anti-Gas-Tax Loonies

The Barbarians are at the gates... and they're filing a law suite!

Anti-gas-tax group asks judge to keep state from collecting new
tax

By RACHEL LA CORTE - The Associated Press

OLYMPIA — Opponents of the new gas tax hike have asked a judge to prevent the state from collecting the added revenue prior to a deadline for signatures on an initiative aimed at overturning the 9.5-cent-per-gallon increase. ...

The No New Gas Tax Group is trying to collect 275,000 signatures on Initiative 912 and force a public vote this fall — something the tax foes hope will result in a rollback of the overall 9.5-cent increase.

At this year's legislative session, state lawmakers approved a 16-year, $8.5 billion transportation package anchored by the gas tax, currently at 28 cents per gallon. Automatic increases are authorized annually: an additional 3 cents in July 2006, 2 cents more a year later, and a final 1.5 cents in July 2008.

If it's all imposed, the average motorist will pay $1 a week more in gas taxes. The average impact of the first 3 cents is $16 a year. ...

The Legislature's plan is backed by the governor, key lawmakers, labor, environmentalists, and many business and civic leaders. Advocates have formed a
campaign called Keep Washington Rolling.

"I understand how frustrated a lot of citizens are," said Senate Transportation Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, an architect of the tax package. "Nobody ever wants to raise taxes but how do these people expect us to make these safety improvements? The longer you wait the more expensive it is."

Last week, while leading a trade mission to Europe, Gov. Christine Gregoire told reporters on a conference call that Washington's economic future depends in large part on fixing its transportation mess.

"To turn back now would be a terrible mistake," she said.

[ full article ]

These Rabid-Right-wing loonies want to "stick it to" Christine Gregoire and could care less if they ruin our states economy in the process. You can get some REAL FACTS at Keep Washington Rolling.

Anti-Gas Tax petition Gives me Gas

There are people wondering about with petitions, trying to get signatures to put I-912 on this falls ballot. The purpose of the Initiative is to repeal the increase in the Gas Tax. What a damned stupid idea!

Nobody loves a tax increase of any kind; but if you're an adult, you realize taxes are just part of paying your own way in life.

Projects in the new State Transportation Bill tackle problems that have been put off for many years, but can't be put off any longer without courting disaster. The State Legislature hammered out this bill and it passed by a pretty sizable margin.

TRANSPORTATION REVENUE--FUEL TAX

Passed by the Senate April 20, 2005

YEAS 26 NAYS 22

Passed by the House April 24, 2005

YEAS 54 NAYS 43

The people behind the anti-gas tax initiative [ Whoever they are!... they sure don't make it easy to find out. ] Say, 'the people didn't get to vote on the tax increase' ... but that's just plain silly! We elect our representatives to the State Legislature and they spend time looking into issues and making informed decisions.

The argument that we're paying for Seattles roads is kinda ditsy.
#1 Whatcom County is slated to get $56.6 million in transportation funds
#2 Seattle/King county is the economic engine of Washington state; if they don't do well, we don't do well up here.
#3 If you really crunch the numbers, King county always pays more in taxes than they get back in services.

But hey; If you don't believe me, read up on the subject for yourself.

• News: Tuesday, May 10, 2005
  Governor signs gas tax increase, transportation package
  
  
• 2005 Transportation Partnership Projects
  What does the 2005 Funding Package promise for future transportation investment in Washington?
  
  
• Thursday, June 16, 2005 - Editorial
  I-912 is backward policy on roads
  
  
• Washington State Council of Fire Fighters
  Think Before You Ink: Union Members Urged Not to Sign I-912
  
  
• Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO
  Decline to Sign I-912
  
  
• Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
  Initiative 912: Don't sign it!
  
  
• 2005 Washington Defense.
  A project of the Northwest Progressive Institute
  DECLINE TO SIGN I-912
  
  
• Fighting Initiative 912

how did we get here?

oh man! this is a great compilation! The Path of War Timeline - By Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane, Raw Story

i loved what randi said today....the reason they always want to talk about the future is they haven't lied yet in the future!

simple scottie in his snippy way dismisses questions...

Q Scott, on another topic, has the President or anyone else from the administration responded to the letter sent last month by Congressman John Conyers and signed by dozens of members of the House of Representatives, regarding the Downing Street memo? Has the President or anyone else responded?
MR. McCLELLAN: Not that I'm aware of.
Q Why not?
MR. McCLELLAN: Why not? Because I think that this is an individual who voted against the war in the first place and is simply trying to rehash old debates that have already been addressed. And our focus is not on the past. It's on the future and working to make sure we succeed in Iraq.
These matters have been addressed, Elaine. I think you know that very well. The press --
Q Scott, 88 members of Congress signed that letter.
MR. McCLELLAN: The press -- the press have covered it, as well.
Q What do you say about them?
Q But, Scott, don't they deserve the courtesy of a response back?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, this has been addressed. Go ahead.

made in America!!!!!

wake up sheeple! the life they have in mind for you is not pretty...... absolute power corrupts absolutely....as my friend Dorothy used to say, "they always tell you who they are" and she claimed it was usually one of the first things they did. now randi always "when they tell you who they are, believe them"

Backbone Campaign has a wealth of info collected.....



Who paid for Tom DeLay’s trips? The more interesting question is why he went to Saipan at all -- and what happened after he returned.
By Garance Franke-RutaIssue Date: 06.06.05


..........And the congressional rules that may yet ensnare DeLay suggest another truism: Congressional ethics operate according to the reverse-sieve effect -- instead of catching major ethical lapses that have injured the public interest for years while allowing piddling matters to slip through unmolested, the system captures small, technical rule violations. When it comes to substance, ethics rules have little to say, because in the strange Beltway calculus of right and wrong, engaging in flagrant acts of ethical turpitude is often known simply as policy making.

and this is how "hot tub tom" the bug man sees indentured workers, forced abortions after being forced to prostitution, living in squallor with no way out........

................."A free market success," DeLay calls Saipan's indentured worker system. If the Republicans take a drubbing at the polls in 2000, however, DeLay shouldn't be surprised if vengeance is in the air, even from his fellow Texas fat cats. Scores of textile plants in cities like El Paso and Dallas have had to shutter their doors in the face of cutthroat competition from companies like those in Saipan.

Ferndale > Pioneer Plaza?

A phone call to the Ferndale Planning Dept. produced the following information about the Pioneer Plaza Mall development:

• The Mall developers representatives have submitted an incomplete S.E.P.A. checklist to the City.
  
• Since there are missing element to the S.E.P.A. checklist and no development plan was submitted along with the checklist (as required) - the permitting process is not progressing.
  
• The Mall developers have met with other authorities (state & fed.) about wetland impact mitigation issues - No details known.
  
• The developers are required to submit a development proposal and have a neighborhood information meeting before the permitting process can go forward.
  
• There will (also) be multiple public meetings/hearings held by the City as part of considering the proposed mall development.
  
• Permits for a Mall development the size of the proposed Pioneer Plaza will not be rubber-stamped... There will be an extensive public process to considering the proposal.

Will we be run over by development?

Coming Soon to Ferndale?

Riverbend rips Friedman a new one!

i love her!!!!

............One thing I found particularly amusing about the article- and outrageous all at once-was in the following paragraph:"Religiously, if you want to know how the Sunni Arab world views a Shiite's being elected leader of Iraq, for the first time ever, think about how whites in Alabama would have felt about a black governor's being installed there in 1920. Some Sunnis do not think Shiites are authentic Muslims, and they are indifferent to their brutalization."Now, it is always amusing to see a Jewish American journalist speak in the name of Sunni Arabs. When Sunni Arabs, at this point, hesitate to speak in a representative way about other Sunni Arabs, it is nice to know Thomas L. Friedman feels he can sum up the feelings of the "Sunni Arab world" in so many words. His arrogance is exceptional. Sunday, May 29, 2005 post.

what is your eco footprint?

this simple little quiz will give you a ball park on how you measure up.

THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN THIS COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON. WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.
my score was 12. if everyone in the world lived like i do we would need 2.7 planets. oops!

http://ecofoot.org/

Depleted(not)Uranium

What if you knew there was nothing depleted about “depleted uranium? It is the by-product of processing natural uranium. It is 88% as radioactive as the original uranium. We have about 1.5 billion pounds, of "depleted uranium" at H-bomb factories in the US. It is used to make uranium bullets, shells, land mines and regular bombs. As we spread tons of DU in war zones, our troops get a heavy dose and it spreads throughout the world in the atmosphere. Uranium, one of the heaviest elements found in nature, increases in radioactivity as it decays. As we spread more and more of it in Iraq and Afghanistan it will be the “gift that keeps on giving”. The Lonestar Iconoclast has provided some very informative interviews at:
http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/xArchives/19_Issue/default.htm
Support Congressman Jim McDermott’s (D-WA) legislation to study the health and environmental impacts from the militaries use of depleted uranium in combat zones and clean-up of sites in the U.S. H. R. 2410 We should demand the truth about what is being done in our name. This is not a partisan issue. Most of us have children and grandchildren. I will let Representative Rick Larsen know I strongly support this legislation. http://www.house.gov/larsen


other links about DU...

Depleted uranium: Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets
A death sentence here and abroad
by Leuren Moret

“Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.” - Henry Kissinger, quoted in “Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POW’s in Vietnam”

Vietnam was a chemical war for oil, permanently contaminating large regions and countries downriver with Agent Orange, and environmentally the most devastating war in world history. But since 1991, the U.S. has staged four nuclear wars using depleted uranium weaponry, which, like Agent Orange, meets the U.S. government definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Vast regions in the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation.
full article

Depleted Uranium:The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War
LEUREN MORET /
World Affairs – The Journal of International Issues
1jul04

Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself.William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
The use of depleted uranium weaponry by the United States, defying all international treaties, will slowly annihilate all species on earth including the human species, and yet this country continues to do so with full knowledge of its destructive potential.
full article

Hmmm...Ohio again....

Howard Dean renews call for Bush to return money raised by Noe
By STEVE EDERBLADE STAFF WRITER

COLUMBUS - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean yesterday charged President Bush with using money during last year's campaign that was "tainted" by Toledo-area coin dealer Tom Noe, who is being investigated for allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars in Ohio money.The prominent Republican gained a special "pioneer" fund-raising status during Mr. Bush's re-election campaign last year because he helped collect $100,000 to $250,000 for the President. But now, Mr. Noe, who has received $50 million from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation since 1998 to invest in rare coins, could be facing civil and criminal charges for allegedly misappropriating at least $10 million of the state's money.

and the repugs respond.....
"Howard Dean's diatribe today illustrates that the Democrat Party not only lacks leadership but is overflowing with anger. His comment that a lot of Republicans have never made an honest living in their lives makes it clear that Dean's priority is to generate mudslinging headlines rather than engage in substantive debate. The record number of hard working Americans who voted for President Bush prefer leaders who address their concerns as opposed to attack their work ethic."

Riverbend

Americans shop and complain about the price of gas. we live our comfortable lives and fulfill our selfish desires. i spend most of my days trying to do things to bring sanity. i'm just one person but i will not stop. no bombs are going off in my town yet but there is no peace here. Riverbend weighs in from Iraq........



The Dead and the Undead...
She stood in the crowded room as her drove of minions stood around her... A huddling mass trying to draw closer to her aura of evil. The lights flashed against her fangs as her cruel lips curled into a grimace. It was meant to be a smile but it wouldn't reach her cold, lifeless eyes. It was a leer- the leer of the undead before a feeding...
The above was not a scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer- it was just Condi Rice in Iraq a day ago. At home, we fondly refer to her as The Vampire. She's such a contrast to Bush- he simply looks stupid. She, on the other hand, looks utterly evil.

wednesday may 18, 2005

the Filibuster

Our democrats fought off the power grab but these thugs will be back. CHIEF JUSTICE RENQUIST is tottering. the following post was made on my precinct blog before the compromise. the history lesson by Senator Byrd is a great investment in precious time. although judging from recent history this is pretty pie in the sky, it would be really cool if some of these moderate repubs would step up and say no to these corporatist, ethically-challenged nominees. at the very least i did hear today that they will be serving on panels. somehow i can't picture them playing well with others.
brace yourself effie, they'll be back!!!

Friday, May 20, 2005
Ending the filibuster.....
Also known as the “nuclear option”……..the republican party has decided that the rules of the senate, that have served us well for all these years, must go. This is a critical point in our history because what they are proposing to do will completely destroy our system of checks and balances. When I was talking with a friend today she was confused about what this talk of “nuclear option” was. The phrase was coined by Trent Lott in May of 2003.……The Hill quoted Lott using the term in a May 21, 2003, article: "'I'm for the nuclear option,' said Lott. 'The filibuster of federal judges cannot stand.'" And a June 25, 2003, Roll Call article quoted Lott saying of the nuclear option: "I am an advocate of that ... The Democrats are going to stop this or we are going to have to go nuclear."When the phrase didn’t poll well, as they started this latest assault, they changed it to the “constitutional option”. But they didn’t stop there. They started attributing the phrase “nuclear Option” to the democrats. They all stayed on message and soon the press was also attributing the democrats.The beauty of our system of government is that the minority always has a voice. And considering that the last election showed us to be split pretty much right down the middle we are a LARGE minority.Senators Byrd and Kerry gave amazing speechs on the senate floor yesterday. Senator Byrd’s history lesson should have brought every American to their senses!Senator Kerry was very presidential….This is a power grab that must be resisted. If you feel as I do, go up and support the democrats who are fighting as if our democracy depended on it.http://democrats.senate.gov/filibuster-form.cfmPeggy
# posted by peggy @ 10:13 PM

my letter to editor

in honor of Earth Day.....

Letters to the editor

We should focus on what we need

I sure hope the people of America will wake up soon. We are using up the resources of our Earth at breakneck speed. We must join with the rest of the world to figure out how we can all survive on this planet.
We are approaching peak oil worldwide or will in 10 minutes. As the oil that can be extracted decreases and become harder to pump, there won't be enough. No amount of military money spent or blood spilled will change that for any of us.
I rarely hear any of our leaders sounding the alarm. Every part of our lives will be changed. We are addicted to oil for transportation, energy, food production, manufacturing and more. We are facing tough times ahead, but if we start now we may soften the effects.
We should be treasuring our water as if our grandchildren's lives depended on it. We should be thinking about what we really need. Let's err on the side of caution and listen to the scientists warning about global warming. I hope people of all political stands and religious beliefs can come together and work with each other so our children and grandchildren will have a future.
Peggy Borgens
Ferndale

dick threatens America, again.....

only corporatist judges need apply.......
real Americans better stinkin' wake the flup up and do it yester frickin'day......they are stealin' all our resources including the blood of our children......and now they wish to take away the law....well, from us irrelevant pawns......here comes the ownership society!!!!.......and the fucking opiate is about to turn mean!!! specially for people like me and many others who are not guided by biblical teachings.......these people are just not that into you folks........

Cheney says he would vote to end filibusters if Senate deadlocks
By NEDRA PICKLER associated Press

..............WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney said Friday he would vote in the Senate to stop filibusters of judicial nominees if given the chance. That means President Bush is breaking his word to stay out of the fight over Senate rules, Democratic leader Harry Reid responded.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., wants to change Senate rules by banning judicial filibusters -- a tactic in which opponents can prevent a vote on a nomination with just 41 votes in the 100-member body. Minority Democrats have used the tactic to block confirmation votes on 10 of Bush's appeals court choices.

my sister can stand tall today as the presbutts, as she affectionately refers to her kind, showed the kind of patriotism and leadership we can all admire!!!!!


....................Today, the National Council of Churches will sponsor a conference call with journalists to denounce Frist's participation in the telecast, sponsored by Christian conservative organizations in order to build support for Frist's proposal. Among those speaking on the call will be Clifton Kirkpatrick, a top official of the Presbyterian Church USA. ''One of the hallmarks of our denominations is that we are an ecumenical church,'' said Kirkpatrick, in an interview on Thursday. He added that ''elected officials should not be portraying public policies as being for or against people of faith.''


and of course Americans United for Separation of Church and State are following and reporting on all.....(they get amazing audio!!!!!)

riverbend on media

i just loved this.....as i sit in the comfort of water and electicity flowing and watch the propaganda/dumbing down of America by this corrupt, murderous crime family that has seized our country, i have often thought a reality show where people get dropped in a war torn failed state would be a real show........she just totally nails it!!!!!!!!! great post on the state of media in Iraq..
(april 3 2005 post)
.........I have a suggestion of my own for a reality show. Take 15 Bush supporters and throw them in a house in the suburbs of, say, Falloojeh for at least 14 days. We could watch them cope with the water problems, the lack of electricity, the check points, the raids, the Iraqi National Guard, the bombings, and- oh yeah- the ‘insurgents’. We could watch their house bombed to the ground and their few belongings crushed under the weight of cement and brick or simply burned or riddled with bullets. We could see them try to rebuild their life with their bare hands (and the equivalent of $150)…I’d not only watch *that* reality show, I’d tape every episode.

they're just not that into us......

bolton didn't secure the loose nukes and now they want him to be a loose nuke.....the American people get dicked again......

After all, the administration still owes Bolton a political debt for his role in halting the Florida recount in the 2000 elections. Cheney, who consistently voted to cut funding for the United Nations while a member of the House, perhaps saw Bolton as an ally in opposing the new multilateralism of Bush’s second term. Additionally, Bolton, a protégé of Jesse Helms, would be particularly adept at deploying anti-UN voices in Congress—like Tom Delay—to champion a unilateralist agenda.


Steve Clemons
April 05, 2005

Please Tell Me It's Not So: Bush Hoping to Schmooze Chafee on Bolton Nomination Using Papal Funeral and Air Force One

This in. . .but please note that what I have is all rumor. No one will talk -- but the rumors indicate some effort by the White House to invest more in acquiring Senator Lincoln Chafee's "aye" vote in favor of John Bolton's confirmation hearings.

look over there, nothing to see here.......

just one of the little manuevers going on while everyone's attention is being directed to a family experiencing one of the most painful times any of us will ever face. as tom delay claims terri as sent to him personally by god(even tho, as Randi Rhodes so beautifully pointed out, he never bothered to go meet her. nor did the jebster. even tho she was very close by) these people are sick!! meddling in people's personal private business so they can use this case to divert our attention from the ethically challenged bugman and their plan to stack the courts....
and this preemptive strike is one more abuse of power they feel entitled to....hmmm....now will the president be running this thru the congress. and if so will they tell the truth??? people of the world if you have oil under your soil, be afraid , be very afraid........

Published on Saturday, March 19, 2005 by the Los Angeles Times

Policy OKs First Strike to Protect USPentagon strategic plan codifies unilateral, preemptive attacks. The doctrine marks a shift from coalitions such as NATO, analysts say

by John Hendren

WASHINGTON - Two years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon has formally included in key strategic plans provisions for launching preemptive strikes against nations thought to pose a threat to the United States.
......."The president has the obligation to protect the country," said Douglas J. Feith, the Defense Department's undersecretary for policy. "And I don't think that there's anything in our Constitution that says that the president should not protect the country unless he gets some non-American's participation or approval of that.""Our strength as a nation-state will continue to be challenged by those who employ a strategy of the weak using international [forums], judicial processes and terrorism," the document states.
......."Our strength as a nation-state will continue to be challenged by those who employ a strategy of the weak using international [forums], judicial processes and terrorism," the document states.
The concern, Feith explained, was that some nations would try to criminalize American foreign policy by challenging it in international courts.

Riverbend remembers

as we mark the 2 year anniversary of our initiation of the criminal "shock and awe" by the bush crime family in our name, be sure to check out Riverbend's perspective(march 23 entry) we continue to live in comfort. the shopping and consuming goes on...water and electricity flows....cheap gas flows(even tho the gas guzzlers whine and complain that the price is going up).....the tax cuts for the rich go on....everywhere i go most people act like the world is still the same as it was before the whack job criminal neocons seized power(most people believe they were elected)......and i don't even know how it feels to be shock and awed but there is no peace here....

.....Remember when the fear was still fresh- and the terror was relatively new- and it was possible to be shocked and awed in Iraq? post on 3-23-05

stand up real democrats!!!!!!

watch this race in pennsylvania for senate in 2006.. this guy is running a grass root progressive honest campaign against the anti-choice rick santorum(slimeball incumbent) and anti-choice candidate the dems are running....they are testing the anti-choice balloon and it would sure be great to have a real democrat beat them both!!!!! yo, DLC, we the people are going to be heard...are you with us or are you with the cons?
http://chuck2006.com/

what do you get for being george's uncle bucky?

paid!!!!!

crony capitalism and war profiteering at it's best!!! couldn't have worked out better if they'd planned it.

March 2, 2005
It's a Family Affair
Uncle Bucky Makes a Killing
By JEFFREY ST. CLAIR


...........Shortly after the attacks of 9/11, ESSI positioned itself to win a series of lucrative Pentagon contracts that would catapult the diminutive firm into the top ranks of defense contractors. Within a few short months, the company's shareholders were given the financial ride of their lives.
By the time of the Iraq war, ESSI was a brawny new player on the defense block. In the spring of 2003, ESSI acquired a military communications company called TAMSCO, whose prime activity was in developing military satellite terminals in the Gulf region and in US bases in Germany in anticipation of a US invasion of Iraq. After the ESSI buy-out, TAMSCO swiftly won contracts from both the Air Force and the Army for more than $90 million for the training of troops in the operation of the system and the installation of radar equipment in Kuwait.
...........As the flood of new contracts poured in, ESSI's stock soared. In January of 2005, it reached its all-time high of $60.39 per share. A few days before the stock hit this lofty peak, Uncle Bucky quietly exercised his option to sell 8,438 shares of ESSI stock. He walked away from that transaction with at least $450,000. The stock sale occurred a few days after ESSI announced that the Pentagon had awarded it $77 million in new contracts for the Iraq war and a few days before word leaked to the press that the company was under investigation for its handling of older Pentagon contracts. The timing of the trade was perfect.