Author Archives: eleanor

On June 23, when Hastings voted for the Defense Department appropriation, H RES 320, he also voted for the transition to what General Petraeus calls operational energy, what we call renewable energy or clean energy. With small generators our troops … Continue reading →

This is a funny musical derision of GOP candidates. It was produced late in 2010 or, I suppose, it would have had a larger cast of characters.

Doing nothing is the easiest thing for Congress to do. Doing nothing would eliminate the Bush Tax Cut and that would trim the federal deficit by half in every future year beginning with 2013. Because we run a deficit, the … Continue reading →

Last week a forum was held in Yakima to inform the public about Secure Communities, a program run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. Secure Communities requires that the fingerprints of everybody … Continue reading →

For a family of four, the “average income tax rate under Reagan in 1983 was 11.06 percent. Under Clinton in 1992, it was 9.18 percent. And under Obama in 2010, it was 4.68 percent.” During Reagan’s time, income tax revenue … Continue reading →

EARMARKS! I have a new online subscription. It is called the Weekly Wastebasket and is posted by Taxpayers for Common Sense. You can signup at www.taxpayer.net This is a clip from today’s message about how the Defense Appropriations Bill got … Continue reading →

The Washington State Redistricting Commission will hold a public hearing in Yakima on Wednesday June 8, 6-9 PM, location TBD. Attendance at the hearings in other locales has been about fifty, with about a dozen people desiring to make comments. … Continue reading →

The current or recent spike in oil futures is largely a trader driven bubble according to the “Blame These Guys” article on the May 15 front page of the Yakima Herald Republic. Anyone who is bleeding because of high gasoline … Continue reading →

Medicaid in Washington State is primarily a benefit to senior citizens and secondarily a support system for disabled adults. Paul Ryan’s Republican Budget, the one that Doc Hastings voted for, would make Medicaid a block grant scheme with federal inputs … Continue reading →

The Vatican issued a report on climate warming this morning. The document is only 17 pages long and takes little time to read. I am pasting in only the last paragraph of the report followed by the link. We call … Continue reading →