West Seattle Blog...

WSB Forum » Open Discussion

1. Farmerbetsy
   Member Profile

   libraries closing, your child's kindergarten classroom is bigger, your kid has no health care, and your aunt with dementia can't get dental care anymore... where was all that money supposed to come from? we need to look, at least in part, at the fact that the soda tax was defeated. The candy and soda tax would have paid for at least a big chunk of our budget shortfall.

   If you don't agree with me, flame on. I don't care, I'm not going to argue with you. At all.

   If you agree with me, you might want to do what I just did. It felt great. Futile, but very gratifying.

   I called the American Beverage Association directly. Their number is (202) 463- 6732. I talked to a nice lady and very politely told her that I was very angry that they had spent so much money to defeat our tax and that I hold them personally responsible. It felt wonderful.

   The local lobbyist for the Washington Beverage Association is Brad Boswell. His number is 206 300 6270. I left him a message.

   All of this is absolutely public knowledge, and I am so enjoying my first amendment rights. Join me, won't you?

   Posted 1 year ago #         

2. JanS
   Member Profile

   

   there are many things that I'm unhappy with. And the defeat of 1-1098 is one of them. Then there's this today:

   http://www.kirotv.com/news/26143945/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=26510106968813&tml=sea_12pm&tmi=sea_12pm_1_02000212152010&ts=H

   now..if we could just get the gov. to outlaw Ken Eyman and anything that he espouses.

   Basic Health elimination will throw a whole lot of people into emergency rooms, where medical treatment will cost more. I am saddened. And some snark said that the children of illegals shouldn't be subsidized in the first place. They're children..and they should all have the gift of health. I am sickened by the people of this state that think that we can get by with no taxes, no healthcare for those less able to pay..I'm ashamed to be neighbors with them.

   Don't get me started on the big business types who get their tax cuts and continue to live "their dream". Proud of you for doing what you did, Betsy!

   Posted 1 year ago #         

3. bebecat
   Member Profile

   You may not get healthcare but you can now get your own government subsidized CELL-PHONES!!!! https://www.Safelinkwireless.com

   Posted 1 year ago #         

4. Jiggers
   Member Profile

   

   I'm recovering from abdominal surgery and I'm learning a lot in how the Health Care system runs and it sickens me.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

5. DP
   Member Profile

   

   Farmerbetsy: You did a good thing. Please don't tell yourself that it's "futile," because that type of thinking can be self-defeating, or worse: infectious.

   Individual actions like yours are worthwhile and constructive, if for no other reason than that they raise your OWN consciousness. And consciousness-raising is an important first step in any struggle.

   I hope you'll stop by and visit the West Seattle Neighbors for Peace and Justice vigil some Sunday (noon) at the Junction. There, you will find a small but growing collection of like-minded folks who are trying to figure out how to put our voices together so politicians will hear us.

   In the meantime, I'll raise a glass to you.

   And it won't be a glass of soda pop.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

6. TDe
   Member Profile

   I would be happy to join you, FarmerBetsy. And Jiggers, I hope you are recovering nicely from your surgery. I totally agree.

   I'm trying to figure out how to get my alley re-graded or graveled because the potholes are becoming as big as foxholes and SDOT just informed me they don't do alley work anymore. They can't afford it, now. So, I guess I'll start buying one bag of gravel every payday and encouraging my neighbors to do the same... after I place those calls!

   Posted 1 year ago #         

7. Gina
   Member Profile

   

   Libraries may be open shorter hours and front line staff gave up their cola 2 years running to save jobs in addition to the unpaid week each year. But at SPL the three associate directors have been promoted to co-directors and given a $25,000 raise to divide between them.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

8. Gina
   Member Profile

   

   I want to add that:

   The 3 co-directors at Seattle Public Library are hardworking, and nice people. Nothing against them.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

9. DP
   Member Profile

   

   More relevant info on library cuts: (Cross-post)

   http://westseattleblog.com/forum/topic/your-peace-cookie

   Gina: you have a good point. If sacrifices need to be made, then everyone should be making them. And those who can afford to sacrifice the most, should be sacrificing the most. And that would include library directors too, I suppose.

   Just for some perspective, though, the $25,000 raise handed out to the library directors consitutes about 1/40 the cost of a single million-dollar cruise missile. During the early weeks of the 2003 Iraq invasion, we tossed hundreds of such missiles into the middle of the desert.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

10. JoB
    Member Profile

    DP...
    but i wonder how many employees that $25,000 would have funded for one day.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

11. anonyme
    Member Profile

    Cuts like these have been a Republican wet dream for a very long time. What's really scary is that once these programs are gone, there is very little likelihood that they'll come back -- and that's part of the plan. Even when/if the economy improves, people are reluctant to vote in new taxes - which is what it will take. Just look at what happened with I-1098, and that would have only affected a small percentage of the population.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

12. JoB
    Member Profile

    anonyme...

    the question so seldom asked is why killing programs like this are the republican wet dream.

    it wasn't always so, you know.

    i believe the neo-con purpose it to create a compliant populace...

    if you have no safety net you will work for as long as you have to for whatever you can get.

    Why export your business overseas where you are at the mercy of foreign governments and their military when you can create a third world workforce at home?

    We are well on our way to becoming that republican wet dream.. a third world work force in a country controlled by a corporate friendly government.

    And to think.. we have ourselves to thank.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

13. BigPhil
    Member Profile

    I think that's far too malicious. I think most are just blithely unaware of the conditions of everyone below their income level. I've yet to meet a destitute Republican. I've met a few middle-class ones, but they must've been experiencing severe cognitive dissonance, chapter 11'ing on their mortgage because of health bills and shrieking about the 'government takeover of healthcare'..

    Posted 1 year ago #         

14. OwnerMary
    Member Profile

    Ok, you support taxes on pop/candy. I dont. Someone else supports taxes on XYZ and others dont. As long as WA does this silly referrendum stuff, programs will be slashed at the whim of poor voter turnout. Anytime you ask voters to pay more -- its a no brainer that the answer will be NO - NOOMP (Not out of my pocket). Rather, we elect our public officals for the express purposes of working for the greater common good. Its time Seattlites held their elected officials accountable and let them make these decisions for the greater good. If we dont like their decisions, our role is to make sure they dont get elected. Politicians in Seattle get a free skate -- they dont stand up for anything, nor do they have platforms that show they are working for a specific objective -- rather its appease everyone over everything. Which is why nothing gets done, and they point to citizen referendums as overturning "their good ideas".

    Dont you love how our snow problems have been resolved? Dont you love how surface travel has become less congested and improved in the last 10-15 years? Dont you love how we get better police and fire protection here in West Seattle? Dont you love that our libraries and community centers are open whenever we would like them?

    I believe we need an income tax instead of the tax de jour. I would not mind paying more taxes as long as its a bit equitable/predictable and the services are restored.

    DP -- your analogy would be better if you related libraries to something wasted in City government, versus that at the federal level. To my knowedge, the City of Seattle (or King County) didnt go to war nor does it purchase cruise missiles. I cant speak that that joke of a state that purports to represent us.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

15. JoB
    Member Profile

    owner Mary..

    unfortunately states that are funded through income taxes are suffering the same kind of pain we are.. though thankfully many of them are not inflicting as much of that pain on those least able to recover.

    Big Phil...

    The republican party as it stands today is run by corporate interests.
    Businesses seldom think of doing what is in their best interest as malicious.
    They think of it as good business.

    A cheap compliant workforce in a country whose political structure is controlled by big business is in their self interests... it's good business.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

16. Julie
    Member Profile

    

    By the way, the three librarians accepted their promotions but declined their raises:

    http://www.publicola.net/2010/12/15/update-librarians-decline-raises/

    Posted 1 year ago #         

17. DP
    Member Profile

    

    OwnerMary: I agree with your arguments about taxation. If we had more effective representation — and a bit more money in the pot ;-) — we wouldn't have to slog through all these tax issues one at a time.

    As far as my cruise missile/library books analogy goes . . . you probably missed this point from one of my earlier posts, but yes, there actually is a connection between federal money and local money, albeit an indirect one.

    As of last May, Seattle had received $107 million in federal stimulus money, some of which was used just to keep city programs going.

    Source: http://tinyurl.com/stimulate-me-seattle

    Needless to say, if our government hadn't wasted so much money on war, there would have been even more federal money in the kitty for the purpose of helping our cities. But sadly, that money was NOT there in the kitty, because we'd already wasted it on killing strangers and blowing up sand dunes.

    If we end the occupation in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan, every level of government will be fiscally healthier as a result, all the way from our national treasury right on down to our local communities, who must now spend money on crutches and wheelchairs for our injured soldiers (God bless them!) instead of buying swings for kids to play on. Etc.

    Tragic.

    It's the butterfly effect again, right Ms. Hill?

    Posted 1 year ago #         

18. blackwatch
    Member Profile

    Who the hell is signing those Eyman petitions?

    If you know of someone who did would you please slap them up the side of the head......

    One more instance of working against your own best interest.....

    Posted 1 year ago #         

19. bertha
    Member Profile

    I am so angry with the voters of this state. All I can say is this is the budget the voters wanted. What amazes me is the lack of understanding about how tax dollars are spent and what they support. It seems as if people think taxes go to mega parties for state workers and elected officials rather than services we use to support the services we use everyday. Does anyone know who state workers are? They aren't fatcats sitting on their butts in Olympia. They risk their lives in our prisons guarding people too dangerous to be on the streets; they serve us at the DMV, where we bitch and complain because of long lines and long waits because funding has been cut BUT we do it once every couple of years while they have to listen to the complaints day after day knowing they cannot resolve the problems; they are the state patrol who come to our aid in snowstorms and rescue us in accidents (and yes give us tickets when we think getting to where we're going fast is more important than our safety or anyone else's) and deal with the drunk drivers all around us and the list goes on. State government is not some monstrous blackhole sucking dollars out of our pockets it is the very services our lives depend upon.

    I have been heartened lately by the response to the many fundraisers benefitting our neighbors in crisis here in West Seattle but do people realize our tax dollars help needy families every day and now these safety nets are gone or disappearing.

    I work for a food bank and you know what I've been hearing from other emergency food providers? Grown men crying in food bank lines because they have always provided for their families and now they cannot even feed their families and police officers in rural areas now accepting "under the bridge" as an official address. I see people who used our food bank 5 years ago who got jobs and pulled themselves up and are now back because they have lost those hard fought for jobs and they can't find a new one. We are now seeing 250-300 people in the TWO hours we are open and this is BEFORE this budget takes effect.

    I am angry and I am sad. I cannot believe the people of this state who seem to value Tim Eyman's views more than the wellbeing of their neighbors. Sad, sad, sad.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

20. Jiggers
    Member Profile

    

    Moving to Seattle and the Northwest doesn't give you the right to get ignorant or be stupid but, that's what it seems I see a lot. About 65% of current residents in Seattle now will only work in King County then move to another state to retire. They won't care to get involved in local voting issues because they won't be around. Maybe I'm wrong. I vote and read what all the initiatives are about carefully. They don't care about a whole lot except what time their employment checks get deposited into their bank accounts. In Hawaii, a police officer was just caught stealing food from a grocery store. How sad is that. Google it up. A lot of people's backs are up against the wall with nowhere to turn.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

21. miws
    Member Profile

    

    bertha, FTW.

    Mike

    Posted 1 year ago #         

22. clark5080
    Member Profile

    

    There are more than a few who have been saying the legislature has been passing totally unsustainable budgets for quite some time now. Even with the cuts the Gov just purposed it is still an increase in spending from the previous budget.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

23. Genesee Hill
    Member Profile

    

    Her proposed budget is less than the previous one according to an article in the Seattle Times a day or so ago.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

24. JanS
    Member Profile

    

    clark...things cost more...prices are not going down, as you well know...

    Posted 1 year ago #         

25. Fergiepie
    Member Profile

    Bertha- Aye-men!

    I don't know if any of you follow @AngrySeattle on twitter, but I think he/she said it best:

    "RT: @angryseattle: It's shocking we have to cut things that heal, feed, teach, and clothe people because we can't grow a pair and tax a few rich a-holes."

    And this just damn near made me cry:

    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013685184_budget16m.html

    :-(

    Posted 1 year ago #         

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.