Category Archives: Government

Congressman Dicks’s Rationale

Posted on August 17, 2009 | Leave a comment

Last week I blogged that none of my congressional representatives replied when I asked if they would be holding a town hall meeting this month on health care. Since then I have heard from my congressman, Norm Dicks (D-Wash.). I will let you decide if his rationale for taking a pass is pure genius or just a clever dodge. Either way, the congressman didn’t say whether he would hold a town hall meeting when the House does have a complete bill.

“Thus far legislative proposals have been developed by key House and Senate Committees yet no complete version has been presented to the full membership of either house for a vote. I had hoped to be able to meet with constituents at home during the month August to explain the House version of a reform bill and to seek input from 6th District constituents, but the reform package has yet to be completed. In lieu of a specific legislative proposal, I wanted to take this opportunity to re-state my priorities in this important legislative effort…”

Redress Not Address

Posted on August 14, 2009 | 1 comment

I thought it was a typo. Hard to believe there would be one in an email sent to thousands of Alaska Airlines Insider subscribers. There wasn’t. They didn’t mean address, although address would have made some sense given the context. They actually meant redress, one of my favorite words in the Bill of Rights, which, among other things, gives us the right to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
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Posted in Government, Travel

No Town Halls Near Here

Posted on August 12, 2009 | 2 comments

You cannot turn on talk show radio these days without hearing endless and repetitive opinions about the congressional town hall meetings on health care. Conservative hosts are framing the issue as one in which some members of Congress are refusing to listen to the public before passing a bill that literally affects life and death for all Americans. Liberal hosts point out that the status quo is unacceptable, a lot of misinformation is being spread, and the current bills need some work but are the best approach to comprehensive health-care reform. To get some first-hand information on these opposing views, I contacted my congressional representatives about attending a local town hall meeting.
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Posted in Current Events, Government

That Was Fast

Posted on July 31, 2009 | Leave a comment

Good Old Government Cash

According to several news reports, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), better known as “cash for clunkers,” was suspended yesterday, a casualty of its overwhelming popularity. Apparently bean counters need to verify whether the billion-dollar pot of government largesse is already empty. Meanwhile Congress is scrambling to add additional money to keep this stimulus vehicle running. It was obvious that anyone who wanted to participate shouldn’t delay too long because the program, as initially funded, was bound to run out of money well before its expiration period. But one week? The above photo of the reader board at Parr Ford, a Bremerton new-car dealer, helps explain what prompted some local residents to jump onboard.