Economics/Global:

-> After refusing to reduce production during the global recession, Chinese corporations will be be forced to slow production and shutter factories while they try to liquidate inventory.  The ripple effect for materials suppliers may erase any recovery in economies worldwide.

-> The Gulf States will form an Economic Union, with a standard currency.  They will demand that their exports (Oil) be paid for in this currency.

Economics/National:

-> The US Economy will continue bumping along the bottom, but will end the year with 1 or 2% growth.  Unemployment will stabilize in the 10% range, but with no real potential for growth.

-> In media, at least two major US Newspapers will fold. Microsoft will drop out of their partnership in MSNBC. 

-> More Manufacturers and Corporations will leave the US, due to taxes and over regulation.

Economic/Washington State:

“The first and governing maxim in the interpretation of a statute is to discover the meaning of those who made it.”
— James Wilson, Of the Study of Law in the United States, 1790

“[T]he present Constitution is the standard to which we are to cling. Under its banners, bona fide must we combat our political foes.”
— Alexander Hamilton, letter to James Bayard, 1802

I’ve thought about this for a while. Many of you know that I believe our current federal government has stepped way over the boundaries imposed upon it by the Constitution, and that it’s long past time to correct that. To that end, here are more than a few quotes from our founders and from other wise men of the day, contrasted with statements made by our current crop of “leaders,” or with the state of affairs as it stands today. You be the judge.

If you ever needed proof that politicians don’t truly represent the people, but instead represent their pocketbooks and their “legacy,” all you have to do is look at the agreement signed by Washington’s governor “Chris” Gregoire and Seattle’s mayor Greg Nickels. If you need further proof, simply look at how long this “public safety emergency” sat in limbo waiting for a resolution.

For that matter, if you’ve long believed that politicians live in a fantasy land where prudence, foresight and simple intelligence are meaningless, all you need do is listen to (or read) the words coming out of the governor’s mouth.

"No one, is my opinion, is going to have to pay for cost overruns," she said.

Is anyone surprised? Via: http://publicola.net/?p=16697#

Public records from the state Department of Transportation (WSDOT), available here, contain a number of disturbing revelations about the process that led WSDOT to move forward with the deep-bore tunnel on the downtown waterfront early this year.

Emails, internal memos, and other agency documents reveal that WSDOT appointed longtime advocates for the deep-bore tunnel as “experts” on tunnel costs; redistributed tunnel costs to make the price appear lower; and failed to study the surface/transit/I-5 alternative, subbing in a faux four-lane “surface” alternative that included none of the transit and surface-street improvements in the surface/transit/I-5 proposal

The records come from a massive public-disclosure request filed by Seattle Citizens Against the Tunnel, which is suing the state over the tunnel project, arguing that WSDOT is illegally moving forward with the tunnel before completing a state-mandated environmental review.

Among the information revealed in the records released by WSDOT:

If you read my blog at all, you know that I’m absolutely against government funded healthcare programs – at least at the federal level. The Constitution doesn’t authorize them so we shouldn’t even be having the debate about whose plan is better, or whether the program will be cost neutral or not.

The power to create a government funded healthcare program lies with the States. That’s if they want to do it and if their own constitutions allow it. So instead of having a national debate on the issue we ought to be able to focus on the merits and deficiencies of such plans at a local level.

My wife and I are football fans. More specifically, we’re Seattle Seahawk fans. We used to hold season tickets back when the team played in the old concrete hamburger known as the King Dome, and while they played at Husky Stadium, and for the first season in the new stadium. Then we dropped the tickets because they kept getting more expensive and the quality of the play kept getting worse.

It took a long time for us to lose our disenchantment with the team, but we were outraged at the officiating in February of 2005. The Seahawks have given us a bumpy ride, including one of the worst seasons I can remember last year, but we’re still fans. We just stick to watching them on television or listening to the games on the radio. We don’t even keep track of the schedule anymore until the last minute.

I celebrate two (actually three) very important occasions today. OK, one day (actually two) of importance to only a few, and one that should be important to us all.

Today, I turn 50. That’s right, I’ve been wandering about this planet now for half a century. I’m sure there was a time when my parents wondered if I’d even make it half that far. That’s probably only important to a few people.

Three days ago, my 18th wedding anniversary passed. Due to a family illness we couldn’t actually celebrate it then, because my lovely bride and I were in different states. We hope to rectify that tonight, and then to celebrate. Again, that’s probably important only to a few people.

Much more importantly for the rest of the country, today marks the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution. That’s right, nearly two and a quarter centuries ago a group of men hammered out what is arguably the best system of government possible for mankind.

Once again, my dad has forwarded me an interesting piece of email. It’s worth a look I believe…

Cash for clunkers

A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.
A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.
So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.
They claim 700,000 vehicles – so that’s 224 million gallons / year.
That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.
5 million barrels of oil is about ¼ of one day’s US consumption.
And, 5 million barrels of oil costs about $375 million dollars at $75/bbl.
So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $375 million.
How good a deal was that ???
But they’ll probably do a really great job with health care though!!

First the good news. The teachers are back to work. I dropped my son off at school at 7:30 this morning. For him at least this should be good news. We put him into one of the best schools in the school district, and expect him to do well there this year.

We had originally taken him out of the school district and “home schooled” him through the Washington Virtual Academy. We did this because of problems in the local school, and it worked very well for the first year. The second year it didn’t work out quite as well, and we decided that he needed to go back to a more regimented program. The school we chose for him is one that one of his best friends has been going to for a while and thriving at. Now that the teachers are back doing what they agreed to do last year it’s good to see him back at school.

Why should he?

I am just one of 654, 905 (give or take a business closing) constituents in Washington District 8.

Of the 455,009 Registered Voters in WA Dist 8, 357, 720 live in King County.  Only 97,289 of us live in Pierce. (data from WA Sec. of State website).

So I am just one little vote, out of 171,004 cast in the last election for the seat that Congressman (I refuse to call him my Representative anymore, as he doesn’t) Reicihert holds.

Given these types of numbers, it is not hard to grasp why many of us are begging to feel that our Congressmen and Senators are no longer in touch with us.  Indeed, they now act more like an elected Aristocracy, than representatives of the people.

Curiously, in England, which had a great influence on the pubescent colonies that would become the United States - a place which still has a true, blooded, aristocracy, it is quite a different story: