Rep. Mary Skinner (R-Yakima) passed a bill (HB 1279) out of the House this week that would require the state to pay a poet $30,000 each year.
Could you imagine if the Democrats did that? We will remember this bill when the GOP gets angry about all the “frivolous spending” by the Democrats on things like making sure kids have health care or improving our public schools….
Speaking of poetry, Rep. Charles Ross (R-Naches) wrote a poem to testify in favor of Rep. Skinner’s bill. Here it is in all it’s glory:
I’m speaking today not in usual prose
But rhyming verse so everyone knows
That’s my seatmate’s plan for a poet full-time
It’s a valuable effort worth every dime.
The cost is small, not a drop in the pail.
And the good news is, it is unlikely to fail
The problem I face, as no doubt you can see,
the difference between Mary and me
Mrs. Skinner appears as she usually does,
as one who has class and she has it because
She has it because she’s one of that kind
Those who like books and poems and things of the mind
And this smart set, this poetry crowd,they like Mary Skinner
She makes them so proud
[tags]Poets, Yakima, Taxes[/tags]
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Convenient that you folks omitted the fact that House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, a DEMOCRAT, is the number two co-sponsor of the bill. She got up and spoke in favor of the Poet Lauriete bill. She’s the second most powerful Democrat in the House, behind Frank Chopp. Also take note that there are only two Republican sponsors on this bill, but there are SEVEN Democrats on the bill. Before you point fingers about “frivolous spending,” you should check to see who’s on the bill. In this case, you criticize Rep. Skinner but conveniently omit the other seven DEMOCRATS who not only signed onto this bill, but stood up on the House floor vocally endorsing it.
I’m not outraged by the poet laureate bill. I was making the point that the GOP is two-faced about taxes.
I am, however, outraged that this is the only thing that Rep. Skinner will have to show for herself for her 105 days in Olympia.