Posted Tue, Apr 24, 11:01 a.m.

Obama is violating the human rights of illegals? Interesting. What a lie..."racial profiling and minorities’ rights have risen to the top of the American agenda again..." Jobs for legal residents are far above illegal alien rights in the national discussion.

Posted Tue, Apr 10, 6:04 p.m.

Thank you Crosscut for making Microsoft's April 9th announcement to create 40 permanent jobs in Wyoming easier. Equating very occasional diesel back up generator fumes with pesticides sends a loud signal to every company that considers staying, enlarging, or locating that perhaps Washington State isn't so accommodating. Wyoming thanks you. ...

Posted Tue, Apr 10, 5:57 p.m.

How appropriate that Microsoft decided to locate its next server farm in Wyoming. I wouldn't want to locate a business in an unfriendly environment such as Quincy.

Posted Tue, Apr 3, 11:15 a.m.

We know there are neo-Malthusians who want to take America back to pre-Columbian times. But let's look at what the other 99% want. Exactly what is the position of the tribes that use the reservoir water and power generation? The dam supplies irrigation water for 671,000 acres. How much would ...

Posted Tue, Mar 20, 12:37 p.m.

Not a bad opinion piece but you give Kilmer too much credit. His day job has been representing part of the I-5 corridor. That doesn't play well on the Olympic Peninsula. All his education is geared around 'urban planning', and Agenda 21 style centralized planning. That's a trigger point. He ...

Posted Fri, Mar 9, 2:18 p.m.

Good: Dicks is going. Now maybe we can reduce the corruption and cronyism in politics. Though in mentioning cronyism, I saw the mention of Kilmer's wife as having recently gotten a state job. How? The News Tribune article http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/08/22/1791462/jennifer-kilmer-picked-as-director.html highlights her capabilities as "Kilmer will have at least one natural ...

Posted Mon, Mar 5, 4:40 p.m.

DEBT!!! You missed a key point in the article. Dicks used DEBT to fund his programs. The DEBT was less than $1 trillion when he took office, now it's approaching $16 trillion. Dicks helped PREVENT development of resources to be energy independent. We can forget his cronyism to fund his ...

Posted Wed, Feb 1, 11:08 a.m.

The rule, told to the contractor AFTER all other permits were granted, forced the nearly one year delay in St. Helens Energy from developing the $2 BILLION natural gas fields in Grays Harbor County. They didn't want to drill the pilot well during the very long rainy season here. How ...

Posted Mon, Jan 16, 1:06 p.m.

there also is no such thing as totally clean energy as I’ve discovered in writing my eco-political thriller, The Carbon Trap, due out this month. Let’s look at wind turbines, which are touted by environmentalists as clean energy. Read the report at www.iags.org/rareearth0310hurst.pdf and you’ll see that each large wind ...

Posted Mon, Jan 16, 1:02 p.m.

Green energy isn't so green. Here's what legislators and environmentalists won't tell you. Subsidizing biofuel feedstock increased fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide use and runoff and requires massive irrigation resources. It expands ocean dead zones, and ethanol increases ground level ozone and the fertilizer increases N2O emissions, which is 298X worse as ...

Posted Mon, Jan 16, 12:53 p.m.

Progressives don't understand science or economics, but they do understand politics. Senator Murray's office refused to investigate OSHA when I provided evidence of their collusion with certain part of the chemical VCI industry that were hiding toxic formulations on the MSDSs. I had shown where an OSHA official tried burying ...

Posted Tue, Jan 10, 12:11 p.m.

He can't save UW until he stops the practice of hiring political cronies such as UW hiring David Dicks, the mismanager of the Puget Sound Partnership. Gregoire told him to resign because of the corruption. So why then did UW give Dicks a cushy 3 day per week job at ...

Posted Mon, Dec 12, 2:23 p.m.

Ø A new International Climate Court will have the power to compel Western nations to pay ever-larger sums to third-world countries in the name of making reparation for supposed “climate debt”. The Court will have no power over third-world countries. Here and throughout the draft, the West is the sole ...

Posted Mon, Dec 12, 10:36 a.m.

Let's not forget that to grow feedstock for biofuel, America put 40 million acres of marginal land into production that dramatically increased the 'carbon debt', which is from rotting roots. It also dramatically increased irrigation demand; use and runoff of fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides. Progressive solutions to trying to lock ...

Posted Mon, Dec 12, 10:29 a.m.

Eric - you missed a lot. Where is your mention that GW gas Sulphur hexafluoride is 32,600 times worse than CO2 (over 500 years) and is emitted by China in some of its processes? How about Hexafluoroethane at 18,200 times worse. Or Nitrous oxide, which is released by the fertilizer ...

Posted Wed, Nov 23, 9:57 a.m.

Raha has been wrong nearly 100% of the time. He continually underestimates expenses and overstates revenue. The press FAILS to report on that. We are entering a global recession. It will get worse and progressives continue to block spending cuts, and resource extraction. The result is shifting jobs to China ...

Posted Fri, Nov 18, 1:56 p.m.

It takes several times the energy to make paper bags than plastic. One way to reduce some plastic is by adding VLDPE (very low density polyethylene) resin, then downscaling the thickness. This would reduce overall weight and eliminate need to double bag. Expecting those of us who get over 80 ...

Posted Fri, Oct 28, 9:50 a.m.

Environmentalists who oppose the coal project...hate teachers. The tax income from the exports would significantly boost overall tax receipts which then could be used to pay for teachers, firemen, and police. Environmentalists apparently also hate cleaner air, because the Powder River coal is CLEANER than the dirty coal often burned ...

Posted Mon, Oct 24, 11:23 a.m.

GaryP The project consists of 149 turbines with maximum installed capacity of 273 MW. actually equals about 81.9 MW when levelizing the 30% efficiency factor. It would take 1/6 of all the turbines to offset the loss of the dam.

Posted Mon, Oct 24, 11:17 a.m.

I'm always amazed when reporters don't know how to report numbers. Is this megawatts per hour? It should be. "replace the 13.7 megawatts of power lost from the dam removal, a relatively small amount that powers about 7,000 homes" this is an average of 1957 watts per hour 24/7. If ...

Posted Fri, Oct 21, 2:57 p.m.

Nicely written. Let's hope environmentalists turn the gestalt switch on their view of climate change. Instead of trying to revert back to the atmospheric depleted 280 or 350ppm (CO2 used to be as high as 7000ppm), Relish the increased free fertilizer of added CO2 and watch Earth's flora and fauna ...

Posted Tue, Oct 18, 11:09 a.m.

The Democrats have been far more prejudicial than Republicans. We don't care the color of skin, just the content of character. That is why Obama is failing, because he has a corrupt character - he has lied about everything he promised. His is NOT a transparent presidency. He bypasses Congress. ...

Posted Mon, Oct 17, 10:33 a.m.

And yet the Progressives continue to promote food-to-fuel for ethanol production which dramatically increases GMO corn as a feedstock.

Posted Thu, Oct 13, 11:02 a.m.

Flea Partiers are protesting Obama's corporatist policies. But what are they for other than 'We Want The Rich To Give Us Stuff."

Posted Tue, Oct 11, 1:28 p.m.

Proud to be poor??? The Communist Manifesto promotes EVERYONE to be POOR. The government owns everything, and doles out resources 'each according to their needs'. But history also shows the government decides what you need, and the quality of that provided - in other words, with Marxism you get minimal ...

Posted Fri, Oct 7, 10:43 a.m.

I'd like to add that the coal we ship to China is CLEANER than much of the replacement coal they use. Thus sending them cleaner coal means we get CLEANER AIR downstream. That alone should be worth the effort.

Posted Fri, Oct 7, 10:41 a.m.

Shipping coal to China represents JOBS for Americans, and a means of paying back some of hundreds of billions government has force taxpayers to borrow from China. 392ppm CO2 represents a drop of 94.4% from the high of 7000ppm when animals first started roaming the land. If 350.org succeeds in ...

Posted Fri, Sep 16, 2:33 p.m.

Many very expensive green schools now use MORE electricity. Progressives are crowing about the tear down of a 20 megawatt hydroelectric dam, which incidentally will require the use of coal powered electricity to replace, or imported power from Vancouver Island, at another net loss of US capital. Progressives brag about ...

Posted Tue, Sep 13, 12:11 p.m.

Pass It Now...BEFORE anyone really knows what it says! Sound familiar??? Obama doesn't understand science or economics. He could have really boosted our economy with some simple steps. Instead he chose to strangle the economy AND continue to scare companies out of hiring people.

Posted Tue, Sep 13, 12:06 p.m.

Why does Obama dither? Because his teleprompter hasn't told him what to say yet. Obama doesn't have core values. To him everything is philosophical thus open to endless debate. Ask Soros and you'll get a better answer why Hanford isn't settled yet.

Posted Mon, Aug 29, 11:40 a.m.

Spend, spend, spend - Cantwell's one size fits every issue solution.

Posted Mon, Aug 15, 11:18 a.m.

First, the author gets paid for promoting global warming fears. Second, environmentalists are promoting solutions that actually ADD to the total global warming effect. In the NOAA press release http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2011/20110803_nonco2.html they discuss trying to tackle methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Methane emissions are dramatically increased when biomass is left ...

Posted Wed, Aug 10, 11:33 a.m.

Maybe, just maybe, writers are more identifying themselves as Americans, and not segregating themselves into racial stereotypes?

Posted Thu, Aug 4, 11:33 a.m.

Redden should be removed from the bench. He is exceeding his authority, and is himself arbitrary and capricious. For example, there is no proof rivers in Washington State are going to get warmer.

Posted Tue, Aug 2, 11:33 a.m.

Popular Mechanics article – October 2, 2008 “In an earlier interview with PM, (Toyota’s Bill) Reinert pointed out that in very cold temperatures, mountain regions in the winter, and hot zones, the American southwest in the summer, ‘You can lose an order of magnitude of energy availability in the battery. ...

Posted Tue, Aug 2, 10:29 a.m.

Slightly off topic. I propose SSA look at using the LEVX permanent maglev system to move coal from some inland transfer point to Cherry Point. The LEVX system allows for totally silent movement bulk container load movement on overhead friction-less tracks that can go up and down much more significant ...

Posted Wed, Jul 13, 10:24 a.m.

Bush has convictions. He was consistent. We knew where he stood. Obama hasn't a clue what to do other than run for re-election. Promises are just promises - he doesn't really expect people to hold him to them. Obama's all over the board with his actions and shows very little ...

Posted Thu, Jun 30, 10:16 a.m.

CannyK - we know climate changes, with or without you socialists. Conservatives just don't think mankind can affect the climate much one way or another, and that the Progressive agenda is to shift money and production jobs from America to other countries.

Posted Thu, Jun 30, 10:14 a.m.

'Tax and Spender' is a better description on Inslee. Green jobs is a euphemism for 'government mandated inefficiency'. Most 'green' energy equipment now is coming from China. Most of it can't be absorbed properly by the grid because of timing or inconsistency; much of the investments go to lobbyists, lawyers, ...

Posted Tue, Jun 21, 11:10 a.m.

"People who visit the area to hike, fish, hunt, and just look at the trees spend millions of dollars there" And how do they get there??? They drive! We're FORCED to buy this dirtier oil sands petroleum because environmentalists won't let us drill for our own cleaner process oil. Global ...

Posted Thu, May 26, 10:03 a.m.

Reichert instead should run against Sen. Cantwell. Cantwell failed us in the BP spill. She was Chair of the Senate Energy Subcommittee that oversaw offshore drilling. Cantwell co-founded the Apollo Alliance that then hired acknowledged communist Van Jones as a Director. Their goal is to lower the standard of living ...

Posted Fri, May 13, 11:58 a.m.

Give students and their parents a choice in where they attend. That will make more of a difference than blaming a bankrupt citizenry for not shelling out more money to the education bureaucracy. And stop pretending Sharpton represents any legitimate group. He is a charlatan who tries to keep racism ...

Posted Thu, May 12, 10:10 a.m.

Why not first fix the VA? I got injured on active duty in 1985, so badly I left active duty, and was misdiagnosed by the VA for 25 years. Finally I got the VA to do an MRI and they discovered two torn tendons in my shoulder. Despite having 5 ...

Posted Thu, Apr 28, 2:44 p.m.

To reduce the transportation cost and traffic congestion, have you considered have the coal transported via a Levx system? http://www.levx.com/technology/ has a permanent maglev transportation system that could allow for bypassing existing infrastructure, dramatically reduce noise, and reduce energy costs. Levx is located in Port Angeles and has designed port ...

Posted Wed, Apr 27, 11:30 a.m.

Alaska has over $3 trillion in oil just waiting to be pumped out. Our government doesn't want to use it, so, let's sell Alaska to China for years of continued cheap electronics!

Posted Mon, Apr 18, 10:39 a.m.

S&P; just issued a fiscal credit warning - heed it at your risk. If we lose AAA rating, interest payments will explode! Progressives of both parties created the problem. Now its up to adults to fix it.

Posted Fri, Mar 4, 11:44 a.m.

ericevanthomas - you would rather China burn its dirtier sulfur laden coal? And CO2 isn't a pollutant, aerosol particulates are, so this relatively cleaner coal will reduce pollution. Without sufficient CO2 levels in our air, we all DIE. And if you look at geological history, global CO2 levels have dropped ...

Posted Wed, Mar 2, 10:17 a.m.

Moodys says the US is about 2 years from a debt rating downgrade. Common sense says we should pay the lowest interest rate by instituting policies that protect our debt rating. Forget those of both parties who want to borrow more, they're only passing the buck to our children. We ...

Posted Tue, Mar 1, 10:41 a.m.

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said: "All government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service…Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of government employees. Upon employees in ...

Posted Wed, Feb 23, 10:30 a.m.

As usual, the environmentalist have it all wrong. China has a lot of high sulfur coal. They want low sulfur coal from the US for metallurgical and environmental reasons. Selling them our superior coal will DECREASE the air pollution drifting to us. It also will create a LOT of jobs, ...

Posted Tue, Feb 22, 10:19 a.m.

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." - Thomas Jefferson Let's hope this battle comes to Washington State. Rep. Lynn Kessler admitted to me in 2008 that the teachers union was out of control.

Posted Mon, Jan 17, 1:05 p.m.

Get the FHA rules changed to allow the best loan rates for mixed commercial/residential housing, and you'll see more people living above their stores and shops. This will increase urban density and cut down on transportation needs.

Posted Wed, Dec 22, 2:31 p.m.

How many tribes contributed to Cant'Do'Well?

Posted Wed, Dec 22, 2:31 p.m.

We stopped being "One America" when multi-culturalism became law. Now many are XXXX-Americans. The Progressives promote the division of our society so as to maintain the feuds. It's a distraction as they rob America of its wealth.

Posted Wed, Dec 22, 1:42 p.m.

MINOR financial sins? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? In federal government someone would be in jail! Dicks purposely falsified urgency so that he could avoid having the AG's office do the work. Dicks violated the contract open bidding threshold. Dicks issued a contract to his father's 4th biggest political donor, and ...

Posted Sat, Dec 11, 11:28 p.m.

Logging used to provide tens of thousands of jobs in Western Washington. It helped build Seattle. Logging helps America's balance of trade. Logging reduces overall global warming gas effect by reducing the methane released by otherwise rotting wood. And logging ISN'T subsidized. Rather, logging provides a positive economic balance. It ...

Posted Wed, Dec 8, 11:48 a.m.

What is the current and anticipated average and peak speed of the HSR? What is the current and anticipated ridership of the rail? How much per rider will taxpayers be forced to subsidize? How will the increasing noise from antique metal rail technology affect the cost structure of rail. Taxpayers ...

Posted Mon, Nov 22, 10:33 a.m.

Remember, the announcement of the $5.7 billion deficit came AFTER the election. While other states have new conservative legislatures which will attempt to get their fiscal houses in order, Washington will continue to bleed red ink. The difference in fiscal policies, will be much more apparent in 2012.

Posted Fri, Nov 19, 11:34 a.m.

$5,700,000,000 deficit projection for next biennial budget, and the recommendation is to 'SPEND MORE MONEY'? How about 'fund the student', issue vouchers, purge the bureaucracy, and let communities control their local education? How about making it easy to fire bad teachers? How about eliminating tenure? How about decertifying teachers unions? ...

Posted Fri, Nov 5, 11:20 a.m.

California is going bankrupt, and continuing with very expensive taxpayer subsidized 'green' power will eventually cause a backlash. Here are the gov't estimated costs per megawatt hour. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/pdf/2016levelized_costs_aeo2010.pdf • Conventional coal power: $78.10 • Onshore wind power: $149.30 • Offshore wind power: $191.10 • Thermal solar power: $256.60 • Photo-voltaic ...

Posted Fri, Oct 29, 10:20 a.m.

Good reporting Austin. Keep it up, and try to keep all sides honest.

Posted Mon, Oct 25, 11:24 a.m.

I love KUOW's investigative reporting and have passed links to their site to many people who want to know what's really happening in certain areas.

Posted Tue, Oct 12, 10:13 a.m.

And soon 16,000 new IRS agent jobs will be added to monitor our health care compliance. I had put 'choice' but realized that wasn't an option. Wow. Can't wait.

Posted Tue, Oct 12, 10:10 a.m.

If oil drilling doesn't create jobs, why is the Gulf Coast losing 40,000 oil services jobs with the ban on deepwater drilling and the slowdown of shallow drilling? Soon, the Alaska pipeline will be forced to shutdown because not enough oil is being pumped through. This will severely impact tens ...

Posted Tue, Oct 5, 1:44 p.m.

DEBT and a collapsing economy still are the prime issues. The progressives have run Congress for nearly 4 years and the out of control spending scares most Americans. Our children and grandchildren will suffer for the $114 trillion in DEBT and unfunded obligations foisted upon them by ours and past ...

Posted Tue, Sep 21, 10:24 a.m.

How about making a pledge of non-partisanship in reporting the news? The media has been more involved in making the news and less in reporting it. Why do you think many have abandoned the newspapers?

Posted Fri, Sep 17, 1:13 p.m.

Castle led in the polls in Delaware too, just before the primary. O'Donnell won by 6 points.

Posted Fri, Sep 17, 1:10 p.m.

If voting Murray out gives Republicans a majority, then Sen. Reid no longer is Majority Leader, and it is more likely Yucca Mountain gets opened up. Reid is the problem. So vote Murray OUT. Murray is afraid of the public when she doesn't have a scripted event where she touts ...

Posted Fri, Sep 10, 11:33 a.m.

One simple solution to getting workers closer to their work is to change a simple FHA loan rule that prevents apartments over commercial space from getting FHA approval.

Posted Fri, Sep 10, 11:29 a.m.

Environmentalists fought for years to tear down the hydroelectric Elwha Dam. Now the work has started. But not to fear, Clallam county will buy replacement power from a coal plant. Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties have some significant natural gas deposits, that will provide some resources for power. Unfortunately, the ...

Posted Tue, Sep 7, 1:25 p.m.

Yes Puget Sound should be cleaned up. No one is disputing it. But is a political agency the way to do it? The issue is that the PSP is mismanaged to the point that illegal contracts were issued, justifications were falsified (urgency, and then contract is twice extended), mandatory specifications ...

Posted Fri, Aug 20, 6:10 p.m.

Arts Institute of Seattle gives prospects graduate salary data, and employment rates. With an average graduating salary in all their bachelor programs of $35,000, none of it seems unrealistic. Perhaps we really need a standardized way of tracking success.

Posted Fri, Aug 20, 6 p.m.

Investigation of wind energy industry data shows some surprising issues. According to WindEnergyUpdate, a wind industry newsletter, the following (in quotes) are findings from a new report prepared by independent experts and incorporates new strategies and data from over 100 operators and component suppliers. Outside the quotes are my comments: ...

Posted Tue, Aug 10, 10:07 p.m.

Progressives continue to split the country. Progressives promote 'social justice' over 'equal justice'. That way they can redistribute wealth and power to special groups. Is this what MLK Jr. preached, to seek special privileges because of genetics?

Posted Thu, Jul 1, 11:54 a.m.

So government jobs are justified by 'social justice'? Forget efficiency, these jobs are to smooth out the supply and demand curves of our economic times? And while you're at it, why not justify inefficiency. If it takes 2 government workers to do the work of 1, consider the community benefits. ...

Posted Thu, Jul 1, 11:38 a.m.

I've had 12 illegals walk onto my property from Weyco forest land, here in Grays Harbor County. Not a one of them spoke a word of English. Most of them don't seem to even want to assimilate. I was stationed in Italy for 2 years and I took classes, and ...

Posted Wed, Jun 23, 4:21 p.m.

Don't count out Rep. Norm Dicks (6th District) being tossed out. There are ethical questions about the illegal contracts issued by the Puget Sound Partnership (PSP), and Rep. Norm Dick and his two sons, K&L; Gates law firm, and the Cascade Conservancy. The State Auditor’s office issued an audit report, ...

Posted Tue, Jun 15, 10:48 a.m.

Perhaps no one wants to read news written by 'disinterested' writers. I'd prefer news from 'interested' and objective writers, those who look beneath the surface and beyond the talking points.

Posted Thu, Jun 10, 10:07 a.m.

Jesse Young is an IT expert and he's running against Rep. Norm Dicks. http://www.jesseyoungforcongress.com. He was a WA state scholar and graduated Notre Dame with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Informational Systems. Jesse was hired by a prominent software company as a systems consultant. After spending a year in California’s ...

Posted Thu, Jun 10, 9:54 a.m.

13 countries have offered to help with the oil clean up - Obama has refused them all; Just three days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the Dutch government offered to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms - Obama refused their help; Five weeks ago Escambia County officials requested permission from ...

Posted Tue, Jun 8, 11:01 a.m.

Wait until Congress submits its budget and you'll see independents really scream, and Rossi's poll numbers will shoot upward. The over $1.4 trillion in new DEBT will seal the deal AGAINST incumbents, particularly 'Rubber Stamp' Murray. All Murray knows how to do is SPEND.

Posted Mon, Jun 7, 11:25 a.m.

I don't think the article reflects the Rand Study accurately. The Rand Study says the benefits of dam removal are predicated on the installation of alternative energy and energy efficiency improvements. However, alternative energy is several times more expensive and requires a considerable amount of annual maintenance. The overall cost ...

Posted Fri, Jun 4, 11:36 a.m.

$128,000,000 per day is what Gulf Oil brings to the US economy. Progressives' knee jerk reaction to the disastrous spill is to want to stop it all. A faster national bankruptcy would be the end result. BP now is capturing over 90% of the leaking oil according to today's news ...

Posted Fri, May 28, 11:06 a.m.

Senator Cantwell was asleep at the switch. She is the Chair of the Senate Energy Subcommittee responsible for overseeing off shore drilling. Why isn't the press talking about this??? How does she explain the MMS being so dysfunctional, and corrupted? As for the leak, the articles only talk about barrels ...

Posted Wed, May 26, 11:51 a.m.

Maybe Obama realized that people and jobs come first, salmon come second.

Posted Thu, May 20, 3:03 p.m.

1st generational fuels are not the answer, and yet Congress mandates. Congress neither understands science nor technology. Ethanol is corrosive and most is created from food feedstock. It's already caused 40 million acres of marginal farmland into production, along with the required irrigation, fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticides. www.opei.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/1926. Ethanol also ...

Posted Thu, May 20, 2:56 p.m.

Cantwell is the Committee CHAIR on the Subcommittee on Energy, and she's been there a while. Isn't she partly to blame for government workers in MMS and DOI not doing their job? Why isn't anyone talking about that? How many government workers have been fired or are under investigation for ...

Posted Wed, May 19, 11:11 a.m.

Wait until Critz has to vote on more of Obama's agenda. Then his true colors will show, and he may have a very short term.

Posted Wed, May 19, 11:09 a.m.

The district is 2-1 Democratic yet he only won by 8 points. Critz also claimed to be pro-life and pro-gun, not your typical liberal. It isn't suggested it might be a 'Republican' tsunami anyway. It may be a 'Conservative' tsunami. Skip the party labels, it just happens that most conservatives ...

Posted Mon, May 17, 1:42 p.m.

Australia didn't drink from the progressive kool-aid about mining being bad. China is funding much of Australia's growth. Look at the rare earth element extraction. Look at the copper and iron ore mining. Look at the shale oil and natural gas extraction. Look at the huge offshore Gorgon Project in ...

Posted Wed, Apr 28, 12:22 p.m.

The King5 poll had Rossi 10 points ahead of Murray. And Murray was only ahead of 5 other Republicans by 2-5 points. That shows that Washingtonians are tired of Murray. America is $14 trillion in debt, and Murray voted for programs that would expand that by another $10 trillion. Murray ...

Posted Fri, Apr 23, 10:27 a.m.

After Congress bankrupts America, you'll see what a lack of conservation looks like when China cashes in the debt we owe them. They will lay claim to vast tracts of our resources. It will be like a bankruptcy sale in which our assets will go to the highest bidder. I ...

Posted Wed, Apr 21, 12:32 p.m.

Murray is at risk against any Republican who wins the primary. Murray voted to keep America from using fallen timber from national forests = lost jobs. Murray voted to prevent America from tapping the 800 billion barrels of shale oil = lost jobs. Murray votes to continue the moratoria on ...

Posted Wed, Apr 14, 10:59 a.m.

The only solution is for voters to VOTE OUT THE PROGRESSIVES in 2010. The progressives, such as Chopp, have pushed the state deeply into debt. There will be less federal money to bail us out. Income taxes are going up. Energy prices are going up. Congress will impose another gas ...

Posted Wed, Apr 14, 10:36 a.m.

Rick - you're missing a much bigger picture. This "Green Energy" initiative is accelerating another calamity that will hit as soon as 2012. China has a monopoly on rare earth elements (REE), which will really hit hard starting in about 2012. www.iags.org/rareearth0310hurst.pdf. Without REEs, America can't make many of the ...

Posted Thu, Apr 1, 10:56 a.m.

The Legislative proposed "soda tax" probably will cause more loss in business than the revenue it's supposed to bring in. And soon you will see a National Sales Tax. And soon they will be higher Gas Taxes. Think those will hurt restaurants??? You'll probably see another 10% drop by the ...

Posted Thu, Mar 25, 11:52 a.m.

Ethanol is NOT a good fuel to make from cellulose, it would be beter to make butanol, or the next gen direct conversion from cellulose to gasoline or diesel. Ethanol damages or destroys many open cycle engines (first hand experience). Ethanol in the fuel, according to an MSN poll is ...

Posted Thu, Mar 25, 11:49 a.m.

I would have paid to have someone come in and remove my slash piles because either I have to burn the piles or allow the piles to occupy space I otherwise would have planted trees. Ecologically efficient burning is good. Burning wood more directly converts wood to CO2 than letting ...

Posted Mon, Feb 1, 11:01 a.m.

40 Billion pounds of non-CO2 aerosol pollutants are emitted every year by East Asia, much of it from China and India making things for Americans (NASA 2003 data). 10 billion of that is estimated to descend upon North America. If even 1% of that washes into Puget Sound watershed (its ...

Posted Mon, Jan 11, 5:48 p.m.

Progressives dismiss any consideration of the hundreds of cost cutting ideas offered by conservatives. Go to www.effwa.org (Evergreen Freedom Foundation), which has proposed over 150. They also ignore that the Gregoire ethanol mandate costs citizens, industry, and government millions in dollars in lowered gas mileage, higher prices, damaged or destroyed ...

Posted Thu, Dec 24, 12:15 p.m.

Government run health care will tax society for 5 years before any services are rendered. Jobs will be LOST because labor expenses will rise. It's absurd to think we'll be at 8% next year. Health care will have double the costs for the first 5 years. This 5-year period will ...

Posted Thu, Dec 24, 12:07 p.m.

R on Beacon: Republicans strongly believe in America, in its success, and the freedom America stands for around the world. We don't want Obama taking away that freedom. We'd love to see him succeed in reinforcing our Constitutional freedoms, and increasing government transparency, particularly since he is a constitutional professor. ...

Posted Mon, Dec 14, 5:04 p.m.

Consider online public education such as WAVA (Washington Virtual Academy) run through www.k12.com. Your child could learn while at home. WAVA has a great number of AP and Honors classes, there is no crime online, no peer pressure, no raunchy language, one can work more at one's own pace, there's ...

Posted Tue, Dec 8, 10:24 a.m.

Gregoire is forcing consumers to pay a hidden expense and thus more sales tax, perhaps the press hasn't noticed but have you Rep Carlyle? You want systems change? Consider your own decisions, and whether they actually were for the better or worse. For example: By increasing the ethanol mandate to ...

Posted Fri, Nov 13, 11:30 a.m.

How about eliminating the Dept of Education, and apportion all the money among students, which then can be used by parents and students to pick the best method of education. Let's put the decision making back in the hands of parents. If they want private schools, traditional or blended online ...

Posted Fri, Nov 6, 1:38 p.m.

Defund Olympia, and fund the schools directly. (Currently only about 50% gets to the schools) School vouchers. (parental choice ensures competition) Promote homeschooling (taxpayers save $10,000 per student). Promote online public schools (some savings here as well).

Posted Tue, Oct 27, 11:24 a.m.

Oh, and for every student a parent starts homeschooling, that's over $10,000 savings for taxpayers. And homeschoolers, on average, score much higher than traditionally taught students. The state should be ENCOURAGING homeschooling. That's $1 million for every 100 students parents start homeschooling.

Posted Tue, Oct 27, 11:21 a.m.

How big did Gregoire increase her staff from when she was elected. Start cutting there. When you vote in 2010 for legislative and state senate candidates, consider how well they've managed the budget over the past several years. We were warned years ago to expect a recession. They mostly ignored ...

Posted Tue, Oct 27, 11:18 a.m.

The governor doesn't know how to cut the budget because she refuses to accept certain recommendations. Otherwise, it would be fairly easy. And of course, the Legislature has the same bias against common sense solutions. Implement tort reform, eliminate joint and several liability, and implement "loser pays". Eliminate state biofuel ...

Posted Mon, Oct 5, 5:11 p.m.

Correction: Get colleges and universities to offer many of their courses and degree programs ONLINE and save big bucks for parents and schools. Force professors to spend more time in the classroom and less time on writing.

Posted Mon, Oct 5, 5:09 p.m.

DON'T RAISE TAXES! It only drives business out of state. Get ANWR opened up and boost the WA economy, create 12,000 mostly union jobs, and lower cost of fuel. Eliminate ethanol mandates. Ethanol increases deadly ozone pollution and increases cost of fuel for consumers, industry, and government. Provide $8000 school ...

Posted Mon, Sep 14, 5:40 p.m.

Veteran Groups Oppose HR 3200, which Murray supports. On July 30, several veteran groups sent letters to Congress expressing their concerns on proposed health care legislation. On behalf of 24 million veterans they wrote “We are writing to express grave concerns about HR 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of ...

Posted Mon, Sep 14, 5:39 p.m.

Murray voted for the bailouts, the Sunstein confirmation, and continues to support government run healthcare that currently is on life support. She continues to lavish praise on the Obama policies and shows no independence. She is directly responsible for some of the worst government policies since our founding. I have ...

Posted Thu, Sep 10, 11:06 a.m.

Veteran Groups Oppose HR 3200. On July 30, several veteran groups sent letters to Congress expressing their concerns on proposed health care legislation. On behalf of 24 million veterans they wrote “We are writing to express grave concerns about HR 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. As currently ...

Posted Thu, Sep 10, 11:01 a.m.

Good article but missing some key points. There is no nexus between CO2 and climate change. Turning food to fuel however creates several problems such as the emission of N2O from the fertilizer to grow corn for ethanol. And N2O is 298 times worse as a GWG than CO2. Biofuel ...

Posted Fri, Jun 5, 11:10 a.m.

Americans want freedom of choice, not mandates. That includes the choice of health care, of the vehicles we drive, and of the food we eat. I personally don't want health insurance because I have the assets to pay for it. Americans want energy independences which means from ALL viable sources. ...

Posted Fri, Jun 5, 10:53 a.m.

Liberalspeak. We've always had climate change, and nature always adapts to it. Much of Washington State used to be covered with glaciers, and someday that again will happen. Trying to modify climate is a fools errand. Adapt! And while the disproportionate effect on the poor? Growing food for fuel is ...

Posted Thu, May 14, 1:07 p.m.

Bought And Paid For!!! Gratitude to Olympia will now be accepted. Pulitzer must be rolling in his grave about now.

Posted Wed, Nov 12, 11:48 a.m.

Already Obama, who would never have qualified for a security clearance, has shown he can't keep a secret. For him, political posturing is everything. Now no world leader can expect to have frank talks with Obama with his inability to keep quiet.