gas tax, I've already exposed the corruption on how that was arrived at: by virtue of the lieutenant governor's bogus "unconstitutional" Senate ruling on the GOP rules concerning the requirement of a supermajority to increase or impose taxes. I have yet to see anyone in media here locally mention the story that came from Crosscut detailing the corruption of the initial decision to declare that rule "unconstitutional" and the subsequent decision to resurrect that rule as being totally constitutional when needed to provide GOP Sen. Andy Hill (R–Bellevue) with political cover on amendments to the general fund budget while making sure that none of those amendments were adopted… Even though some of them had 29 votes out of 49 senators.
The condensed version is that Brad Owen shut the rule off to get the gas tax passed (requiring a simple majority of 25 votes) and then turned the rule back on to give his buddy Andy Hill political cover.
As the project budget left the Senate, it turned out that the fine folks within Clark County were going to receive a grand total of 1.3% of the entire state's transportation project largess.
Now it appears, that in addition to the unneeded waste of $100 million to modify the Mill Plain I-5 interchange to CRC specifications, the pot has been sweetened a tiny amount by wasting $50 million on the 179th and I-5 interchange for a total waste of $150 million… (When, if they were going to work in any interchange, the northbound I-5/SR 500 interchange is the one that should have received funding) and apparently, simultaneously, yanking the smaller project monies from throughout our community… That were sprinkled out there to get the various fringe left mayors on board with screwing us with this gas tax increase. (I expect they'll be put back in to bribe the local political scum who would sell their own children for 30 pieces of silver.)
$15 billion is currently planned on being set aside as a result of bending us over without getting our permission… All for a paltry 1.3% of the total package.
A permanent tax increase to finance King County's boondoggles like more horrific waste on their Big Dig tunnel scam and in the floating I-520 bridge rip off.… Supported by some who promised is a part of their election campaign to oppose any gas tax increase. (Which served as additional impetus for me to abandon political campaigns.)
The reason I've written all of this is to remind the reader that merely because some level of information is printed in a newspaper... any newspaper generally but the democratian in particular... does not make it true nor does it make it all of the story.
And this goes to the heart of the matter of politics: the responsibility to learn what is truly going on cannot begin and end with any single source of information.
You need to be curious. You need to ask questions. You need to wonder why, when the majority of a political party stands for one thing, they suddenly and irrevocably do something completely different.
Hold your legislators accountable for what they say and what they do. Hold them accountable for their campaign promises. Hold them accountable when they lie to you… As so many here have lied to us.
For when you don't… You truly wind up with the government you deserve.
