Representative Bailey and ALEC

Imagine a political system where corporations have secret, unfettered access to certain state legislators and then meet with those legislators to craft legislation that directly benefit their bottom line. Then imagine that the proposed legislation that these corporations craft is introduced by their cohort legislators in statehouses across the country as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations – without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the proposed bills.

Such a system could never exist in America, right? Wrong. Such a system does exist and it is directly responsible for the ongoing right-wing assault on democracy across the country. The organization responsible for such devastation is ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. Along with legislators, most of whom are ultra-conservative Republicans, ALEC membership is open to corporations. ALEC was founded by the infamous Koch Brothers.  Read more about ALEC in this New York Times editorial.

One need only look at Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Florida, to see just how devastating these ALEC sponsored laws can be. Whether it is union busting, ‘stand your ground’ gun laws, anti-woman legislation dealing with abortion and contraception, voter suppression laws under the pretext of voter ID, or unfair tax laws designed to make the rich even richer at the expense of middle and lower class workers, we are seeing an unprecedented assault on our democracy by ALEC-affiliated legislators.

There are currently 11 ALEC members in the Washington House and 12 ALEC members in the Washington Senate. Barbara Bailey is the only legislator from our district who is currently a member of ALEC. Not only is she a member of ALEC, but she a member of its powerful Health and Services Task Force. A number of the corporate members of that same Task Force (mostly corporations from the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries), have contributed heavily to Barbara Bailey’s campaigns over the years. Now Barbara Bailey’s voting record over the past decade comes into much clearer focus. Her many votes in favor of pharmaceutical and health insurance companies against the interests of patients and consumers now makes sense. I also now know where much of the legislation she sponsors comes from.

I prefer that my legislators have my best interests at heart, not the interests of their corporate friends at ALEC. Therefore, I intend to stay with Senator Mary Margaret Haugen.

The foregoing information regarding Barbara Bailey and ALEC is available at http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed.

Contributed by Nels Kelstrom – Clinton

Senator Haugen Says She “Will Seek Re-election”

State Senator Mary Margaret Haugen sent out a press release today announcing that she will run for re-election in November.  The press release came on the heels of an announcement from State Representative Barbara Bailey that she will attempt to unseat Senator Haugen in the fall elections.  Both legislators represent the 10th Legislative District, which includes all of Island County.

Island County Republicans Align with Tea Party

We find it noteworthy that the Island County Republican Party is joining forces with the Sno-Isle Tea Party to present a $100 per plate “Lincoln Day” fundraising dinner on April 14th, the anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  It is also noteworthy that the Snohomish County Republican Party is not participating in this fundraiser.

This suggests that Island County Republicans are aligning themselves closely with the far-right Tea Party faction of the Republican party.  While State Representative Barbara Bailey and Island County Commissioner candidate Jeff Lauderdale are stars of the local Tea Party, the local Republican party is clearly showing its true colors in co-presenting the Lincoln Day dinner.

Barbara Bailey to Run for State Senate

State Representative Barbara Bailey today announced her campaign for the State Senate in the 10th Legislative District.  She is running for the seat currently held by Democratic State Senator Mary Margaret Haugen.  Democrat Tom Riggs of Camano Island is running for the House seat currently held by Bailey.

Rep. Bailey said her campaign would focus on job creation, controlling government spending and improving our public schools. She will make job creation her number one priority in the State Senate.  Read Whidbey News Times article.

Representative Bailey and the Civil Rights Movement

Here is a post from Nels Kelstrom regarding a recent vote on SB 5174: 

Representative Barbara Bailey is on the wrong side of yet another important issue, and may even be guilty of trying to rewrite history in the manner of Tea Party favorite, Representative Michele Bachmann, from the state of Minnesota.

On April 4^th the House passed SB 5174 by a vote of 72-23. The Senate had previously passed it unanimously by a vote of 47-0. The bill, entitled “Encouraging instruction in the history of civil rights,” is clearly intended to teach students about the struggles of the civil rights movement and to remember and honor its leaders. It won’t come as any surprise to anyone that all 23 no votes were cast by Republicans and/or members of the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party. To her credit, Representative Norma Smith voted in favor of the bill. But alas, not Barbara Bailey.

You may recall that recently Michele Bachmann floated the trial balloon that our founding fathers were actually against slavery and that they worked tirelessly for most of the following century to eliminate it from this nation’s landscape. Needless to say, after historians quit laughing, they promptly popped her trial balloon. It is certainly understandable that members of the political party most associated with views and policies generally considered hostile toward minority groups would try to rewrite that terrible history, but they are going to fail in that effort.

To see how desperate they are to try to alter that terrible history, an amendment was offered to SB 5174 (by a Republican, of course) that would have added Benjamin Franklin and John Quincy Adams, among others who were influential at the time of the founding of this nation, “as heroes of the civil rights movement.” Okay, stop laughing. Needless to say, the amendment failed.

Thank you Norma for standing up to the extremists in your party and for doing what is right. As for you Barbara, I think the Whidbey News Times got it right during the last election cycle – you have outlived your usefulness in Olympia. Your anachronistic approach to governance is becoming an embarrassment to us all. Please step down after this term. It is time for you to go home and stay there.

Nels Kelstrom

HB 1637 – Bailey’s Septic System Bill

“The right-wing anti-government crowd, acting through one of its principal operatives, Barbara Bailey, continues its agenda this legislative session to undermine and dismantle government.

HB 1637, introduced by Barbara Bailey, deals with the right-wing efforts to significantly weaken our public health regulations. Current law requires pressurized septic systems to be inspected annually. This is due to the complexity of such systems and the increased risk to the environment and our ground water posed on properties requiring such alternative systems. HB 1637 would prohibit any public health department or local health board from requiring any type of septic system to be inspected more than once every three years. Also, HB 1637 allows property owners to designate an unlicensed, non-professional person to perform all septic system inspections – a significant weakening of current law.

I recently contacted an Environmental Health Specialist at Island County Public Health Department to learn what Barbara Bailey had discussed with Health Department personnel before submitting HB 1637, a bill that can have devastating negative consequences to her constituents. I was disappointed to learn that she had not contacted any Island County experts, but alas, I was not surprised because for Barbara Bailey this is about ideology – it is about her party’s continual efforts to undermine the legitimate functions of government. Therefore, why would she want to get information from government experts? They are the problem in her view.”

Sincerely,

Nels Kelstrom

Clinton, WA

Barbara Bailey’s HB 1082

A letter from Nels Kelstrom to the South Whidbey Record:

Dear Brian,Please consider publishing the following as a letter to the editor.
“Catch me if you can” is the new mantra of the right-wing. Their agenda continues to be to undermine and dismantle government, and Barbara Bailey continues to be one of their principal operatives.

HB 1082, sponsored by Barbara Bailey, is one example of the right-wing assault on our government. Under existing law, individuals are required to comply with environmental laws, and non-compliance may result in immediate sanctions. However, under HB 1082, once the government discovers a violation of environmental laws (including the Growth Management Act, the Shoreline Protection Act, and water pollution control laws) then the affected regulatory agency must give the violator an opportunity to voluntarily comply with the law before a penalty may be imposed for the violation. In other words, every violator gets a free pass to ignore our environmental laws at least once. But it doesn’t stop there. Serial violators, such as unscrupulous land developers, are entitled to claim a free pass for each new violation discovered by the government. Under Bailey’s bill individuals would have no incentive to comply with environmental laws, and even if caught violating them, there would be no penalty unless they thereafter fail to comply with the law after being told what they must do to get into compliance. Oh, and by the way, Bailey’s bill imposes the obligation on government to develop programs to encourage voluntary compliance by, among other things, providing technical assistance visits. Such programs must be funded and administered within existing resources. If a violator requests a technical assistance visit (and most will, resulting in long delays), the violator may not be penalized for violating the law until the technical assistance visit has been made and the violator has thereafter been given a reasonable period of time to correct the violations. Does anyone honestly believe that the government has adequate resources to enforce our environmental laws under Bailey’s approach? Obviously existing government resources will be inadequate to enforce environmental laws under HB 1082, and that is what Barbara Bailey and her right-wing anti-government crowd is relying on to effectively neuter our environmental laws.

Sincerely,
Nels Kelstrom
Clinton, WA

A Little Humor – Rep Barbara Bailey

Here is a little humor forwarded by Tom Riggs:

http://www.komonews.com/opinion/kenschram/115108489.html?tab=video