Voters went to the polls mailboxes yesterday throughout the state to vote on school levies and other special elections, and at least in King County, support for our children has been overwhelming. Nearly every school levy in the county is not only surpassing the 60 percent threshold by a comfortable margin, many are passing by well over 70 percent.
For years now, an innate anti-tax sentiment has almost been taken for granted by politicians, pundits, and calculating hucksters like Tim Eyman. Yet homeowners consistently vote to tax themselves to provide essential services like schools, libraries, parks, and public safety. The public may often talk cynically about government, but what greater show of public faith in government is there than voting to raise one’s own taxes?
The steady popular support of school levies (what else consistently garners over 70 percent of the vote?) also demonstrates broad popular support of public education in general. I just wonder when our state’s lawmakers are going to realize this, and finally craft a populist package to increase basic funding of education? Voters are more than willing to pay for it… if you give them value for their money.
Vote by mail, vote early, vote often.
So how does vote by mail work for all those folks registered at government buildings?
“IF” you give them value. That’s a big if. Well done, voters! Way to support your schools, teachers and kids!
The steady popular support of school levies
You must live in King County. Please don’t make state policy on what people in King County continually do…
Calling all Wingnuts…
The state is failing to meet its constitutional obligation to adequately fund public schools. My sons are getting a good education, but they could get an even better, world-class education if they had smaller class sizes, additional teachers and expanded education programs. Our state’s class sizes are 46th in the nation, and our per-pupil spending is 42nd. That’s downright embarassing. Our levy in Tacoma is failing at 56 percent, which would be a landslide victory in any other case. It’s time to approve school measures with a simple majority.
Special election = low voter turnout = school measures pass.
rwood – 5
State spending on schools has more than doubled (adjusting for inflation) over the last thirty years. Test scores are flat or lower over that same time, and class size is much smaller. Feeding the beast is not working.
I’m satisfied overall with our public schools. The key ingredient is parent involvement. If we hadn’t loudly advocated for our kids at several different times, a couple slacker teachers’ indifference would have stuck on their transcripts. The vast majority of teachers and administrators are dedicated and respond well to calm, reasonable parental involvement.
@ 8
Me too. But, I’d like to see money added in the form of teacher’s salaries. I don’t see why someone smart with career options decides to make 35 grand as a teacher to max out at 50 grand. Also, the per pupil investment is down in less affluent districts. We should correct that as kids in poor neighborhoods deserve as good a shot as kids from Bellevue or MI.
7
“State spending on schools has more than doubled (adjusting for inflation) over the last thirty years.”
Gee whize, maybe that’s because the state’s population has doubled over the last thirty years!
Yearight exemplifies what happens if you replace public education with home schooling in trailer parks.
9
I’m pretty sure the senior teachers in some of the large, urban districts are making considerably more than 50K. I think any new money for teacher salaries should be targeted to beginning teachers and the lower paying districts. Also, let’s not forget that state employees are just as deserving, and many are more underpaid than teachers, as a result of years of the Legislature robbing non-striking state employees to pacify striking teachers. There’s only so much money to go around, and school district classified employees and state employees always end up getting the short straw.
State spending on schools has more than doubled (adjusting for inflation) over the last thirty years.
What about adjusting for population?
Poland and Ireland have better educational systems than we do. They also don’t have a defense industry (welfare for the rich ) that much of their tax money supports nor do they have to cut their social services by billions to pay for tax cuts to the uber rich.
What an obscene and disgusting country we have become under the plutocratic thumbs of the corporations and the uber rich!
37 votes from one King County City Government Building…….ALL Democrat. No fraud here!! [hehe]
37 votes from one King County City Government Building…….ALL Democrat. No fraud here!! [hehe]
11, Where else can Education Majors from Community colleges with 800 SAT scores work only 9 months a year, get every vacation, and make 50K plus. Classic!!
13, Headless Lucy, You post is “hate speech”. Jules Hyperstein will be over today to take your deposition. Hymie and I look to sue! [Does your home have a pool and a view?]
Oh! You’re really JCH and not Saul Rosenberg? I would think the REAL Saul Rosenberg would be interested in your scurrilous lampoon of his occupation and the fact that Rosenberg is a Jewish name. You are using a common and very negative stereotype here and if you’re smart you’ll take Bill O’Reilly’s question a little more seriously: “Who’s Looking Out for YOU?”
If noone is, we’ll come after you with three ten foot poles.
18, Hate Post! And stereotyping by name! Hymie and I look forward to any litigation involving ten foot poles!
Today will be the seventh week in a row that employees at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch have not received paychecks. And now I have really bad news for them: Jackson has been cut off and kicked out by Prince Abdullah, son of the King of Bahrain. He is no longer, I repeat, not doing it anymore — not funding Jackson, his kids and nanny in an extended stay in Bahrain. [Roger Rabbit, Would not getting paid for 7 weeks be considered “low wage”? Just “axing”!]
Roger Rabbit-10, Aexia-12
My mistake. The spending “per pupil” has doubled.
Michael @ 3
“You must live in King County. Please don’t make state policy on what people in King County continually do… ”
You stupid idiot! There is consistent and overwhelming support for public services levies in just about every county. See what I’m talking about:
http://www.permanentdefense.or.....eport.html
rwood @ 5 – What we really need is to fund the schools out of the General Fund. I only want my government to pay for a few things. Those are: School buildings, Teachers, Roads, Bridges, and then, if there is any money left over, all the other things the government does. I think it is ridiculous to have to vote every year to find out if I want schools. Let’s pay for them FIRST…
14 & 15
“37 votes from one King County City Government Building…….”
So? Homeless people have as much right as you to vote — no, more, because you’re not a Washington resident — and it’s perfectly legal for homeless voters to use a public building as their registration address. Where’s the issue? Oh, I know — fascists think only propertied white males should be allowed to vote.
“ALL Democrat. No fraud here!! [hehe]”
How do you know? We have secret ballots in this country. Did you break into KCE’s office and tear open these ballots? That’s a felony, you know.
22, “There is consistent and overwhelming support for public services levies in just about every county. [MOH]” [Especially by those who don’t pay taxes and are “guvment” employees!]
21
“Roger Rabbit-10, Aexia-12 My mistake. The spending “per pupil” has doubled.”
Couple questions for you.
1. Have you adjusted for 30 years of inflation?
2. Has public spending on sports facilities and other nonessential, noneducational, nontransportation projects doubled since 1975?
Comment by yearight— 2/9/06 @ 11:50 am
Oh, and these questions, too:
3. Do you favor or oppose spending over $200 million of public money on a NASCAR track?
4. Do you favor or oppose spending over $200 million of public money to keep billionaire Sonics owner Howard Schultz from moving the team to Bellevue?
Looks like Ole Ron Sim’s CAO land stealing is getting an initiative to make him pay landowners when he steals their land.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....ts09m.html
If all the Republicans just left Seattle, who who pay the taxes? Would the homeless tax the blacks who would tax the “guvment hacks”? Atlas has Shrugged, libs!
25
“Especially by those who don’t pay taxes and are ‘guvment’ employees”
I didn’t realize government salaries are exempt from taxes! Did I miss something in the IRS Code, or are you a fucking liar?
ROGER RABBIT POLL
Which of the following propositions is most likely to be true?
[ ] 1. Government salaries are tax-exempt.
[ ] 2. JCH is a fucking liar.
[ ] 3. JCH doesn’t get laid, so he’s not a fucking liar, but he’s an unfucking liar.
10 K per year per student, but 80% of GRADUATING students require “make up” classes before even community college! Hell, these idiots can’t read, write, or do math at an 8th grade level, but they know all about MLK, Jr, “global warming”, the evil Ronald Reagan, and Jesse Jackson! Little dumb ass Democrats in the making!
Reply to 28
Wingnuts can propose any idiotic initiative they want to, but that doesn’t mean voters will pass it. The last time a so-called “property rights” initiative was floated in Washington, it was overwhelmingly defeated. This POS will be defeated, too — that is, if it even gets on the ballot.
31, Jules will be over to take your “hate crime” deposition. [BTW, Hymie wants to know if your home have a pool and a view?]
29
“If all the Republicans just left Seattle, who who pay the taxes? Would the homeless tax the blacks who would tax the “guvment hacks”? Atlas has Shrugged, libs!”
It’ll be interesting to see how many people still call themselves “Republicans” in the wake of 5 years of GOP scandals and corruption under the Bush regime.
I see that Mike McGavick is running for U.S. Senator as a non-affiliated, non-partisan, independent. Or, alternatively, he doesn’t have the guts to tell voters in his ads that he’s running as a “Republican.”
Reply to 32
You’ve got a point there, JCH. The taxpayers spent 10K a year on YOU for 5 years and look what we got for 50K. You did the taxpayers a favor by dropping out in 6th grade.
Roger, Perhaps the Democrats could employ the young black Democrats from Milwaukee to slash the tires of any mail truck carrying any Republican votes!
Test scores are flat or lower over that same time, and class size is much smaller. Feeding the beast is not working.
Comment by yearight— 2/9/06 @ 10:07 am
No shit! Look at how many of you dip asses still support Republicans and George W. Bush. Obviously, the system is broken!
Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!
37
“Perhaps the Democrats could employ the young black Democrats from Milwaukee to slash the tires of any mail truck carrying any Republican votes!”
Let’s talk about that. I won’t deny that three or four Democratic activists slashed tires of GOP party vehicles in Milwaukee. They were caught, convicted, it was reported by news media, it’s true, there’s no denying it.
Of course, you also could have mentioned that several prominent GOP members of the Wisconsin legislature are on their way to jail for other types of crimes, but it’s not really related, as corruption is a different sort of crime, isn’t it.
OK, JCH, here’s the bottom line. Remember the staged riot by bused-in GOP employees in Miami-Dade County in 2000? Or how about all the other shit that Republicans have pulled, including the smear campaigns against Max Cleland, John Kerry, etc.? Or how about Republicans wildly applauding Ann Coulter when she says things like Democrats should be put in “concentration camps” and “executed”?
The question is, in light of all the shit Republicans do to us, should I wring my hands over a few individuals who — acting on their own, without party authority — slash tires on GOP vehicles?
I’m thinking …
I’m still thinking …
Hmmmmm …
)
)
)
)
)
FUCK YOU!!! YOU’RE LUCKY THAT’S ALL WE DID TO YOU!!! BE HAPPY YOU DIDN’T GET SHOT!!!
Time for your meds, Roger!
re 37: Or maybe we could hire BLACKWATER ( a la’ N’Ohwlins ) to shoot anyone who looks and acts like a Republican. A good tip off is the absence of a head and a glass eyeball on the belly button.
“When you see the eye, aim for the head ( at waist level ).”
40
No, it’s almost time to lock and load. You fuckers started this shit. We’re gonna finish it.
Liberals must arm.
If I’d been down there in Miami-Dade County, some of those Republican rioters would have belly buttons big enough to wear a basketball in.
They’re stupid enough to pick me up by my ears, alright.
Here’s what I found out about JCH:
JCH was attending a showing of “Brokeback Mountain” on the big island when after a particularly intense scene he glanced about to see who was equally “moved”. He caught the eye of a young Hawaiian man. Nods were exchanged and a “transaction” was set into motion.
After the movie concluded JCH and the young man proceeded to the alley behind the multiplex to conclude the “transaction”. All of a sudden, in the alley, the young man’s friends lit into the “howlie” JCH and relieved this “howlie” of his “cruising change”.
I swear this is true just like everything JCH posts.
Roger Rabbit has posted 100% of the last 5 comments. If you don’t like it, you can bend over the kiss my cute fluffy cottontail!
… while I fart in your face.
46
There’s probably more truth to that than there is to anything JCH has ever posted or ever will post.
Wow! This thread already has 50 comments! That’s more than Stefan gets on his pathetic little blog in a whole week!
“Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been “authorized” by Cheney and other White House “superiors” in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration’s use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records.”
http://nationaljournal.com/abo.....209nj1.htm
The National Journal is a conservative publication, mind you, iss reporting this story.
The public school system is broken, because dumb fucks like JCH, yearight, Janet S., Mr. “AWOL” Cynical, MTR, Limbaugh, Hannity, et al, still support and “trust” this administration when it lies about the domestic spying program.
Good bye Civil Liberties, hello dictatorship!
He doesn’t have an overactive multiplier who likes to talk in one liners like you!
Comment on 51
The public school system, unlike private schools, must accept ALL students, so they have a much harder job — they’re supposed to educate the uneducable (i.e., JCH, yearight, Janet S., Mr. “AWOL” Cynical, MTR, Limbaugh, Hannity, et al.).
Roger Rabbit-26, 27
1. Yes
2. Look it up yourself.
3. No
4. No
ROGER RABBIT POLL
Which is more crime?
[ ] 1. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
[X] 2. The Republican Party
ROGER RABBIT POLL
Which has more crime?
[ ] 1. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
[X] 2. The Republican Party
Just a quick commment on the King Funeral. As often occurs when Former President Bill Clinton shows up, black folks acted as if he had emancipated the slaves. Since blacks already vote 115% Democrat, the hype and bull shit at Mrs. king’s funeral will cost the Democrats a couple hundred thousand white votes. [Remember Paul wellstone’s funeral? Remember the result?] So, Bill Clinton freed the slaves, and blacks hate Bush. OK……….Let’s see the white voter turnout in 2008. [hehe]
@ 56
Hands down, it’s #2.
Roger Rabbit
Harry Reid switches to the Republican party, in order to validate that the scandal does not involve dems.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/.....PHO80.html
More on Mrs. King’s funeral……..The more Jesse Jackson…….The more Al “Tawana” Sharpton……..the better for Republicans. Yes, NY, Detroit, Gary, Philly, and other black communities are shit holes. SELF INFLICTED DEMOCRAT SHIT HOLES. Not my problem.
Maggot @ 57:
I can’t wait for the voter turn out this fall!! The best part is, by then, or maybe by late summer, it will be so obvious that the neo-convicts are going to lose control of congress that you’ll stop posting here on HA blog.
However, I hope you continue posting. You’re a great punching bag.
Loser.
If blacks don’t get what they want from the Democrat Plantation Party, form their own party!! [hehe….RR, What do you think about a new Black Party?]
Hey, I’m new to this.
I saw that the Senate passed SB 6125 earlier today. It has to do with giving the PDC more authority to “more effectively foster compliance with our state’s public disclosure and fair campaign practices act. How will this effect what happened last month with the whole “convicted sex offender” post cards?
Just wondering. You all should go read the bill. I think it’s interesting.
Roger Rabbit-..they’re supposed to educate the uneducable..
The charter was the same thirty years ago when they did much better with much less money per pupil. Only then fewer of the parents were educated.
Try again. Maybe next time you could venture off the WEA or NEA web sites for info.
What a pawn.
GBS, Dems will lose in 06 and in 08 with 115% of the black vote. Book it!
I support the New Black Party! Run Jesse and Al!! [hehe]
59
yearight — that article says what? That Sen. Reid took campaign donations from tribes? That Abramoff’s firm lobbied him? The point is … ?
Surface ship puke @ 65.
Book it??
You’re on, loser!
Sorry, yearight, but Abramoff only bribed REPUBLICAN Congressmen and Senators. Please tell us again how many Democratic members of Cognress are under invetigation, have been indicted, or gone to jail for corruption?
Does anyone else get the feeling some of these trolls aren’t humans, they’re broken record players?
Or maybe an endless loop of tape.
65
“they’re supposed to educate the uneducable..”
That’s impossible, to any real extent. Ever tried? The ineducable are, by definition, ineducable.
64
I find it amusing that “yearight” accuses ME, of all rabbits, of being a teacher’s union pawn.
Looks like “You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie” is about to roll on the White House. [he he]
Apparently, he has emails that counters Bush’s claim that he didn’t get reports on Katrina until Wednesday. Brownie emailed Bush on the Monday prior with warnings on the storm’s severity.
Looks like impeachment,
Smells like impeachment,
Feels like impeachment,
Walks like impeachment,
Come this November when the Dem’s take over the congress it will be IMPEACHMENT!!
Karma, it’s a wonderful thing.
72
“The ineducable are, by definition, ineducable.”
That’s the dilemma in a nutshell. On the other hand, if everyone was educable, we wouldn’t have any Republican trolls to kick around!
Dems will lose not because they don’t have a message but because they are dependent on corporate money and corporately owned media to run a political campaign and the Democratic message is the antithesis of what corporations want.
JCH,ESQ [DUMBASS]: The Republican Party’s message is easily refuted. You are not the problem. Unwarranted corporate power is. But Republicans are just money grubbing political whores, so they are never bothered by a conflict of ethics and political reality because they have no ethic other than that of the 2 dollar whore to her pimp.
74
Bush lied? That’s old news. Heck, it isn’t even news. Anything Bush says, you can assume it’s a lie.
@ 70
They’re human-animal hybrids. A secret program developed by Karl Rove and a rouge wing of the military in the late 90’s to create an obedient class of trolls that would vote Republican without question and believe, repeat and spew every talking point put out by their Master.
JCH is living proof.
Explains a lot, doesn’t it?
How about Scooter rolling on Cheney??
It’d be pretty funny stuff, if it weren’t so serious about letting real WMD’s get into the hands of Al Qaeda.
Does that make us safer, JCH, that we had to roll up a 20+ year covert CIA operation whose sole purpose in life was to prevent terrorists or rouge nations gettting their hands on Nuclear weapons and using them against the USA?
Or is it, JCH, that you don’t know what Brewster Jennings did to protect America?
Hey… there was an election yesterday
by Goldy, 02/09/2006, 8:58 AM
REALLY? Today is Thursday 02/09/2006. YESTERDAY was Wednesday 02/08/2006. EXTREMELY GOOD OBSERVATION, GOLDY!
Just remember — Republicans vote on Tuesday, Democrats vote on Wednesday :) All you liberals out there — be sure to vote to re-elect Maria Cantwell on Wednesday, November 8, 2006.
Actually, that does sort of explain how Gregoire was able to get the extra margin of votes she needed in November 2004 …
76.Exxon earns 10 billion a quarter, and then pays 4 billion in FED, STATE, and local taxes. What is your bitch?
The reason there are more posts here than at Stefan’s blog is that the people that actually work for a living don’t have time to enter commnets on any blog. They’re all not retired/on-the-dole and hanging around the house all day in their jimmi-jammies like most folks who post comments here. This blog attracts moslty bored liberal, but occassionally a thinking person will make a comment.
Not often, though.
76……83, cont…….Then, Exxon pays a dividend to shareholders, which is again taxed by the FEDS, STATEs, and locals. Exactly what is your Marxist bitch?
Dear Democrat Dumbasses: Econ 101 lesson Number 1: NO profits, no jobs for employees, and no tax revenue from corporations for your loser “guvment” jobs………..Get it?
@22 From your link @ http://www.permanentdefense.or.....eport.html
In this second section, we take a look at voters’ support of public education and libraries. To the left, statistics compiled from all counties with relevant levies and propositions in the primary are available. To the right, a breakdown by county is available. You can also download the raw data for more information about your county.
Oddly enough I don’t see any data about Pierce County, which had 2 school levies on the ballot. Did they just leave out counties that they didn’t like the results of?
@9, 11, 16 etc. You realize that most teachers are from the second and third quintile, right? The first quintile becomes engineers, programmers, doctors, lawyers, etc. that are the people who make more than $50,000/year.
Gee whiz, JCH, thanks for the ECON 101 lesson.
Please explain how the government had excess tax revenues in the 90’s and the economy was the greatest in the history of mankind under President Clinton?
Oh, do tell, Atlas.
re 83: Exxon COLLECTS taxes. It doesn’t pay them. Can’t you read the fine print? It’s on every gas pump in the nation. The taxes aren’t part of the 10 billion. But, then again, you only had a public school education, so how could you be expected to know these things!
Nibbler @ 90
You’ll have to forgive JCH for his ignorance. He claims to have “graduated” from Penn State. I’m making sure my kids steer clear of that institution if JCH is any indication of the type of lousy education you’d receive being a Nittany Lioness.
re 85: Do you know what an S-Corporation is? It is a specially designed corporation that gives large dividends tax free to certain private individuals.
The only 2 points that you need to remember are these: 1) Some people have more wealth than they need or deserve and 2) most of that wealth was inherited, not earned.
You will never be in that superrich class. The game is rigged against you. Money , or WEALTH cannot be created. It is there in the form of the money supply or as potential in the natural world. The means of aquiring this wealth is concentrated in too few hands.
What difference does it make to growth or the money supply if the population of the world invests in the future or if several hundred billionnaires do the investing?
There is no difference. The amazing thing is that people have been convinced that they are better off if this small number of uber rich has most of the wealth. That is false. Money is a zero sum game. What you ain’t got, someone else has, and you’re the dog at the table whose licking up the scraps when ypu could be a man and stand on your own two feet.
@90 I am speechless. I never knew anyone was that dumb.
@83 It gets worses than that. Exxon actually pays more in US taxes than it makes on sales inside the US. Your figures included sales in other countries.
36 billion in PROFITS!!!! And then you say they pay more in taxes than they take in!! How STUPID can you get? I’d like to see where you’re getting your info., because it is bad.
Do you know what an S-Corporation is?
You will never be in that superrich class.
Practically anyone can do an S-Corp. Of course you will be audited by the IRS every single year. That is kind of a bummer.
Profits are AFTER all taxes have been paid. You guys are drooling idiots or bald faced liars.
Another day, another stream of idiotic hateful racist invective from our (non, or so he says) resident fascist JCH.
BTW, did anyone notice Exxon posted record profits the week after they were in court trying to weasel out of the judgement for the Exxon Valdez incident? And here I thought big oil and their Rethug buddies were all about personal responsibility.
36 billion in PROFITS!!!! And then you say they pay more in taxes than they take in!! How STUPID can you get?
Read again, kohai. The 36 billion is worldwide profits, not US profits. They pay 16 billion a quarter in US taxes, and make less profit than that in US sales.
With an S-corporation, the shareholders are liable for the income of the company. Under current law, no more that 70 individuals (real people, not other corpoations, limited partnerhips or LLCs) can be shareholders of the S-corp. No foreigners are allowed to be shareholders of S-corps. US citizens only.
Here’s how the dela on distributions works: if the company makes a profit, the shareholders are liable for the income taxes due on that profit in proportional shares according to their individual ownership interests. If there are two 50/50 shareholders in an S-corp that makes $100,000 in a given tax year, then each of those shareholder is responsible for paying income taxes on $50,000 (50 X $100,000 = $50,000).
Keep in mind that the taxes are due on the profits even if the company DID NOT pass the money on to the shareholders. There are certain types of S-corps that routinely make profits but actually retain the funds rather than distribute them. The shareholders still have to pay the tax man whether they receive the money or not.
81
“Just remember – Republicans vote on Tuesday, Democrats vote on Wednesday”
Hey Richard, do you help the Republicans distribute flyers in black neighborhoods telling people to vote the DAY AFTER THE ELECTION? Scumbag.
82
“Actually, that does sort of explain how Gregoire was able to get the extra margin of votes she needed in November 2004 …”
Hey Richard — with lawyers like you, no matter Rossi lost!
84
“The reason there are more posts here than at Stefan’s blog is that the people that actually work for a living don’t have time to enter commnets on any blog.”
Since you’re posting here, I have a question for you: How long have YOU been on the dole?
I’m not on the dole: i’m just goofing off for 5 minutes.
Skylar @ 99 – Good info on S-corporations. Thanks for the post.
GBS and Roger – I actually got off my duff and worked on my local school levy. It passed overwhelmingly. What did you do, except spend your time posting here?
Education is local. I want to be able to decide in my district what is working and what isn’t, not rely on some bureaucrat in Olympia or DC to decide for me. That’s why I like property taxes to support schools. Whole language was quite the rage for awhile, and now we have a generation that can’t spell. My district tried it for awhile, but dumped it because it wasn’t working. If we had to rely on the state, it would still be the basic curriculum.
BTW, I still support Bush. The Cheney/Libby thing, though, is very interesting. I am curious how it will turn out. I suspect Cheney might have some health problems soon, that will require him being replaced by Condi Rice.
I did not vote, because Seattle had nothing on the ballot, but still King County Elections called and asked me wether I would be a pollbook judge, and I accepted. Mercer Island was where I was at. 27 voters came in person for the precinct I was working. I noticed that one of the 2 School Levies in Mercer Island was a Transportation Levy, 1 year, $400,000, average for the property owner would be just 6 cents per $1000 of assessed value. When I was in college at EWU, there was a school levy for operations for SPokane Public Schools, District 81, and it was nearly $4.00 per $1000 of assessed value, and still it was renewed. There were a few complaints during the campaign, but it still was renewed.
Janet S. wrote:
Education is local. I want to be able to decide in my district what is working and what isn’t, not rely on some bureaucrat in Olympia or DC to decide for me
What’s your position on “No Child Left Behind?”
BTW, I still support Bush. The Cheney/Libby thing, though, is very interesting. I am curious how it will turn out.
I find your support of Bush appalling. Clearly, if this were President Clinton, you’d be calling for a congressional investigation at the very least, if not full blown Articles of Impeachment.
This is no longer an issue of “intellectual dishonesty” it is flatly and issue of “moral dishonesty” from those on the right.
Where are your loyalties, Bush & the Republican party, or the Constitution and the rule of law?
91.GBS, 1. Your kids don’t have the SATs to go to Penn State. 2. The out of state tuition is beyound your limited raise. 3. Perhaps your kids would “feel more comfortable” at a community college or VoTech.
Why the shouting? Did I say something to anger you?
“No child left behind” is a mixed bag. It was written by teddy, but pushed through by Bush. I would prefer local control, but it wasn’t working, thanks to the NEA. The act requires testing to make sure students are on track, which I think is a good thing. Local districts controlled by the NEA do not like it, so the feds had to move in. Sad.
Looks like Clinton was doing similar monitoring of international communications. I don’t recall that repubs leaked it to the press, and I don’t recall everyone yelling for impeachment (over this).
I would prefer that Congress have some oversight of the NSA program. Problem is, members like Rockefeller and LEahy can’t keep state secrets. They put political cheap shots in front of national security.
Don’t give me the nonsense that the repubs are in control and therefore the dems had no ability to question what was going on. Dems have all sorts of power, which they exercise regularly on some kind of silly things rather than where it would make a difference.
The wire-tap program is directed at international traffic. If someone in this country is caught on the phone with a terrorist, wouldn’t you want the govt to know that, and take action? Bush, as commander in chief, has the constitutional right to protect the US from foreign enemies. Do you have a problem with the guys in Iraq listening in on the other side? Same theory. Don’t need court permission for it.
Maybe if you stop yelling and engage in reasonable discussion, you will find some middle ground. But I doubt you want that.
Is JCH one of Kevin Carns screen names? Looks like the Paid Republican BIAW troll is back. Just can’t stay away as long as BIAW funds it. JCH writes like Mr. Cynical. Same name/flame throwing word usage “guvment” same racist hate spewing posts.
#75, RR If everyone was educable there would be NO REPUBLICANS
#91, GBS I imagine that JCH graduated from Penn State the same way that Deutsch graduated from Texas A&M. Lies tend to catch up to you at the most inoportune times. Beware RepubliCONS
111, WE ARE………………………PENN STATE!!!! [And you are not!]
Eyman can take his tax initiatives and shove it – so said the voters and I on Tuesday.
re 99: There are many ways to disguise the $50,000 as a business expense, so no one pays taxes on it. I read the coservative stuff about the oil profits and what I said was true. Most of what you say are taxes paid on the income is NOT that. It is merely giving the money collected from consumers back to the government. If you want to go into detail about the less than candid way conservatives are presenting their case ( in defense of the oil industry ) then let’s go at it in detail.
Janet S
“I would prefer that Congress have some oversight of the NSA program. Problem is, members like Rockefeller and LEahy can’t keep state secrets. They put political cheap shots in front of national security.”
Hmmm, if only the president and vice-president weren’t leaking national security informaiton to discredit their enemies (or so says the Vice-President’s senior assistant), maybe I could think it credible that the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee could be a security problem. Well, no, not even then.
“Don’t give me the nonsense that the repubs are in control and therefore the dems had no ability to question what was going on. Dems have all sorts of power, which they exercise regularly on some kind of silly things rather than where it would make a difference.”
Don’t worry, they’ll filibuster the PATREIOT Act until it’s amended to protect civil liberties and prevent its inevitable abuse by the adminisatration abuse.
“The wire-tap program is directed at international traffic. If someone in this country is caught on the phone with a terrorist, wouldn’t you want the govt to know that, and take action?”
That’s never been the question, has it, janet. The quetion is whther the executive branch can with uimpunity break laws passed by the People’s representatives specigfically to prevent the buses that we now see are occurring. Do you REAllY think that the administraiton isn’t tapping its enemies. At long last, have you no sense?
“Bush, as commander in chief, has the constitutional right to protect the US from foreign enemies. ”
Wrong, worng, wrong! George Bush is the comander-in-chief of the US MILITARY, not of the US government or its citizens. His constitutional powers as CinC have NOTHING to do with any power to wiretap US citizens domestically. Bottom line: the president is NOT above the law. He MUST obey the laws passed by the Congress. Sorry to burst your leader-worshipping bubble.
“Do you have a problem with the guys in Iraq listening in on the other side? Same theory. Don’t need court permission for it.”
Iraq is not al Qaida. Iraq is a sveriegn nation tht now has an insurgency against out illegal 2003 war of occupation. Al-Qaida is a decades-old international terrorist organization based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Try to comprehend the difference.
But oh, yes, DEFINITELY the US should behave worse than the world’s worst terrorists. Otherwise the terrorists will have won, right? Keep torture alive!