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Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state has been named to lead an effort by House Republicans to reform congressional earmarks. The Fifth District Republican will chair a 10-member panel that will look at what her party calls Washington’s “broken spending practices,” focusing on pet projects known as earmarks. Curbing earmarks is not popular among members of the house or the senate. elected representatives condemn the earmark practice, but of course, they all play the game. So did McMorris, though she says she will refrain from now on.

I’m not surprised that Republicans are forming this committee. obviously the Democratic majority doesn’t want to lead this effort. They don’t want their signature on the recommendations the committee might come up with. That way the majority can criticize the recommendations, taking cover behind the notion that these recommendations are politically driven by minority Republicans, and not in the best interest of the American people…(translate that to mean not in the best interest of democrats who want to bring home the pork).

Still I applaud House Republicans and representative McMorris for their willingness to take on this assignment. If the culture of the beltway is ever going to change, earmarks and the pork barrel thinking that drives them must become a thing of the past. I wish I had more faith that the work of this committee will bring about such a needed change, but I’m not buying the majority’s promises that they are the party of change.

My advice: Do’t hold your breath.

Governor Christine Gregoire will release her balanced budget this week. It does not recommend new taxes to offset the expected $5.8 billion deficit. That sounds like the Governor plans to cut state spending, but before you signal approval, consider that there’s a game being played here. Odds are there will be a tax increase. The legislature is fixing to
raise your taxes without breaking Gregoire’s promise.

The majority Democrats in the state House and Senate must find a way to pass a balanced 2009-2011 budget are not about to slash the very programs and services that got them elected. That means that the legislature is going to look for ways top pay for things to keep the special interest groups they cater to happy, and that means turning to you. That means
raising your taxes. Of course we’ll hear them say that they tried everything possible to avoid tax increases, but trust me, they are already crafting their excuses. Republicans of course believe that the state’s budget problems are the result of previous overspending by Democrats and not lack of tax revenue. Democrats will tell you it’s all George Bush’s fault.

The good news is that the majority party in Olympia isn’t known for its courage. In this fragile economy, extracting more money from struggling taxpayers will not be politically popular. Therefore, you’ll see no boldness in the way these political weasels go about getting you to part with your limited resources. They plan to persuade voters to approve some forms of revenue increases by playing on past conceptual support for certain items voters seem to like, such as smaller class sizes and higher teacher salaries. Whatever they come up with, you’d better hold onto your wallets because they’re coming after you.

Gov. Chris Gregoire plans to release a balanced budget proposal in a couple of weeks. The budget will address the state’s largest deficit in history, and the Governor’s office says it will deal with the record shortfall without raising taxes. During her campaign for re-election, Governor Gregoire was allowed to get away with explaining dismal state finances by claiming that it was all the result of the national economy, stressed by the economic policies of George W. Bush. Now she will have to tell the truth. Her party spent us into oblivion over the last four years, and can no longer continue that practice.

The Washington State Legislature will take up the matter of the 2009-11 biennium budget when it convenes in January, and lawmakers will be forced to take a more conservative fiscal approach than they ever have before. It comes down to a simple question of what line items to keep and which get cut. Every decision will carry a political consequence that may cost Democrats the next time voters go to the polls. It was so much easier tossing a few shekels to every special interest group with their hand out in the last few years. Now the piggy bank is empty.

Even before next biennium, there is a more immediate problem: getting through the remainder of the current fiscal budget. Latest revenue forecasts show that the state must deal with a shortfall between now and next June of nearly 500-million dollars. Democrats will not appreciate hearing “I told you so” from minority Republicans, but the record shows the majority was constantly warned. So, let the cutting begin, and good luck managing the expectations of those programs and folks who think you’ll spare them.

Barack Obama ran a nearly flawless campaign. The same cannot be said of John McCain’s. Barack Obama had over three quarters of a billion dollars work with. McCain had only a third of that. Barack Obama had the unprecedented, and appalling support of the mainstream U.S. media. They fawned over him, protected him, and carried the water for him. If these advantages were not enough, Barack Obama also enjoyed an unprecedented economic crisis one month before the election … the perfect campaign issue, handed to him on a silver platter. Such is the stuff of American politics.

It was an historic victory. Barack Obama becomes the first person of color ever to be elected president. There is no doubt that his victory opens a new paradigm in American politics. For Democrats there could hardly have been better news. What must also be understood is that close to half of the American people did not vote for the winner. For the third presidential election in a row, half the nation did not support the victor.

So what has changed? Democrats will now hold the White House, and they will have a majority of 56 to 40 in the U.S. Senate, and a 246-172 majority in the U.S. House. To put it another way the ball is most definitely in their court. Democrats are solely in control.

Will they govern in a way that will benefit all Americans, or will they advance a very liberal agenda? President Elect Barack Obama hails from the far left of the Democratic Party. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reed are also far left politicians. That combination threatens and frightens half the country who are significantly more moderate or conservative. Will they ignore that, or will they offer a place at the table for the vanquished?

Politically Republicans have been rendered virtually powerless. The American people will no longer be able to lay blame on the G.O.P. Their expectations rest completely with Democrats now. Can they, will they, deliver?

Only time will tell.

Today voters from all across the nation will make their mark in one of the most important elections in recent history.

To keep track of all of the issues and the latest headlines on the 2008 Election, you know you can count on the KXLY Broadcast Group to be your source for complete election coverage.

Starting at 4 p.m. ABC News and KXLY 4 HD News will begin their non-stop coverage, watching every state and the current trends throughout the night as polls close from Maine in the east to Hawaii in the west. From Seattle to Spokane KXLY 4 HD News will have its news crews out with the candidates on Election Day to get their reactions as the race returns start coming in.

In Seattle, McKay Allen will be with Governor Christine Gregoire and the State Democratic Party while right across Lake Washington in Bellevue Sally Showman will be with the Republican Party and gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi.

In Spokane, Erik Loney will join Congressman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and other Republicans as they watch the returns at the Davenport Hotel while across the Spokane River at the Inn at the Park Tania Dall will be with the Democratic Party as they cheer on their candidates.

Annie Bishop will be out on the streets talking with local voters about the election while Tori Brunetti will be watching the returns come in at the Elections Center in downtown Spokane. Back at the KXLY4 studio Melissa Luck will be following local races and ballot measures.

Online, KXLY4 HD News will have continuous coverage on KXLY.com where our Internet news team will be hosting a live video webcast and a live interactive blog starting late Tuesday afternoon and running until late in the evening.

If you’re traveling you can also tune into our coverage on the radio at KXLY 920 AM, where KXLY 920’s Mike Fitzsimmons will have news and analysis from 3 p.m. well into the evening.

Back at the KXLY studios in downtown Spokane Robyn Nance and Dave Erickson will bring all the resources of KXLY together to help bring you the most concise, accurate and timely news on election night.

Remember that the one place you can go to for complete election coverage on television, on radio and online will be the stations and sites of the KXLY Broadcast Group.

For more Election Day coverage please see:

• Make It Count - Latest elections headlines
• Election 2008 Races and Returns
• Elections videos and candidate interviews
• KXLY.com's Twitter page
• Voter Information Guide
• US Senate Map
• US House of Representatives Map
• Washington Secretary of State's Elections Site
• Idaho Votes

The weather for Election Day is still a little too far-off to forecast, but Republicans might already be rooting for RAIN.  Research published in the “Journal of Politics” found that Republican candidates benefit with significant rain or snow on election day.  Temperature, the researchers found, does not have an impact on voter turn out.   To read more, CLICK HERE.

As we hear of the fraudulent shenanigans of the organization called ACORN, presently under investigation in fifteen states as we head into the general election of 2008 one has to wonder if there is any threat to a clean election in Washington State.

Secretary of State Sam Reed, who is the state’s chief election officer, says the only problem may come from an unknown number of felons who may cast ballots unlawfully. State Republican Party Chairman, Luke Esser says that number could be in the thousands. Secretary Reed doesn’t know how many there are, but he admits that incomplete data from the Department of Corrections makes it impossible to determine the number, even though his office removed 11,000 felons from voter role since 2004.

Still, Reed says the 2008 election will be the cleanest in Washington State history, and both major party chairs - Esser for the Republicans and Kelly Steele for the Democrats - agree.

What happens, however, if there are a few razor-thin races on November 4th? It looks as though the governor’s race might be just as close as it was in 2004. If it is, several thousand illegal voters could make the difference and taint the outcome. How can anyone be comfortable with that prospect?

We all know what a mess the last contest between Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi was. Can we tolerate another one of those episodes? Despite the remarkable progress made by the Secretary of State under new authority from the legislature to rid voter roles of criminals and schemers, there still is a significant threat to the integrity of our election.

Perhaps it is a comfort that our problems are not as acute as in other states. There is a distinct possibility that the ugly mess we witnessed in Florida in 2000 could be replicated in as many as five states this time around. One can scarcely imagine the trouble we may face if significant fraud surfaces in Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.

This could be all the more troubling if the presidential race is close, and recent polls suggest it will be. Suffice it to say that odds are that it won’t be over on November 4th. Well over 60% of Americans believe we’re in for a very rough election. Let’s hope it won’t be exacerbated by election trouble in Washington.

Election Day this year may unleash a chaos the likes of which you have never seen in U.S. politics. If you thought the fiasco in Florida in 2000 was tedious and insulting just wait until November 4th. We may look back on the 2002 election longingly.

An army of trial lawyers, some 7,000 representing the Republicans and their candidates, and nearly 11,000 representing Democrats, as well as the justice Department and the Attorneys General of the several states, and the American Civil Liberties Union are already lined up to start litigation, or defend against actions in the event that they don’t like the looks of things in any precinct in America.

Given the unprecedented fraud activity already uncovered or suspected in many states, odds are they will be busy lawyers in a couple of weeks.

Voter fraud knows no political persuasion. It would be a mistake to suggest that only Democrats engage in voter fraud. Disenfranchising voters has been elevated to a high art by criminals favoring all political ideologies. It isn’t just ACORN that threatens our elections. There are many organizations and individuals seeking to sabotage our election process.

Some of them are ordinary people you might know. Experience has shown that many times a surviving spouse thinks there’s nothing is with casting a ballot on behalf of a deceased spouse, if one comes in the mail. This is the same thing as ACORN signing up some unscrupulous person to cast a vote using the name of somebody whose remains currently reside in a county cemetery.

It undermines the integrity of elections, and its a crime.

What baffles me is that while four in ten Americans have serious reservations about voter fraud, where is the outrage? Where is the pressure on Congress and on state legislators to pass air-tight election security laws? Where is the pressure on secretaries of state in the several states to vigorously and tirelessly investigate and eliminate fraud?

How is it that for the most part, perpetrators of voter fraud are never prosecuted? We will never eradicate voter fraud until we demand that it be stopped. Right now, who’s demanding, and how loudly?

Alaska’s ousted public safety commissioner claims that a state legislative report damages Gov. Sarah Palin’s image of being an upfront and open political figure. Hardly anyone is listening to him. Walter Monegan says he was relieved that a legislative report concluded last Friday that Palin abused her powers as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Monegan thinks he was fired because he refused to let the trooper go.

What he doesn’t discuss is why he really was fired. He wasn’t a team player, and on several financial matters, he did not carry out the budgetary procedures that the governor ordered. That was insubordination, and that’s why he lost his job. The legislative report recognizes that and agrees that the governor had every legal right to can him for defying her order.

What happened in Anchorage last Friday was exactly what Democratic State Senator Hollis French promised six weeks ago, shortly after Sarah Palin was named as John McCain’s running mate. Hollis vowed to carry this trite investigation forward with a committee that he hand-picked from among Democrats and dissident Republicans, who he knew would be willing to embarrass Governor Palin if they could.

He even went so far as to promise an “October Surprise”.

The committee hired investigator Stephen Branchflower, who turned in evidence to the effect that Todd Palin had overstepped his authorioty as “First Dude” in pressing Monegan to fire the abusive state trooper who court records show, had injured and threatened Palin’s sister and her children. There was no recommendation in the report for any action, civil or criminal against Governor Palin, and the committee took none. In other words, this was political theater. It afforded a chance to score a negative headlines and get a little negative national media attention, despite its lightweight news value.

Why would anyone be surprised that a legislative committee, headed by a flunky from the opposition party, would find fault with Sarah Palin?

In these troubled times when everyone on Capitol Hill is blaming everyone else, and we taxpayers are left holding the bag a month before the general election,I am reminded of the words of journalist Charlie Reese, in an recent article he called “545 People”.

Reese wrote the following:

“Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The President does. You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does. Yu and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.”

Reese reminds us that there are one hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices. That means a mere “545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.”…and that includes the latest crisis in the securities markets As we have seen, all but nine of those 545 human beings have spentmuch of their time and energy lately, trying to convince us that what has happened is not their fault. As Reese puts it: “They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.”

What separates politicians from we normal folks is an excessive amount of gall. We must not let these people con the rest of us into believing that there are what Reese calls “disembodied mystical forces like ‘the economy,’ ‘inflation,’ or ‘politics’ that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. The Congress and the President alone, are responsible.
They alone, have the power. They alone, must be held accountable by the people. They are supposed to be working for us.
The question in the next thirty days is this: Do we voters have the gumption to manage our employees.

We must clean up this mess they made. We can no longer afford to trust that they will clean it up. We must have the courage to vote them all out of office on November 4th. If ever there was a time to throw the rascals out…this is it!

The 2008 presidential election is extraordinary in many respects. An African American man is at the top of the Democratic ticket, while a woman will become the first female vice president of the republicans win. Perhaps overshadowed by the makeup of the two tickets is the fact that for the first time since 1952, no sitting president or vice president is on the November ballot.

This fact alone demonstrates the importance of the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate coming up later this month and next. Away from carefully-crafted and choreographed public appearances, John McCain and Barack Obama will be seen for the first time one-on-one. Their demeanor and respective qualifications will be open for direct scrutiny from the public, without spin doctors remanufacturing their every comment, (although that sort of thing will surely follow each debate).

While I am not entirely pleased with lack of balance in the selection of moderators by the Commission on Presidential debates, there will be a single moderator in each confrontation, not panel of self-important reporters. There will be more time for the candidates to expand upon their respective points of view on the issues, but make no mistake, what each says will have been carefully rehearsed to create the best possible sound bites that will be repeated for days thereafter by the media.

The candidates will be able to confront each other if the opportunity arises, but such confrontation carries high risk. Still there are substantial differences on issues between Obama and McCain and between Palin and Biden. Millions will be watching and wishing that there had been many more debates, not just the few that usually take place. The stakes are very high. These debates could be the whole ballgame.

House Ways and Means Chairman, Democrat Charles Rangel of New York admitted last week that in recent years he has underpaid his taxes by about $10,000. The media reported the story with a heavy theme of sympathy, casting Rangel as a victim of the very tax code he helped to write.

How does one just accidently fail to record some $75,000 of rental income?

Charlie Rangel, who is a self-proclaimed champion of the poor and underprivileged, received the money from a beach house he owns at a posh Dominican Republic resort. The veteran congressman claims he made an honest mistake. He says that he didn’t know how much money he made from the property because his Dominican business partners would “start speaking Spanish.”

The mainstream media has already dismissed the matter as unimportant. Had Rangel been a Republican, would the media have been so understanding?

Then there’s the re-election attempt by incumbent Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana. You haven’t heard much about this guy either, have you? You will recall that Jefferson was indicted in June of 2007 on 16 charges of corruption. He was the lawmaker in whose freezer the FBI found $90,000 in cash a couple of years ago. Yeah … that guy.

We find the media reporting on all the seats that the Democrats plan to gain in the upcoming November election. We also find reporters scouring for perceived scandal involving a Republican. If they find something, it gets plenty of front page press such as the nothing story involving Governor Sarah Palin that the media is calling “troopergate” and the Senator Ted Stevens corruption matter in Alaska.

Yet if it involves a Democrat, it gets buried on page 56. I just wondered if you noticed.