Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) said on the Capitol steps today, "I asked you to come. And you came!" Thousands of people representing every state in the union (barring perhaps Alaska and Hawaii) stormed the Capitol today to show their opposition to a "public option."  Many in the crowd had made their way to DC on September 12 as well. I spoke with a lady from Florida who had ridden the bus all night to get there; she was in her 80s and had participated in the 9/12 demonstration but said, "I just feel I need to do whatever I can possibly do."  She was concerned about the massive spending and the additional debt that a 'public option' would bring. I also met people who had come from Pennsylvania, Indiana, Texas, and Oregon. 

Over a hundred Representatives joined Rep. Bachmann, Jon Voight, Mark Levin, and John Ratzenberger ("Cliff" from "Cheers" and the pig in "Toy Story") in warning quite bluntly about socialism, stating that the current version of the health care bill would grab 18% of our economy and add over a trillion dollars of debt, an average of 550 million dollars per page of the bill.  

At the urging of the legislators, participants streamed across the street to visit their elected representatives. The sidewalks were filled and many stood for over an hour waiting to get through security. While they waited, they sometimes chanted "Kill the bill!"  so loudly that legislators and aides came to the balconies to witness this historic event. Jane Citizen and I could hear the chanting quite clearly while we were in Rep. Rick Larsen's office. Larsen stated plainly that he will vote for the bill. 

Senator Maria Cantwell held a coffee hour at 9:00 a.m. and showed surprise at the number of constituents who had shown up to see her, around 20. Two had come for a different issue, but the rest were there to urge her not to support the 'public option.'  She was non-committal. 

Don't hold your breath. 

Photos and video http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=115126

Is This The End of the Washington State GOP?

A wave of dread and doom descended on Washington State Republicans as election results in this off year election were finally counted. The general election result that shattered any hope of Republican resurgence in the state was the King County Executive’s race. Councilman Dow Constantine smashed blue dog, moderate Democrat Susan Hutchinson in that election contest. Republicans in King County now go down in defeat again in their attempt to elect someone other than radical, leftwing, crackpots like Constantine. Many are questioning why the King County Republican Party backed Susan and not a principled conservative in the first place!

Here in Snohomish County Republican conservative John Koster ran up some impressive numbers as he defeated Seattle crackpot Paul Brainerd’s candidate for the Snohomish County Council. There is already talk that Koster will run against a weak and vulnerable Aaron Reardon for County Executive in 2011. Elsewhere, Democrats continued their dominance in the county by re-electing a very unpopular Dave Somers over a token Republican candidate in the 5^th Council District using low turn outs and outright lies combined with little or no campaign cash for Steve Dana. They also elected blue dog Democrat Joe Wilson to the Snohomish County bench, and Dave Gossett in the 4^th Council District. Word reached me on election night that the Democrats can’t wait to vote in a MAJOR property tax increase before the end of November. They apparently are going to ignore record high unemployment in the county and try to completely destroy what is left of the county’s economy now that Boeing is leaving.

Out of the dust of this off year election came some positive news. A group of concerned Republicans and conservatives have decided to begin the process of purging the left of center leadership in the state GOP at the State and County level. This campaign will probably include some of last year’s Ron Paul supporters in the state, but I understand that some surprising names in the rank and file GOP leadership will be leading this effort. In order to accomplish their goal, it is going to be necessary to do away with the current leadership at the Washington State Republican Party. The first target in this purge will be to get rid of Luke Esser as State Chairman. 

As a conservative from Bellevue explained it to me, “Luke has presided over major defeats in 2008 and now 2009; it’s time for a change!” The fact that Esser has continued to support Rob McKenna, the left of center Mainstream Republican for a future run for Governor, has caused some problems in Snohomish County in particular, where one major figure in the GOP told me on election night, “Rob will never carry this county for Governor; no matter how many people he sweet talks in the party.”

Both RINO lefties, Reed and McKenna, refused to support I-1033 and that move has angered the rank and file GOP Precinct Committee Officers in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties, according to my sources. Also McKenna’s attempt to allow publication all the names of those who signed the R-71 petition to put homosexual marriage on the ballot has even the state’s libertarians up in arms. One of the leaders in the Reject R-71 campaign wondered out loud to me on election night why McKenna remains in the GOP, “He walks like a Democrat, talks like a Democrat; therefore he must be a Democrat. What the hell is so hard to understand about that?” It is widely known that both Reed and McKenna went out of their way to oppose the attempt to roll back “Homosexual Marriage” in Washington, at odds with the majority of the GOP rank and file.

What about 2010? Well, other parts of the nation may have an easy time knocking off Democrats in the House of Representatives, but bleak prospects face Republicans in Western Washington. Even though GOP incumbent Dave Reichert has a war chest in the 8^th CG, his vote in favor of the insane Cap and Tax bill probably dooms him to defeat against an extremely well financed Democrat that has yet to announce their candidacy (according to my sources). In the 1^st CG and the 2^nd CG both Democrats Rick Larsen and Jay Inslee are vulnerable to a challenge, but Republicans cannot come up with candidates or the $2 million dollars per campaign that it would cost to defeat either incumbent Democrat! I expect the GOP to run the typical token and under financed congressional candidates in these races.

As for the State Legislature, ‘slim pickens’ face the GOP in Snohomish and King Counties not only because they have no candidates they also have zero money available to finance campaigns. Dan Kristiansen, the 39^th GOP State House Representative and the Chair of House Republicans told me bluntly that they will have to pick and choose which candidates to support because of the lack of funding and little if any campaign contributions. 

At the state level, Rob McKenna and Sam Reed continue to play the Dan Evans ‘bell curve’ game hoping to get re-elected, but they will have to do it without the support of most county GOP organizations. This next time they come up for election they will be facing not only well financed opposition from the Democrats but a major effort to throw them out of office. Washington State Democratic Chief Dwight Pelz believes the best way to deal with Rob McKenna and Sam Reed is to go after them, head on! To make matters worse, several conservative Republicans are eyeing these races with the full intention of knocking them off. So McKenna and Reed are both under fire from both political parties. Not a good situation to be in.

Whatever happens this next year, Washington State continues its downward drop into the economic abyss. I even hear that crackpot Governor Gregoire intends to push for passage of a STATE Cap and Trade global warming measure with the full intention of imposing a massive energy tax resulting in potential rationing on electrical and energy use across the board in Washington State. She will also be pushing for a state income tax to be placed on the ballot in 2010. If these two items were to pass into law, many believe that this state would suffer an economic collapse unlike anything that has ever happened before. Possibly worse than the great depression and the 1971 Supersonic Transport disaster when Boeing laid off 60,000 people.

KIRO talker Dori Monson nailed it with this evaluation of Tuesday's election here in Washington:

This may be the most singular one-party state in the nation.

New Jersey and Virginia voted for Obama a year ago - but for Republican governors tonight... Liberal Maine rejected gay marriage... Blue-state California voters earlier this year rejected tax increases...

But in Washington, our one-controlling-party mentallity rolls on.

King County government is facing a $54-million deficit - and one of the people who got the county into that financial mess has been elected Exec - because he's a Dem.

Init-1033 restricting the growth of government? Rejected.

Gay partnerships? Supported.

Huge property tax increase in Seattle for low income housing? Of course! Seattle never saw a tax increase the voters didn't love.

I evaluate each race and issue on its individual merits (I supported Ref-71 - everyone other endorsement I made on the above races lost). But despite national trends favoring Republicans, in Washington the vast majority of voters are robots. Every Democrat wins. Every expansion of government passes. Every liberal cause prevails.

The unions chased Boeing out of the state - and every winning candidate paid tribute to their big-money union support. Our unemployment rate is well above the national average. Our state is facing another multi-billion dollar deficit. King County has a $54-million deficit. Seattle a $40-million deficit.

Why wouldn't we stay the course? Election Day was business as usual in our one-party state.

Remember, Governor Gregoire made this astonishing statement over a month before Election Day:

I've told them [Democratic legislators] come on in and convince me that's [raising taxes] the right thing to do and that people will support it. At some point the people, I assume, don't want us to take any more cuts. I'm already hearing about 'why did you cut education?' Well there aren't any options

Many political observers were stunned that Gregoire would reverse her "no new taxes" stance so close to the election and felt that she was handing a win to Tim Eyman on a silver platter.  Wrong.  The Governor knows her liberal Pugetopolis base well and counted on the fact that I-1033 would be outspent some $3 million to none by wealthy liberal opponents of I-1033.  More importantly, local elected officials throughout the state, both Republican and Democrat, joined in the scare-it-to-ya chorus against I-1033.

"At some point the people, I assume, don't want us to take any more cuts."  Don't you think that is the takeaway from Washington voter's rejection of I-1033?  It certainly will be among Democrats in Olympia.  It already is at the Northwest Progressive Insititute, which proudly proclaimed that "Collapse of Tim Eyman's Initiative 1033 proves that teabaggers are just a fringe."

Now, I don't think even Democrats are stupid enough to introduce new taxes in an election year, but if Washington Republicans don't make significant gains in the legislature in 2010, look out for the next biennial budget coming up in 2011.  Labor unions and other left-wing advocacy groups have made it clear they will tolerate no further cuts to their pet programs and the state will have to address what will likely be a $2-3 billion plus budget shortfall by that time.  Those groups will point to the I-1033 vote and say Washingtonians are finally ready for that dreaded state income tax.

Hey, you were warned.  We get the government we deserve.

Last Friday, Representative Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) called concerned American citizens to meet with her on the steps of the Capitol in DC Thursday at noon, to protest against the so-called 'public option.'  Before you ask yourself, "What does this have to do with Snohomish County?" I will remind you that our economy is in the dumps and our businesses are suffering quite enough, thank you very much, without adding additional health care costs and fines to their already burdensome regulation. My husband offered me his frequent flyer miles, we hurriedly made arrangements, I called friends in DC and ...here I am!

This is my sixth time to DC (and no I did not grow up on the East Coast, but on a farm in central Illinois) and once again the view of the monuments and Capitol took my breath away. I cannot recall having flown in at night before. Our pilot took us on the most amazing flight path. We flew low into the city, directly over the Lincoln Memorial, with the Washington Monument standing tall and proud in front of us, fully duplicated in the reflecting pool as we passed by and then the Jefferson Memorial came into view. Suddenly it struck me that this visit feels vastly different, far more important, far more serious.  I've been reading the Constitution quite a bit lately, and other works of the Founding Fathers, and it seems America is standing on a precipice. Will we treat the Constitution as a 'living document,' malleable and ever-changing with the times? Or will we treat it as a blueprint for prosperity and freedom, as we did for the first hundred and thirty years of its existence?  

The next few days may give us our answer. Jane Citizen and I will be delivering letters from concerned citizens of Sequim, Silverdale, Snohomish, Everett, Edmonds, Gig Harbor, Kenmore, Redmond, Mukilteo, Whidbey Island, etc. to Senators Murray and Cantwell and our Representatives, urging our elected officials to listen to their constituents and vote against the 'public option.'  Many of the letters request health care reform that would lower costs and increase our choices, without transferring power from the People to the Executive branch. 

I'll keep you posted. I'll be tweeting to my Facebook page throughout the day, and back on the blog as soon as possible.

 Boeing announced last week that they will be building their second 787 production line in South Carolina.  Governor Gregoire's 'no more concessions for Boeing' strategy was the height of foolishness and conjures up images of the proverbial ostrich. While some of our elected representatives were holding pseudo-townhalls (ticketed only) on voter initiatives, South Carolina's governor called a special session and their legislature hammered out additional tax incentives to lure Boeing to their state. Why? That famous "three-letter word" that now-VP Joe Biden told us was the top issue: "J-O-B-S."  In Snohomish County, 14% of the jobs are directly related to Boeing, another 2.5 jobs are created by each of those Boeing jobs, and 22% of the total salary in the county comes from Boeing. Snohomish County is struggling: 68,000 of us are out of work (U6 number), and 6000 more families are about to get their foreclosure notices.

Seems like our Governor and State Legislature would be doing everything possible to promote job-creation here.  Boeing seems an obvious place to start, but apparently special interests control not only the pursestrings but the legislative process.  The Republicans in the Washington State Legislature proposed bill after bill to try to answer Boeing's requests but these bills never got the chance to be voted on; they were buried in committee, by the Powers That Be.  

It's not as though Boeing hasn't been patient. In the 1960s, Boeing told the state to lower taxes or they would leave.  Warnings were given each decade and in 2003 Boeing asked for and was promised five things: workforce training, infrastructure improvement, reform of workers' compensation insurance, unemployment insurance reform, and less burdensome business regulation.  

Workforce training means education; has it improved to acceptable levels? We have a high school graduation rate of 70.9% in Snohomish County; National Assessment of Educational Progress test results show 36% of Washington State 8th grade students score above proficiency in math.  Do your own experiment: ask recent high school grads what the tax is on $200 at 8%.  Most of them can't do it, as my husband found in 'mock interviews' he conducted with high school seniors through Rotary last week. Would you want to hire these kids to build an airplane? 

Infrastructure improvement: are you spending less time in traffic than you did six years ago? Neither is Boeing--and shipping time is money.  Reform of workers' comp: why does it take three times longer to recover from a leg injury here than in another state? Go figure. Let's ask the business owner who filmed one of his employees on workers comp carrying a bathtub into a house and putting a roof on a house. Labor and Industries threatened the employer with a lawsuit if he released the video. Your tax-dollars at work.  Perhaps this begins to explain why Washington residents finally reached Tax Freedom Day on August 17 this year, a full month later than last year, according to Evergreen Freedom Foundation.  Yes, that's the day you got to begin earning money for your budget...instead of government's budget for their wish list.  

Unemployment insurance reform: ours is sixth-highest cost in U.S, over double the SC cost. 

Less burdensome business regulation: home builders are not exactly rolling in the dough this year (a good friend of mine has been out of his construction work for over a year and is now headed overseas) but our state legislature saw fit to saddle builders with additional regulation this spring, which will raise the cost of production and result in even more layoffs.

It doesn't have to be this way.  The majority party in our state legislature seems to be asking businesses and individuals, "How much money can we get from you?" They should be asking, "What can we do to help you be successful?" When your elected representatives' wish list doesn't bear any resemblance to yours, it's time for a change. If a job is at the top of your list, or a good education for Washington's kids, or lower health care costs, it's time to back legislative candidates who will make it happen. Do your State Representatives really represent you?