2010 Election Endorsements

Here are my endorsements for the 2010 Mid-Term Election. I have included my endorsements and those of the two major news reporting agencies in Seattle.

If you agree with my opinions, great! Go Vote!

If you don’t agree with my opinions, OK. But still, Go Vote!

I-1082: Privatization of workman’s compensation insurance
Vote- YES.
Washington is one of only a handful of states with a government monopoly on workman’s compensation insurance coverage. While I agree that government should step-in to provide such coverage when none exists, I do not agree with government freezing-out private competition. It’s time for Washington to modernize and move forward by providing those who are providing jobs some choice in their workman’s compensation insurance provider. The current Department of Labor and Industry is pretty broken-down and offers mediocre service at rather high prices, privatization just seems like a win-win here. Allow the State to focus on governing and not on insuring.

Seattle Times: Yes.
Seattle PI: No.

I-1098: Installation of a State Income Tax
Vote- YES.
Most folks hear “State Income Tax” and run for the hills. I was one of those people. However, I am also one who believes that those who have benefitted from living in the State of Washington should pay their part. This initiative places an income tax on those with an “adjusted gross income” of over $200,000 (individual) and $400,000 (joint). To quote Chris Rock (talking about having to pay alimony in a stand-up routine)- “If I’m making $500,000 a year and the wife wants half, I ain’t stavin, but if I am making $35,000 a year…” That sentiment rings true here for taxes. Forget regressive sales taxes that penalize all and disproportionately take a greater percentage of income from the less-wealthy and tax those who A) can afford it and B) are making money living in the very system that allowed them to succeed.

Seattle Times: No.
Seattle PI: Yes.

I-1100 & I-1105: Liquor Privatization
Vote- NO.
I realize this endorsement flies in the face of my I-1098 argument, but they are different beasts altogether. First and foremost disclosure: I was once employed by the Washington State Liquor Control Board as a liquor store clerk. That being said, loyalty to a former employer has little to do with my decision. Mostly, I like having the state in control of hard liquor. Having worked for the board I know that the clerks are paid well and offered a good benefit package which creates an appreciation for the job that creates a diligence in distribution of liquor that makes me feel safer. I have little faith in some 18-year-old gas station attendant to keep from selling hard liquor to those who shouldn’t have it. Just look at the CWU situation, it was the kids who mixed hard liquor with the malt beverages who got themselves sick, do we really need to make it easier for situations like that to occur? I think the cost of state administration is well worth the safety/oversight provided. And if you REALLY NEED liquor on a Sunday or at every corner store…I don’t think state initiatives are your biggest worry. Simply put, state liquor stores are not that great of an inconvenience and are money fairly well spent, keep them around.

Seattle Times: Yes.
Seattle PI: No.

I-1107: Candy Tax
Vote- NO.
Tax the vices! That has long been a mantra of mine, even before I was of voting age. I have no problem taxing things like alcohol and tobacco, and many folks agree with that sentiment. Candy should be on that list of vices, as it’s an indulgence. Which in and of itself, is just fine, but when done to excess can cause health problems…the same can be said of alcohol and tobacco. Since these overindulgences can cause harm, either financial or physical, to other citizens (be it drunk driving or increased healthcare costs) such actions/products should be taxed. Not as a deterrent, but as a measure to recoup some the expenses associated with the harms these overindulgences can incur. Leave the tax in place.

Seattle Times: No.
Seattle PI: No Endorsement.

Prop 1: King County Sales Tax Increase
Vote- NO.
“Just a lil bit more,” then a few years later, “Just a lil bit more.” Such has been the pitch from King County for years, and years, and years. I remember a sales tax in the 6-7% range back when I was in high school, and now we are looking at a double-digit sales tax rate? Where will it end? Enough is enough. I am normally the bloodiest of bleeding-heart tax-and-spend liberals, but it’s time to say, “No.” It’s time for the county to become fiscally responsible and work with revenue the voters of King County have already granted them in previous sales tax hikes. The economy is too weak and the tax too regressive to be viewed as a viable fix. Look to the long-term instead of reverting to the equivalent of an irresponsible teenager asking the parents for lunch money because they already spent their allowance for the month.

Seattle Times: Yes.
Seattle PI: No.

State Senator
Vote- PATTY MURRAY.
I don’t trust Dino Rossi. I view him in the same light as Tim Eyman, someone who seems to love the political spotlight, yet offers nothing of substance to actually benefit the voters they are asking the support of. Meanwhile Patty Murray has been a steadfast and active representative of Washington State in the “other” Washington. Murray was instrumental in returning the Air Force Tanker contract to Boeing when it had all but been given to a non-domestic company in Airbus. The bulk of this endorsement is based-on a simple dislike/distrust of Rossi, but when you begin to review Murray’s track record, the Senior Senator deserves the job.

Seattle Times: Murray.
Seattle PI: Murray.

The 1st year…

Well I can’t believe it, but it’s been a year since Barack Obama rode the wave of change to the office of President.

No, this is not going to be a ‘coulda woulda shoulda’ column, nor is it going to be an ‘Obama is the best thing since sliced bread’ piece either.

It’s going to be yet another piece on the further disillusionment of a formerly idealistic young(er) American.

My disillusionment is not solely directed at Obama, but were I to omit the fact that I am utterly underwhelmed by him and his administration would be dishonest on my part.

However, the roots of my melancholy lie in the politics that rule the day. They are the same politics that have ruled the day for as long as I can remember. They are the same politics I thought I was voting-out when voting for Obama.

So here we are a year later and as usual, the American political machine has left me confused, unfulfilled and wondering why I even bother.

But for me, politics are a lot like women, though I rarely get the end-result I am looking for, I am utterly intrigued and keep coming back for more.

So most Sunday mornings I sit on my couch, sipping overpriced coffee in a high-rise apartment downtown, seemingly in the lap of middle class luxury, watching the political pundit shows and get pissed-off.

I saw a snipit of a speech, from of all people, Jon Voight, that I think perfectly illustrates the return to the ‘business as usual’ ’us versus them’ politics that I thought Obama’s election would curb.

Voight stated that Obama is: “Taking America apart piece by piece" and suggesting he "had 20 years of subconscious programming by Reverend Wright to damn America."

It’s the old tactic of extremism. Nowhere is there a shred of evidence to back Voight’s rants, but there he was on national TV getting face time spreading nothing more than gossip.

Now I understand politics, and there is always going to be an element of mud-slinging and creative license taken when anyone is out drumming for support, be they Republican or Democrat. Where I draw the line is at lying or defamation/character assignation. Simply put, neither has a place in American political discourse.

And here’s the odd thing about this whole Jon Voight issue, this personal attack on Obama was given as Voight was trotted out by Republicans to defeat Obama’s universal healthcare bill. I have hard time seeing any logical line of reasoning that leads from universal healthcare to Obama’s former pastor.

Now, for what it’s worth, I’ve always thought of Jon Voight as a less-than-stable individual. I didn’t know of his conservative leanings until I saw the snipit of his speech. So while I don’t think all Republicans are zealots in the vein of Voight, someone decided to put him behind a podium with the proposed healthcare bill planted squarely in front of him.

This ploy to paint Obama as a leftist Black Panther anarchist ideologue is bypassing the real debate and downright silly. Where is the substantive debate? What are the legitimate Republican objections to the bill in its current incarnation? *You can see my prior post on lack of objectivity in the media as to why modern discourse has been oversimplified to sound bites instead of full disclosure.

In debate, you address the issue being debated, not the debater. This critical aspect of political debate seems to have been forgotten by those taking part in modern political discourse.

I, while on-board with the idea of universal healthcare, am not sold on the bill in its current incarnation. I thought some disclosure was due, as I hammered Mr. Voight pretty good there. But oddly enough, he and I agree in our displeasure with the bill. Though I will note that our reasons for disliking the bill most assuredly vary greatly.

Later-on in the political pundit show, I saw a discussion between a democratic governor and a Republican Party representative and was again appalled. Here were two grown men, seemingly respectable enough, who were so embittered and entrenched on their respective sides that neither would let the other so much as finish a sentence. I felt like I was watching two 4-year-olds try to out tantrum one another. It was a downright pathetic display from both gentlemen.

My how far the mighty have fallen…if our elected officials are unwilling to listen to anyone but those of their own ilk, how can they be true representatives?

I voted for Obama because I thought he represented a break for the ‘tow the party line at all costs’ style of politics that had caused Washington to grind to halt. But it looks like I was wrong. Obama has yet to exhibit the coalition-building and reaching across the aisle that won my vote.

I guess I should have known better. He’s got three more years to win it back, but at this point, Obama’s lost my vote.

News Flash...

Earlier this week I stayed home sick. Something about a sore throat and my being a phone answering monkey just didn’t jive. So while sitting on my couch, nursing said sore throat, I came across the cable news channels. And remembered why I now keep the fact that I earned a journalism degree under wraps…

The hubbub of the day was the tiff between the Obama Administration and Fox News. For those unfamiliar with the story here is a link for a breakdown.

In short, the Obama Administration has taken-on Fox News and labeled them ‘opinion journalists’ and ‘a wing of the Republican party’ basically alluding to the fact that Fox is anything but ‘Fair and Balanced.’

Now I am not going to get into the political stupidity/public relations debacle this fight will prove to be for the Obama Administration, that sentence gives you and idea of where I stand, but what I am gonna delve into is the lack of true journalism (at least as I was taught) in America today.

*Disclosure: I am willing to note the irony of a blogger/poorly-researched but ideological rant writer like myself discussing such matters as objective journalism. But I am not now, nor have I ever purported to be, a reporter. I am not employed by any journalistic outlet and therefore see no problem with my pointing-out flaws in the world as I see it. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, I just am up-front about when I am sharing mine and don’t try to mask anything I post here as ‘objective’ reporting.

So I ended-up spending more of my sick day than I’d like to admit, watching the cable news channels. In doing so, I came to one conclusion- Fox News is not alone in its naked political bias. MSNBC would have to be considered the 'Yin' to Fox News 'Yang.'

It’s not a shock that I disagreed with a lot of the points and was off-put by some of the tactics employed by Fox’s talking-heads.

What surprised me was my reaction to MSNBC.

Now I am a liberal, and a pretty left-leaning semi-socialist one at that. So MSNBC should feel like home. It should be my own little bastion of sanity in a sea of partisanism and over-the-top headlines. But somehow, I didn’t feel at home, at all.

In fact, I was more disgusted by MSMBC than when I was by Fox. I felt lost, betrayed, bamboozled. It’s kinda like finding-out the girl you’ve been seeing smokes or is an unquestioning Bible-thumper…just a game-changing realization.

One historical note, American Journalism started as an unapologetically partisan endeavor. Newspapers were founded to disseminate information of a partisan nature to inform those who were party members and recruit more to the cause. So for American journalists to show their political stripes is no less an American tradition than apple pie or blowing things up on the 4^th of July.

But as with all things American, there has been progress. The idea of objectivity wound its way into the fabric of American journalism within the past hundred-or-so years. Much to the betterment of society. Such things as food safety, monopoly-busting and government accountability can all be directly attributed to strong reporting by transformative journalists.

Objectivity is a tough goal. It is like utopia, something to strive for, but something that can never really be obtained. As long as there is a human being tapping-out a story on a keyboard, their personal feelings/opinions/stances will leech their way into a story. Whether it be the questions they ask, how they frame a quote or the overall tone of the story, there will always be a subjective element to journalism. It’s just one of the character flaws of being human. And that is just fine.

What has been lost, or at least what I haven’t seen in journalism and the cable news networks of late, is an honest attempt to keep that subjectivity at bay. And that is worrisome.

As America continues its cultural shift towards a culture of consumption, this progression of journalism to nothing more than a steady stream of Youtube clips with talking head ‘reporters’ noting how ‘Awesome’ they are, makes perfect sense. American society is fading away from its former spot at the center of the world ideological and political stage to that of a decadent and crumbling empire. The American empire is perfectly content to rest on it laurels instead of continue with the spirit of progress and improvement that allowed it to gain that seat at the top in the first place.

I have always been a firm believer in the concept of journalism/the media as the fourth branch of government. Especially as American politics have grown from a network of local municipal/state governments to a national-scale political scene. Given that backdrop it becomes even more critical for strong, objective reporting. For example, how else would I, sitting here in my little apartment in Seattle, be kept abreast of what is happening in Washington, DC? Government has gotten too big to be accessible by the average American, this is where journalists must step-in.

I don’t need someone to tell me my opinion. I need someone to give me enough information so that I can form one.

Then again, maybe I am the odd man out. Perhaps Americans are just too busy to care anymore. They seem to be OK with being told what products to buy by advertisers and how to look by magazines. Why not be told how to vote?

It does leave a lot more free-time to watch Youtube and hit the mall…

Maybe Mike Judge had it right in Idiocracy, but I am not so sure that’s an America I want to be a part of.

Did you hear about ... ?

So the talk of the town has been Michael Jackson’s death.

I won’t lie, I was glued to the interwebs once I caught wind of the King of Pop’s possible demise.

I was hitting refresh on my browser and had multiple news sites open looking for the latest update on MJ. *That’s Michael Jackson, not Michael Jordan, for the record.

I could hear everyone in my cube-farm-of-an-office chatting, trying to get the latest information about the King. *That’s Michael Jackson, not Elvis.

But as I was clicking refresh and debating if I was going to give-in and credit TMZ.com as a news source, I came to a realization.

Does it really matter?

Not in the slightest.

Michael Jackson was a hell of an entertainer. And I count myself as a fan. He made some timeless music that brought joy, if only for a few minutes at a time, to millions of people. So that, I appreciate. The other stuff, I coulda done without.

But what struck me as I was hitting refresh on Foxnews.com (yes, I was reading Foxnews.com, I am ashamed of myself, too) it dawned on me.

Instead of having multiple browser windows open trying to get the latest what was essentially celebrity gossip, I should be researching the Iranian Elections or examining how the Obama Administration is handing North Korea.

I mean, North Korea has freaking NUKES pointed at the US and a leader who is talking a lot of shit about using them. I think the possibility of nuclear war should be slightly more important than well, Michael Jackson.

Then there’s the little matter of Iran. I have waffled back and forth on this issue, from it’s none of our business, to we should intercede to enact the true will of the Iranian people. But no matter my stance (there may be another post on this topic specifically) democracy is trying to take a big step forward in Iran and it is being stifled mercilessly. Sadly no one knows about it, because TMZ and Perez Hilton aren’t tweeting updates directly to people’s cell phones.

Sigh…

The world lost a great entertainer yesterday.

But I think the world loses a lot more everyday, when people choose to live in ignorance.

Obama + a couple weeks

Well, I gotta say, Obama seems to be making some pretty big rookie mistakes.

At least I hope they are rookie mistakes.

First there was New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson who had to withdraw from an Obama post over issues of improper actions while governor. *Dick Cheney and Halliburton anyone?

Then there was Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner who ‘forgot’ to pay taxes. *The Treasury is where taxes actually go.

And just this week there were two more nominees: Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer who both withdrew their nominations for…wait for it, not paying taxes.

Now I don’t blame Obama for these transgressions on taxes. These folks are freakin adults and supposedly public servants, so paying taxes seems like a given. Obama had nothing to do with their personal financial mismanagement.

I do blame Obama for nominating them in the first place. Seems like item #3 on every ‘will this person pass the scrutiny of the nomination’ list is: Have they paid their freaking taxes?

I just hope Obama learned a lesson and has his team working double-time researching the backgrounds of future nominees.

I know what you are thinking, “But JR., this is Barack Obama, he can do no wrong, don’t you love him like we do?”

And Yes, I do believe in Obama. I am still a big fan, which is why I am so upset.

This rant about Obama’s stumble out of the gate is similar to the way a mother scolds her child who just darted-out into the middle of the street before looking both ways. I am more scared than angry.

In today’s hyper-polarized world of partisan politics and light-speed journalism one mis-step is enough to kill a career: Howard Dean, anyone? Luckily, Obama is in office, so he dodged a bullet there.

A lot of the ‘change’ that Obama campaigned on was an end to partisan politics as usual…

So what is the first thing Obama and the newly-in-the-majority Democrats do as their first matter if business? Force through a huge stimulus bill that didn’t get one Republican vote. (Disclosure: I am a registered Democrat.)

Hardly the bi-partisan kumbaya moment everyone envisioned on election night.

Now I am not saying it was all the Democrats forcing this down Republicans throats. I am sure the Republicans were playing politics as well and decided not to vote for it regardless.

Which is utterly ridiculous.

Now is not a time for partisan-ism. America needs bold action, the stimulus package was just such an action.

But between the Democrats acting like 5-year-olds who just got a Nintendo for Christmas, rushing to pass anything they could with their newfound power and the Republicans licking their wounds and relishing their sour grapes, the Average American is lost in the shuffle. (Disclosure: I am not a fan of the stimulus package as it stands.)

So what is the remedy? Shoot, I don’t know. I am a loser who works in a call center.

But even so, I can see that this system isn’t working. Obama was elected to shake things up. But so far he’s looking like the first-round draft pick who is expected to save the franchise, but still has to spend the season carrying everyone’s bags.

Obama should step-up and reign-in the Democratic leadership- ‘Fall in line with my agenda of bi-partisanship or be gone.’ Obama also needs to tell the Republicans to quit bitching and do the job they were elected to do. The Republicans had the keys to the city for 8 long years, I can understand some bitterness after losing that. But we are all adults here and much the same way we all have to pay our taxes (Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer) we all have to roll-up our sleeves once we clock-in at the office.

America is hurting. Now is not the time for plotting for the next election. Now is the time to remember that we are all on the same team. Now is the time to restore some luster to our great country.

I still think Obama is the man for the job. He just needs to find his legs and remember to look both ways before darting into the street.

The lesser of two evils

As another election season comes to a close I can’t help but reflect on the past couple of years and say: Thank God it’s over!

Being a political junky you’d think I look forward to election season in the same way a fat kid looks forward to dessert, or dinner, for that matter.

But I don’t.

I have become so disillusioned by the process that I nearly don’t vote. (Living in a Blue state like Washington means my vote is pretty worthless anyway.)

I trace it back to the 2000 election. And no, this isn’t going to be a Bush-bashing-if-only-Gore-had-won column. It’s going to be a "this process has hosed me ever since I cast my first vote" rant.

Being 21 in the year 2000, it was the first Presidential election I could vote in. I was stoked. We were that the end of the Clinton Administration, the economy was doing well, 9/11 hadn’t happened and I was looking forward to keeping the good times rolling by electing Al Gore…pre-An Inconvenient Truth Al Gore.

Truth be told, I didn’t dislike G.W. at this point, in fact I said he’s a guy I’d never vote for, but would love to have beers with.

Then came election night. I cast my ballot for the Gore camp and headed home to watch the landslide. States turned blue and I felt a part of something.

Then things changed, states started turning Red and I began to be confused. How can this happen?

By then end of it all, I had cast a vote for the winner of the popular vote, yet somehow the other candidate was President-elect.

Not a great first experience.

Then came 2004, and after my experience in 2000 and Bush’s handling of 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq, I was ready to vote the bum out of office.

This was the first presidential campaign I paid close attention to. And I was shocked by the ferocity of the campaign ads. From Swift boats to Flip-flopping to national security, instead of candidates explaining who was better for the job, they focused on why the other candidate wasn’t.

I couldn’t fathom how anyone could vote for G.W. a second time, but again I was forced to sit in front of a TV and watch just enough states turn red to give Bush a return trip to the White House.

Burned yet again.

Being a student of politics, I knew beating an incumbent was a long-shot. But what really stuck with me were those campaign ads, from both sides. The same can be said for the ads used during the hotly contested Gubernatorial race here in Washington that year.

I guess ads like these are as much a commentary on the American public as the folks who produce them. I mean, if they didn’t get results, they wouldn’t get made.

Sadly this election process has been boiled-down to winning at all costs proposition. As opposed to a refined exposition of why a candidate is qualified for the position and why they are the best one for the job.

To put this in real terms, when interviewing for a job, you don’t slander other candidates to better your chances. You simply present your case as to why you are the best option for the position.

It’s too bad the same precedent doesn’t apply to the election process.

Instead of keeping things positive, and focusing on their strong points, candidates rely on spin and extort the truth to paint opponents in a bad light. Granted, this is an effective tool for winning an election, but my question is: Does doing so benefit Americans?

Coming out of the battle for the Democratic nomination both Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton had gone so negative against a fellow Democrat that some feared the party was permanently fractured. Fueling fears that Clinton supports would not support Obama as the Democratic nominee for President. Sure, Obama had won, but at what cost?

Folks feared Clinton supporters would jump ship and vote for McCain out of spite.

This game of division, perfected with great success by the Republicans and operatives like Dick Morris in the early 90’s and more recently Karl Rove, must stop. To be fair, Morris was hired as a consultant during Bill Clinton’s presidency, so Republicans aren’t alone in my criticism. All sides are guilty.

I am no longer interested in hearing a candidate speak more about their opponent than themselves. Both McCain and Obama seemed to spend more time paraphrasing each other than actually hitting their own talking points.

Attack ads also should be curbed. Democracy is a special animal and the current trends in campaign strategies only cheapen a noble tradition. It got so bad this Sunday that I turned-off the TV during Football, yes Football, because I could no longer tolerate the vicious attack ads.

So as a reforming political junkie, I will say this. Think about this past election season and how your candidate campaigned. Then consider if they warrant your vote.

I am tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. I look forward to the day I can vote for the best person for the job. Sadly, I don’t see that being an option for a long, long time.

Bush is no Michael Jackson

So I saw that President Bush vetoed the most recent incarnation of a bill that would have provided health coverage to children. And he did so in the confident, decisive manner we’ve all become accustomed to with his administration…behind closed doors.

I’d like to say that I am surprised.

But alas, I am not.

Bush has a history of putting children on the back burner if it means a happier federal budget. But I’ll come back to his track record in a moment.

First off, I’d like to point-out that this was a health care bill that, although carrying a $30 billion dollar price tag, had bi-partisan support. Almost enough support to over-ride Bush’s veto, almost. So it wasn’t like Bush was circling the wagons for a show of Republican solidarity in preparation for the upcoming election year. It was simply the president doing what he does best, which is whatever he wants to do, regardless of the effect on America’s youth.

That can be read many ways, Bush doesn’t care about young people’s healthcare, or he doesn’t care about young people’s education as I’ll lay-out in a moment or he simply doesn’t care about young people period. Perhaps because they cannot vote or he expects to ship them off to various parts of the world in HIS war on terror.

Healthcare should be a right, and it pretty much is. If anyone was to stride into an emergency room in serious need of medical attention, you’d receive it. The problem arises when the bill comes. And any doctor will tell you that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So why not allow kids to get regular medical attention, such as physicals?

The answer is that it would cost $30 Billion dollars. Which is roughly equal to how many months of fighting in Iraq?

Let’s look at education for another example of disregard for the welfare of America’s youth by the Bush administration. Some of you may remember the No Child Left Behind program. It was supposed to hold everyone accountable in order to allow our children to succeed in school and return America’s ailing education system to its previous “not broken” status.

But No Child Left Behind, much like the Patriot Act, allowed the Bush Administration to take a great idea and run amok. In 2001, the administration tried to cut back the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program, under the guise of No Child Left Behind. Citing numbers that stated the program was being misused, the administration wanted to look tough on any program that failed to pass muster. If getting tough on education meant kids went hungry, then so be it. They stated that the program was inefficient and that 20% or more of the children receiving benefits didn’t qualify.

In a classic misdirection that is the hallmark of the Bush Administration, the obvious point that 80% of the children on the program needed the food was overlooked. Which meant that 4 out of 5 children who were on the program actually qualified for the program. And I think most people would agree an 80% success rate is quite agreeable, especially for a government program.

Never mind the fact that taking food away from a child is one of the few proven items that harms development and prevents achievement in the classroom. How does it make sense to use a program, supposedly aimed and restoring the educational system, to hinder the ability of America’s youth to succeed in school?

But as has been the case for Bush, reason gives way to “The War on Terror” or “No Child Left Behind” or “Cowboy Diplomacy” or any other catch phrase that allows Bush to misdirect the American public and continue his bullish run though the proverbial china shop of American rights and civil liberties. We’ve already seen him secretly take away many rights we took for granted.

Now Bush is so emboldened, that he’s taken to removing food from the mouths of America’s youth and taking away their ability to visit the doctor.

Good thing we’re not a third world country or anything…