People with a selfish political agenda are
easy to spot. In addition to stupid
alarmist predictions like the one above
(which are easily debunked with time and
facts) another cheap trick they use is to
predict what could have been. It goes
something like this "just think how
bad the economy would have been if we hadn't
bailed out the banks and gone into debt
funding failed companies like
Solyndra..." Notice
it is impossible to contradict something
that has never been.
Believe me, I wish along with the majority
of Americans we could turn back the clock
and test Obama's theory by instituting
Reagan's plan instead of continuing the
Bush/Pelosie/Reid era overspending!
So what is Al Gore's defense? It
goes something like this: "Just think how much colder it would be if we
weren't experiencing this intense man-caused global warming."
ARRESTS
4149+ 0
RAPES
2
0
DAMAGE $10,000,000
$0
PUBLIC
DEFECATION YES
NO
ANTISEMITIC
RANTS 12
0
COST TO TAXPAYERS $19,327,487+
$0
PUBLIC
MASTURBATION 3
0
MOLOTOV COCKTAILS
THROWN 10
0
FIGHTS
STARTED YES
NO
CHILDREN
EXPLOITED YES
NO
POLICE CARS
DAMAGED 2
0
PUBLIC
DRUNKENNESS YES
NO
DRUG POSSESSION
ARREST YES
NO
CONCEALED WEAPON
ARREST YES
NO
DRUG
OVERDOSE YES
NO
THEFTS YES
NO
VULGARITIES YES
NO
VANDALISM
ARREST YES
NO
TRESPASSING
ARREST YES
NO
NON FATAL
SHOOTINGS 1
0
PUBLIC
URINATION YES
NO
URINATION ON OTHERS
YES NO
ISRAELI FLAGS
BURNED 2
0
AMERICAN FLAGS BURNED
1 0
AMERICAN FLAGS DANCED
ON 1
0
AMERICAN FLAG
DESECRATION 25
0
FELONY ASSAULT ON AN EMT 1
0
HEAD/BODY LICE
OUTBREAKS 1
0
TUBERCULOSIS
OUTBREAKS 1
0
MURDER 1
0
SUICIDE 1
0
SHOTS FIRED AT WHITE
HOUSE 1
0
SCABIES
OUTBREAKS 1
0
OBAMA ENDORSED
IT YES
NO
PELOSI ENDORSED
IT YES
NO
CAIR ENDORSED IT
YES NO
SOCIALIST PARTY
ENDORSED YES
NO
NAZI PARTY
ENDORSED YES
NO
MUSLIM BROTHERH'D
ENDORSED YES
NO
COMMUNIST PARTY ENDORSED
YES
NO
BIDEN
ENDORSED YES
NO
HUGO CHAVEZ
ENDORSED YES
NO
BLACK PANTHERS ENDORSED
YES NO
HEZBOLLAH
ENDORSED YES
NO
MARXIST UNION
ENDORSED YES
NO
9/11 TRUTHER ENDORSED
YES NO
BOLSHEVIK
ENDORSED YES
NO
IRAN GOVERNMENT ENDORSED
YES NO
AYATOLLAH
ENDORSED YES
NO
NORTH KOREA
ENDORSED YES
NO
FARRAKHAN
ENDORSED YES
NO
NATION OF ISLAM
ENDORSED YES
NO
ENDORSED BY GOV.
GREGOIRE YES &
permits waived NO
& threatened by state workers
Obama simply is not the problem.
He, along with other "Progressives" plus
many main line Republicans and Democrats
are a symptom of a political system
corrupted by big business forcing their
way into your wallet. For
instance, the fluorescent light bulbs
being foisted on us by regulations
benefit a very limited group of
investors (including Al Gore) while the
average guy pays the high price.
Never mind that fluorescents don't last
longer than regulars bulbs (my
observation) or that they have
significant amounts of toxic mercury and
other dangerous chemicals and please
don't evaluate whether or not they are
actually good for the environment or
your eyesight. Hell, there is
money to be made here son.
Whenever your fluorescents die, be sure
to send them to the White House for
recycling. Use Al Gore's or Chris
Gregoir's address for the return
address. "Never mind the man
behind the curtain" as the famous line
in the Wizard of Oz reads.
http://www.peterbronson.com/?p=349
So who is behind the political curtain?
Greedy unethical businesses who have
eliminated most if not all of their
competitors, forced high prices on us
and got unjustified regulatory
protections through outrageous
loopholes; that's who.
Here is a great non-tea party web site
on a great scandal that is brewing
www.spacedoc.com which shines
the light on the Statin scam.
Incidentally Senator Patty Murray who
was heavily funded by at least on big
pharmaceutical company. Tell me
she isn't influenced by big
pharmaceutical companies.
Are there solutions to crony capitalism?
You bet there are!
See the Olympia Tea Party article
Mountain Corruption in You Own
Back Yard (see the article
below, on this page) which talks about
"code-opolies" here in Washington
State. The solution is SB 5699
& HB 1995 which are bills still
active in the 2012 Legislative session.
(SB stands for Senate Bill, HB stands
for House Bill).
More than just complaining we can get
behind these positive pieces of
legislation and push. They already
have have bipartisan support and they
fight the festering corruption that we
all hate.
Write your Senators & Representatives
and ask them to fight crony capitalism
by supporting SB 5716, SB 5699 and HB
1995.
What right does ANY president have to
talk about bringing jobs back while he
travels the nation on a custom bus made
in Canada? And yes the White House
bought the luxury model.
What right does ANY president have
talking jobs when his press secretary
says food stamps are the quickest way to
create jobs?
What right does ANY president have
talking jobs while the Bureaucracy he
manages continues the massive regulation
buildup strangling job creating
businesses?
What right does ANY president have when
he cannot come up with a budget or an
economic plan except just before the
elections?
What right does ANY president have
talking jobs when his administration is
giving exemptions to the endangered
species act to
wind-generated-electrical-industry while
it is killing the vast majority of
eagles in California? And at the
same time this president acknowledges
his "green" energy & Cap-n-Trade scheme
will cause our electric bills to soar!
Doesn't he care about poor people?
What right does ANY president have to
talk jobs while he golf's more often
than any of his predecessors?
President Obama, your inexperience is
showing and it is time for you to resign
for the good of the Country just like
Richard Nixon resigned when he got
caught "with his hand in the cookie
jar."
If you had been listening to America we
wouldn't be in the utter economic mess
we have today. You don't want to
listen and therefore you will be a one
term president. You get an A for
effort but an F for results. It is
time for you to step aside.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the
victims and their families of the Norway
tragedy.
The first tragedy is when any nutcase
guns down innocent children at a summer
camp; and he deserves to burn in Hell
forever in my opinion. The second
tragedy is the way the media attempts to
characterize all nutcases as right wing
fundamentalist Christians or
Conservatives. This murderous
goofball is neither a political
Conservative nor a Christian; to anyone
who is Conservative or Christian his
actions are obviously revolting and
nauseating.
Liberal and leftist media pundits
purposefully mischaracterize such events
only to score political points.
Same thing happened when Jared Loughner
gunned down a Conservative Federal Judge
and almost killed moderate Democrat
Gabriella Gifford in his Arizona
shooting rampage. Loughner was
immediately (before the facts were know)
labeled a Conservative Christian.
Turns out he was more the Socialist
admiring Atheist... Gee thanks liberal
media for the smear campaign.
You've got that technique down pat with
your instant knee jerk condemnation of
anyone who slightly disagrees with you.
If something bad happens it must be a
Conservative Christian; don't pause to
discover the facts. Never mind
that Loughner was one of your own.
The media scam works like this: A)
a leftist or liberal Blogger makes a
false statement B) the respected
major media talking heads pick up on it
and report it as if it were news without
vetting it C) the misinformation
travels the world D) eventually
the alternative media call foul E)
The major media print a small retraction
on page 3 where nobody will notice.
F) the damage is done. Why does
this happen? Ted Koppel in 1976
told us at the Edward R. Murrow
Symposium held at WSU in Pullman.
I heard him say "the news media no
longer consider themselves just
reporters of news but rather 'shapers'
of public opinion."
If the liberal Left can keep peoples
emotions stirred up then who will bother
to pay attention to issues and policies?
This is of course the whole point of
blaming Conservatives for everything
horrific. Personally I've been
called a "hater", "racist" and probably
much worse behind my back just because I
believe in fiscal responsibility.
Imagine if your neighbor decided to call
you a child molester because you
complained about his dog pooping on your
lawn. Your reputation would be
dirt in the neighborhood in no time at
all. Do you think the goofballs
who egged my house and truck paused to
check the facts before damaging my
property? The answer is yes only if you
believe that it snows in Hell.
Obama is too busy golfing to choose
bipartisanship. I really don't
think he cares. Should America
loose it's triple-A rating he and his
radically Left-of-center Senate will
have earned at least 2/3 of the blame.
But who will the Left-leaning Media
blame? I can predict that in less
than three guesses.
The ZerObama Stimulus
looks like it actually helped Canada
(the red line) more than it did the U.S.
(blue line). ZerObama
promised us the unemployment would not
go above 8%, well that was overly
generous. Word is that Canadians
had voted in more conservative
politicians. Well you get what you
vote for.
Establishment politicians have been
running the US economy into the ground
for decades. We can safely now
categorize Barack H. Obama as just
another George Bush in terms of handling
the National Debt and Deficit.
The Bush record is actually better by
far though I don't like either's poor
performance.
Last summer the ZerObama administration
proclaimed it as the "summer of
recovery", well it didn't. This
summer may be tagged by historians
as the "Summer of LOst Jobs". We
need to elect a president that actually
cares.
Lst
Jobs Message is resonating.
Our June 17th Friday "Flags over Five"
was the most positively received yet. Motorists &
truckers honked and waved approval like never
before! The Lost Jobs message is getting through.
Join in at an overpass near you. The Olympia
Tea Party can provide signs for your group, call for
details. (360) 923-1080
On Tuesday, June 14 the Olympia
Tea Party
protested (on short notice) the
Tumwater City Council work session held
at the Fire House next to City Hall.
(the work session was in the Fire House
conference room). Our message was
obvious from our signs (see pictures
below.) Because of the short
notice our numbers were few, but Glen
Morgan of the Freedom Foundation, John
O'Callahan the Thurston Co. Republican
Chair along with Terry (OTP member)
attended the meeting while Bruce and Ken
kept the signs visible outside.
Glen Morgan had come to give the City
Council their Attorney's letter
regarding City employees removing "STOP
Thurston Count" signs from private
property on City time using a City
vehicle thus breaking both Federal and
State Statutes. We set up shop
first on the street then moved in front
of the window where the Council was
meeting and "grab them by the nose" so
to speak and get their attention.
It was a beautiful day for a protest.
We will keep you informed as things
develop.
The
results are obvious on who benefited
from the Obama-Reid-Pelosi economic
experimentation and Americas aren't
happy. The clear winners is the
new Confederacy of Big Corporation, Big
Banks, and Big Government. The
clear losers: wage earners, homeowners
and property owners. Especially
hard hit are children and minorities.
Anyone filling their own gas tank
nowadays knows something is
desperately wrong. High gas
prices are the result of a "no
domestic drilling" policy while
Obama lavishes Billions on Brazilian
oil well drilling.
The
housing market collapse is now
steeper than the Great Depression
and falling further.
Quantitative Easing (a.k.a. printing
money) is causing widespread
inflation at home and China now
claims we are in default because
they don't like having their loans
repaid with funny money.
The
Banks Obama and Bush bailed out
invested in foreign enterprise, not
in American small businesses or
families. Ask yourself, did my
bank help pay off my loan? Of
course not, they are "to big to
fail" and give heavily to certain
politicians. So who do
you think Obama is working to
protect? Concern over Joe the
plumber has been replaced by help
for Ben the banker.
Unemployment is creeping skyward
again from it's already lofty perch.
American industry continues to move
offshore taking more jobs with it.
Excessive new regulations are
choking business, causing plummeting
property values in some areas and
are a virtual rape of property owner
rights.
The Obama/Bush $14+ Trillion
National Debt threatens everything.
I could fill the rest of the web
site with examples but I think you
can already see the point.
I don't think Obama really
cares.
His lack of experience in private
enterprise and his ridged Leftist
philosophy won't let him see the misery
he is causing to children across America
including Black and Hispanic kids.
The answer of course lies with
your response. It is not enough to
be informed. Get
active in a local City Council race,
involve yourself with an active local
group, write a letter to the editor once
a month, give to active groups that are
having impact.
Over the last two years+, here
is what we at the Olympia Tea Party have
been doing:
Street Protest marches:
Starting with the 1,800 strong march
on April 15, 2009
we marched on the State Capitol to
join the rally on the Capitol North
Steps.
Rallies & Conferences with multiple
speakers
Speakers included:
Rev. Wayne Perryman, Kelly
Carender, Mike Siegel, Carl
Pike, Bob Basso a.k.a. Thomas
Paine, Kirby Wilbur, Alex Rion,
John Carlson, Ken Morse, Floyd
Brown, Michael Coffman PhD,
Wendy Burnbaum, Senator Val
Steven, Bill Hinkle, Dr. Matt
Manweller, Garret Lloyd King
(songwriter), Justice Richard
Saunders, Tom Hann and many
more.
Organized visits to Representative's
Town Hall meetings or visiting
Representative's home offices.
Organize events for Nationally known
groups (like the Tea Party Express,
October 2009 at the Puyallup)
Targeted protests (like our recent
Tumwater City Council protest)
Flags over Five Freeway Overpass
signs.
Protest Barack Obama, Michelle
Obama, Bill Clinton and other
Leftists that came to Washington
State.
Create news events with our
protests.
Support key Initiatives (like I-1053
& 1022) with signature gathering and
sign waving
Information gathering and across the
State coordination with other groups
(like "water wars" of last summer)
Speaking engagements
And
we here at the Olympia Tea Party
could add many more.
We are ordinary people
doing extraordinary things
All this made possible because so
many of you got involved and donated
your time, talent and money.
Thank You!
If you
want to have impact join us or any other
active group. Don't just know
something, do something! Support
the candidate of your choice by
volunteering & contributing. Even
with just a moderate amount of
committeemen and time you can have ten
times the impact compared to
working alone; but whatever you do, get
involved and stay involved. Your
kids future depends upon what you do
today.
It was March 22, 2005.
Gregoire was the newly elected/selected
Governor. And she submitted her
budget. Here's what she said about
it:
"I don't like it. It's not
sustainable. It's what's wrong
with the budget in the state of
Washington," she said.
Members of her own Party ridiculed it:
"Transferring funds and transferring
them back to make it look like you did
something - that is what is done here,"
said Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman
Margarita Prentice, D-Renton.
Rep. Helen Sommers, D-Seattle,
chairwoman of the House Appropriations
Committee, likewise said no one
should think the problem has been
solved. "When you're using
one-time money for long-term programs,
it should be a sign to most people that
you're in trouble." A
Seattle Times editorial said:
Gregoire admits it is not sustainable.
"I can't put out a sustainable budget
today because I didn't inherit one."
Huh?
But what she and the
Democrat-controlled Legislature did a
month later really cemented our
state on a path of unsustainable
budgets. As reported then: The Democrat-controlled Senate
joined House colleagues yesterday in
sending Gov. Christine Gregoire a bill
that changes voter-approved spending
limits and allows taxes to be increased
by a simple majority vote in the
Legislature. The measure changes
the I-601 spending cap...
Sen. Joseph Zarelli,
R-Ridgefield, his party's lead
budget negotiator, said, "It's a sad,
sad day for Washington
state taxpayers. "I fear we're
heading back to the days of double-digit
state-budget increases and consistent
tax increases… there is no reason, no
motivation, for the government to spend
wisely or efficiently."…(Democrat) Prentice said
legislators in both parties had amended
the original initiative so many times it
had lost meaning. "…the new limit
will be more realistic... we'll be in
better shape financially in two years
and… able to live within our means,"
Didn't happen.
Over the past six years,
if they could have… abided by I-601's
limits... there wouldn't have been the
wrenching... roller-coaster of spending
in Washington state. Gregoire
called her 2005 budget "a legacy
budget." She was correct. Her
legacy... of unsustainable budgets
cemented in 2005.
Washington State #40 in
Freedom Ranking (It's that bad
folks)
Editor's
note (June 13, 2011) It really is
about freedom! Lack of freedom is
harming us. As Reagan put
it "government is not a solution
to our problem, it is the problem."
Governments that maintain and promote
high debt are robbing you of your
ability to care for your family and are
harming your children's future.
Your children will not judge you on
what you knew about the problem but
what you DID about it. Our
parents and grandparents stopped the
Nazi & Communist takeovers of
their day, but not so our generation
would let them in the back door!
Stand up Americans! It is your
turn to fight for freedom by doorbelling
for good candidates, giving to
worthwhile organizations and making sure
everyone we know casts their votes for
freedom. It is our turn to be"the greatest generation".
It is our turn to carry freedom's flag
up the hill but it is located at City
Hall, not Iwo Gima.
Washington State prides itself in big
government solutions and how
environmentally minded they are.
But it has fallen into the trap thinking
more government is better. I
believe in "the rule of tens"
that if government tries to regulate
products instead of results, the cost
rises by a factor of ten. Scroll
down to the bottom of this page and read
the article "Mounting corruption in
you own back yard". The devil
is hidden in the regulatory details and
it is ordinary for unelected bureaucrats
to want to write a "prescriptive"
rather than a "performance code"
or write the code so restrictively you
virtually have only one product choice.
Bureaucrats seem dedicated not to an
"environmental outcome" but to a
"product selection outcome" which is
what I call a "code-opoly."
...Washington (State) is still among the
10 least-free states... it only barely
cracks the top half of states in
personal freedom.
Spending is a bit higher than
average, but taxes are slightly
lower—a recipe for government debt,
which Washington has in abundance.
Government employment is also too
high.
Land-use planning is fairly
centralized.
Eminent-domain legislation has been
enacted but reforms need to go
further.
Labor and health-insurance laws are
poor.
Washington has the highest minimum
wage in the country.
It also has adjusted community
rating and has enacted a host of new
health-insurance coverage mandates.
The state liability system is a bit
above average.
For a liberal state, gun laws remain
quite reasonable.
Alcohol is tightly controlled, with
taxes on spirits the highest in the
country by far (effectively $22.33
per gallon!). However, beer and wine
taxes are considerably lower than
average.
Cigarette taxes are high overall and
the highest in the West; smoking
bans are extensive.
Marijuana laws are a bit better than
average, with a relatively humane
(but still too high, at five years)
maximum prison term for single
offenses. Making high-level
possession and low-level cultivation
misdemeanors and low-level
possession a civil offense would
help further.
Motorist freedoms are constrained
and now include a ban on handheld
cell phones. However, Washington
does not authorize sobriety
checkpoints.
Gambling is restricted.
Educational regulation is absurdly
tight, with private schools needing
state approval and under certain
conditions, teacher licensing, and
homeschoolers needing to meet
teacher qualifications, annual
standardized testing, and extensive
recordkeeping rules, along with
other requirements.
Washington’s asset-forfeiture laws
are among the worst in the country
and require reform. However, the
state performs quite well on
victimless-crime arrests and
drug-law enforcement.
Policy Recommendations
Reduce spending consistent with the
state’s relatively decent tax-burden
levels, starting with reducing
government employment and spending
on natural resources (mostly at the
state government level) and sewerage
(at the local government level),
which is particularly far above
national norms.
Enact further-reaching
eminent-domain reform.
Reduce centralized land-use planning
by repealing or amending the Growth
Management Act and Shoreline
Management Act.
1,372 is the
current number of ObamaCare waivers but who
is counting? There were 204 new waivers
granted just last month. Why is this
important to you? If your employer
does not have a waiver that means less money
in your pocket on payday and you may not be
able to fill your gas tank tomorrow.
If you own a business without a waiver your
health care costs soar, all sorts of
restrictions kick in and you face going out
of business because your company is less
competitive. Your choices in health
care will also be severely limited to a
single payer program which is ObamaCare's
goal.
Americans
are rightly suspicious of monopolies.
While getting a waiver is not a monopoly per
se, it is a business advantage artificially
created by government. When unethical
businesses seek government protection from
competition I call that a Code-opoly.
A business doesn't need to earn your trust
if the government creates an uneven playing
field granting special favors to some which
they deny to others. What do you want
to bet the selection process is transparent
and fair? Take my advice, don't throw
your money away on such a bad bet.
Monopolies,
code-opolies, trade-opolies and
favor-opoloies are all similar in this
respect: a government bureaucrat
decides who is allowed to win by
manipulating rules and creating barriers to
competition. Imagine for a minute that
speed limits are governed by car color (in
special cases.) The posted freeway
speed is 70-MPH but buried in the
regulations are a few exceptions and
exemptions. Now suppose you own a
courier business transporting time-sensitive
signed documents from Seattle to Portland.
Unknown to you the regulations reduce the
speed of red courier cars to 60-MPH just
like we do with trucks. Your company
unfortunately has purchased red cars and you
wonder why you are constantly ticketed while
your competitor's blue courier cars race
past you on the freeway. How long will
you stay in business? Your competitor
has the advantage, which means you starve.
It doesn't matter if you have better
business practices because the rules are
rigged against you.
It
is often said "the devil is in the details"
and this problem is not limited to the
federal government. Call it trickle
down corruption if you like but it exists in
your own back yard in the form of city,
county and State regulations. Take my
industry for instance (the septic system
industry). Washington Administrative
Code (WAC) 246-272A is written in a way that
excludes hundreds of good "treatment"
products to the benefit of one single
manufacturer. It does this for at
least three manufactures of specialty
treatment products! Now what are the
chances of that being a fluke?! Of
course, rather than embracing free markets
and competition the "voice of the industry"
(the WA On Site Sewage Association) tried to
paint the bill, HB 1995 (SB 5699) as
favoring only one product (SludgeHammer)
while ignoring Code-opolies created by the
WAC. Incidentally I market the
SludgeHammer product so this is just the
standard personal attack strategy used in
politics today. Innuendo is no defense
in a rational world. When HB 1995 (SB
5699) passes it will end the Code-opolies
giving homeowners a choice of 39
manufacturers with 450+ competing products
(but it will give me no advantage at all).
The septic industry is huge.
Approximately 25% of homes in our State
flush to septic and many are waterfront
properties.
The
Washington State standard for septic system
treatment products is not recognized as any
sort of national standard, nor is the
Department of Health a member of the
American
National Standard Institute (ANSI).
WAC 256-272A interestingly does not
recognize the plumbing code either.
ANSI is a non-profit entity which oversees
the writing of the plumbing and electrical
codes so why not use nationally developed
standards? National standards are a
sharp contrast to favored for-profit Code-opolies
created under WAC 246-272A. There are
many environmental advantages to recognizing
Nationally developed standards and none for
tolerating Code-opolies. Case in point
is WAC 246-272A-0110 (5) which
clearly states "Treatment
levels used in these rules are not intended
to be applied as field compliance
standards..." Oops! Not only
do favored manufacturers eliminate
competitors, they've no field compliance
standard to contend with. Do you think
the salmon in Puget Sound would like to vote
on this? Well, at least it is good for
certain the business environments...
Nobody
can deny that Code-opolies exist and
predictably those who benefit from them
continue to put up the smokescreen to try
and hide their shameless profiteering.
Do a little digging of your own in your
local city and county codes and I bet you
will find plenty more sweetheart deals.
For septic system treatment products it is
in black & white in our State regs along
with some additional serious technical
defects. If the septic system code
were re-written to accept Nationally
developed ANSI standards the cost of
septic repairs could fall by as much as 90%.
That my friend is what Code-opolies are all
about. If this is not corruption it is
at least incompetence which will continue
until voters and environmentalists demand
otherwise.
Olympia Tea Party is a not-for-profit
Washington State Corporation.
Donations are not tax deductible.
We are 100% Volunteer. All donations
go toward educational activities. Thank you for your support!
For Donations by mail make payable to Olympia Tea Party PO
Box 1771 Olympia, WA 98507-1771.
The Olympia Tea Party does NOT
tolerate racism or
violent behavior, violent speech or threats
of violence or disrespect of any kind toward
our elected or appointed officials. We
may disagree with their policies but we
respect their position of authority and the
rule of law. We call upon all citizens
to monitor their own speech and act with
dignity and respect. We all have a
right to disagree and debate (even loudly)
but none of us have a right to
violence.
Our policy on
working with other groups is that of
communication & cooperation, even with
groups with differing approaches.
We seek to work with all groups whether
small or large on the basis of principles
instead of politics. Our issues
are 1) Fiscal Responsibility 2)
Property Rights and 3) Constitutionally
Limited Government.
The Olympia Tea Party does NOT boycotted other tea party groups.
When a disagreement arises we seek to
communicate and if necessary offer to meet
and resolve differences. If the other
group decides not to resolve
the issue we
continue to work toward our shared
goals along parallel paths.
We disagreed
with Bush's overspending and abandoning
free market principles in 2008. We
disagree with Nancy
Pelosi's
overspending and abandoning transparent
government. We care
about our children and don't want to leave them
with Pelosi's unsustainable debt. We
do agree
with Hillary Clinton when she said "We are
Americans and we have the right to debate
and disagree with any administration"
Ken Morse
st
Jobs
Editor's
note (June 13, 2011) It really is
about freedom! Lack of freedom is
harming us. As Reagan put
it "government is not a solution
to our problem, it is the problem."
Governments that maintain and promote
high debt are robbing you of your
ability to care for your family and are
harming your children's future.
Your children will not judge you on
what you knew about the problem but
what you DID about it. Our
parents and grandparents stopped the
Nazi & Communist takeovers of
their day, but not so our generation
would let them in the back door!
Stand up Americans! It is your
turn to fight for freedom by doorbelling
for good candidates, giving to
worthwhile organizations and making sure
everyone we know casts their votes for
freedom. It is our turn to be
"the greatest generation".
It is our turn to carry freedom's flag
up the hill but it is located at City
Hall, not Iwo Gima.
Americans
are rightly suspicious of monopolies.
While getting a waiver is not a monopoly per
se, it is a business advantage artificially
created by government. When unethical
businesses seek government protection from
competition I call that a Code-opoly.
A business doesn't need to earn your trust
if the government creates an uneven playing
field granting special favors to some which
they deny to others. What do you want
to bet the selection process is transparent
and fair? Take my advice, don't throw
your money away on such a bad bet.
Monopolies,
code-opolies, trade-opolies and
favor-opoloies are all similar in this
respect: a government bureaucrat
decides who is allowed to win by
manipulating rules and creating barriers to
competition. Imagine for a minute that
speed limits are governed by car color (in
special cases.) The posted freeway
speed is 70-MPH but buried in the
regulations are a few exceptions and
exemptions. Now suppose you own a
courier business transporting time-sensitive
signed documents from Seattle to Portland.
Unknown to you the regulations reduce the
speed of red courier cars to 60-MPH just
like we do with trucks. Your company
unfortunately has purchased red cars and you
wonder why you are constantly ticketed while
your competitor's blue courier cars race
past you on the freeway. How long will
you stay in business? Your competitor
has the advantage, which means you starve.
It doesn't matter if you have better
business practices because the rules are
rigged against you.
It
is often said "the devil is in the details"
and this problem is not limited to the
federal government. Call it trickle
down corruption if you like but it exists in
your own back yard in the form of city,
county and State regulations. Take my
industry for instance (the septic system
industry). Washington Administrative
Code (WAC) 246-272A is written in a way that
excludes hundreds of good "treatment"
products to the benefit of one single
manufacturer. It does this for at
least three manufactures of specialty
treatment products! Now what are the
chances of that being a fluke?! Of
course, rather than embracing free markets
and competition the "voice of the industry"
(the WA On Site Sewage Association) tried to
paint the bill, HB 1995 (SB 5699) as
favoring only one product (SludgeHammer)
while ignoring Code-opolies created by the
WAC. Incidentally I market the
SludgeHammer product so this is just the
standard personal attack strategy used in
politics today. Innuendo is no defense
in a rational world. When HB 1995 (SB
5699) passes it will end the Code-opolies
giving homeowners a choice of 39
manufacturers with 450+ competing products
(but it will give me no advantage at all).
The septic industry is huge.
Approximately 25% of homes in our State
flush to septic and many are waterfront
properties.
The
Washington State standard for septic system
treatment products is not recognized as any
sort of national standard, nor is the
Department of Health a member of the
Nobody
can deny that Code-opolies exist and
predictably those who benefit from them
continue to put up the smokescreen to try
and hide their shameless profiteering.
Do a little digging of your own in your
local city and county codes and I bet you
will find plenty more sweetheart deals.
For septic system treatment products it is
in black & white in our State regs along
with some additional serious technical
defects. If the septic system code
were re-written to accept Nationally
developed ANSI standards the cost of
septic repairs could fall by as much as 90%.
That my friend is what Code-opolies are all
about. If this is not corruption it is
at least incompetence which will continue
until voters and environmentalists demand
otherwise.