Washblog

Snohomish County Executive wants vote-by-mail

Snohomish County Aaron Reardon has a great idea to put vote-by-mail on the November ballot after the GOP dominated County Council voted not to enact vote-by-mail.

His reasoning? Money.

"It comes down to priorities," he said. "It's more prudent to fund senior centers and the law and justice system and veterans affairs than it is to buy polling equipment."

Saving $1.2 million right off the top, Executive Reardon understands that money can be much better spent on the citizens of Snohomish County instead of exotic touchscreen machines that are currently experiencing a 20% error rate during elections.

One nice subset of the article is the notable absence of resident crackpot Bob 'tin foil hat' Williams of the EFF, and his typical unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that vote-by-mail equals fraud. Oregon has been doing it since 1998, find any evidence of fraud, Bob?

Coverage of Katrina victims

Last night, Faux news brought in Jack Chambless, a cheap labor apologist, to argue against having our government (FEMA) provide economic assistance to the hurricane victims, something he has espoused before:

"I'm a native of Oklahoma and we have tornadoes. There's virtually no place in America that doesn't get hit with snowstorms or earthquakes. That's why it makes no sense to have FEMA bailing out these areas"

I can't think of a more inappropriate time, nor a more callous attitude, at such a grave time for the residents of New Orleans.

Oh, and if you are white, you 'find' food. If you are black, you are a looter.

Hurricane defense on the cheap

Because of the policies of the Bush Administration it turns out that the entire city of New Orleans became a casualty of the Iraq War.

Scott from mydd.com sums it up for me:

To be fair, hindsight is 20/20. And stronger levees would have done nothing to prevent the massive destruction in places like Biloxi. But it's now clear that a number of warnings, ignored by the Bush administration, could very well have diminished the massive extent of the disastrous flooding in New Orleans.

My thoughts are with the brave citizens of New Orleans and the sorrounding area, and hope the rescue teams find the stranded at this desperate hour. Please donate to the relief effort via the Red Cross.

"It's basic logic"

Putting progressive policy into action, Ken Stark, the director of the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse for the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse at the Department of Social and Health Services has been a catalyst in reallocating $51 million towards treatment.

Research by the division discovered that by preemptive investing in treatment, agencies and state departments save substantial amounts of money that traditionally goes to jails and prisons, medical and psychiatric care, and foster care needed because of alcohol and other drug abuse. The research shows clearly that indivudials that recieve proper treatment with a year are anywhere from 60-80% less likely to be arrested again for drug-related crimes. 

Dear Boeing Executives

In 2004, Alan R. Mulally, Executive VP President & CEO of the Boeing Company, raked in $4,834,610 in total compensation including stock option grants from Boeing Company.

From previous years' stock option grants, the Boeing Company executive cashed out $792,560 in stock option exercises.

And Alan R. Mulally has another $1,757,540 in unexercised stock options from previous years.

From a recent Wichita newspaper column, an appropriate feeling going into the machinists' strike:

Here's a letter I think many Wichitans would like to see delivered by special courier to some Boeing Co. executives on a Saturday morning in the near future.

Dear valued Boeing executive: We appreciate the many years that you have faithfully served your respective companies in corporate management.

But we regret to inform you that you will not be offered employment after the Boeing/Onex sale is completed.

In fact, the board of directors has decided that the entire top management of both companies should be canned, effective immediately.

Do not report for work Monday. Your office has been locked and shuttered, and security officers have been given instructions to Taser you on sight.

In a fairer world, we would have liked to deliver this discouraging news in person.

Then again, that is the beauty of globalization -- this letter is a lot easier.

It is only fair that we explain the rationale for these terminations (that's more than you gave Boeing workers, right?).

In conducting a broad performance audit, and reviewing your personnel file, we identified several opportunities for squeezing out more corporate earnings.

One obvious area is executive salaries and pensions.

When Republicans run local government

The good republicans in Spokane have been following the Grover Norquist rule of government to a tee - cut off revenue, then privatize city services. Fortunately for the citizens of Spokane, the Mayor has lost all political capital, so selling off Joe Albi Stadium wont happen this year.

Managing traffic and growth

A reoccurring theme from a sampling of voters taken by the Everett Herald is concerns about over-development with higher property taxes as a byproduct, but no perceived benefits for the increased taxes. Roads and other services are seemingly unchanged:

"Getting the roads unclogged and repaired is paramount. The initiative to do away with the gas tax must be defeated. Something has to be done to improve the roads, and the gas tax is the best way to do it."

Mike Carter, Everett

"Crime. I've lived here 28 years and hadn't experienced any problems until the last two. My van was stolen, car windows broken, business vandalized. Police were contacted, and all they did was take reports."

Doug Gemmell, Everett

"Why can't we elect people who will represent us? We elect these people to represent us and then they get in, force their opinions into issues, and seem to forget about the voter - unless you have donated a substantial amount to their campaign."

Tom Jones, Everett

Following Katrina

By now you've probably heard about Hurricane Katrina, which is currently off the coast of Louisiana and poised to hit land within a few hours. The city of New Orleans has been under mandatory evacuation orders for hours, and it's estimated that at least 80% of the city's population has left - over a million people leaving the greater metropolitan area.

But thousands remain - many taking refuge in the New Orleans Superdome. NOAA's National Hurricane Center is warning that there will intense devastation in the areas where the hurricane hits. Katrina is borderline between Categories 4 and 5 (5 is the worst).

For complete Hurricane Katrina coverage from a local perspective, visit Pacific Northwest Portal's special coverage section.

Checking in

White girls gone poof and urine. Just goes to show that the 'media' is only as liberal as their corporate owners allow them to be.

Tort Deform with George Lakoff

With the initiatives I-330 and I-336 on the ballot statewide this November (regarding capping and limiting malpractice lawsuits), its a good time to listen to what George Lakoff has to say on the subject of one of the right-wings' favorites: 'Tort Reform'

Q: Professor Lakoff, why have conservatives made such a major issue of “tort reform” and “lawsuit abuse”?

Lakoff: For two main reasons. The conservative worldview includes the fundamental belief that business is only about profits. They believe that anything that interferes with the opportunity to maximize profits, including the range of protections that are so important for society, should be eliminated or at least severely restricted. And of course, lawsuits to compensate for injuries and to punish those who knowingly caused them are some of those socially important protection mechanisms that can diminish profits.