Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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Before the campaign promises of more jobs and renewed prosperity fade away, elected officials need to understand that those promises must be kept. Our nation needs jobs and new revenue, but the critical question is, “How?” Make no mistake; President Obama and Congress have a daunting task ahead. First, they must understand that our problems won’t be solved by just heaping more taxes on families and small businesses making more than $250,000 a year. Families need to be able to save for their retirement or their kids...
When you peel off the layers and get beyond the rhetoric, this year’s presidential election is about government control. President Obama wants government to have a greater say in our daily lives, while Gov. Romney advocates for greater personal responsibility and private sector solutions. The path our nation — and to a lesser extent, our state — takes on Nov. 6 will have repercussions far beyond this one election. Before we opt for more government control, we should look at what happened to Poland, a country of 38.5 mi...
In 1951, if farmer Henry Bakken had told you there was oil under his prairie land in Williston, N.D., you would have thought he was a few bricks short of a load. As it turns out, he was right. North Dakota’s economy is going gangbusters, thanks to millions of barrels of oil being recovered from what today is known as the Bakken formation. The Bakken formation stretches about 200,000 square miles beneath Montana, North Dakota and Saskatchewan. The U.S. portion of the Bakken is estimated to hold up to 10 billion barrels of o...
Elections are always important, but the stakes are particularly high this year with our economy stuck in neutral and threatening to slip into reverse. The economy will move forward only when employers feel confident enough to begin hiring. The choices voters make this November will either strengthen or weaken employer confidence. When you mark your ballot, ask yourself, “Will my vote help create real private-sector jobs for me and my family? Will my vote put us on the path to reducing our crushing federal debt? Will my v... Full story
When the so-called Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law, President Obama promised that health care would be affordable and repeatedly assured Americans that if they liked their health plan and their doctor, they could keep them. Neither promise has come true. Millions of people are losing their preferred coverage, tens of thousands of doctors plan to retire rather than deal with the ACA, and costs are skyrocketing. Last March, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) doubled the original cost estimate of “Obamacare” to... Full story
Have you ever traveled to another state for your job, perhaps to attend a business meeting or a conference? Most people have. But few people realize that they may owe income taxes in that other state. In all, 41 states levy a tax on the income earned by nonresident employees during their time in the state, even if they’re just attending a conference. Each state calculates its tax differently — 24 states levy the tax from the very first day, while 17 others, including Oregon, Idaho and California, set thresholds of how lon...
Recently, Matthew Rose, CEO of BNSF Railway, visited editorial boards in Vancouver, Spokane, Seattle and Bellingham to talk about a variety of issues related to increased train traffic. However, the 800-pound gorilla in the room was not train traffic, but the commodity those trains would carry: coal. In Washington, coal has been shipped by train for decades. Currently, about three to four coal trains a day pass through Clark County. Rose said it’s hard to predict specifics at this point, but if proposed export terminals at L...
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney tell voters they want manufacturers to stay in America and create new jobs. The president even promised an audience in New Hampshire that he’d create 4.5 million new jobs, half of those in manufacturing. Why all the talk about manufacturing? Our country is the world’s largest manufacturing economy with 21 percent of the global manufactured goods produced here. China is second at 15 percent, and Japan is third at 12 percent. U.S. manufacturing supports an estimated 18.6 million jobs, with one in si...
President Obama’s national health care law was passed with lofty promises but no details. Few lawmakers read the 2,000-plus page bill before voting on it, but supporters promised it would expand access to health care, cut health care costs and — most importantly — allow people to keep their coverage and their doctors if they wished. Those have turned out to be broken promises. First broken promise: you can keep your health plan and doctor if you like. President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that, if they liked... Full story
Poland and the U.S. are like two trains passing each other in opposite directions. Poland broke the shackles of Soviet domination two decades ago with the rise of Lech Walesa and the Solidarity labor movement. Free for the first time since World War II, Poland cast off its yoke of government control and central planning in favor of an American-style free enterprise system. Today, Poland is the European Union’s largest eastern economy, the only member of the 27-nation bloc to avoid a recession in 2009. While most of E...
President Obama’s national health care law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), will extend health care coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans. But health care coverage isn’t the same as health care. The problem is a shortage of doctors. The New York Times reports that, just as the ACA is poised to add millions to the health insurance rolls, the U.S. is on the brink of a critical doctor shortage. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that by 2015, the U.S. will have 62,900 fewer doctors than nee... Full story
It’s hard enough for employers to cope with hundreds of new regulations passed each year, added to the tens of thousands of regulations already on the books. But now, agencies are adding insult to injury by imposing standards that are impossible to meet. The Small Business Administration estimates employers spend $1.75 trillion dollars a year complying with federal regulations, a burden that falls heaviest on small businesses, America’s job engine. The SBA reports it costs small employers more than $10,500 per employee to... Full story
Some activists believe there is no such thing as a good dam; that we should destroy all dams to restore fish runs, no questions asked. A more balanced approach would be identifying dams we can live with and dams we can live without. When the Elwha Dam was completed in 1913, people cared more about electrifying the Olympic Peninsula than protecting migrating... Full story
In 1975, Central Washington University (CWU) President Jim Brooks approached the Association of Washington Business with a concept of linking business leaders, teachers and high school students together to learn first-hand about what makes our free enterprise system tick. Brooks proposed that employers not only sponsor students and teachers but also spend a week with them on the CWU campus. They would form 10-person companies, compete against one another...
Apparently, the battle for clean energy can be a very dirty business. For years, the Sierra Club has been waging an all-out war to end the use of coal. Dubbed “Beyond Coal,” the campaign includes a hit list of coal projects the Sierra Club is targeting, including “green” projects designed to reduce coal plant emissions to zero. The Sierra Club is getting help in its war on coal from the Obama administration. Not surprising, since candidate Obama famously warned that, as president, he would endeavor to bankrupt the coal in...
Any realtor will tell you people looking to buy a home want good schools and safe neighborhoods. They also look for decent roads for when they head to the mountains or the beach during holiday weekends, such as Memorial Day or July 4. They want to know that if they are in an accident, someone will respond quickly to help them. While Washington needs more money to build new highways and repair existing roads, streets and interstates, one area in which our state excels is emergency response. In our state, if a vehicle is... Full story
We all know about the nation’s weak economy and tough job market, but the prolonged recession is hitting high school and college students as well. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the number of high school students with jobs is at its lowest level in more than 20 years. In 1990, 32 percent of high school students held jobs, compared to 16 percent today. The anemic economy is largely to blame. According to the Washington Times, sectors that traditionally offer teens their first gig, such as f...
During his term as Washington’s governor, Gary Locke’s mantra was “education is the great equalizer.” Locke, now the U.S. Ambassador to China, was correct, but in our country, today education is becoming the great separator. Here’s the problem. First, far too many students drop out of high school — nearly 7,000 each day. That adds up to about 1.2 million students a year who don’t graduate with their peers. The consequences are clear. Forbes reports that in 2009, the average high school dropout made $19,540 a year, 40 percent... Full story
The economic news is bad. The U.S. economy added just 69,000 jobs in May, less than half the expected number, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised down jobs figures for the two previous months as the unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent. Amidst all the bad news, politicians are debating what the federal government can do to make things better. One suggestion is to stop making things worse. Two things slowing our economic recovery are uncertainty and regulatory overload. When employers are unsure of what will happen nex...
There comes a time when enough is enough. No more excuses, no more delays. In 1986, hospitals, local governments, schools, small businesses and doctors were fed up with the high cost of personal injury lawsuits and liability insurance. They successfully lobbied for tort reform legislation, which was signed into law by Gov. Booth Gardner. Fast-forward to 2012 and you see that same tipping point with our public schools. Taxpayers are tired of hearing, “Just give us more money and we’ll fix our schools.” We’ve been there,...
Activists waging a national war on coal have turned their sights on the Pacific Northwest, targeting proposed shipping terminals in Washington and Oregon that would export coal to China. They’re aggressively lobbying federal officials to change how these projects are evaluated. If they succeed, our economy could become a casualty of the war on coal. Currently, such projects undergo a rigorous environmental review known as an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) involving months or even years of public hearings and analysis b...
In 1942, the completion of Grand Coulee Dam was hailed as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Seventy years later, most of us aren’t aware of what that dam or the others on the Columbia River continue to do for us. To commemorate Grand Coulee’s completion, the Bonneville Power Administration commissioned legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie to write songs praising the dam that harnessed the mighty Columbia River. Guthrie toured the region from the Bonneville Dam to Grand Coulee, and within a month he had written 26 songs,...
On April 21, 1962, the Seattle World’s Fair opened. The “Century 21 Exhibition” ran for six months, drew 11 million visitors, turned a profit and left the Northwest with a wonderful Seattle Center. A half century later, many of the fair’s landmarks remain, and the Center’s 73-acres is a gathering place for people from all walks of life. It is Seattle’s Central Park. The Space Needle has become Seattle’s landmark. Conceived in an architect’s notebook, it was constructed in eight months at a cost of roughly $3 million in priv... Full story
When you talk about state health insurance exchanges, people’s eyes glaze over. (See, it’s happening right now). The subject seems far too complicated and confusing. But we need to talk about them because, as you read this, state bureaucrats in Olympia are making decisions that will affect the cost and availability of your health care benefits. Your insurance company isn’t taking part in the state exchange? It doesn’t matter. The rules will still affect your choices and your costs. State exchanges are a creature of the fed... Full story
Adversity often brings out the best in people. We find ways to pitch in and solve problems that government can’t. Since the recession began, non-profit organizations have seen a big increase in volunteerism, and as state and local governments are forced to slash public services, volunteers are coming forward to pick up the slack. For example, after the City of Las Vegas laid off half of its park maintenance staff, neighbors put together volunteer work crews to pick up trash, wash picnic benches, trim shrubs and paint the c...