Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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Everybody associates March 17 with St. Patrick’s Day, that one holiday in which we are all encouraged to wear green. Around the Capitol last week, March 17 brought a different meaning of "green." That morning, the state Economic Revenue and Forecast Council announced the first state-revenue forecast for this year showed a surprisingly large increase of $3.3 billion through the 2021-23 budget cycle and $5.2 billion over the next four years. It is the largest positive q...
Last week, the Legislature got a terrific piece of news. State tax collections have rebounded despite one of the worst economic situations we’ve ever faced. The latest projection adds $3.3 billion, and we’re right back where we were before COVID-19-related shutdown orders. The strange thing about it was the reaction of our Democratic colleagues. They said they wouldn’t let this good news stand in the way of their effort to impose an income tax on the people of Washi...
America’s media is suffering from a truth deficit leaving many to wonder where to go for honest, reliable and accurate information. Unfortunately, it is not the mainstream or social media. Last month Forbes magazine found for the first time, fewer than half of all Americans acknowledge any kind of trust of major media. The information was captured in Edelman’s annual trust barometer. “Fifty-six percent of Americans, for example, said they agreed with the following state...
At 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 14, daylight saving time for 2021 will begin, clocks will spring forward an hour, and Washingtonians will once again ask themselves how this annual ritual is even still a thing we all must do. The supposed reason for daylight saving time is for us to make better use of natural daylight during the spring and summer. However, the practice of shifting back and forth between daylight saving time and standard time has proved to be a dangerous and...
We are fast approaching the halfway point of the 2021 legislative session. There have been some challenges conducting business as usual for the Legislature during this unusual time in our lives. The governor’s decision to close off a large portion of the Capitol grounds to the public is concerning, as are his ever-changing metrics and policies when it comes to reopening our state. I’m very pleased that all parts of our state have been able to move to Phase 2 of the latest reop...
In the past 22 years, by working together with our thousands of heroic supporters, we’ve qualified 17 statewide initiatives for a public vote. They all limited the governments’ power over us and have saved taxpayers $46.9 billion (please make “$46.9 billion” a hyperlink to: https://permanentoffense.com/about-us/). And our four 2/3-vote-to-raise-taxes initiatives have saved taxpayers billions more by stopping and deterring tax increases. While other initiatives spend $1.2 million to qualify, we averaged $672K because we run...
British historian Thomas Macaulay famously said, “The best government is one that desires to make the people happy, and knows how to make them happy.” That standard is clearly not what people are experiencing in Washington state. For years, leaders in state government have been increasing the tax burden and imposing ever-tighter regulations that limit personal opportunity, lower household incomes and fall hardest on working people, middle-class families and small business own...
There’s an old story about Elizabeth Willing Powel, the wife of the Philadelphia mayor, asking Benjamin Franklin, as he left the Constitutional Convention, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” To which Ben Franklin supposedly answered: “A republic, if you can keep it.” This legislative session, which started on Jan. 11, will require you as a citizen to work harder than ever to keep our representative democracy…well…representative. Access to democracy is a majo...
There is no question SB 5096 would impose an income tax in Washington state. The Federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) unequivocally says a capital gains tax is an income tax. If enacted, SB 5096 would be the first stand-alone income tax on capital gains in the country. No other state without a personal income tax has a capital gains tax, and those states that do tax capital gains income collect the tax through their state income tax code. Officials in every state revenue...
Key findings include: 1. Farmers and ranchers have been negatively affected by the lockdowns, despite being deemed essential services. Median farm households in Washington lost $821 in 2019. 2. Washington farms generate $10.2 billion for our economy. 3. To earn a 20 percent profit margin, farms must earn more than $5 million annually. Only 324 farms in Washington did that in 2017. 4. When lawmakers increase taxes on farmers and ranchers, the immediate effect is a reduction in...
Despite this difficult and challenging year, I hope all of you were able to enjoy Christmas and the holiday season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many families couldn’t gather with relatives, which made the holidays feel less enjoyable and more distant. Like so many of you, my wish for 2021 is for COVID-19 to be under control so that we all may resume our normal lives. The year 2020 has brought suffering and hardship to many here in our communities, and throughout America and...
While the coronavirus and its devastating effects on people and economies worldwide were unfortunately the top 2020 stories, the massive impact of western wildfires can’t be ignored. It was catastrophic. The National Interagency Fire Center’s western states tally shows a record 8.6 million acres were incinerated in 2020 compared with 4.6 million acres in 2019. In Washington just over 700,000 acres were burned; however, California and Oregon were not as fortunate. By com...
Despite the budget being balanced, billions in reserve, and projected revenue growth of 7.2%, Gov. Jay Inslee is yet again proposing an income tax on capital gains in his new budget. The Governor, however, claims that this type of tax isn’t an income tax. What does he know that the IRS and every other state across the country doesn’t? IRS: “You ask whether tax on capital gains is considered an excise tax or an income tax? It is an income tax. More specifically, capital gains...
As we enter the 10th month of the COVID-19 crisis, I find myself looking forward to this Christmas season. Festivities and celebrations will undoubtedly look different, and some traditions and customary gatherings may not be feasible this year – but holiday spirit is just as important as ever. As it is for most Christians, Christmas time is a sacred and special time for my family because it is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ and the salvation of humanity. It is a time of hope and faith, community and family, and k...
“One of the biggest challenges of the 21st Century is dealing with the progress of the 20th Century – especially old computers, monitors, cellular phones and televisions. These appliances depend on hazardous materials, such as mercury, to operate. After a five-to-eight year useful life, many are tossed into dumpsters and sent to landfills where those hazardous materials can leach into the soil, streams and groundwater.” That was the opening paragraph of a column I wrote 20 ye...
The facts are COVID-19 has cost the city in lost tourism dollars as many events were cancelled. Sprague Days, Little League and other softball tournaments, plus several events at our Historical Railroad Museum just to name a few. The schools certainly have been impacted by the pandemic with their many community functions. Senior graduation was scaled back, but to the school and parents’ credit, they found a way to make it memorial for the graduating class. They all deserve m...
It’s no secret that airlines and airplane manufacturers have been clobbered by the coronavirus pandemic. Particularly hard hit are international flights traditionally flown by jumbo jets. Borders are closed and people aren’t flying. There is a small silver-lining. Just as restaurants started take-out service to survive, airlines are filling planes with freight. U.S. airlines are reeling from the pandemic and have lost more than $20 billion combined in the last two quarters. Ev...
There’s no other way to say it, 2020 has been just an awful year. It is difficult to believe anything good can come from this mess but I’m really excited to see that one silver lining to our collective misery will be the opportunity for more public participation across the state during the 2021 Legislative Session. With news that lawmakers will primarily be conducting business remotely next year also comes the exciting announcement of expansive remote testimony for cit...
Ever since I was lucky enough to become the Executive Director at the WIAA, I’ve told our staff and membership that we are in the memory-making business. Those memories can be made in any town, large or small, in any sport or activity, at a mid-week practice, a senior night, or a State Championship final. As a former coach and teacher, I had the opportunity to be a part of those memories and I’ve seen firsthand that high school is defined as much by what you learn outside of...
Washington has one of the highest minimum wage levels in the U.S. For workers who have a job this sounds like a great deal, but as with all things the government mandates, there are some serious, negative consequences, primarily on young and entry level workers who are forced into joblessness. Nowhere is the harm imposed by a high minimum wage demonstrated more clearly than in Seattle, where the city council has aggressively increased the minimum wage over the last few years....
Diversity in the ranks has been the lifeline of our all-volunteer military, but it wasn’t always that way. As we celebrate Veterans Day, we ought to be thankful for all of the men and women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds who put their lives in harm’s way to protect our freedoms and make safe our way of life. When my father was inducted into the U.S. Army during World War II, our military was segregated. That lasted until 1948 when President Harry Truman signed Executive...
Veterans Day, originally called Armistice Day, began the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month 1919 when the treaty was signed to end World War I. It honored those who had survived the war to end all wars. By 1954, we had fought another world war and a costly conflict in Korea. In order to pay tribute to those veterans, Congress changed the name of the holiday. The date remained the same except for a brief time in the early seventies when all holidays were on Mondays. November 11 is a fitting day to honor...
To the average American, China’s control of the world production, processing technology and stockpile of critical metals is not their concern. However, to our military and high-tech leaders, it is a very big deal. Our government has a list consisting of 35 metals considered to be vital to our national economy and security. While 17 are classified as “rare earth” and are not commonly known, all are critical components of products such as smart phones, laptop computers, lithi...
Operating expenditures for Washington’s K-12 public schools have increased almost 92 percent in real terms since 1982, even though student population has increased by only 36 percent. In 2005, Washington taxpayers spent about $9,500 per public school student. In contrast, private schools typically spend around $6,000 per student. Even taking the differences in their missions into account, public schools still spend over 50 percent more per student than private schools, and g...
To the average American, China’s control of the world production, processing technology and stockpile of critical metals is not their concern. However, to our military and high-tech leaders, it is a very big deal. Our government has a list consisting of 35 metals considered to be vital to our national economy and security. While 17 are classified as “rare earth” and are not commonly known, all are critical components of products such as smart phones, laptop computers, lithi...
