If the long headline is a problem, apologies.

Just go HERE to see why the headline.

Sobering thought, eh?

As in the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's Amber Gunn when she wrote about the GASB 45 'Big One' coming back on 5 Sept.  Now, the state of Washington's public pension crisis has just hit a big bump.  From today's Olympian - hat-tip Orbusmax:

. . .

The Pension Funding Council should move down the expected rate of return on the pension fund to 7.75 percent per year, State Actuary Matt Smith suggested Tuesday.

The switch would require an extra $87 million in payroll contributions from public employees in the next two-year budget.

It also would require an extra $259 million in contributions to the pension fund from the state and local governments.

That's because lower expected returns on the investments in stocks, bonds, real estate and other holdings means more money must be put in now to pay for future retirements.

Finally, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation has an all-staff blog, not just the Teachers vs. Union blog on EFF's battles with the WEA and other unions. As a member and as somebody frustrated with EFF's difficulties in getting the message out, I applaud this measure.

With the dearth of blog support from blogs like Sound Politics and too many members who won't take the time to get the EFF message out, EFF had to invent its own blog. After all, with your own blog there isn't word limits and you can post many a graphic (which EFF hasn't yet).

Hopefully the blog will garner establishment media attention. Already, The Olympian has made note.

So please go THERE and syndicate too!

Today's Seattle Times letters to the editor page ran this:

Union ruling

WEA acted in good faith

Editor, The Times:

Under inflammatory headlines, but without an underlying basis of factual support, two recent editorials attacked the Washington Education Association after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the union ["Slapdown of WEA," Times, Opinion, June 15, and "WEA ducks and weaves after Supreme Court loss," Times, Opinion, June 19].

For the record, the Supreme Court decision was narrow, finding only that provisions of Washington campaign-finance law regulating union spending are constitutional. The court did not find, as The Times implies, that the WEA violated or intended to violate the law. Indeed, evidence presented in lower courts shows that the WEA made every good-faith effort to fully abide by an ambiguous and internally inconsistent set of rules.

EFF had prematurely posted the Amber Gunn editorial.  Post will be restored when they are ready, aye, ready.

Monday, 18 June 2007 update: "Show me the jobs" is back!  For good!!

I hate to sound like I'm letting the Evergreen Freedom Foundation do my blogging for me, but I have had to put in some late hours lately and EFF has done wonderful in standing up for government accountability so here goes highlights:

Immediate Federal Clarification Needed on Medicaid Audit Findings  

A long-awaited report provided to the state last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) failed to resolve the lingering disagreement over audit problems identified in Washington’s Medicaid program. This means this year’s audit of the program will likely once again yield repeat findings.

. . .

EFF continues to demand state action
The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) also sent a letter to the governor on May 22, requesting that the governor and SAO write a joint letter to CMS demanding clarification of the federal government’s position concerning the state’s Medicaid audit findings. EFF reported to the governor that “the pressure needs to be raised on CMS/OIG to expeditiously clarify the federal government’s position.” EFF has been requesting the governor and legislature seek clarification of the conflict since last year.

I want you to please read this "Policy Highlighter" or more accurately expose by Amber Gunn of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation.  Here's a taste of what she had to say:

…A JLARC performance audit of the capital budget process revealed that OFM was failing to provide oversight of large capital projects in “the manner required by statute and [OFM’s] own process as outlined in the Capital Budget Instructions.” The JLARC audit noted that “rising capital investment in local government and community-based projects” resulted in “less time available to work on advancing state facility projects.” In other words, proper prioritization is not taking place at the state level because OFM is overburdened by local pet projects.

State funding priorities?
Here is a sampling of such projects in the 2007-09 Capital Budget:

Evergreen Freedom Foundation
A Non-Profit Public Policy Organization
PO Box 552 Olympia, WA 98507
(360) 956-3482 www.efwa.org
 —————————…Because Freedom Matters!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2007
Contact:       Booker Stallworth, Communications Director
(360) 956-3482
Media Alert WEA uses HB 2079 gift at SCOTUS

It seems we now know why HB 2079 was such an emergency for Governor Gregoire.

After the media and public were assured for months by Democrat legislators that HB 2079 would not affect the Supreme Court case of Washington v. WEA, we learned today that the WEA filed a supplemental brief with the Supreme Court, asking the Court  to limit the application of Section 760 to past union actions and arguing that the law, as amended by HB 2079, is now constitutional. The WEA filed its request on Friday, May 11—the same day Gregoire signed 2079 into law.

Updates below! 

Signed into law with emergency clause.

Which means if you are a teacher in this state, you have no rights and that includes your right to referendum that Gregoire supposedly defended. G*d help this state.

May the US Supremes do what labor law attorney and University of Washington lecturer Dmitri Iglitzin projected and recognize that, "the union has no underlying constitutional right to compel any employee to contribute any money to it."

Updates will be posted throughout the weekend.

Update 01: Evergreen Freedom Foundation comments on HB 2079 and the Washington Education Association's "accounting gimmick". Below is what they said, once EFF got past the history lesson:

“Today, Governor Gregoire has signed a bill that ignores the First Amendment rights of workers in order to expand union power. The bill is premature, because the U.S. Supreme Court could rule on the constitutionality of the law at any time. Signing this bill virtually guarantees continued litigation.”

From The Seattle Times tonight:

OLYMPIA – The Sonics' proposal for a $500 million taxpayer-subsidized arena in Renton appears dead, prompting Sonics owner Clay Bennett to say tonight there is "little hope" the team will remain in the area.

Emerging from closed-door negotiations in Gov. Christine Gregoire's office this evening, key lawmakers said no action would be taken on the proposed arena before the Legislature adjourns this weekend.

"This [is] a staggering and quite likely a debilitating blow to our efforts to develop a world-class arena facility," Sonics owner Clay Bennett said in a written statement. "Clearly at this time the Sonics and Storm have little hope of remaining in the Puget Sound region."

. . .

All I can say is: I saw this coming and Mrs. Amber Gunn got it dunn with her Valentines' Day present.