My Environmental Advisor has definitely made a very good point with his letter and the article he has found.  This is once again the reason I have chosen to stand up in Olympia and say "enough is enough".  Please read his letter and the article he has located. 

 

Michael A. Novak
Political Warrior,

This article (below) is only 5 years old but look what has happened to the aluminum businesses in Washington State since then. I remember when Kaiser Mead smelter was going strong and I had friends that worked there. The steel foundries and the aluminum smelters are almost gone from Washington. You probably think this e-mail is a little strange coming from your Environmental Advisor. My main concern is the health and welfare of Washington State and the Pacific Northwest.

Read the article and you will notice that one of the two remaining aluminum smelters is already shut down in Goldendale. Longview Aluminum also shut down production and will be another salvage project. What this article does not include is that the aluminum smelter just down the Columbia River in Dalles, OR. is operating at partial capacity and looking to salvage out their old smelter buildings. Where are these industries going and who is responsible for not keeping these jobs in the Pacific Northwest?

I do not know how the global economy works to the advantage of the Pacific Northwest, but I sure as hell know that I do not want to fly in passenger airplanes that have the parts and outer aluminum shell manufactured with sub-minimum wages in the third world countries. What about the military helicopters, jets, cargo transports and tankers? And the most ironic thing here is Washington still has a growing industry with Boeing. Are they the next industry to leave Washington because of a better tax incentive or lower power costs? When will local representative for our citizens see that we are slowly losing our independence by losing our financial base?

Thomas E. Sparley
Life long citizen of the Pacific Northwest

Article:

Rate hike may be last straw for state's smelters
By Wilhelm, Steve
Publication: Journal of Business
Date: Thursday, April 10 2003

The beleaguered Bonneville Power Administration's plan to raise power rates about 15 percent could snuff out the few remaining embers of Washington's aluminum-smelting industry.

Of the seven aluminum smelters in the state, only two are running, and those only at stunted production rates. Alcoa Inc.'s Intalco plant in Ferndale is operating just two of its three aluminum-smelting potlines, while
Golden Northwest Aluminum Inc. is operating just a few pots at its plant in Goldendale.

Washington's aluminum industry is being squeezed between the region's rising power rates, slack global demand for aluminum, and proliferating low-cost aluminum smelters around the world. While just a few decades ago the Northwest, fed by BPA's seemingly endless supply of low cost power, was one of the world's top producers of aluminum, now the state's plants are facing electricity rates too high to profitably make aluminum.

"The price increase proposed by BPA would make it virtually impossible to operate aluminum smelters in the Pacific Northwest," says Jake Siewert, vice president for Alcoa in New York. "The rate that they have proposed is higher than any other power price that we pay anywhere else in the world, and makes those plants globally noncompetitive.''

While Alcoa is cutting back its presence here, the company plans to invest $1 billion in a smelter in Quebec City, Canada, to double its capacity. As an incentive, the company will get preferential rates for the region's cheap hydropower, and an interest-free government loan.

"They are offering us a very competitive power price, substantially below what is being charged by BPA," Siewert says.

Golden Northwest Aluminum CEO Brett Wilcox says his company already is paying about $38 a megawatt hour, including $3 for transportation. The proposed boost would put it above $40, he says.

"The rate already is way too high, as compared to power rates that aluminum smelters in other parts of the world face. The future increase makes it something that's unworkable," Wilcox says.

The company laid off 93 workers on Feb. 28, leaving about 140 in Goldendale, says Bob Hughes, a state Department of Employment Security official. The Goldendale plant employed about 720 when at full production.

BPA officials say they're being forced to raise rates to cope with the tremendous losses the utility incurred during the energy crisis of 2000, and with reduced power generation potential of the low snowpack.

In a Feb. 7 letter, BPA CEO Stephen Wright said the utility entered the 2003 fiscal year with just $200 million in reserves, which will be swiftly depleted at current projections. While the proposed 15 percent rate increase is scheduled for Oct. 1, BPA officials are negotiating with users to reduce that increase.

"I am painfully aware of the impact that a rate increase would have on the people and businesses of the Northwest," Wright said. "We would not take this action if there were any other alternative."

Most of the new smelters popping up around the world are being built in areas of abundant hydropower or geothermal power, including Canada, Brazil, Iceland, and some parts of Africa. A relatively new competitor is China, which has been flooding the market with low-cost aluminum produced from smelters powered by coal-fired power plants.

"All of a sudden it (China) has become a very large producer of aluminum, much to everyone's surprise, and exceeded projections very quickly," says Wilcox says,

The global, inflation-adjusted price for aluminum has drifted downward for the last two decades at about 0.8 percent annually. The slowed global economy and new smelting capacity being created around the world are contributing to the decline, says Terry Morlan, manager of economic analysis for the Northwest Power Planning Council in Portland.

Morlan says the slumping value of aluminum means that of the nine Northwest aluminum smelters, only the Ferndale Intalco plant can run profitably with electricity rates substantially over $30 per megawatt hour. That plant, built in 1969, is one of the newest and most efficient in the region.

"The others, if they were able to work some special contracts for electricity, or if they invested a significant amount of money in trying to improve the efficiency of the plant, they might be able to hang on," he says.

Already past revival is the former Kaiser Aluminum Corp. plant in Tacoma, which has been purchased by the Port of Tacoma and will be demolished to make way for growing container traffic. Houstonbased Kaiser's other smelter near Spokane is closed, while the company itself is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

On March 4, Longview Aluminum LLC also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, after BPA announced plans to cut off Longview's power because the company had millions in unpaid power bills.

That plant is not operating, and only a few of its former 1,000 workers are employed there.

Golden Northwest Aluminum's Wilcox says his Goldendale smelter's only hope of survival may be to build its own gasfired generating plant, in collaboration with BPA.

"We are fighting hard to survive. We are trying to develop our own independent power projects for a long-term energy supply" he says. "If we can achieve that, we believe we can be viable long term."

More Bill In Olympia, WA To Give Tax Payer Benefits to Illegal Aliens 

Since India has chosen not the accept or back the United States Dollar, maybe we should no longer back India with United States jobs.
 

Maybe we should bring our outsourced jobs all back home now and work on getting our dollar value back.  That will also fix our unemployment.
 

I bet they will suddenly change their minds and back the US Dollar then.

Below is the article.

Declining U.S. dollar loses another backer

 Jan 3, 2008 09:16 AM PST

NEW DELHI (AP) - U.S money will no longer buy entry to the Taj Mahal.

India's tourism minister said Thursday that the rapidly declining American dollar will no longer be accepted at the country's heritage tourist sites, which include the famed Taj Mahal.

The dollar is at a 9-year low against India's rupee. For years, a dollar would buy 50 rupees, and Taj Mahal admission was about $5. Now it's approaching $20.

The tourism official says that the declining value of the dollar was a consideration in charging only rupees, but the new system is also more practical.

This article was in the Spokesman Review newspaper.  One thing that really bothered me is the fact on how they tried to keep this information from the public.  Once again everybody can now read and understand why I have chosen to run against Rep. Timm Ormsby.

 

Our View: Spokane Valley mischief shakes public's trust.

Political insiders can get so caught up in winning and losing, they sometimes forget those they serve.

For instance, state Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, thought it would be nice to have a conversation about whether it would be best for Spokane Valley to elect council members by districts or wards, rather than at large. So at the behest of a former council candidate, he initiated that chat in – Olympia?

Yep, he bypassed the Spokane Valley Council and introduced a bill last spring that would entertain the possibility. The bill died in committee after surprised council members quietly lobbied against it.

Valley residents are forgiven if they knew nothing about this. They might never have known if Spokesman-Review reporter Peter Barnes hadn't submitted a public records request that unearthed the behind-the-scenes machinations.

Should council members be elected by wards, considering that five of the seven live within about a mile of each other? It's worth having the discussion, but proponents chose to try an end run around the community's leaders, and opponents didn't even want the public to know that it was being considered. The item was deleted from the Spokane Valley Council's list of legislative priorities at the behest of its lobbyist.

"Please delete this section, but do the work. Since this is a defensive action on our part, we think it best not to alert the opposition of our proactive approach," wrote lobbyist Tim Schellberg in a confidential e-mail.

So it was deleted, and at least three council members e-mailed area legislators. In keeping the opposition in the dark, the council also kept this information from the public.

The arguments for maintaining at-large elections are hardly surprising or controversial. But like so many governmental leaders, council members felt it necessary to control the information. After all, if the public caught wind, that could complicate matters.

It bears repeating that democracies are messy – and necessarily so. Public input should be encouraged, because civic engagement doesn't end at the ballot box.

As it stands, the council members look more interested in self-preservation, even though they may be right that at-large elections are best for the young city. Had they trusted the public to hear the rationales in a timely fashion, they'd be on much firmer footing. Similarly, those who wanted to change the system should have been upfront about it, instead of trying to stack the deck before springing the idea.

Episodes like this have become depressingly familiar and they only add to the erosion of public trust.

I am really concerned when we live in a state that ignores what the voters vote for.  This is not the first time that Olympia has said that the voters did not understand what they voted for.  Of course Olympia never decides on issues like this unless it means more taxes on the people and more money for the state.  I guess the Olympian politicians want another raise.  Below is the article from the newspaper.

Mike

Breaking news

High court throws out Eyman tax limit

By Richard Roesler
Staff writer
November 8, 2007

OLYMPIA _ In a split decision, Washington's highest court minutes ago ruled that a property tax cap approved by voters in 2001 is unconstitutional.

"The text of the initiative misled voters about the substantive impact of the initiative on existing law," Justice Bobbe Bridge wrote for the court's 5-4 majority.

Initiative 747, approved by 58 percent of voters, generally capped total property tax increases at 1 percent a year, unless voters approved more.

Today's state Supreme Court decision means that limit reverts to its 1997 level: 6 percent more per year.

In a dissent, Justice Charles Johnson wrote that voters clearly understood what they were doing: reducing the tax increases to 1 percent.

"The majority seems to suggest that the voters are unable to think or read for themselves, when in fact our democratic process is based on the assumption that voters do in fact read and understand the impact of their votes," he wrote.

The initiative was challenged by three non-profit groups and one county: Whitman County. The county commissioners there have said that they were worried that limiting the tax increases to 1 percent -- below the average rate of inflation -- would slowly eat away at the budgets of fire departments and other small taxing districts in the region.

"Now every homeowner in Washington is threatened with a massive property tax hike," said Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla.

Such jumps could be particularly big, he suggested, if state tax officials interpret today's ruling to mean cities, counties and other local taxing districts could have increased taxes 6 percent a year all along.

Hewitt said Republicans will again try to pass a bill to reinstate the 1 percent limit. But doing so would require significant help from Democrats who have a strong majority in both the House and Senate. Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, said earlier this year that she thinks she and lawmakers can find a middle ground somewhere between 1 percent and 6 percent.

Eyman was indignant. There are 1,700 local taxing districts, he said and "every single one of them now has a checkbook that has been granted to them by five justices of the Supreme Court."

What happens next, he said, will be a crucial test for the governor and legislative leaders including Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, and House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle.

"The liberal justices did Frank Chopp, Lisa Brown and Christine Gregoire no favors by dropping this powder keg in their laps right now" on the eve of a major election year, Eyman said.

If the Legislature and governor reinstate a cap that's higher than 1 percent, Eyman said "all the people who are just dying to have their property taxes lower are going to storm the castle in Olympia."

The central issue in the court case was whether voters thought they were reducing the cap from.

In November of 2000, voters approved anti-tax activist Tim Eyman's Initiative 722, which lowered the cap from 6 percent to 2 percent unless voters okayed more. The lower cap was promptly challenged in court.

While that court fight was going on, Eyman in 2001 launched a yet-stricter measure -- Initiative 747 -- to bring the cap down to 1 percent.

In February 2001, the 2-percent cap was declared unconstitutional, a decision that the state Supreme Court upheld that September. The property tax cap reverted back to 6 percent more per year.

Meanwhile, however, Eyman was pushing ahead with I-747, gathering and filing signatures and getting the measure on the ballot in November 2001. It passed.

The problem: the new ballot measure language cited the old 2 percent cap.

As a result, King County Superior Court udge Mary E. Roberts ruled a year ago, voters were led to believe they were voting for just a modest reduction in the cap -- from 2 percent to 1 percent. In reality, the cut was much more dramatic: from 6 percent to 1 percent.

"The voters were misled as to the nature and content of the law to be amended," Roberts wrote in a June 2006 ruling. "...The constitution forbids this." So she declared I-747 to be unconstitutional.

The state Supreme Court today agreed, with Bridge saying "Simply put, a voter reading the textt of the initiative would have perceived a much smaller impact on government coffers than would actually occur under I-747, a fact the dissent ignores. The text of the initiative misled voters about the substantive impact of the initiative on existing law."

Wrote Johnson: "Here, voters were informed there was a previous higher tax, and this amendment reduced that maximum tax to one percent. Whether the former tax cap was six percent or two percent, the voters understood the effect of this law was to reduce the tax, and this is what they voted to approve."

 

Today was one of the most shocking days of my life as far as witnessing the largest violation of a workers rights.  The part that made it even more disturbing was the fact it was a worker from our famouse Homeland Security TSA division.  It was brought to my attention on May 21st by a worker of TSA about an investigation that was suppose to be confidential.  The amazing fact is it was brought to my attention by a TSA employee that was not involved in the investigation but more concerned about the method of the investigation.  Within 30 minutes I received a call from the worker being investigated saying this whole thing is suppose to be confidential and to keep it between us.  The funny thing is, I already knew about it.  So much for confidentiality. 

On May 21st the worker in question was brought into a managers office for an investigation over a bottle of lotion that was given to her as a gift from a janitor she has known for two years.  But she was told to write a statement over the bottle of lotion because it was a violation of conduct.  Her witness was the investigators boyfriend (so the rumor is anyways in TSA).  The worker was not given the option to have her own witness present or her Union Representative.  After she wrote her statement over the incident she went home and was told they would keep her informed of the investigation. 

On May 24th the worker received a call to come to the TSA office for a meeting with some office director and for her not to worry.  I was invited to attend the meeting.  At the meeting what I witnessed was enough to make my skin crawl with disgust at the worker rights violations happening right in front of me.  What makes this even worse was the fact it is a Federal Government Agency that is guilty of the violation.  The worker was told not to have any tape recording device on the table on.  The worker was told their was to be no rebutal or discussions allowed.  She could only ask questions regarding her termination papers.  She honestly was not even aware of the extent of the charges brought against her leading up to the termination.  Except for what was being told to her from other TSA employees.  But this whole investigation was suppose to be confidential.  In the meeting her witnesses where not even allowed to talk nor was she allowed to show the letter to her Union Representative.  It took every ounce of self discipline I could mustar not to tell that so called manager what I felt of his procedures and how much of a violation is actually happening right before my eyes.  I was sick to my stomach at this event.

Now the shocker to this whole thing is this.  I had already had my own investigation done into this matter with the same witnesses being asked questions concerning the events of that day.  What is even funnier then that, is that I have the same exact statements they gave to the TSA Managers.  What those statements read and what the workers termination papers stated was definitely two different things.  Which now a Union Attorney will be handling from this moment forward.

The worker has stated that she is going to push this issue forward to prevent this type of behavior from taking place to somebody else.  I have personally spoke with a Union President out of Walla Walla about this issue and he informed me that this type of behavior in TSA happens every week.  That is why a Union must be formed. 

Which I now fully understand and agree with after witnessing the most horrible violation I have ever seen in my life.  Their type of behavior is something I would expect in a third world country.  Not the United States of America.  Not the country where we have rights as an American citizen.  Especially the right to due process.

So from this moment on I will dedicate myself to worker's rights and I am dead set against our outsourcing of jobs to cheaper labor overseas.  I am 150% for our workers to have the full rights that they deserve.  Especially in this type of situation.  So when the day comes those managers are going to discover that the term they like to use, "No rebutal or discussion will be held," will be unacceptable in this society.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 3, 2007

MICHAEL A. NOVAK EYES OLYMPIA WITH ELECTION BID

FOR

DISTRICT 3 POS. 2 REP.

GOP

(Spokane, WA) Michael A. Novak has announced his candidacy seeking District 3 Pos. 2 Representative.

Michael Novak moved to Spokane, WA over 11 years ago after serving in the U.S Army. He discovered it was the perfect place to call home. He began work as a janitor and a security guard while he served in the U.S. Army Reserves. In 2004 Michael received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army after 12 years of service at the rank of Sgt. Then he found work at a call center, a Fortune 500 company, to make a living. While working for that company he was promoted to Corporate Trainer. Michael quickly learned about Globalization and the out sourcing of our jobs overseas. Michael found this to be an issue and very disheartening.

Currently he is the Sales Account Manager for a woman owned small business here in Spokane. In the past two years he doubled the size of the company. In those two years he noticed instead of globalization, Seattlization is taking place. He notices our jobs and money being given to Seattle and Tacoma.

He also noticed, as we all have, the gas prices going higher and higher. He also realizes the problem with the gas prices is the Washington State gas tax that was meant to fix our roads. He jokingly tells a story about the pot hole on his street that qualifies as a new National Monument similar to the Grand Canyon. He watches as our college graduates leave our state after they graduate due to no jobs in Spokane. Michael has watched as small businesses are taxed to the point that it eats away their profits, keeping them from hiring more people. By volunteering in a local school Michael noticed how bad it was for public schools not getting the funding they need to stay open and educate our children the way they need to be educated. These issues Michael believes to be unacceptable.

These are a few of many reasons why Michael A. Novak has decided to run for District 3 Representative Pos. 2 as a Republican.

Michael will take his experience and knowledge to Olympia to create more jobs and ensure that Eastern Washington starts receiving the funding we deserve. Michael will be a very strong voice for Eastern Washington and Spokane.

It is time for a positive change.

Committee to Elect Michael A. Novak

2402 E. 1^st

Spokane, WA 99202

(509) 217-0389 
www.michaelanovak.org

 It appear that our representatives that where elected from District 3 to represent Spokane in Olympia managed to forget about our education system again.  The article below tells the story on the budget cuts and possible school closures due to this mismanagement.

 

Spokane educators reviewing budget

SPOKANE -- The Spokane Education Association is looking at the state budget and trying to figure out whether or not the district will now have to make additional cuts.

State lawmakers approved the budget over their weekend and it's a critical time for Spokane schools, which are facing a $10.5 Million budget shortfall. SEA President Maureen Ramos says unless the state steps up that budget deficit will only be worse next year.

"We're at 10.5 this year, next year we're at 10.8, what is there left? One of the things Brian (Benzel) and the board trotted out they're looking at closing other schools at other sites," Ramos said.

On Wednesday the school district is expected to decide whether to close Pratt Elementary to help relieve some of the budget problems.

 

That is a really big investment.  I noticed how they stated to help Puget Sound and the Seattle area the most.  What about Spokane and Eastern Washington?  What about the North South Freeway that is being built?  Why is it the lawmakers are always so concerned about Seattle.  Especially when it is our representatives that we sent to Olympia to represent us.  Notice that I said represent us.  That is what they where elected to do. Here is what I expect to see happen with that huge budget.  I want to see the North South Freeway built.  I do not expect to see a pot hole in the Spokane area at all.  If these things fail to happen.  Well then our current District 3 Representatives have failed us.   Washington lawmakers OK $7.5 billion road budget Associated Press Last updated: Saturday, April 21st, 2007 11:55:45 AM

..> ..>

OLYMPIA, WASH. -- Washington lawmakers Saturday sent Governor Gregoire a freshly negotiated $7.5 billion highway budget plan. The plan is designed to get hundreds of road projects back on schedule and cover huge cost overruns. Just a day after it was first unveiled, the measure easily cleared the House 76-21. Friday it passed the Senate 46-3. The two-year spending proposal identifies much of the money needed to build a multibillion-dollar new State Route 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington. It also provides $915 million dollars for initial work on a replacement for Seattle's waterfront Alaskan Way Viaduct. Both are considered at risk of failing in a big earthquake. Those two "mega-projects" are among the 432 road and bridge projects that would get a big boost from the new budget. The plan covers nearly $2 billion in cost overruns that had threatened to derail or delay a number of projects. The package includes about $3 billion in new construction over the next two years, about half in the congested and populous Puget Sound counties of King, Snohomish and Pierce.

Last night I had the honor of meeting Jim Gilchrist who is the founder of the Minuteman Project.  He was the guest speaker at the Spokane County Lincoln Day dinner.

During our talk he informed me just how bad illegal immigration has become.  I knew it was bad but what we learned last night was a shock.  This country is pretty much being invaded.  The only difference is they are not bringing weapons across the border with them.  Well, some of them are not anyways.  The drug dealers are. 

They come into this country and take our jobs.  It is great for Employers because they can pay them $4.00 an hour under the table instead of paying us Federal Minimum wage or higher.  Great for business but lousy for us. 

After learning what is happening in California with one town I almost choked on my food.  Schools in one town in California have a choice on learning American History now.  One version is the United States version and the other version is Mexico's version of American History.  I do not know about you but I am not liking this at all. 

I encourage everybody to go to www.minutemanproject.com to read more. 

Below is a very interesting article from that site.

Michael A. Novak (Political Warrior)

 

US workers may be significantly less literate in 2030 than they are today.

The reason: Most baby boomers will be retiring and a large wave of less-educated immigrants will be moving into the workforce. This downward shift in reading and math skills suggests a huge challenge for educators and policymakers in the future, according to a new report from the Educational Testing Service (ETS).

If they can't reverse the trend, then it could spell trouble for a large swath of the labor force, widen an already large skill gap, and shrink the middle class.

"There is no time that I can tell you in the last hundred years" where literacy and numeracy have declined, says Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston and one of the report's authors. "But if you don't change outcomes for a wide variety of groups, this is the future we face."

The decline in literacy is one of the more startling projections in a report that examines what it calls a "perfect storm" of converging factors and how those trends are likely to play out if left unchecked.

The three factors identified are: a shifting labor market increasingly rewarding education and skills, a changing demographic that include a rapid-growing Hispanic population, and a yawning achievement gap, particularly along racial and socioeconomic lines, when it comes to reading and math.

The individual trends have been identified before, but this study makes an effort to examine their combined effects, and to project a disturbing future, including a sharply declining middle class in addition to the lost ground in literacy.

"We have the possibility of transforming the American dream into the American tragedy," says Irwin Kirsch, a senior research director at ETS and the lead author of the study.

Ringing the alarm

He and the other researchers emphasize they're not saying the US is in any danger of collapse, or even that this grim scenario will come true. What they hope to do, they say, is call attention to urgent issues that affect not just many Americans' lifestyle, but the sort of democracy based on an informed middle class that the country was founded on.

"I hope it's viewed as an important warning sign," says Kurt Landgraf, president of ETS. "It's important for society to take notice of what's going on here in a macro way."

One factor that's been gaining increasing attention lately is the changing economic rewards in an economy in which demand for manufacturing and lower skilled labor is declining. It's become tougher for workers without higher education – or higher cognitive skills – to get the sort of job that can support a family.

But exacerbating the changes such an economic shift is causing are demographic factors, researchers say. Baby boomers are retiring and being replaced by less-skilled workers. A combination of immigration and population growth means that the share of the population that is Hispanic is expected to grow from 14 percent in 2005 to more than 20 percent by 2030. More than half of the immigrant Hispanics lack a high school diploma.

"Many immigrants enter [the US] without being able to read or speak English," says Mr. Landgraf. "Instead of forcing people to hide from the government infrastructure, we should be finding ways to include them in our society and help them bridge the language gap."

Turning to education

He and others suggest increasing attention and resources to early childhood education, to the social factors that affect young children, to continuing adult education, and to programs that keep kids from dropping out of school and address the achievement gap.

Some groups are already focusing on the issues, occasionally in surprising political coalitions.

Later this month, the US Chamber of Commerce – along with the liberal Center for American Progress and the conservative American Enterprise Institute – plans to release a report card grading states on their K-12 education in nine categories, together with an action agenda, says Arthur Rothkopf, a senior vice president at the Chamber of Commerce.

Solidarity with the Center for American Progress is unusual for his agency, he notes, "but we have to get the message out."

Like the ETS researchers, Mr. Rothkopf is particularly concerned about the growing mismatch of skills and workplace demands, and what that means for Americans' standard of living.

"We need to really rethink what we do," he says. "Hopefully this report among others will continue the drum beat."

 
Year after year I hear our Representatives talk about how they are for funding our childrens education. Then year after year I see the public schools not recieve the funding promised.

Washington State votes every year to raise our taxes on businesses, gas, and property to cover such important issues. Since we are paying the money for these important issues I would like an explanation on why our schools are getting budget cuts. Isn't our Representatives suppose to be representing our interest? Especially since they talk about education as a top priority.

Now I do see our colleges getting millions of dollars under the new budget plan that was unveiled. So why can't we fund our public schools?

KHQ-TV

SPOKANE, Wash. - Spokane Public Schools is predicting a $10.5 million funding challenge for the upcoming school year. This funding gap is mostly due to the state for not fully funding basic education programs as required. The Board of Directors are deciding which non-mandatory programs can be removed; amongst the list of reduction options include the closing of Pratt Elementary and removing Freshmen sports.

If funding is cut from high school sports, there would not be any place for 9^th-graders to play unless they were good enough to make varsity or junior varsity squads.

"I think there's a lot of kids out there who use that or it helps them to stay in school and perform when they might not otherwise do it , I'd hate to see that fall by the wayside and keep other things in place that I have some question about", says Mark Kamitomo, a parent of a local student.

There will be further decisions made at the April 25^th meeting at Willard Elementary School.

 

A friend emailed me this letter.  I found it very humorous.  Except for all of the benefits that an illegal immigrant recieves.  I am jeolous of that.

 

Becoming Illegal (From a Maryland resident to his senator)

The Honorable Paul S. Sarbanes
Senate Office Building
309 Hart
Washington DC, 20510

Dear Senator Sarbanes,
As a native Marylander and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.

My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted.

If my understanding of this bill's provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out.

Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.

Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.

Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as "in-state" tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United States for my son.

Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver's license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums. This is very important to me given that I still have college age children driving my car.

If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative.

Thank you for your assistance.

Your Loyal Constituent,
Pete McGlaughlin


Get your Forms (NOW)!! Call your Internal Revenue Service 1-800-289-1040.

Please pass this onto your friends so they can save on this great offer!!!!

 

I hear year after year from our Elected District 3 Representatives and Senator about how they support growth in construction and homebuilding.  But yet they never stand by what they say.  Below is an article once again proving my point. 

Notice what Senator Lisa Brown has to say about Senate Bill 5550.

 

Senate bill for home warranties languishes

Richard Roesler
Staff writer
March 30, 2007

One of the liveliest fights of this year's legislative session seems to have been fought to a standstill.

Weighing in on a bill that pitted a trial-lawyer legislator against the conservative home-building industry, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, is calling for more study of a Senate proposal to require transferable warranties on new homes.

The sponsor of Senate Bill 5550 said there's nothing to study. Sen. Brian Weinstein, D-Mercer Island, has said that the warranties many builders now provide are largely toothless documents that steer victims of shoddy construction into costly mediation before industry-picked mediators.

But the bill would be a huge mistake for both builders and home-buyers, according to the Building Industry Association of Washington.

The group said that Weinstein's proposal would dramatically drive up insurance costs for builders.

Result: Small companies would go out of business, jobs would be lost, and homes would cost much more, BIAW officials say.

Weinstein said history is simply repeating itself. In 1999, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles proposed a similar bill. It died in the statehouse amid vows from builders to study the issue and work out problems.

"Nothing's happened," Weinstein said. "They don't want to study the issue. They want to kill it."

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said the Senate will keep pushing for the bill.

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 I have discovered over a period of time that Eastern Washington has some of the greatest colleges in the Inland Northwest.  I have had the privilege to speak with a lot of graduating college students. 

I have learned from the talks with them that most of them are graduating buried up to their ears in student loans.  The other thing I have learned is that a lot of them are moving out of Washington State because there are no jobs or businesses for them to go to work at.

I personally find this very disturbing.  How can we make them want to stay in Washington State and go to work?  How can we give them a chance to have an education and start a life with little to no student loan debt?

After thinking long and hard on this I have come up with an idea that I will propose if elected in 2008.  I will call this bill the Student Loan Repayment Plan.  

For every year that a student who graduates from a Washington State college with a GPA of 3.0 or higher works in Washington State, the state will pay a percentage of what is left on your student loan.

I will also like to ask my opponent in the 2008 election to sign an agreement that he will never vote in favor of a tax increase without putting it on a ballot for the people to vote on first.  I strongly believe that these two items I will bring forward in the coming election can make a huge difference to the economy and working environment of Washington State.

 

 

I had a very interesting eye opening experience last night (2/25/2007) when I went and met a gentleman by the name of Marty at Truth Ministries.

Marty runs an area Homeless Shelter / Church.  It is an amazing thing what he is doing for the Homeless in the area.  But what I found even more amazing was the funding he recieves from the State of Washington.  The amount of money Truth Ministries recieves is NOTHING!!!  Their money comes from private donations and volunteers.  But yet he is the only real establishment that holds the people that arrive accountable. 

The other Homeless Sheltar I have had the opportunity to see is known as the House of Charity.  What is different between the two locations is amazing.  This location does not hold the people accountable for their actions.  They kick them out in the morning and let them back in at night.  Basically a big flop house that recieves Washington State funding.  What they do during the day is stand at the off ramp of the freeway.

Truth Ministries encourages them to go and find jobs.  Truth Ministries teaches them the Word of God and gives them hope again.

Now one other thing that has been brought to my attention is the fact that the Homeless recieve around $150 in Food Stamps and around $325 every month coming from other services in the area. .  There is more to all of this that I am still researching. 

The next part to this blog is related to what is known as "Man Down Calls". 

There is still a lot of interesting information being researched on this. 

Part 2 will be coming soon.