Busy week...

A very busy week is underway for me. Our crack sales staff is cranking out more spec ads than I can keep up with. Plus, it seems that everyone on the staff has some computer problem they want me to fix. Combine that with my already heavy daily work load and you get an idea of how swamped I've been. So, tonight, I'm making a quick and easy meal - string pie.

Cheesy Italian baked noodle goodness! Yum!

For Relaxing Times...

For relaxing times...

Make it Santori time.

Great Weekend

Another great weekend has come and gone. On Sunday, Wifey and I took our wonderpups to the annual Chuckanut Dog Training Association agility show in Lynden, near the Canadian border.

Ranma (our 9-year-old cattledog) performed outstandingly well - a 1st place ribbon in the excellent standard competition - she was the fastest 20-inch-jumping dog to run cleanly, and only one dog (in another height class) was faster.

Baron did very well, too - he got one Qualifying Score ribbon, and obtained 6 points toward his MACH (a champion-like ranking that literally takes years to accomplish - a seemingly ungodly number of points and qualifying runs are needed). Baron is well on his way to obtaining his MACH.

I'm really proud of our wonderpups, and for the great work Wifey has done with them!

Do EVERYTHING with Gusto!

Make a statement - do everything with gusto!

For example, as the picture in this post will illustrate, I use a special tool to open my mail with gusto.

Washington State Legislature Curtails Critical Comments

This week, the clerk of the Washington State House of Representatives, on the advice of legal counsel, has begun censoring press releases. There's an article about it in the Olympian, and the House Republican Media Services Office. For those that do not want to spend time reading these stories, the gist of the brouhaha is that the clerk of the House has ruled that certain phrases are not allowed in press releases and related material issued by representatives (or their caucus press offices). The flap came about after a Republican representative issued a news release calling the Democrats' description of their budget proposal a "shell game".

Due to Democratic complaints, Republicans say, they've been told not to use several phrases in press releases this year. Among them: newspaper, and a press release on the subject via the

"lack of honesty with taxpayers";

"tax-and-spend liberals";

•"lack of truth in the majority's message";

•"It's not truthful to say this money is being put into reserve";

•And "disingenuous."

The House of Representatives' chief clerk, Rich Nafziger, has asserted that his decision to reign-in commentary statements in press releases and other state-funded communicae dates back to the mid-1990s, when Republicans and clerk Tim Martin controlled the House.

"“You cannot say Republicans are disingenuous or that Democrats are tax-and-spend liberals because we have rules governing the use of taxpayer resources that say you can'’t use those resources to sling mud, Nafziger said. "“We can'’t censor people. There'’s still free speech."”

The Republicans'’ humorous approach to the dispute barely masks their deep anger about the budget this year. Republicans have been especially edgy about that topic all year, accusing Democrats of wild spending sprees and fiscal irresponsibility at a time when the state surplus has grown to almost $1.6 billion. So while Democrats have claimed they are setting aside close to $1 billion for the next budget cycle in 2007, Republicans have pointed to an ending balance predicted for the state'’s general fund of $238 million; the GOP claims that is the real reserve amount and that $850 million put into other accounts is not really a reserve because it'’s meant to be spent eventually.

More recently, Republicans were resorting to humor to get out their message, including a news release with the domed Capitol exploding from the expansive spending by Democrats. Another warned of a spending tsunami.

Something to note at this point: comments and above-mentioned "forbidden phrases" have been used in press releases and other communicae by both sides of the aisle since the mid-1990s. The issue came to a head this year, when Republicans (the minority party in both bodies of the legislature) criticized the budget proposals by Democrats (the majority party).

Good grief! I don't care which party a lawmaker subscribes to, he or she has the right to give his or her opinion in press releases, as long as there is proper attribution. Attribution is the mainstay for my job in radio news. To say, for example, that the budget proposal by Democrats in the Washington State House of Representatives is "disingenuous" or has a "lack of honesty with taxpayers" is wrong. But for a Republican representative to say that he or she feels or believes the House Democrats budget proposal is "disingenuous" or has a "lack of honesty with taxpayers" relays proper attribution - it's the opinion of the elected official, not necessarily facceptablehat's aseparates. This seperates news pieces from opinion pieces.

Lawmakers are elected by the majority of the voters in their district, and as such, will appeal primarily with the voters that put them in office. For example, an elected Democrat from the heart of the Seattle area will be critical of Republican bills that take voting power away from his consituents, so he or she issues a press release that is critical of such a bill. Criticism of each party's policies is appropriate. Opinions are appropriate, as long as it's properly attributed. That's free speech, I think.

I step down from the soapbox for tonight.

Thanks for reading...

Don't forget to comment on this and any other post on this blog.

My entry into the pretty cat thingie

This is Smaug. He is about seven. He is mainly decorative and about as bright as Neo. He likes to lick plastic wrap. He doesn't like cheese.

This is Darth

He would feel left out if not included. He is twelve years old and shy. He likes cheese.

WA House proposes state budget

Over the past few days, Democrats (the majority party) in the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives have proposed their supplemental budget proposals. Each proposal is disappointing to me...

The House Democrat budget proposal (keep in mind this is a supplemental budget year*) hikes state spending by over 17% over the previous biennium. The Senate proposal spends even more. The increased spending is not "emergency" spending, as is called for in a supplemental budget - we're talking about new programs and new regulations. Each proposal would equate to the largest supplemental budget increase in state history.

* A supplemental budget is intended to "tweak" the state's existing budget, to deal with emergency spending for construction, roads and education.

After overtaxing the people of the state, the legislature finds itself in control of over $1.4 billion in "unexpected" revenue. To her credit, governor Christine Gregoire - a Democrat - has cautioned her colleagues on the left side of the aisle (on more than one occasion) from using the budget "surplus" as an excuse to increase state spending, as the state has been in the red for years, and many of the bills the state needs to pay haven't been paid yet. Read: the state is in debt, and needs to pay its bills before it can make money (in order to pay for new programs).
Democrats in both bodies of the legislature are touting their budget proposals as "investing in the future, while saving money". What sticks in my craw is that the state is over $1 billion debt right now, the "surplus" money is a one-time affair, and instead of paying the bills, the budget proposals increase state spending, which means the state will be in hock even farther, come the next budget cycle!

Imagine your family is in debt to credit card companies, or to the bank, or whatever. You owe someone money, and before you budgeted for this year, you had no idea how to pay those bills. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, you win $10,000 via a lottery scratch ticket. You've got some extra money, so you want to get out of debt by paying the bills, right? The money could pay off the credit card debt, etc., and leave you in a better financial sate than before.

Now let's assume that your spouse has the majority say in how your family spends and saves. Your spouse tells you that "we've got an extra $10,000, so let's buy a new digital flat screen tv to replace our old tv, finance a new car through a 24-month lease, and put the remaining $250 into the checking account."

Now you have $250 in your checking account, and you have a new tv you couldn't afford in the first place, and you have to make payments on a new car that you don't make enough money to pay for. The $250 won't even pay your rent, and you are deeper in debt the next time the bills get mailed to you.

It feels great to have a new tv and a new car (who wouldn't love that), but it came at the expense of being further in debt. Why? Because your spouse couldn't budget your finances correctly.

And that's what's happening in the state legislature right now.

The way the Democratic-controlled legislature circumvents this family expenses analogy is that, unlike a family in debt, the state doesn't get referred to a collection agency, doesn't have their bank account activity frozen until the bills are paid, and doesn't have a credit rating altered by spending beyond means. Please take note.

Cute Kitten-off

Felyne has challenged me to a cute kitten off. Here's her first salvo of kitteny cuteness, via her cat, Oliver...

Pictures of my dogs in agility action

Had to post these, as I am very proud of these two wonderpups...