Comments for Wally Wonders Why

Comment on Senator Doug Ericksen: The 12 Biggest Myths of Olympia by wally

wally — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 14:56:25 +0000

I agree with you in principle, but the myth that Senator Ericksen describes is real. I rarely hear people talk about the increased state revenues, yet I regularly hear about budget shortfalls and slashed budgets.

As I said, I agree with you in principle regarding the state budget following population and if that were the case I would expect to see a population growth of around 7%. I checked the State of Washington Office of Financial Management and here is what they say,

“The April 1, 2012 population estimate places Washington’s population at 6,817,770. This represents an increase of 49,870, or 0.74 percent, since last year. The modest growth the state experienced over the past few years continues in 2012″

So if population is up 0.74% and revenues are up ten times that at 7%, then I’d say that the facts bear out what Senator Ericksen has said.

http://www.ofm.wa.gov/pop/april1/poptrends.pdf

Comment on Senator Doug Ericksen: The 12 Biggest Myths of Olympia by Richard May

Richard May — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 05:17:53 +0000

I agree with quite a number of these points, and I hate when government tries to spin stuff to make it seem like an easier pill to swallow. I would like, however, to clarify Doug’s first point. He says we don’t have a budget deficit because “…State tax receipts are expected to grow at almost 7 percent…”. That is not the whole story, because we have many people moving to this state each year, who need schools and roads and the other things that the state is responsible to provide. Of course the budget is bigger each year. We just got one additional congresman (from 9 to 10 now, indicating perhaps a 10% increase in population, no?). So when you budget the right amount of service for the new bigger population, at new inflated rates, yes, the budget will go up, in order to do the same level of service… even if you do not increase the amount of government per citizen.

Comment on Nutcase by Top Ten things to do after calling 911 | Wally Wonders Why

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Comment on Right Size Jail by Constantine Papdakis

Constantine Papdakis — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 01:13:32 +0000

Wally,

Thank you for mentioning the 3 strikes rule. Your example belongs to the broader phenomenon attributed to the State Legislature manipulating sentencing schemes such that the burden of incarceration is pushed onto local and county residents.

A few examples of this include DUI laws precipitating from the 80′s MADD national campaign; more recent “updated” state laws requiring an overnight stay for influenced drivers; now the unknown affects of the marijuana DUI laws; recent domestic violence laws requiring a stay by one of the arguing partners.

Apart from the fact that some crimes now mandate an automatic stay; legislators rearrange sentencing schemes that require offenders to serve time at local jails instead of state operated prisons. Whatcom county residents bear the cost of county jail operations. A group I am part of, Public Safety Now, interviewed a local judge about this trend: http://buildasafejail.com/alternative-programs/

I hope people who choose to inform themselves about the new jail take into consideration the myriad of factors affecting jail populations and criminal justice planning. The above phenomenon is only one of the factors.

Thank you,

Constantine Papadakis

Comment on Mitt Romney rejects the “Balanced Approach” by wally

wally — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:35:59 +0000

As a long time supporter of Mitt Romney I didn’t see any place that he misrepresented, let alone outright lied about his own political positions. What are you talking about? And factually challenged? You’ll have to help me on that one also.

And if what you say is true, then why didn’t President Obama call him on it? Isn’t that why we have debates?