Seattle Conservative

Patty Murray recently voted to use taxpayer money ...

2010-04-22T20:59:10.227-07:00

Patty Murray recently voted to use taxpayer money to give Viagra to Sex Offenders. Does that sound like something that you'd like your tax dollars to be spent on? Do you consider that wise government spending?
We decided to see just how many people would support such a cause. Here are their reactions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mkCo_g3ED0&playnext_from=TL&videos=eQEONo_eTgA

I know an educated populace is far more inexpensiv...

2010-03-30T20:05:39.293-07:00

I know an educated populace is far more inexpensive then a an uneducated one. Still I do believe those students receiving a free education should show the aptitude and drive for success.

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium? ...

2009-11-22T02:37:56.330-08:00

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!

Medved is always thoughtful and thought-provoking....

2009-10-31T19:55:33.681-07:00

Medved is always thoughtful and thought-provoking. He will be appearing in Tacoma this Wednesday, November 4, at Broadway Center to talk about his newest book, The 10 Big Lies About America. I believe he will take audience questions and then sign books after the program. More info. at his website and at www.cityclubtacoma.org.

WHAT!!??!?!@!@>?!$@(*!)(@@!

2009-07-09T13:37:35.924-07:00

WHAT!!??!?!@!@>?!$@(*!)(@@!

And can you believe a supposedly unbiased judge sh...

2009-05-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

And can you believe a supposedly unbiased judge shows his class by calling a contestant "a stupid bitch". Seems to me it is Mr. Perez that should have been raked over the coals as he demonstrated his lack of professionalism. But then maybe he was never deserving of that title.

You know, former GOP senator Bob Graham has said t...

2009-05-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

You know, former GOP senator Bob Graham has said the same thing as Pelosi in regards to this. Funny that Fox News isn't calling for his head.

I rather like Jesse Ventura's take on "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques":

Jesse Ventura: I would prosecute every person who was involved in that torture. I would prosecute the people that did it, I would prosecute the people that ordered it, because torture is against the law."

Larry King: You were a Navy S.E.A.L.

Jesse Ventura: Yes, and I was waterboarded [in training] so I know... It is torture...I'll put it to you this way: You give me a waterboard, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I'll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders.

Ok let me rephrase, an out of control government i...

2009-05-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

Ok let me rephrase, an out of control government is a bigger threat than domestic terrorism.

The government is clearly out of control when they have rouge offices.

How quickly we forget guys like Timothy McVeigh, T...

2009-05-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

How quickly we forget guys like Timothy McVeigh, The Unabomber, the Olympic Park Bomber and the Anthrax attacks. 3 of which took place PRIOR to 9/11 and all carried out by US citizens.

Or how about this guy in Maine (http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/99263.html), who had materials and plans for making a dirty bomb that for some reason the MSM decided to ignore?

Or how about groups like E.L.F. or A.L.F.? Like the firebombing at UW a few years back in an agricultural building, which was doing work like trying to develop sustainable crops for sub-saharan africa?

Let's remember that ALL of the above examples were carried out by USA born citizens in our own country.

While I agree letting lists like this get leaked is REALLY sloppy and stupid, I hardly think that "ineptitude in the government" is a bigger threat than domestic terrorism.

I just read that the FBI added a domestic terroris...

2009-04-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

I just read that the FBI added a domestic terrorist to their watch list. Funny thing is he doesn't fit these descriptions. he's an animal rights activist.

The conventional wisdom says that sales taxes are ...

2009-04-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

The conventional wisdom says that sales taxes are regressive in that they hit the poor hardest, because the poor spend all of their income.

Yes, you are correct, there is a Rep. who introduc...

2009-04-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, you are correct, there is a Rep. who introduces a new income tax bill every year, but I believe this one was introduced by another person.

What we need is Robin Hood. He robs from the rich...

2009-04-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

What we need is Robin Hood. He robs from the rich and gives to the poor. Watch the movie, it totally works.

The only way a state income tax would make sense i...

2009-04-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

The only way a state income tax would make sense is if we did away with sales tax a la Oregon. I agree that a state income tax is a terrible idea.

Sales tax already taxes the rich more. They spend more money, buy more cars, buy bigger tv's, bigger houses, more jewlery, etc.

I can't remember her name, but there's one state rep who introduces an income tax bill every year in our state legislature and it never goes anywhere.

After our last little debate on this, I was thinki...

2009-04-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

After our last little debate on this, I was thinking more about the cap and trade for power in our state and I started to think about where our electricity comes from.

I knew already that the majority of our power came from hydro electric and nuclear, so I did a little looking.

Turns out our state gets 75% of our power from hydro, about 10% from nuclear, about 7-10% coal and the rest from natural gas and wind.

Natural gas already runs very efficiently, so really you're talking about doing this cap and trade with less than 10% of the energy produced in our state.

I then went to the Seattle City Light website and found numbers about those who are Seattle City Light customers and where the power comes from. This can be found here: http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/light/FuelMix/

Coal and natural gas combined count for 1.22% of the electricity for those customers. That means that 98.78% of the power used by SCL customers is already zero emissions.

So, if you are an SCL customer, it won't effect your rates at all. Most of the coal power used is in South and SW Washington. So if you live down there, maybe you'll see an increase. But frankly, it's not going to effect your bill much if at all.

In fact, since Washington is an energy exporter, such cap and trade rules in other states may actually help our own economy. If it gets more expensive for other Western states to produce their own electricity, then they may decide to use our clean electricity instead. Thus improving our local economy.

Congrats!

2009-04-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

Congrats!

Congratulations on finishing. Don't hold your bre...

2009-04-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

Congratulations on finishing. Don't hold your breath waiting for your diploma...it is now nearly 4 months since I completed my degree and still don't have the paper proof. Gotta love government programs.

What you are advocating is almost anarchy. It's f...

2009-03-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

What you are advocating is almost anarchy. It's funny how hard right conservatism gets really close to anarchy.

Like I said, read here about Russian driving and what lack of speed limits can be like: http://www.russiablog.org/2005/11/insanity_of_russian_driving.php

Sorry, but I want speed limits in residential and commercial areas. I want people to have a deterrent from driving faster than is safe in a location.

My own safe driving cannot stop someone recklessly driving from running into me. Traffic laws are in place to protect bad drivers from safer drivers and pedestrians.

On the Germany thing, yes I do believe that. If the cost for something is greater, then people will take much more care in their education and be a much better driver.

If I know that if I have an accident and that if it is my fault that I will immediately have my license suspended for a year, yes. I will be a better driver.

People have personal responsibility for how they act. However, you cannot personally be responsible for how someone else acts. I know too many people that if there were no speed limits that would just drive 90 MPH everywhere they went. I like walking places, riding my bike, etc.

I'm not going to walk with my kids to the park 6 blocks away if all of the sidewalks are along freeways.

Honestly, your idea that free market principles be applied to traffic laws is one of the mor absurd things I've heard recently.

On executive pay, the same argument you give for j...

2009-03-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

On executive pay, the same argument you give for justifying their ridiculously high salaries, bonuses, kickbacks and corporate perks can be made for union workers getting paid what they get paid. That if they didn't get paid that, they'd go work somewhere else.

My point on this is not that I'm denying that labor costs are part of the problem. It is.

My point is that you have this absurd tunnel vision about economics that you find it impossible to fathom that the free market can be the cause of a company to fail.

Labor costs are only part of the reason car companies are failing.

I actually today came across and interesting graphic detailing all of the reasons why GM is having difficulty. It's a good illustration that it's not just one thing that is causing their problems: http://www.mint.com/blog/finance-core/the-fall-of-gm-a-visual-guide/

Why do we need Cap and Trade? The EPA already has...

2009-03-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

Why do we need Cap and Trade? The EPA already has restrictions on air and water pollutants. If cap and trade is used for CO2 emissions you air and water pollution statements aren't valid because CO2 isn't classified as pollution.

It may be true that eventually these things may make business run cleaner, but maybe not more efficiently. Is a wind power plant as efficient as a coal powered one? No, but it is cleaner. What it does do though is make things cost more for consumers.

If done unilaterally it makes the goods and services of that area uncompetitive. If everyone does it, it forces consumers to pay more by mandate of the government.

'You fail to see that "free market" economics are part of the problem, which is the main issue here.'

How can you say that? We aren't letting the labor market work and the reason why GM has a cost disadvantage on every car they make. Unions are an obstruction to the free market.

The CEOs of the companies make what they make because it is a competitive market. If they weren't paid what they make they would go somewhere else. Japan has a differnet culture where CEOs make less, so the market yields a lower wage.

And that's why I said you will be penalized if you...

2009-03-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

And that's why I said you will be penalized if you get into an accident.

Secondly, do you actually believe classes and the cost of a license make someone a better driver? I'm not sure they have better skill, greater care maybe because if they don't they will crash and die.

"There are far less people that drive in Germany than in the US." Maybe because there are far less people that live there.

No speed limits means that the market is determining the speed on the road. If everyone goes 70 then that is the speed limit in that area at that time.

Germany also has FAR more restrictive licensing re...

2009-03-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

Germany also has FAR more restrictive licensing requirements than does the US. It costs a couple thousand dollars to take the courses and to take your driver's test and if you are found to be at fault for any accident your license is suspended immediately and you are forced to re-take those said courses.

There are far less people that drive in Germany than in the US. Also a far higher degree of responsibility and driving skill and care in driving amongst those who have their driver's licenses.

I don't necessarily disagree with you about speed limits in rural areas, however saying there should be no speed limits? Seriously? You should read online about driving in Russia where there aren't any speed limits in most places. I have friends from Russia and it's pretty much like Mad Max.

Speed limits aren't for protecting you from going to fast. They're there to protect other people from you going to fast.

As far as cap and trade policies go, this only mak...

2009-03-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

As far as cap and trade policies go, this only makes sense to people who think that pollution is a bad thing.

By doing a cap and trade, what you're doing is forcing companies to lower pollution and also make things run more efficiently. So in the long run, it may save these companies money and us money as energy becomes more and more efficient.

Government is there for the public trust, not just for better corporate profits. There are more important things than money, like clean air, clean water.

Even if you don't believe that climate change is effected by people, you have to agree that clean air and clean water are terribly important.

unclean water is the #1 killer of people in the 3rd world. Clean water should be one of the most important things that we think about and worry about.

By using your same argument, let's take a look at ...

2009-03-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

By using your same argument, let's take a look at executive pay at American car manufacturers vs. Japanese and other countries then.

The main problem with the union drag is those pension costs. I think those who are retired should go on medicare like everyone else. That's an enormous part of those legacy costs.

My point in this is that you harp on unions because it's a popular GOP target and you fail to see that the problem is larger than just one thing.

You fail to see that "free market" economics are part of the problem, which is the main issue here.

Now, if you're going to attack union pay, shouldn't you also hold up the same yardstick to executive pay?

To give an example, last year the top 14 execs at Mitsubishi took home a combined income of $8.1 million.

Ford's CEO took home $21.67 million home last year.

In 2007 Toyota's top 32 execs took home a little less than $20 million. That same year, the GM CEO took home $10 million on his own.

Shouldn't that also work into your equation?

The point of the post, which you may have missed, ...

2009-03-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

The point of the post, which you may have missed, is that Gregoire and the liberals believe that they can do a better job of knowing what the economy will be like in the future than business. This of course will lead to the government picking winners and losers and eventually a state run economy.