Ringing Freedom's Bell In Sunnyside, Washington & Beyond Since 2008
September 30, 2008
Watch the Governor’s Race Debate on PBS in Washington state 10/1/08 starting at 7:00 PM live from Yakima. It will also be on the Yakima Herald website.
Dino Rossi has my vote. One of the reasons I like Washington is there is no state income tax. After posting this entry to my blog, I am sending him a campaign contribution!
September 30, 2008 1 Comment
It is a pleasant surprise that the $700 Billion “rescue” market intervention has failed. Centrally planned economic solutions are not the most efficient way to do business. Just ask citizens of the former USSR. The reason the bailout did not pass has a great deal to do with voter feedback being sent to Congress. My own Congressman, Doc Hastings (R-WA), bucked his trend of carrying water for Bush and voted against the bill. Thank you Doc, for using your head on this one.
You had better believe that Doc Hastings, and all the other representatives who voted against the bailout are getting the arm twisting of their lives right now. The House leadership has vowed a “do-over” later this week. Don’t cave in Doc!
I tried to send my Congressman a thank-you email message for his vote earlier today, but the House website based email system crashed under the heavy strain of citizens weighing in on the issue. For more on this see the New York Times article: House Works on a Bailout — for E-Mail
Sure the economy is a mess, yes it is hurting many people. However, it will only be worse if the poor managers of bad institutions are given taxpayer money. The whole idea of the bailout is ridiculous. This will be over with quicker if we just suck it up, and take the bitter medicine market corrections will bring about.
September 29, 2008
September 28, 2008
Did hell just freeze over? I ask this because someone on the FoxNews Network called Ron Paul a genius. Sure, everyone in the MSM (mainstream media) wants to talk to him now that his predictions of economic problems are impossible to ignore. What a turnaround from the network that spat in his face, not allowing him to be on the air with the other Republican candidates during their “forum” prior to New Hampshire. At least Cavuto is giving the man some respect that others on his network don’t seem able to do.
I contacted my Congressman, and Senators; telling them to vote against this latest bailout. Meanwhile, this past week, while the discussion of the big $700 billion package was making headlines, no one seemed to notice that Congress proceeded with a $25 billion package for the automakers. What’s up with that?
According to Downsize DC calls against the big bailout are running 300:1 against it. I am part of the ’300′. Unfortunately, main street, middle class voters don’t matter as much as the special interests with their hands out.
STOP THE BAILOUT MADNESS!!!
According to the latest news headlines, Congress is poised to vote for this monstrous package on Monday. I will not support any politician that votes for this. Which looks like I won’t be voting for McCain or Obama. My decision to vote 3rd party for POTUS this year was made earlier, but this just reinforces it. However, I am not sure if I can vote for my own Republican Congressman. We shall see.
By the way, to see a video of Cavuto calling Ron Paul a genius, see the clip below. Our country needs more people like him in Congress.
September 25, 2008 1 Comment
Recently the stop sign at the corner of my street was vandalized. Someone spray painted some graffiti on the bottom half of the sign, and therefore defaced it. It always bothers me to see any kind of property intentionally defaced or destroyed. It should offend everyone when this occurs to public property. Having grown up in the South, near Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, I unfortunately saw the effects of vandalism on monuments and statues. Perhaps that is why I am sensitive to the issue of vandalism. Wherever it comes from, it is just something that needles me.
I sent off an email to the city advising of the problem, and did not give much thought to it afterwards. To my amazement, within a day, the city had someone come out and clean the stop sign! This was a pleasant surprise as I did not expect such a rapid response. After seeing this, I sent another email to the city to say thank you.
There will always be things to complain about, and deficiencies in operations to be overcome. However, not everything in government is done badly. When things are going well, people for the most part do not think about it. In a deliberate attempt to buck this trend, I would like to publicly thank the City of Sunnyside, and all employees that were involved in cleaning the stop sign. It is appreciated. Keep up the good work.
Before Cleaning:
After Cleaning:
September 21, 2008
Ron Paul was recently interviewed by U.S. News and World Report. A portion of the interview is already available on the web here. The first question really gets at the heart of the matter:
What’s your take on this huge financial bailout?
“It’s more of the same. More debt and more inflation and more pressure on the dollar. Ultimately, although the markets are responding very favorably at the moment, I think it is going to be devastating to the dollar and to our financial situation in this country.”
Ron Paul later explains his belief that the Government will also bailout the airlines and automakers. This is understandable given the rationale for bailing out Wall St: “They are too big to fail.” It is my opinion that when this over, we will be more socialist in our country than China is now. China currently owns the banks, airlines, and automakers. That is the direction in which we are headed. One big difference is that a substantial part of our health care system is already under Government control (Medicare, Medicaid, VA, etc.). Some in our country continue to push for nationalizing our health care system completely.
As Congress contemplates a $700 billion appropriation to continue to do more of the same, has anyone given any thought to the fact that this not the kind of “solution” we need? Big Brother is taking care of Rich Brother. Our children and grandchildren will be paying the price for this “quick fix” for decades to come.
There ARE limits to what Government can do. The sooner we recognize that, the better off we and future generations of Americans will be.
Ron Paul was on CNN 9/19/08 discussing this as well. See the clip below:
September 19, 2008 1 Comment
15th Street neighbors finally took a strong public stand against their street being used as a battleground by gangs. A petition is circulating asking that the residents of 915 S. 15th Street move out of their house. It is hard to get more specific than that! A block watch has been organized with the support of Sunnyside Police and City officials. I would like to praise these efforts by all involved. This is a step in the right direction.
This is a battle being joined. Much work needs to be done. This will not be solved overnight. Citizens should not expect a quick fix to a single incident. A longer view needs to be taken, capturing the vision of a neighborhood free of violence, and continuing to pursue it. What has recently taken place could be categorized as “baby steps”. The significant thing to take from this is that the journey has begun. As the saying goes, a journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step. We are now on the journey. Most of the hard work still lies ahead.
Sunnyside Mayor Paul Garcia, Council Members Bruce Epps and Carol Stone, as well as City Manager Eric Swansen should be encouraged to continue their support of citizens in the community taking this stand. While this is a positive move, it should be recognized the problem is not localized to just one street or block. The entire city is being effected by gang crime.
In a two steps forward, one step back type of move, the City has cut two police officer positions. Due to the City Council’s financial mismanagement, these cuts have been made at a critical point in time, where the officers are needed.
Council Member Hancock should be ashamed for pushing for retaining code enforcement officers given this situation. Worse yet, Council Members Restucci and Epps are supporting raising taxes without considering budget cuts. Their failure to look for ways to reduce waste shows contempt for the citizens of Sunnyside, and their sacrifices in a tough economy. Thankfully, the rest of the Council does not show this complete lack of understanding, and is making tough budget cuts before taking more from citizens in taxes.
We need the City Council to continue to take a stand against crime. We need them to back it up by making it a priority in the City Budget. We also need to review all City expenses to find ways to save money. If Mr. Restucci and Mr. Epps are unwilling to do this, they should resign from the Council.
For reference see: South 15th Street neighbors say good riddance to gangs and Pink Slips Issued Today to Sunnyside Employees from the Daily Sun News.
September 17, 2008 2 Comments
It should come as no surprise that I am opposed to the latest bailout of AIG. So far it will cost $85 billion. The final cost is not yet known. Nationalism, socialism, and communism as guiding policies for our economy have far reaching consequences. Today the DOW dropped 447 points. Oil and gold soared on investor fears. Real assets like oil and gold will be worth more than the Federal Reserve Monopoly Money being printed now. Watch gold and oil continue to increase as inflation and dollar weakening intensifies. This is a great opportunity to examine our monetary system, and the merits of the gold standard (which our founding fathers constitutionally mandated after their disastrous experience with the paper based Continental Dollar). There are smarter and more eloquent proponents of this ideal than I am. One of them is Ron Paul, who was on Cavuto today. See the clip below.
September 15, 2008 2 Comments
“For the sixth time in as many tracking polls, the rematch contest between Rossi and incumbent Democrat Christine Gregoire is inside of the SurveyUSA poll’s margin of sampling error. But for the first time, Rossi is nominally ahead, 48 percent to 47 percent.”
“Among women, Gregoire had led by 24 points in May, 60 percent to 36 percent. In this new poll, the candidates are tied.”
This poll information is from King5.com.
To celebrate this occasion, or simply just for fun of it, see the video below about “Change” in the Washington race for Governor.
September 14, 2008
It seems incredible, some of the 9/11 myths that some people are spreading. Besides hearing the occasional conspiracy theory floated on talk radio, or the Internet, I have personally been offered “information” about these theories. On more than one occasion in the last two years I have had aquaintances tell me about some of these theories.
Some people, who I would categorize as unethical (at best), have produced movies, articles, etc. to promote and make money from conspiracy theories about 9/11. Some consumers of information unfortunately take it at face value, without researching it further.
While I do believe some of our foreign policies made us unpopular with many in the Middle East (even prior to 9/11), I do not believe it was an “inside job”. In 2005, an article was published refuting some of the most commonly promoted myths about 9/11. Click here to see it in Popular Mechanics.
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