Issues

Be sure to alert your local legislator that you will be in town to testify. Whether they serve on the committee you will testify in front of or not. You can request a meeting with them that same day and even give them a copy of your testimony. They use your comments to help them formulate how they will vote on bills and can even use it to relay a story from in-district during floor debate. If folks aren't sure who their legislators are, here's a great tool to find out.
For those testifying in-person at a bill hearing. Make sure your comments are succinct, meaning make your points in 2-3 minutes. Telling a long story or getting sidetracked may mean you get cut off - particularly if there are lots of people signed up to testify. The chair may limit your testimony time to ensure everyone has an opportunity to weigh in on the bill, so be prepared to state your case, give a personal note of the impact of the legislation and whether you support or oppose the bill quickly. I recommend folks that get nervous write out their testimony and read it - again 2-3 minutes max. They can then leave the written script with committee staff so it is kept in the record and all members of the committee will receive a copy from staff. Talking points from business groups and others may be available for folks, which may help folks formulate their messages.
Legislative links. Pre-filed bills | Bill info | Legislative calendar
Submitting testimony/testifying at legislative hearings. If folks cannot make it to Olympia to testify, they can send their comments/testimony in writing to the committee chair and their legislators. Contact information for legislators can be found here. Committee member information (so folks can find out who to send their comments to) can be found here. Testimony sent in writing should include:
  • The bill number the issue is related to;
  • A brief explanation of why you support or oppose the bill; and
  • How the bill would impact your life/business, etc.
    • The Legislature in action. The TVW site is a great place to see visually how the process works. I have added a link to a video where HB2669 & HB2708 were being discussed on the floor and a roll call vote was taken on each. View the process on HB 2669 & HB2708 at link
    TrueLobby. TrueLobby is a Government Portal that promotes meaningful, efficient dialogue between elected officials and the public they govern.
    • Communicate with your elected officials
    • Find and track legislation
    • Increase your political influence
    • Join forces with your community
    • Improve the democratic process
    Your Legislators. The 2010 Regular Session is scheduled to begin on January 11, 2010.
    Legislative Hotline: 1.800.562.6000
    Contact your Legislators. Tell them what you think.
    2010 Linclon Day Dinner.
    Community involvement.
    Glenn Beck at Safeco Field. Mason County Republicans were among those who attended an event sponsored by Evergreen Freedom Foundation featuring Glenn Beck.
    How Are YOUR Representatives Voting?. Interactive Congressional district map link
    Interviews with the candidates running against Patty Murray. Chris Widener | Craig Williams | Art Coday | Sean Salazar | Clint Didier
    Steve Beren had the opportunity to interview all five candidates, one on one, no holds barred, spending an average of two hours with each candidate. He has posted articles about each of the five interviews on his blog at RedCounty.com. Here are the links to all five interviews.
    Memorial Day 2009 Picnic.
    Republican Senate candidates. These are the five Republican candidates running against the senator-in-tennis- shoes, Patty Murray. They will be competing in the primary election later this Fall. Take some time to study each candidate and decide which one would best represent you and the people of Washington State. link
    Rick Ryan (GOP) announces he will run for Mason County Assessor in 2010.
    Code Red Rally Tuesday 1:30pm Dec 15th US Capitol. It's time we all stop pretending that what is happening with this Obamacare debate is about "helping the uninsured" or "fixing the healthcare system" or "giving the people what they want." It's about none of those things. Its about amassing as much power in a central government as humanly possible. It's about wealth redistribution. It's social engineering at its absolute worst. link
    Read more....
    • London Daily Mail
    • Free Republic (Photos)
    • One News Now
    • Fox News (Video)
    • WorldNet Daily
    • PajamasTV (Video)
    The Million Patriot March.

    Click for a slide show of event photos
    Photos courtesy of Mark Gilligan aka. "Marco the Wizard" ToThePointNews.com
    The main stream media begrudgingly acknowledged the "thousands" of patriotic Americans who gathered in Washington DC the day after the eighth anniversary of the terrorist acts of 9/11/2001. As is evident in the photo below and reported more accurately and objectively by the international and online media, the crowd numbered at least ONE MILLION and perhaps two million.
         The participants paid their own expenses to attend the gathering and protest the administration's radical, draconian policies.
    Where do we go from here?. What can each of us do to continue the effort started by T.E.A. Parties the Million Patriot March?
    • TEA Party 2009
    • Glenn Beck's 9|12 Project
    • Our Country Deserves Better
    • Smart Girl Politics
    Exposing the biggest hoax of the 21ST Century. The weather changes. Doh!
    Sen. James Inhofe: President Obama, Climate Scientists & the U.N. Are Attacking Our Sovereignty .
    Does Our GM (Government Motors) Await Same Sorry Fate As Britain's? . Investors Business Daily
    A Tax to Grind. Investors Business Daily
    The average tax rate assessed to corporations worldwide has fallen 10 years in a row, but the U.S. isn't driving the trend. Policymakers in the most advanced economy continue to punish their constituents.
    Ask Heritage.
    • Still Killing Jobs
    • A Reckless Approach to Governance
    Housing Bust: Thomas Sowell. Excerpts from Sowell's latest book, The Housing Boom and Bust, a chronicle of the biggest economic disaster of our time. Investors Business Daily
    • Home Prices Least Affordable Where Gov't Is Most Involved
    • How Little Law From '70s Brought The Financial System To Its Knees
    • How Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Sank In The Subprime Quicksand
    • How Congress Ignored Warnings And Stiff-Armed Reform Of GSEs
    • Support Of Fannie And Freddie: Bipartisan And Beyond Words
    That's Trillions, with a "T". Here's what your grandchildren will need to pay.
    clock courtesy http://oddhammer.com/
    • What Does the National Debt Mean to You? About $22G
    • US debt clock
    America's 'Free' Falling Economy. Investors Business Daily
    The latest index of economic freedom shows America falling fast, being ranked for the first time as "mostly free." We've fallen behind Canada, and it's look out below.
    A 1,990-Page Medical Monstrosity. Investors Business Daily
    Speaker Nancy Pelosi's cry in unveiling the House's massive reform bill might as well have been "Viva la health care revolution!" America never voted for change like this.
    Canadian Medicare deserves its criticism. link
    Democrats Unveil New Government Takeover Of Health Care. Rep. Doc Hastings
    Medically Incorrect Healthcare Forum. Videos: 2,000 Pages! Just What the Doctors Ordered? | GOP Reps Say Pelosi Bill Will Raise Taxes, Cut Jobs | 'Small Bill' Proposal for Sensible Health Care Refrom | The Dems' Backroom Deal | Delving into the Details
    New Study Reports Rising Health Care Costs Under Democrat Plan. Rep. Mike Pence
    Wall Street Journal editorializes about a study released by WellPoint that documents the consequences for families and small business as a result of the Democrat plan for a government takeover of health care.
    No Way, No How, to the Public Option. Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, free of partisan loyalties, has a pivotal role in the health-care debate. Wall Street Journal
    Obama and the Old Hat People. Wall Street Journal
    People thought something small, agile and smart was coming to government, but so far it's turning out to be just big-box politics.
    PJTV SPECIAL REPORT--Doctoring the House: Physicians & Pols Dissect Pelosi's Healthcare Bill. Video: PajamasTV
    Reading guide to the Pelosi ObamaCare bill. Mike Pence
    Taxpayers swarm Capitol to protest Obamacare. World Net Daily
    10,000 chant to Congress: 'Hands off our health care' and 'Kill the bill'
    The lessons of Obama's healthcare programme for Britain in the UK. UK Telegraph
    Americans, by and large, resist being “given” things by the state: they instinctively dislike being turned into passive supplicants. They equate the ability to make choices with power, and the conferring of state benefits (whether in the form of services or money) as a loss of personal freedom. The British are just beginning to come to the same conclusion. And that is what should have been the nub of the argument about middle-class welfare payments.
    A Breast Cancer Preview. The mammogram decision is a sign of cost control to come. Wall Street Journal
    Ask Heritage.
    • The Reid Compromise Does Nothing to Improve A Very Bad Senate Health Bill
    • Will Obamacare Be Run from the West Wing?
    • Why the Personal Mandate to Buy Health Insurance Is Unprecedented and Unconstitutional
    • A Bad Compromise on a Bad Health Bill
    Blast from the past. 1950s Commercial with Ronald Reagan YouTube
    Common-Sense Health Care Reforms Our Nation Can Afford. GOP
    • Number one: let families and businesses buy health insurance across state lines.
    • Number two: allow individuals, small businesses, and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices, the same way large corporations and labor unions do.
    • Number three: give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs.
    • Number four: end junk lawsuits that contribute to higher health care costs by increasing the number of tests and procedures that physicians sometimes order not because they think it's good medicine, but because they are afraid of being sued.
    Comprehensive List of Taxes In House Democrat Health Bill. Americans for Tax Reform
    H.R. 3962, the "Affordable Health Care for America Act" has been introduced--all 1990 pages of it. This gargantuan beast contains thirteen new tax hikes.
    Making Nightmare Out Of Health Care. Investors Business Daily
    • They don't begin to cover everyone
    • Medical costs will soar
    • Taxes will also go up
    • Bureaucracy will explode
    • Health outcomes will worsen
    • Reform as envisioned is unconstitutional
    The WSJ Guide to ObamaCare. A comprehensive collection of editorials and op-eds. Wall Street Journal
    Thomas Sowell On Economics Of Medical Care. Investors Business Daily
    • Why Health Care Costs So Much
    • How Quantity Is Influenced By Price Controls
    • How Payment By Third Parties Distorts Decisions
    • Costs Of Malpractice Insurance Go Beyond Doctors' Premiums
    • How Cost Of Drug Development Is Lost On Public and Politicians
    • How Regulation Of Drug Industry Discourages R&D And Costs Lives
    • Weighing True Cost Of Delays In The Drug-Approval Process
    • How Strictest Price Control Of All Restrains A Great Medical Advance
    • Misconceptions That Mar Medical Care
    You Will Lose Your Private Health Insurance. link
    Holder's al Qaeda Incentive Plan. Wall Street Journal
    Searching in Vain for the Obama Magic. The American president doesn't need any opponents at the moment. He's already got himself. link
    Never before has a speech by President Barack Obama felt as false as his Tuesday address announcing America's new strategy for Afghanistan. It seemed like a campaign speech combined with Bush rhetoric -- and left both dreamers and realists feeling distraught.
    Setting up our military to fail. link
    The Arabs Have Stopped Applauding Obama. A foreign policy of penance has won America no friends. Wall Street Journal
    Tiger, Barack, and the Law of Transitivity. ...Barack Obama is about as completely manufactured a political character as this nation has seen. link
    Trial and Terror. The Left gets its reckoning. There is no good legal or policy rationale for transferring these barbarians to the civilian justice system. National Review
    Woman Reporter Dragged Away by Obama Security. A woman whom is a reporter for the Georgia Insider and a Pastor of a Church in Ga. was manhandled by Obama security thugs! A Must Watch! YouTube
    Above the People, In Spite of the People, Not For the People. PajamasTV
    American Capitalism Gone With A Whimper. This from a Russian newspaper, it looks like it could have possibly come from an American newspaper 40 or 50 years ago. link
    It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.
    CNN, Huffington Post Urge Violence Against Republicans. link
    Cult of Personality?. Obama Youth | School kids sing a Barack Hussein Obama praise song | Channeling the Past
    Obama Series III: Next, Locusts?. Obama's policy is a complete failure -- in news stories as well as editorials. link
    Perspective. Why Do We Put Our Lives In The Hands Of Those Whose Failures Are Manifest? | Comparisons Of Obama To Carter Are Inapt And Unfair (To Carter)
    Perspective of a Russian immigrant. I realize how unfortunate it is that many Americans do not understand how fortunate they are. They vote to give government more and more power without understanding the consequences. Investors Business Daily
    Svetlana Kunin, a retired software developer, was a civil engineer in the Soviet Union until 1980 and now lives in Connecticut.
    The Double-D Strategy For Rescuing America . We don't need guns, we don't need violence in any way to rescue America. We just need to say no. link
    The Re-Establishment of America. link
    US Welfare Spending. link
    Walesa's Warning. Investors Business Daily
    The champion of Polish freedom tells America it's no longer that shining city on a hill.
    Glenn Beck special: black conservatives. Part: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
    You'll never see this in the media. President and First Lady Bush visiting those wounded by the Moslem terrorist at Ft. Hood.
    An Economic Agenda for the GOP. Republicans need to be pro-market, not pro-business. link
    The Republican Party today...has to move from a pro-business strategy that defends the interests of existing companies to a pro-market strategy that fosters open competition and freedom of entry.
    Red State, Blue State. America's Bipolar Disorder. link
    The voting data, as compiled from the 2000 and 2004 presidential votes and 2000 census data, suggests that the popular media has it pretty much wrong. The Red and Blue narrative is both true and false and we need to recognize the truth in order to dispense with the myths and fallacies.
    Rejecting the Evil Eye. link
    Fear of the envy of others is one of mankind’s most deeply primal and pervasive terrors... Envy-avoidance is one of the most basic and primary motivators of human behavior... Socialism can be seen as a desperate attempt to eradicate envy: by forcing everyone to be “equal,” no one will have grounds for envying others... Liberalism is nothing more than a pose by those afraid of envy.
    Sarah Palin. You don't need a title to make a difference. Any ordinary American can seize opportunities to let their voice be heard, to speak up on an issue or a candidate they believe in, and THEY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. blog | Oprah interview | Richland book signing
    Vice Presidential Candidate and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on issues of the day.
    The end of liberalism?. With its most vigorous advocate in memory presiding in the White House and commanding Democratic majorities in Congress, it's difficult to believe that the end of liberalism may be within sight. We base this suggestion not on a hunch or on wishful thinking, but on mathematics. American Thinker | Washington Examiner
    Which Party should you support?. Take the Political Challenge and find out.
    America Rising--An open letter to Democrat politicians. YouTube
    Glenn Beck at Safeco Field. 7000 attended an event sponsored by Evergreen Freedom Foundation featuring Glenn Beck. Seattle Times
    Olympia T.E.A. Party 2009. Organizers estimated about 1,000 people attended. Bob Brasso was great doing his impersonation of Thomas Paine. slideshow | Olympia TEA Party
    Opposite sides' rallies dominate Presidents Day at State Capitol. link
    Patriotic crowd throws 'tea party' in Oak Harbor.
    Rally AGAINST raising taxes in Olympia is Bigger . link
    Rep. Norm Dicks Health Care Town Hall Meeting.

     
    Tea Party Express. Let’s stand up and stop the bailouts, cap and trade, out-of-control spending, government-run healthcare, and higher taxes! We’re back and determined to take our country back! link | Fox News
    Tea Party Express in Puyallup. The fairgrounds was PACKED. Thousands of people. So speakers were set up outside by the buses so the good folks outside could hear. Estimates from officials on hand was that the crowd surpassed 4,000 people. Some estimates place the crowd as high as 5,500 - but my guess is that it was somewhere between 4,500 - 5,000. blog YouTube videos: 1 2 3 4 5
    Tea Party Youth. Pursuing youth awareness today, preserving the principles of yesterday, and protecting the FREEDOM OF TOMORROW
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