Costco's Double Standard on Initiative Petitions

Costco implemented a policy a number of years ago to prohibit citizen's collecting signatures for initiative petitions outside their stores. This is despite many other retail establishments allowing petition signature gatherers to exercise their right under the Washington State Constitution to collect signatures on initiatives.

Now however when it is in their financial self interest, the Seattle Times reports that Costco will be setting up tables inside 26 of their warehouse stores staffed by employees who will obviously be paid to help Costco get into the liquor business by asking shoppers to sign Initiative 1100.  Costco currently sells beer and wine in their stores.

Of three versions of the initiative Costco went for the free market approach that removed cost controls on the price of liquor. As noted in the Seattle Times article, this will probably lead to large stores like Costco undercutting prices of small stores to drive up sales. 

The Seattle Times article also notes that

If I-1100 is passed by voters it would remove some $665 million in revenue from the state budget, based on fiscial year 2008 & 2009 figures.  The state is currently suffering from severe budget cuts and this will only add to an already projected additional budget shortfall for next year.

"... some law-enforcement and temperance representatives also oppose letting retailers like Costco sell liquor.

John Guadnola, executive director of the Washington Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association, said the group does not have an official position on the initiative but that he personally supports keeping the current regulatory system.

Price controls and other regulations minimize alcohol abuse and related problems such as domestic violence and workplace problems, he said.

"In Great Britain, they're selling beer as loss leaders in grocery stores," Guadnola said. "It's easy access to alcohol, and the lower the price, the more the consumption."

Here is the official Ballot Title and summary from the Secretary of States website:

Statement of Subject: Initiative Measure No. 1100 concerns liquor (beer, wine and spirits).
Concise Description: This measure would close state liquor stores; authorize sale, distribution, and importation of spirits by private parties; and repeal certain requirements that govern the business operations of beer and wine distributers and producers.

Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Ballot Measure Summary
This measure would direct the liquor control board to close all state liquor stores; terminate contracts with private stores selling liquor; and authorize the state to issue licenses that allow spirits (hard liquor) to be sold, distributed, and imported by private parties. It would repeal uniform pricing and certain other requirements governing business operations for distributors and producers of beer and wine. Stores that held contracts to sell spirits could convert to liquor retailer licenses.

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Twenty Years at Twin Ponds Park in Shoreline

This weekend a new sign was dedicated for the Arboretum at Twin Ponds Park in Shoreline. The sign is the culmination of 20 years of work by a local activist, John Dixon, who has been instrumental in creating the Arboretum.

A post last year in the Ronald Bog Blog noted that there is "a 'secret' hidden-away little arboretum at Twin Ponds. Somehow, back in the early 1990s a man named John Dixon convinced King County to let him plant a tree there. Then more trees. Over the years he kept on planting trees and cleaning the place up - removing concrete debris, etc. Now, nearly two decades later, John is still taking care of this place. It really is a hidden gem."

I first met John several years ago when we started the still continuing effort to save the grove of trees on the west side of Ingraham High School. A neighbor described meeting John pushing a wheelbarrow down  Meridian Ave N. and noted he was someone interested in saving trees.

John's wheelbarrow activities are a frequent enough occurrence that the top of the arboretum sign has a carving of John literally running with a wheelbarrow - a sign of the intensity and commitment of his efforts to create the Arboretum at Twin Ponds Park.

 

 

John had a few stories to tell those gathered for the dedication which described the depth of his commitment. The area where the arboretum now is was once a swamp.  It is part of the Thornton Creek watershed. Unfortunately the property had once been a dumping ground for a "landscaping" company before it was acquired by King County in 1972 for a park.  The City of Shoreline acquired the park in 1997. 

 
When John started digging to plant trees he found the soil  filled full of concrete blocks and asphalt. In digging a hole back in 1994 he and his son Max wound up removing over 60 concrete blocks over several days time. The activity was unusual enough that it prompted a neighbor to call the police who came to check out "the activity of the homeless people who were in the park building a shelter out of concrete blocks." 

Since then John has continued to work in the park removing blackberries and other invasive plants in addition to unwanted building material. Ten years ago he founded the Stewards of Twin Ponds. The Arboretum has now seen the addition of some 100 new trees.
 
 Some of the tree species present include several giant sequoias, a small grove of coastal redwoods, a native Garry oak, a Forrest fir native to China and a forty foot tall grand fir which once was a Christmas tree.Twin Ponds Park overall has some 450 trees.

Recently students at the nearby Evergreen School completed a bird census and found some some 40 different species present in the park.

Twin Ponds Park is located South of N 155th st  It is between Meridian Ave N and 1st Ave NE. The Arboretum can be found on the west side of the south parking lot located on 1st Ave. NE.

Here are two quotes John read at the dedication ceremony of the new sign:

“The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” Proverbs

"A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on earth is inconceivable without trees." Anton Chekhov

I looked up the Chekhov quote, which continues, "Forests create climate, climate influences peoples’ character, and so on and so forth. There can be neither civilization nor happiness if forests crash down under the axe, if the climate is harsh and severe, if people are also harsh and severe.... What a terrible future! Chekhov wrote this in 1888, some 132 years ago. It is just as relevant today.

Senator Cantwell Fights to Strengthen Financial Regulatory Reform Bill

Washington State Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell joined with Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold to oppose ending debate on the Senate's sweeping financial reform bill.  As reported in the New York Times, they were the only two Democrats to oppose further debate and were joined by 39 Republicans. Two Republicans, Maine's Senators Snowe and Collins voted to end debate.

Senator Cantwell strongly supports the legislation but believes it needs to be strengthened.  As the New York Times notes:

Ms. Cantwell, in a floor speech after the vote, said she was mainly fighting for a vote on an amendment to tighten proposed rules for the trading of derivatives, the complex instruments that were at the center of the economic crisis.Her proposal would make it illegal to enter into a derivatives contract that had not been cleared through an exchange, other than contracts specifically exempt from the law. It would also empower regulators and investors to stop or undo a derivatives deal if banks knowingly violated the trading requirements. ...

“If you don’t have a regime of exchange trading and clearing you will have money seeping into the continuation of a dark market,” she added.

Ms. Cantwell said she would also like a vote on another amendment she proposed, with Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, that would restore the Glass-Steagall Act, which maintained a firewall between commercial banking and investment banking from the 1930s until it was repealed by Congress in 1999. In a statement, Mr. Feingold said he favored restoring that firewall.

Republican opposition to financial reform was obvious by the subsequent action of Senate Republicans. Senator Reid blamed the Republicans, not Senator Cantwell or Feingold, for stalling the legislation.
Senator Dodd agreed and to show the opposition of the Republicans, he returned to the Senate floor and asked for unanimous consent to vote on the proposed amendment of Senator Cantwell. The motion was defeated when Republican Senator Shelby of Alabama objected.

Republicans continue their strategy of opposing Democratic action on legislation, believing this contributes to the Republicans chances of gaining seats in Congress.  They hope that the public does not see that the Republican stalling tactics are the primary reason Congress is not addressing our Nation's problems in a timely fashion. Sooner or later the public is going to see beyond the Republican noise machine and Democrats will prevail.

Senator Cantwell is to be commended for her efforts to strengthen this legislation. She is acting in the public interest and showing leadership. Her amendments are reasonable and vital ones to address serious problems in the financial markets. Washington State can be proud of Senator Cantwell's leadership on this issue.

Senate Republicans Continue to Block Obama's Nominations.

Republicans in the US Senate continue to block the nominations of Barack Obama. This tactic of obstructionism needs to be ended. If Congress wonders why Americans have such a low rating of Congress, this is a prime reason. Tactics like the filibuster and secret holds on nominations contribute to a dysfunctional government.

 Of course this fits the Republican Agenda of trying to stop Obama's Agenda for Change. Repubicans hope Americans will blame the Democrats rather than them for the consequences of not getting things done because government posts and judicial seats are still unfilled almost a year and a half after Obama took office.

The New York Times in an editorial today notes that "there are 52 nominees on secret holds - all noncontroversial in committee debates."  As the New York Times explains:

The United States Senate was supposed to have dropped its insidious tradition that let members put endless secret holds on nominations and other important matters. The abuse continues, more murky than ever.

The reform, adopted three years ago, required senators to identify themselves within six days of blocking a nominee, and to state their objection. That stricture has been routinely violated with cheesy gamesmanship. Members — mostly in the Republican minority — pass secret holds among themselves to foil the time limit.

At the end of March, Obama made his first Recess appointments to end the Republican Senatorial roadblock 15 of his appointments. But the roadblock still continues for many other nominees. The New York Times editorial noted that the Senate has confirmed only 45% of Obama's judicial nominees to date.

Americans need to contact their Senators and urge an end to this juvenile practice. Elections have consequences and the losers needs to acknowledge this and let the winner put their choices in place to do the people's business.

Karl Rove Working Hard to Put Right Wing Politicians Back in Power

Karl Rove is back, working his brand of in your face right wing hard ball politics. He's joined with former Republican Party Chair Ed Gillespie and others to set up a network of  right wing campaign organizations to raise money and push their agenda to bring the former Republican Party politics and policies of George Bush and Dick Cheney back to America. Sounds like they are trying to make Halloween a year round event for America.

As outlined in more depth in an article in Politico a few days ago:

The Republican Party’s best-connected political operatives have quietly built a massive fundraising, organizing and advertising machine based on the model assembled by Democrats early in the decade, and with the same ambitious goal — to recapture Congress and the White House.
The new groups could give Republicans and their allies a powerful campaign apparatus separate from the Republican National Committee. Karl Rove, political architect of the Bush presidency, and Ed Gillespie, former Republican Party chairman, are the most prominent forces behind what is, in effect, a network of five overlapping groups, three of which were started in the past few months....

The network, which doesn’t have a name, attempts to replicate the Democracy Alliance, an umbrella group — founded in 2005 and funded by George Soros and other billionaires — and to borrow tactics from liberal groups established to help Democrats regain power after eight years of the Bush administration 

The new organizations include:

American Crossroads plans to raise $50 million as a shadow alternative to the Republican National
Committee. Ed Gillespie is a chief advisor.

American Action Network is headed up by former Sen Norm Coleman of Minnesota. Their focus will be polling and media advertising.

American Action Forum includes former Governor Jeb Bush and Tom Ridge and former Senator Norm Colman on their Board. It appears to be another right wing policy generating machine.

Resurgent Republican is another free market conservative policy shaping group trying to influence politics through polling and focus groups and blogging.

The Republican State Leadership Committee raised $22 million in the last election cycle and is focused on trying to aid conservatives in down ballot races.

This is an important election year that will have repercussions for years to come. Republicans in affiliation with Tea Party fanatics and others are organizing and revving up the right wing noise machine with all its slanted polling and opinion pushing efforts.  They are gearing up fundraising and campaign organizing.

Democrats need to regroup and realize we have a tough fight on our hands.  The key comes down to motivation and voting. Obama is moving the country in the right direction.  It is easy however  for many to be swayed by the right wing noise and yelling and shouting and slanted polling. It is up to the Democrats to get back to the basics of organizing and reaching voters and getting them out to vote.

The Republicans are motivated, seeing blood in the water. For Democrats the choice was never more clear. We can't afford to go back to corporations setting our environmental policies and threatening our health and the future of our planet.  We can not afford to go back to an unregulated free market economy that puts greed and corporate profit over jobs and homes and education for middle class Americans.

We can't afford more right wing activist judges in our court system and on the US Supreme Court. We can not afford to waste energy and send hard earned dollars overseas when we could be spending them creating jobs in America. It amazing that after 8 disastrous years of Bush/Cheney that Americans might once again buy the right wing propaganda of corporatism and militarism and isolationism of the Republicans when serious national and world problems confront us all.

The choice is yours. Get involved in campaigns and get your family and friends involved. Vote in the Primary and general Election. The choice is clear. Vote for a sane future with the Democrats, not a return to the Bush/Cheney Republican nightmare years that brought us the current Great Recession.

Triple Time Pay for Some Ferry Workers Doesn't Make Sense!

King 5 News reporter Sussanah Frame reported on UpFront today that while we are laying off teachers and cutting basic healthcare for children because of state budget cuts, some ferry workers have been earning triple time pay - up to $140/hour.  It makes no sense. One has to ask where's the oversight and cost controls? I thought all state agencies were taking budget cuts to deal with decreased revenue. It seems someone forget to tell the Washington State Ferry System.

"The KING 5 Investigators have found many of those staff chief engineers are boosting their pay year after year through massive amounts of overtime. Public records obtained by KING 5 show some of the money is earned in triple time: $140 an hour - while their boats are out-of-service for repairs and maintenance.

KING 5 found 12 of the 21 staff chief engineers have collected that costly triple time in the last three years.

How'd that happen? They were called in off their vacations to go to the maintenance yard with their boats to make sure everything goes by the book.

But there's nothing in a union contract saying the staff chief engineer has to scrap vacation plans and come in on triple pay because of repairs or maintenance work. That's just the way it's always been done at the Washington State Ferries. Management has chosen this option despite the fact that each boat has a well-qualified alternate staff chief who could do the work for straight time."

It's time for Governor Gregoire and Washington State Ferries Director David Moseley to end this absurd siuation. And it's not just triple time that's the issue. When people are losing their jobs and taking unpaid leave days, it is a public relations nightmare to try and justify such gross overtime pay period.  And we're not talking peanuts. The top engineer on one ferry boat the Wenatchee had a base salary of $90,000 in 2008 but collected over $190,000, mostly as a result of overtime.