Senator Tim Sheldon Speaks Out On the State's Liquor Monopoly

The subject of the state’s ongoing monopoly of the distribution, licensure and sale of hard liquor is back again, with a surprising twist.

After voters narrowly defeated Initiative 1100 to privatize liquor sales in the state, the governor apparently has interpreted that vote as a call to expand on the monopoly, complete with a bit of retail sizzle.

The Liquor Control Board hired a pollster for $31,000 to measure how people feel about state liquor stores. The pollster made a few hundred phone calls between Christmas and New Years and discovered some less than surprising things.

They found that people thought the stores were clean, staff was courteous and the parking lots safe. Much the same could be said about most private businesses in our community. 

They said that people found the stores were not very attractive and the non-competitive pricing made shopping a poor experience. I believe the same thing could have been said about stores of all types in the countries of the old Eastern Bloc. They might have been clean and efficient, but they were monopolies with little variety and set prices run by the state.

It’s chilling to consider that in both instances we are dealing with “state” stores.

The Liquor Control Board has a few suggestions for making the local liquor store a cheerier place to shop and make a few more dollars at the same time. The stores would upgrade and compete with large discounters and corner mom-and-pop stores by selling ice, chips, bottle openers, soda pop and any number of other items.

They found that current customers are supportive of on-line ordering, sale of non-alcoholic products, gift cards, extended hours, sample tastings and opening liquor outlets inside other commercial establishments.

They would also set up competitive disadvantages in a town by installing a mini-liquor store actually located inside one supermarket but not at another. Why not just let the stores sell liquor rather than the state renting space and paying state employees to operate a store within a store?

The Liquor control Board is suggesting opening 15 more outlets and livening up the whole system with enhancements that seem better suited to the privately owned and operated businesses in our communities.

Gift cards? If the state is going to issue gift cards for hard liquor, how about for ferry tolls, state park campgrounds or traffic tickets? Government should not be about gimmicks and gift cards are just that.

The projected net revenue from these “commercial enhancements” to a state run monopoly is an estimated additional $2.25 million a year.

I have proposed that when it comes to liquor sales, the state do what it does best; license, regulate, enforce and collect taxes. We need to leave the retailing of products to those that do that best, the private businesses that operate on the open market in our communities.

The bill I am sponsoring would do just that. My proposal would close the state stores and sell off the warehouse and distribution operations. Liquor sales would be regulated by the state, working with communities to make sure that commercial outlets are appropriately located and monitored to be sure that our kids are not getting access to it and that it isn’t sold in inappropriate locations.

The real bottom line is that government, in good times and bad, should be about essential core services. Taxpayers want to see their hard earned dollars spent to educate their children, maintain roads and assure other essential services. Retailing liquor in a monopoly and dressing up the stores just doesn’t meet the criteria of “essential services”.

Senator Tim Sheldon (D-Potlatch)

Senator Sheldon has served in the Washington State Legislature for 20 years

Climbing Out Of America's Financial Mess

We recently marked the two-year anniversary of the day President Barak Obama signed the great “stimulus package” into law. Democrats nationwide claimed the stimulus was needed to keep employment under eight percent, and would jump-start our economy. With 21 months of unemployment nationwide above nine percent, I’d like to know, “Where are the jobs?”

This past November, voters elected more Republicans nationwide than had ever been elected in the history of our country. Clearly, a majority of Americans have rejected the liberal economic policies put in place by Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. 

Our national debt is higher than it’s ever been, the economy hasn’t improved, which it won’t as long as we keep adding to the debt, as the President’s budget calls for. And Obamacare hasn’t even kicked in yet…

Isn’t the first rule of getting yourself out of a hole to stop digging?

Global Warming a Real Threat

From The Washington Post via the Washington Times

The Arctic ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consulafft, at Bergen , Norway.  Reports from fishermen, seal hunters, and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone.

Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the gulf stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared.

Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic,while vast shoals of herring and smelts which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds. Within a few years it is predicted that due to the ice melt the sea will rise and make most coastal cities uninhabitable.

By the way, I neglected to mention that this report was from a November 2, 1922 Washington Post article as reported by the AP and Washington Times. That's right: 89 years ago! No wonder Al Gore is so worried.

Will GOP Reverse 2010 Gains Under Wilber?

I’ve often written that there isn’t a way for Republicans around here to shoot themselves in the foot they haven’t thought of, but I that have great confidence in their ability to invent new ones. And once again, it appears they’ve done it. At their recent state meeting, the party ousted moderate former state legislator Luke Esser in favor of longtime conservative talk show host Kirby Wilber.

The Democrats immediately began gleefully proclaiming the R’s had elected Washington’s version of Rush Limbaugh as their new leader. Based on 16 years of his radio rhetoric, they could be right. Meanwhile, look for the Democrats to make Wilber’s radio tirades the focal point of their election rhetoric rather than individual candidates. In races where Republicans have good, solid candidates, or in closes races, look for the Democrats to use the "guilt by association" strategy — tying those potential winning candidates to Wilber's radio rhetoric — which has potential to undo many of the strides R’s made in 2010.  

Esser was an even-handed, pragmatist who was very successful in recruiting better quality candidates than at any time in recent memory. Wilber says he wants to take the party in a “new direction” (Read: hard right). Voters want action and civility — not confrontational rhetoric. And while some Republicans were unhappy with the gains the party made under Esser in light of what happened nationally, I suspect under Wilber, the Republicans will have a hard time recruiting the quality of candidates the party desperately needs to sustain and strengthen the gains it made in 2010.

Radio Host Wilbur Ousts Esser as State GOP chairman

State GOP chairman and former legislator Luke Esser was ousted as chair of the party by longtime conservative radio host Kirby Wilbur. Delegates at the state Republican Party meeting held in Tukwila voted 69 for Wilbur, 36 for Esser and 7 for Bill Rennie.

Esser made the claim that the state GOP was in much better shape than it was four years ago when he was handed the reins, but Wilbur emphasized how Republicans in our state didn't do as well as they should have in the 2010 elections given the tidal wave for the right nationally.

Dershowitz, Others Defend Palin’s ‘Blood Libel’ Line

By Rick Pedraza

Liberals are up in arms over Sarah Palin's use of the term "blood libel” to describe left-wing media attacks on conservatives in the wake of Saturday’s shootings that severely injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, killed six, and wounded more than a dozen others outside a Tucson, Ariz., store. 

But famed attorney and Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz said the term’s use has evolved over the years from one fraught with pain in Jewish history, and that Palin used the term correctly.

"The term 'blood libel" has taken on a broad metephorical meaning in public discourse," Dershowitz told BigGovernment.com. He said that, although the historical origins of the term were "in theologically based false accusations against Jews and the Jewish people," its current use has become part of the English parlance to refer to anyone being falsely accused.

“I myself have used it to describe false accusations against the state of Israel by the Goldstone Report,” Dershowitz said. “There is nothing improper and certainly nothing anti-Semitic in Sarah Palin using the term to characterize what she reasonably believes are false accusations that her words or images may have caused a mentally disturbed individual to kill and maim. The fact that two of the victims are Jewish is utterly irrelevant to the propriety of using this widely used term.”

Jewish Americans for Sarah Palin also defended Palin's use of the term in warning that journalists and pundits “should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn.”

"Sarah Palin got it right," a spokesman for the organization told the Daily Caller. "Falsely accusing someone of shedding shedding blood is the definition of blood liber."
 
 Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman issued a statement Wednesday agreeing that it is inappropriate to blame Palin and others for the tragic shootings in Tucson.

“Palin has every right to defend herself against these kinds of attacks,” Foxman wrote. “We agree with her that the best tradition in America is one of finding common ground despite our differences.

“It is unfortunate that the tragedy in Tucson continues to stimulate a political blame game. Rather than step back and reflect on the lessons to be learned from this tragedy, both parties have reverted to political partisanship and finger-pointing at a time when the American people are looking for leadership, not more vitriol,” the statement read.

“In response to this tragedy we need to rise above partisanship, incivility, heated rhetoric, and the business-as-usual approaches that are corroding our political system and tainting the atmosphere in Washington and across the country.”

© Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Bauer Announces Resignation As County Commissioner

     Saying, “My wife Ann and I are at a point in our lives where we must choose between the all-consuming demands of public service and the equally consuming demands and opportunities of our private lives and our family,” County Commissioner Steve Bauer announced his resignation, effective at the either the end of February or early in March.

The resignation was announced in a late-afternoon e-mail sent in advance to elected officials, and then officially at the Jan. 10, County Commissioner’s meeting, where he read a 4-page letter detailing his reasons for resigning, as well as highlighting some of the accomplishments he is most proud of.

Bauer was appointed the North End commissioner in July of 2007 after Chris Endresen resigned to accept a position as State Director for Senator Maria Cantwell. He was elected to a full term of his own in 2008. A former Lt. Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard, Bauer previously served as Bellevue’s city manager and as director of finance and administration for Portland, Oregon. 

In 2006, he was hired as a consultant to complete a comprehensive evaluation of Kitsap County’s Department of Community Development. He was also and active in his home community of Hansville, serving as president of the Hansville Community Center Board. 

Bauer holds a Masters of Public Administration from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.A. in government from Columbia University in New York City.

 

In his letter of resignation, Bauer stated that since taking office in 2007, two members of his family have contracted cancer, and the experiences have taught he and his wife Ann that, “…we can’t take a single day for granted. The opportunities we pass up — and there have been many these last few years — may never come again. Our parents are aging, our five grandchildren are growing like weeds and we need to be in their lives.”

He added that, “There are many folks capable of being County Commissioner. But no one else can fill my roles as Son, Brother, Husband, Dad, Uncle and Grandfather. After almost four years’ in office, it is clear I can’t fill those personal roles and be County Commissioner at the same time. During my career in local government, I often placed the interests of my family and myself behind the demands of public service. The time has come to put family and friends first.”

He was especially complimentary of his wife, saying, “Ann and I have taken on the challenge of being Commissioner as a team. She has been a terrific confidant and supporter. I want to thank her and our Family for their support and sacrifices while I have been in office.”

Bauer said if he thought the huge challenges ahead could be overcome in the two years remaining in his term, he would gladly stay, but believes the truly significant challenges of the County budget, the North Kitsap Legacy Partnership, reshaping the future of Kitsap Transit, and more will take several years to accomplish.  

“Actions in the next two years will lay the groundwork for later successes, Bauer stated. “I think the public will be best served if the same person works on these issues for the next several years.”

Bauer also said that his proudest accomplishments include serving as Chair of the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority in 2009 to help save it from bankruptcy after years of bad Board and management decisions threatened more than 1,000 low income housing units, as well as elderly and dependent residents.  While the agency finished 2010 in the black, and is on track to a bright future, he devoted two to three days per week on Housing Authority business — on top of normal County business — to help guide the agency’s recovery. 

He also said he is especially proud of the County’s “Water as a Resource” Policy that he believes will change how water is treated in the future, as well as his work on the North Kitsap Legacy Partnership, which will preserve more than 6,000 acres of open space forever.

He also cited helping Kingston get a new park and helping the community and the new Metropolitan Park District move forward with a new community center, library, Boys and Girls Club and senior housing. He also noted that Kingston will soon have a new downtown Master Plan that will help that community become one of the most vibrant and attractive areas in the County, and how the purchase of Norwegian Point Park in Hansville virtually assures that the Coast Guard will turn over the Point No Point lighthouse and grounds to the County.

“I am proud of the things that we have accomplished during my tenure,” he said. “And by “We” I mean County staff, the other Commissioners and me. No County Commissioner achieves the big things by themselves.”

He thanked County employees, “…for their intelligence, their skills, their commitment to public service and their love for living in this special place. I’ve been privileged to work with public employees all my career and I can truthfully say that I’ve never worked with a better group.”

Bauer also specifically singled out two people for special thanks and recognition — Deanna Erstad and Rebecca Pirtle, who he said have been hugely helpful to him and to the constituents and communities of his District. He also lauded volunteers Walter Briggs (the Navy’s forester) and Arno Bergstom (the County Extension forester), for drafting a Forest Stewardship Program for all County forestlands, including most of its larger parks, noting the program could also be used to manage future North Kitsap Legacy forests.

As it did when Bauer was appointed, the Democratic Party will select his replacement. He has timed his departure to give the process enough time to play out and not have a vacant seat on the commission, as was the case when he was appointed.

He ended his resignation letter by saying, “There is never a good time to leave. There will always be incomplete projects. There will always be people and causes to protect. But I am clear that this is the right time for Ann and me to chart a new course in our lives. I hope you will understand.”

 “People often bemoan the loss of civility in our public conversations. Indeed, I’ve encountered my share of folks who can’t resist the temptation to demonize elected officials and staff rather than dealing with the issues at hand. Folks say to me, “It must be tough having people criticize you all the time.” The constant surprise for me has been the number of folks who just come up and say ‘Thank you for your service. Thanks for all that you do and the sacrifices you make to do this job.’ All I can say in return is ‘Thanks for giving me this opportunity to serve Kitsap County.’”

What The 2010 Census Tell Us

The new census numbers not only tell us a lot about the direction of our country over the last decade, but say much more about America’s hopes and dreams over the long term. The thing that jumped out at me in analyzing the constitutionally mandated head count is that while it isn’t an election, the 2010 census shows Americans have no trouble voting with their feet.

For many, it reflects rising support of limited government, but more interestingly, determines what states gained and lost seats in Congress.

While our state gained a tenth congressional seat because of an increase in population between 10 and 15 percent, a group called Americans for Tax Reform found states gaining the most population — and seats in Congress — had several common threads, including significantly lower taxes, fewer government regulations, less government spending, and were more likely to be Right to Work states.

What that says is that for the past decade Americans have been fleeing the heavy hand of intrusive government in favor of places where the market encourages entrepreneurialism and has the ability to create jobs. And not coincidentally, all are states that tend to lean Republican.

States with more than 20 percent population growth include our immediate neighbor to the east, Idaho, which has been aggressively marketing itself to Washington State companies as an alternative to our high taxes, over-regulation, and out of control spending. A drive along I-90 between Spokane and Post Falls is a testament to their success. Many of the shuttered buildings in Spokane still have company names on them, but you’ll see many of those same names on new buildings just across the state line.  

Other states in the 20 percent club include Texas, which will gain four seats, as well as Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. In the 15 to 20 percent range are populous Florida, which will pick up two more seats, Georgia, Colorado, and South Carolina (can you say Boeing?). North Carolina, which also falls into that 15 to 20 percent range, fell just short of picking up another House seat by only 15,000 residents.

Meanwhile, traditional liberal strongholds like New York and Ohio will both lose two seats, while industrialized, and heavily unionized New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Iowa, will each lose one, as will Louisiana. In my view, Louisiana is an anomaly due to the twin knock out punches of Hurricane Katrina, which forced thousands to flee the state who never returned — many, ironically to Texas — and the Gulf Coast oil spill which has all but shut down its bread and butter industries — oil and fishing. 

 

However, what is most telling, is that our nation's most populous state — California — in spite of massive immigration, will fail to gain any seats for the first time since statehood. That means even more people are fleeing the Golden State then immigrating there — legally or otherwise.

Joining Washington in the 10 to 15 percent bracket are Oregon, Alaska, Tennessee, New Mexico and Wyoming. The increases in our state, Oregon, and to some degree Alaska and Arizona, are a result of California’s out-migration. Tennessee, Wyoming and Arizona are all Right-To-Work states.

Another telling statistic is that state and local taxes, coupled with per capita government spending, in states gaining enough population to pick up seats are nearly a third lower than in those states losing seats.

The bottom line is Republican-leaning states will increase their power as population shifts from the liberal Northeast Rust Belt to the conservative South and West — where the jobs are.

In spite of President Obama’s overwhelming victory a scant two years ago, this significant realignment is viewed by many as an undeniable indictment of liberalism. I don’t know that I’d agree completely, but there will be an unmistakable impact. 

With the Census results comes redistricting. What I’d like to see is common sense political boundaries — such as county lines, as opposed to absurdly shaped, politically gerrymandered districts, such as the 35^th here in our state.

But don't expect anything that sensible. While this year's elections have increased Republicans' power in many states, look for the Obama administration not to hesitate trotting out the Democrat's battle-proven, but disgusting class warfare strategy, coupled with playing the race card against Republican state leaders as they re-shuffle Democrats' long-gerrymandered constituencies in a pathetic attempt to neutralize the bad news the Census has delivered.

Taking exception to the Kitsap Sun's reporting of the Port Orchard Boat Ramp Issue

There are many more facts surrounding the issue of the repair of the Port Orchard Boat Ramp than meet the eye. However, the bottom line is that the City of Port Orchard and the Port of Bremerton are equally committed to solving this problem in a win-win manner.

That was made abundantly clear to all concerned in the joint meeting we had on Tuesday. For the Kitsap Sun to report this story in the irresponsible way it did, and then editorialize so biasedly against the City, was an uninformed, and undeserved cheap shot at the City for no apparent reason.

If I hadn't seen her there myself, I'd have to question if the reporter who wrote the story was actually at the same meeting as the rest of us. It's also very obvious that whoever wrote that editorial used that story as their sole source of information, and couldn't be bothered to check one single fact.

NO ONE from the Sun called anyone at the City for comment, or could be bothered to ask us one single question about this issue before publishing such an unfair and blistering attack.

A lengthy email to Sun Editor David Nelson explaining the actual FACTS of this matter has yet to elicit a response.

As someone who has spent most of my entire adult life in the news business, the reporting and editorializing of this story is simply unconscionable, and one of the worst examples of biased, and irresponsible journalism I've ever witnessed. In my view, the Sun owes the both City — and all of its readers and online commenters — an apology for abdicating its responsibility to fair, unbiased, quality journalism.

Tom McCabe leaving BIAW at end of the year

       After 21 years, Tom McCabe will be leaving his post as Executive Director of the politically powerful Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) at the end of the year. His resignation came as a surprise to many, but not to most BIAW insiders.

       Under his leadership, BIAW became a major player in statewide politics, and synonymous with pro-business, conservative causes, as well as being perhaps the state’s staunchest supporter of the Republican Party. It also became a lightening rod for continual condescending, elitist criticism by liberals — something the group accepts as a compliment for its efforts on behalf of small business. 

However, it would be impossible not to acknowledge McCabe’s contribution in transforming the group from an ineffectual trade association into the state’s most aggressive advocate for small business and free enterprise, attracting national recognition from such prestigious publications as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Forbes Magazine.

During McCabe’s tenure, BIAW membership grew from roughly 2,000 member businesses in 1990 — the same year the Growth Management Act was passed —  to more than 11,000 currently. In fact, BIAW is one of, if not the largest, affiliate of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in the nation.

McCabe built a highly effective lobbying team that in spite of liberal Democratic majorities in the both houses of the legislature managed to prevent the passage of legislation that unfairly targeted the construction industry — most notably onerously mandated homeowner warranty legislation, as well as that requiring costly fire sprinklers in new, single family homes, elimination of exempt wells, and an expansion of impact fees, among other victories.

 McCabe also founded BIAW’s retrospective rating program, turning it into the largest in the state. The program provides worker’s compensation insurance to BIAW members, and over the past 20 years has returned $360 million from state government back to its membership. The program retains a small portion of each refund as an administration fee, and the millions that fee generates has been the funding source for BIAW’s political activities that support conservative, pro-business candidates and causes.

BIAW also used our state’s initiative process skillfully, and was able to reject restrictive, ergonomics regulations unilaterally imposed by the state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), as well as getting Initiative 602 on the ballot, which would have restricted the growth of state government. It most recently sponsored I-1082, which would have opened Workman’s Compensation insurance to the private sector.

“We didn’t win every battle — nobody does. In my 20 years at BIAW, we never had a Republican governor and most of the time the legislature was controlled by liberal Democrats,” said McCabe. “So in every battle, we were the perpetual underdogs and I am so proud of the courage and determination of my staff and the small businesses that fought along side us.”

Over the years, liberal political opponents have tried unsuccessfully to pass legislation to eliminate the retro program and de-fund BIAW’s political machine, as well as filed numerous bogus lawsuits, but have been defeated at every turn. 

 

However, a very nasty, internal battle between BIAW and it’s largest and most powerful affiliate member, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA), may have been McCabe’s undoing. The clash, which has gone on for more than three years, has caused an ever-widening fissure within the organization, pitting individual members and member associations against each other — much to glee of its political opponents.

The MBA began offering its own version of the retro program to both its own members as well as other BIAW affiliates earlier this year, and in what has been described as an orchestrated coup, elected one of their own as president of the association at the last general meeting.

McCabe is leaving BIAW with a severance package reportedly valued at $1.25 million, with his senior staff also being offered a generous severance package.

 

Who will replace McCabe is still up in the air, but it’s possible an interim director will be appointed while a search for a successor is conducted. McCabe will leave BIAW at the end of this year, but will provide future assistance to BIAW.