Tag Archives: responsibilities

Public Records

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The Seattle Times has the shameful story.

…a brazen attempt by [Washington State] lawmakers to exempt themselves from the state’s Public Records Act. These elected officials are evading the ruling of a judge and contradicting Attorney General Bob Ferguson, both of whom said legislators are subject to the law.

And

[SB 6617] tries to permanently ban access to lawmakers’ past emails, text messages and calendars, as well as past disciplinary proceedings and complaints about lawmakers’ conduct.

What are these guys trying to cover up?

With dizzying speed and no public debate, state lawmakers passed the bill sealing off thousands of records that could inform voters how well their elected leaders are representing them. The entire process took about 48 hours….

It must be something, or a lot of somethings.

The Times editors called on the State’s Progressive-Democrat Governor to veto the bill.  It’s not often I agree with these editors, but on this score, they’re absolutely right.  Jay Inslee agreed: he vetoed the bill Thursday.

Hmm….

Big Government and Responsibility

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The Progressive-Democratic Party-run States and the Republican-run States are demonstrating what they think of the intelligence and capability of ordinary American citizens.

The roughly half of states controlled by Republicans are therefore moving aggressively to roll back the law widely known as Obamacare, while the smaller number of Democratic states are working to bolster it.

One party does not believe that Americans in a free market, here for health care and for health care coverage plans, are capable of making sound decisions.  They need Big Government to think and act for them.  The other party believes the opposite: the ordinary man is fully capable of thinking for himself and doesn’t need Big Government to tell him what to do.

Oh, and that other party also believes in free markets and the associated competition that brings down overall prices and increases the range of options available.  That other party also believes that the greater range of options facilitates the decision-making of the ordinary man.  The one party believes the range of options only confuses the ordinary man and so—single payer for limited choices.

A Bit of Federal Funding

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The Trump administration said it would prioritize grant applications to the Title X family-planning program that come from organizations with a religious background and counsel abstinence or “natural” methods, a move abortion providers said will make it harder for them to get federal funding.

Health officials outlined the new rules Friday in announcing a fresh round of funding for Title X, which pays for services like contraception and infertility treatment.

What’s the downside of that?  The only one I can see, and it is a serious one, is the deemphasis on contraceptives and birth control counseling.  But making it harder for abortion providers to get our taxpayer money?  Nothing wrong with that.

Good for Them

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Former Olympic gymnasts, including Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, won’t participate in the US Olympic Committee’s investigation into the sexual-abuse scandal surrounding former national team doctor Larry Nassar, saying they don’t trust the body to conduct a thorough and independent inquiry.

They’re right not to trust these…persons…who sat on years of complaints of sexual abuse instead of acting on them.  Nor can they, in the end, trust any other organization with the judgment to have these on its payroll or consulting list.

“For 31 months, I heard nothing,” Ms Raisman said in a statement to The Journal. “I find it hard to believe after all this time that the USOC is genuinely concerned about anything other than the scrutiny it’s now facing.  …  This investigation needs to be bigger than Nassar. There have been countless allegations of abuse for years and years. Anything other than a full investigation just isn’t good enough.

She’s right.  This USOC is only looking to whitewash its role in this routine of abuse.  Nothing useful will occur unless and until the USOC, and USAG, are completely erased and new agencies built de nihilo.

Student Loan Debt

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This is appalling, and it says a lot (albeit it’s not the only thing able to be said) about the morals of those we’re “graduating” from college and university these days.

A study released Friday by the Brookings Institution finds that most borrowers who left school owing at least $50,000 in student loans in 2010 had failed to pay down any of their debt four years later.

Scofflaws. They need their wages garnished. If they’re unemployed, they need to be put into work programs–there are always highway rights of way that need cleanup, and ditches that need digging. They also can be put into AmeriCorps VISTA.

But no bailouts.