Democrats meeting sparks exchange

From last week's Sentinel, in case you missed the October meeting!

http://goldendalesentinel.com/news/2010news/10-13-10_news.htm

Rebecca Gourley
Reporter

The Klickitat County Democratic Central Committee held their general meeting Monday night at the Dallesport Community Center. Although not Democrats, the two prosecuting attorney candidates, Lori Hoctor and Craig Juris, were invited to share their messages to the attendees. The first part of the meeting was described as a discussion rather than a traditional candidate forum.
Juris spoke first, and Hoctor followed. Juris wanted to stress the point that, “This position should be a non-partisan position.” The Democrats of Klickitat County will ultimately be the deciding factor in this race, Juris said. He then covered his experience as an attorney from college internships to his time in the prosecuting attorney’s office.
Hoctor explained that she wants to see a change in the office. “We don’t need to be punching walls and yelling down the hall when we lose a case,” she said. Hoctor added that doing bad things doesn’t make someone a bad person, referring to juveniles that are put through the judicial system. With plans to do more Stipulated Orders of Continuance (SOCs), Hoctor wants to “make a positive change.” SOCs, as explained by Juris, are situations where if people facing charges “behave themselves for six months,” their cases can then be dismissed. Hoctor stated she didn’t want to just put people in jail without trying to help them rehabilitate first. However, she says, murderers, child molesters, and other serious offenders should be punished without question.
Juris and Hoctor were given the opportunity to ask each other a question. Juris asked Hoctor, “Why, with all of the statistics, have there been so much negativity and personal attacks?” Hoctor responded that she didn’t think she’s been negative.
Hoctor asked Juris, “Why don’t you have the support of Keith Anderson [Juvenile Court Administrator]?” Juris answered that this is the first time he’s heard about this and he couldn’t comment. Tuesday morning, calls were made to the juvenile department in order to confirm Hoctor’s assertion that Anderson did not support Juris. Anderson responded, “In my position I cannot make a public stance on this,” referring to supporting either candidate. He added, “I am surprised she [Hoctor] said that publicly.”
On the subject of endorsing, both candidates were then asked what major supporters they have. Hoctor went first and stated she had the support of the sheriff’s office, juvenile probation, the city police, and others.
Juris reacted with, “Every one of those groups that were just mentioned has said they support me.” Juris stated that he had the support of 17 prosecuting attorneys statewide and the civil service commissioners.
After the discussion with the two Republican candidates, the gathering moved into the general meeting for the Klickitat County Democrats. Victoria Allen, Democratic candidate for Klickitat County, commented on her perception of the campaign so far. “The information being used against me is a lot of misinformation,” explained Allen. In previous candidate’s nights across the county, Darlene Johnson, Allen’s opponent, has used the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) report many times, Allen added. She said, “ [Johnson] has been looking at the whole process through the lens of the 2008 reassessment.” According to Allen, the “bad” numbers that Johnson refers to are from three years ago. “She’s only looking at the appraisal process, not the whole picture” added Allen.
Three Park and Recreation candidates for the west side of the county—Michael Solbach, Vern Harpol, and Dana Scheffler—were present as well. The three agreed on the importance of the Park and Recreation establishment in District 2. Solbach is in the race against two others for position 3. Scheffler and Harpol are opponents for position 4, although they don’t see it that way. “We are not running against each other,” said Harpol. All of them have the same goals and have agreed to do the same thing when elected. There are a total of five positions for the Park and Recreation District 2.
Paul Spencer, Democratic candidate for State Representative position 1, was present as well. He discussed what the Democrats’ strategy should be and how they want to get people out there to vote.
“There was not a good turnout for Democrats in the primary,” said Spencer. Although not discouraged, Spencer said he feels there needs to be more action on the Democrats’ parts in the southern part of Legislative District (LD) 15. LD 15 refers to parts of Clark and Yakima Counties, and all of Klickitat and Skamania counties.

Confusing Initiative Info

Bill Clinton said on Monday, "You have a choice – don’t be fooled, don’t be played, don’t stay home."

The text of the initiatives is confusing. The Voters’ Pamphlet statements are confusing. The TV commercials are way over the top. How are we supposed to make sense of it all?

Look at who’s behind and who benefits from each initiative.

Big lobbyists and out-of-state special interests have put over $50 million into pushing five ballot initiatives that would take money out of state services like education and health care and put it right into the pockets of big corporations. Only two statewide measures would actually invest in Washington’s future.

Here’s a closer look:

NO on 1053: Tim Eyman’s 2/3 requirement

Who’s behind 1053: Tim Eyman, BP Oil, Tesoro Oil, ConocoPhillips Oil, Bank of America.

Who benefits from 1053: Extremely partisan legislators who can hold our budget hostage; big companies enjoying tax loopholes.

Who loses under 1053: Voters who believe in the principles of democracy; taxpayers who want to close loopholes; services suffering under an all-cuts budget.

NO on 1082: Insurance industry takeover of workers’ comp

Who’s behind 1082: The Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), a longtime conservative political player.

Who benefits from 1082: Big insurance companies, the BIAW, and the conservative candidates funded by the BIAW’s warchest.

Who loses under 1082: Businesses who have to pay more in premiums; workers who are injured on the job.

YES on 1098: Cuts your taxes, raising money for education

Who’s behind 1098: Bill Gates Sr., Washington Education Association.

Who benefits from 1098: Kids, seniors, public schools, health care services, businesses, property owners, lower and middle class families would all benefit from better schools and better quality healthcare, small business benefit from elimination of the B&O tax, and property owners benefit from a property tax cut.

Who loses under 1098: Wealthy people who make over $200,000/year would pay a limited income tax on income above that threshold.

NO on 1100/1105: Unregulated hard liquor sales

Who’s behind 1100/1105: Wal-Mart, big grocery chains, out of state liquor distributors.

Who benefits from 1100/1105: Wal-Mart, big grocery chains, big liquor distributors, binge drinkers and underage kids.

Who loses under 1100/1105: City, county and state services would lose $700 million over 5 years; local craft brewers and Washington wineries would get pushed off the shelves; and alcohol-related crimes like drunk driving would increase.

NO on 1107: Soda pop tax

Who’s behind 1107: The American Beverage Association, national lobbyist for the big soda companies.

Who benefits from 1107: Soda pop companies.

Who loses under 1107: Kids, seniors, public schools and health care services would lose $100 million each year.

The election is vital to the Washington’s future. We already cut over $5 billion out of state and local services. You have a choice.

APPROVE R-52: Healthy schools

Who’s behind R-52: Representative Hans Dunshee (D-44) wants to make public schools a healthier place for children, so he referred this measure to the people.

Who benefits from R-52: Kids and teachers benefit from a healthier place to learn and work; construction workers benefit from new jobs; public schools benefit from saved energy costs.

Who loses under R-52: No one.

Voting YES on 1098, YES on R52 and NO on all the rest can help stop these painful cuts and put money back into our communities where it belongs.

Visit the Protect Washington website to find out more.

Same Old Same Old from the Party of NO

Congressional Republicans today released their “Pledge to America” – an agenda that simply repackages the same failed Bush-era Republican economic policies that helped cause the economic crisis: tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires; fewer regulations governing corporations and special interests; and just leaving middle class families to fend for themselves.

Rather than charting a new course, Republicans are simply doubling down on those same failed policies, policies that hurt America’s middle class. Republicans’ priorities are clear:

• Hold tax relief for middle class families hostage in order to pass tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires by borrowing $700 billion America can’t afford – despite the fact that the nonpartisan CBO says passing those tax cuts for the wealthy would be one of the least effective ways to grow the American economy or boost job creation.

• Increase taxes for 110 million middle-class families and tens of thousands of American businesses by ending Recovery Act tax cuts and cutting off tens of thousands of Recovery Act projects – projects ranging from highway construction to clean energy to environmental recovery – and thereby putting hundreds of thousands of American jobs at risk.

• Putting insurance companies back in the driver’s seat of Americans’ health care by working to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act – if they succeed, they’ll roll back the new Patient’s Bill of Rights, increase seniors’ prescription drug costs, eliminate safeguards that protect Americans from unfair premium increases, and force small businesses that offer health insurance to their employees to pay higher taxes.

• Take us back to an era of recklessness and irresponsibility by slashing regulations and the oversight of special interests including big oil, big insurance, Wall Street banks, and credit card and mortgage companies.

• Increase America’s deficit by trillions of dollars by going back to the same failed economic policies that turned a record surplus into a record deficit – all while making drastic cuts to government services that would force Head Start to drop 200,000 children, end child care subsidies for 110,000 working parents, and cut 3,800 correctional officers at federal prisons.

Republicans’ “Pledge to America” is also notable for its omissions. It doesn’t talk about:

• Protecting Social Security and Medicare from privatization,

• Making investments in high-quality education for America’s children.

• Working to grow critical industries like clean energy and manufacturing.

• Or working to rebuild America’s crumbling roads, rails, and runways.

The “Pledge to America” is quiet simply a repeat of the same agenda that caused the worst recession since the Great Depression, resulted in the loss of 8 million jobs, wiped out trillions of dollars of American families’ savings, and set middle class families backward. Instead of making a pledge to the American people to do better, Republicans have made a pledge to special interests to bring back the same failed economic policies that benefited them at the expense of middle class families.

Thanks Dwight Pelz, WSDCC Chairman

http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/09/22/gop-pledge-to-america-looks-unlikely-to-inspire.html?ocid=twitter

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/120523-boehner-offers-no-solutions-on-medicare-social-security-reform

Sign of the Times

This morning, the first of several 4x8 Patty Murray signs went up in Klickitat County. Using their best engineering and mathematical skills, Jim Minnick and Lloyd DeKay fabricated a frame and stand for the sign on location at the Milestone Nursery on Hwy 14 in Lyle using scrap 2x4s and plywood. The proprietors wisely marked the property line so we would be sure to be legal!

Now the well constructed Victoria Allen for Assessor sign will have some company! Here is the view looking westward ho:

And here is the perspective heading eastward, out of town:


We have several more of these large signs, and they need good spots as soon as possible! If you have a place for one, contact Bob Hansen, bobhansen@gorge.net or Lorrie DeKay, lorriedk@gmail.com.

Fact Check on Tea Party Rally Untruth

This was published in the Goldendale Sentinel, and carried in the White Salmon Enterprise this week ('Tea Partier says soldiers overseas won't be able to vote'), right next to the article on Sunday's tea party in Dallesport (with no photo by the way). Time to demand truth from these righteous and indignant folks. We can start with the estimates of the crowd. Klickitat Democrats who attended estimated quite a bit less than the 1500 plus organizers touted. One of our own even bothered counting cars in the parking area (about 200). They must have all been full SUVs and minivans to reach those numbers.

Thank you, Mr. Marzeles. Keep up the honest and factual reporting. It's just too bad that most people who were there will remember what Mr. Smith said rather than the facts published later. Maybe it's a good thing there were fewer people there than they claim. Let's hope they didn't spread the bad info. This pattern of ignoring facts while spouting inflammatory rhetoric to win votes for your far right candidates is truly evil.

While you're checking things out, take a look at Jesse Burkhardt's editorial in the Enterprise this week.

Military votes will count this fall

Lou Marzeles
Editor

It was a day of speeches and a day of a few surprises—and a day of a surprising speech.
At Sunday’s Tea Party event, speaker Jerry Smith told the crowd that Washington State residents serving in the military overseas might not be able to vote in this year’s election, a comment which astonished many.
Smith says he was passing on what he’d learned in news media. “It was all over the major media,” he says, “The Washington Times and others.” When he heard of adverse reaction to his comment, Smith says he checked online on Monday. “I Googled ‘military voters plus Washington,’” he reports.
What he discovered was that a number of states were struggling to get extensions on their federal deadlines for overseas military ballots because of how late many elections were certified. Washington had been one of those states, but it has succeeded in securing an extension.
In Washington, ballots go out next week to overseas military personnel who are legal residents of the state. The move is designed to ensure that Washington military voters have ample time to record and return their votes.
The state applied and was approved for what is called an undue hardship waiver for military personnel, to allow them adequate time to vote. In a letter dated Aug. 27 of this year, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Lynn S. Simpson wrote to Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed acknowledging approval of this waiver.
“Under delegated authority from the Secretary of Defense,” the letter states in part, “I have reviewed the State’s application, consulted with the representative of the Attorney General of the United States, and find it meets the requirements for a one-time undue hardship waiver… Accordingly, I approve the State of Washington’s request to waive the application of Section 102(a)(8)(A) of UOCAVA” for this year’s election. “UOCAVA” is the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act as amended by the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act) governing such matters.
Essentially, the waiver permits Washington to allow overseas military voters to get their votes in time to be counted in the fall general election. Ballots returned electronically may be received up to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Altogether 33 states have moved to ensure that their military personnel will be allowed to vote in this year’s general election, according to various news reports. The total number of military personnel accommodated by these states is close to three million. Most states have taken steps to accommodate overseas military voting through the internet. This comes after some 22 percent of military votes were unable to be counted in time during the 2008 election because of delays in retrieving votes from great distances.

What's Up with I-1082?

Over the next few weeks we'll be posting links about the Initiatives and Referenda on the fall ballot.

Let's start with this one, since it's gotten less attention than some of the others! At the Washington State Democrats Convention in June, a NO vote on I-1082 was endorsed.

The ad clip is REALLY hokey. I really don't like things that yell at me like a used car or mattress salesman doing his own homegrown ads. Who makes these things? I know kids in middle school who do better video production. I hope they didn't pay much for it. Anyway, check out the link for more info. It's more sane.

Why you should vote NO on I-1082:

Five Facts About I-1098

Five Facts Every Voter Should Know About I-1098:

1. I-1098 would finally reform our state's outdated tax system by establishing a progressive income tax on the wealthiest 1.2 percent of households.

2. I-1098 would generate $2 billion per year dedicated to a trust fund for education, the top priority established in our state constitution, and critical health care programs.

3. I-1098 would cut state property taxes for all Washingtonians by 20 percent and eliminate B&O taxes for 81 percent of small businesses.

4. Even the wealthiest households would pay taxes on only income earned above $400,000 a year for couples or $200,000 for individuals.

5. The recession has forced devastating cuts to education and health care services that threaten our state's future. More than 40,000 Washingtonians have lost basic health coverage and 2,600 education jobs have been eliminated in the last two years. Initiative 1098 will help reverse these cuts and put Washington back on track.

Please share with your friends and neighbors!

Update:
The SeattlePI.com editorial board came out strongly in favor of I-1098 today, in its first ever editorial, calling it a "watershed on who we are and where we want to go as a state."