April 23, 2007
It's in the P-I
The P-I celebrates the Legislature's "accomplishments" in this article, with the online headline "Families, education win in Olympia". (Not the families whose taxes were raised yet either pay through the nose for private school or are dissatisfied with their kids' lousy government school but can't afford private school).
If I didn't know it was a newspaper article, I would have assumed it was a House Democratic Caucus press release. P-I:
the new bill establishing a five-week paid family leave is perhaps the Democrats' most notable legislation this year.
To many of us, the bill is notable for its foolishness, but the article spins it as the most notable advance in social welfare since sliced cheese:
ensuring that parents can take time off to care for their newborn children
The benefit is only $1,250 per employee. It ensures nothing but expense and inconvenience for employers. And the legislature hasn't even figured out how to pay for it yet.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 23, 2007
10:39 PM | Email This
1. Again unfunded rights. Claiming for the family but allows these Same Democrats to grab more money that could have gone to those very same family to help pay the bills. Every benifit costs everyone a little bit. Make Businesses pay for means you do not get as big a raise if a raise at all. Each employee costs a business so much. Lets see now that could mean some businesses will lay off people. In the Democrat eyes the benefit is better than people losing thier jobs. And it is better that they take your money you do not have a right to it. It is why they right the laws to prevent you from making more money. And watch the costs grow and they will take even more money.
Each law or benefit costs money. The bottom line is that each taxpayer pays for in higher costs for goods. Such as food and cloths. But then we can import all our food and cloths from overseas where they do not have to pay for these benefits. So again Democrats are supporting outsourcing by their actions.
2. This is not my field, but I wonder how many of these "benefits" are available to predominately those who work in the public sector like universities and government? Many secular progressives work in these entities. I know from the education reform field, a lot of opposition comes from secular progressives in government and non-profits, who because of the generally secure income stream afforded them are able to get their children out of public schools or get additional resources for them. My unscientific observation is regarding the managers and administrators that I have met. Further, this group tends to perpetuate itself and pass benefits to itself. Again, an unscientific observation.
3. The Dems have gone waaaaaaaaaay to far.
If the R's can get there act together (which is a big IF), 2008 could be a Revolution Year.
One of the biggest problems for R's is to connect with voters. Many are turned off at the mere mention of a Republican (courtesy of George Bush & Pals). The R's need to get BEYOND that with a clearly issues focused campaign....hammering away at the CONSEQUENCES of what the D's have done. The campaign must be 75% Attack....25% what we can do.
The other problem is the general inability of voters to understand consequences of all this Dem action UNTIL THEY ACTUALLY FEEL IT.
Ignorance & apathy are tough to overcome.
2008 will be a challenge, especially considering the Elitist attitudes of the Metrosexuals.
When they start feeling pocketbook pain, even they will run to Conservatives for relief.
After all, how can one have self-esteem in Seattle without daily lattes and annual European Vacations?
4. Shouldn't the headline actually read as follows?
Politicos Pander to Parasites, Productive People Lose
5. Washington residents seem to have survived pretty well without a paid family leave for many years. Where is the benefit of this? The "D"'s can only pull out the old feel platitudes like child/parent bonding but where's the beef? Where are the studies that show a few weeks when a child is born makes all the difference in how they turnout. Hell, both of my daughters were in day care while my wife and I worked and they have turned out great - no drugs, no abortions, both collage grads and gainfully employed. Why should I or anyone else have to pony up money for someone I have absolutely no connection with to stay home with his/her kid so they can "bond"? What a bunch of crap and this is only the start. Now that the benefit is in place, it will only expand.
6. The Family Leave Bill is an absolute abuse of power by government. It's forced charity. I choose to give to the charities of MY choice, and I do it every time I get paid. Government should NOT be forcing charity on every employee of this state.
I haven't read the bill in its entirety, but what if the person who is going on leave also gets paid time off (vacation, sick) for their leave? Do they get this state sponspored leave on top of that?
7. Juandos: I like your headline better--MUCH more accurate. I hope Atlas Shrugs soon.
8. Couples expecting a baby have 9 months to plan and prepare for the projected absence of work. Which means they can work and save in the meantime, to store up savings to pay for the missed income (and it can be a lot more than $1250). Some will even make plans to live on one income,as many women just plain want to stay home with the baby; and it is the parents' job to care for child, not somebody else.
9. Mr. Cynical,
I agree with this part of your post: "The Dems have gone waaaaaaaaaay too far. If the R's can get their act together (which is a big IF), 2008 could be a Revolution Year."
The Dems have gone way too far. 2008 should be a Revolution year. We should storm the capitol and start lopping off heads. With the new Diebold vote-count machines, we wouldn't win by voting even if we could get our act together.
(Disclaimer: I'm not advocating actual violence. I'm fully aware of my place as a tax-paying consumer-unit and plan to die a death by a thousand cuts like the rest of the sheeple.)
10. Let me see if I'm clear on this. The spendocrats in the other Washington are repealing the Bush tax cuts (including reducing the child tax credit from $1000 to $500 per child) while the spendocrats in Olympia are raising taxes on business to give the money that the feds took back. Oh yea! That makes perfect sense! They won't stop until we're in a depression and then they'll blame it all on Bush.
Cinda, perhaps lopping the heads off folks is a bit extreme but what if we had a large scale tax boycott? I think it would be pretty difficult for the IRS and the State Treasurer to prosecute us all.
11. WarmFuzzyPuppies, the sheeple have been lulled into a high-fructose-corn-syrup-induced state of compliance and will not jump on the boycott bandwagon (at least if there's possible punishment involved). Just look at
Ed & Elaine Brown. Their story barely made a blip on the national media radar, and aside from a few patriots supporting them by guarding their home, nobody has made a peep.