Thoughts from a Back Bencher!
Last Saturday night, Noreen and I attended an event held in the new gymnasium at Everett Community College. It was well attended even though it was not sold out. The atmosphere was like a rock concert since half the attendees appeared to be in costume.
The event was a competition between skilled athletes; four teams of them. It was a tournament of sorts.
While I was watching the news Thursday morning, I listened to Senator Orin Hatch from Utah as he was being interviewed by one of the networks. He sounded a lot like a “Tea Party” Senator agreeing with many of the freshman members of the House of Representatives. Coming from Senator Hatch, that was quite a stand.
If the more timid members of the House majority were wondering how they should act when the next vote comes up for the Continuing Resolution that keeps the government open for business, Senator Hatch gave them a cue. Unless you demand meaningful cuts to the budget by writing them into the bill you send to the Senate, you won’t even get the Democrats to vote on them.
From what I can tell, the emergency getting the most attention in Japan is the fear of melt-down in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex. For sure, it warrants a lot of attention since the lasting impacts of a catastrophic nuclear failure may be around longer than the devastation from the tsunamis. It’s ironic that the only country in history to actually endure a nuclear attack now suffers another. Let’s hope the outcome in 2011 is kinder this time.
As we investigate the cause and scope of this perfect storm of tragedies we need to stay focused on relief for the suffering refugees; whether from shaking land, monster waves or other perils. The legacy of this series of events will be born by real people who have to live in the aftermath. God Help Them! I pray that help is on the way.
When we think about the earthquake in Haiti, pictures of Port au Prince in shambles come to mind. More recently, the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand brings to mind substantial buildings in shambles.
We remember the Christmas tsunami in Cambodia that killed hundreds of thousands, but who remembers whether the earthquake produced a town in rubble?
Surprisingly, the videos from Sendai that I saw showed few buildings with earthquake damage we might expect from the most powerful earthquake in modern history. Isn’t that amazing?
Maybe the tsunamis came so quickly there wasn’t a chance to adequately document how well the city and surrounding countryside weathered the four or five minutes of violent shaking, but I think it merits investigation. Sendai was not in ruins when the waves came ashore and it didn’t appear that the nuclear power plants were either.
The political discussions about the future of nuclear power in countries around the world should be based on events following the earthquake, not directly caused by the earthquake. I think that is an important distinction.
Everyone wants to attribute the nuclear emergency in Japan to the earthquake but it appears that the plants survived the 9.0 temblor with few impacts. From what I can tell, the real culprit at Fukushima Daiichi was the loss of electrical power to the pumps that cool the reactors. It appears to me that the failure of the infrastructure in the region caused by the tsunami is the cause of the emergencies. Or perhaps the design of the power plants without adequate internal back-up power is the cause of the tragedy.
If that is the case, then the criticism of nuclear power may be somewhat premature.
In the mean time let’s stay focused on the relief effort for the hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees of coastal Japan regardless of whether they fled from a tsunami or a nuclear accident.
I got an email today from Senator Patty Murray asking that I join with her to oppose the efforts by the Republican majority in the House of Representatives to reduce the deficit.
Her message came in the form of an appeal for veterans and how the slashing by those mean Republicans would hurt people if we let them get away with it.
I am only sorry that Senator Murray is not in the same situation as Governor Gregoire here in the other Washington. Being forced to balance her budget, Governor Gregoire has come to the realization that the only way forward is to cut services that do affect people. I doubt that anyone likes the part about affecting people, but forced fiscal discipline makes it necessary to make hard choices.
I suspect that if given the opportunity to go into debt to deliver the services as Senator Murray is more than willing to do, Governor Gregoire would also choose to borrow rather than cut programs. That kind of thinking has to stop!
In the face of a $1.6 TRILLION SHORTFALL for 2011, Senator Murray needs to start identifying meaningful programs she is willing to cut. There will always be seniors, children, veterans or some other group that needs help, but in the face of that staggering debt, can we really afford it?
Senator Murray and her Senate colleagues need to offer a spending plan that meets the goal of cutting $61 billion for the existing budget year the House has on the table but preserving the funding for the veterans she is worried about in her email. If the priorities of the Senate Democrats are different than the Republicans, they should offer different programs to cut; understanding that if she saves one here, it will cost somewhere else. That is what balancing a budget does. It forces us to prioritize.
Governor Gregoire has finally learned that the pot of state money is only so large. She and her colleagues in the legislature are involved in that painful process right now. They are weighing the pros and cons and trying to choose their expenditures wisely. We haven’t seen the results of their efforts yet, but they will adopt a balanced budget on April 24th.
This is the same lesson we are trying to convey to the free spenders in our national government. Work within your budget. Prioritize your spending.
If they are having such a hard time dealing with a minuscule $61 billion cut, imagine how much hurt they would be feeling if they actually had to balance their budget and cut the whole $1.6 TRILLION?
Senator Murray is howling about $61 billion in cuts when the deficit for this year is estimated to be over $1 Trillion. That is just 6% of the trillion. There is a serious gap with these folks not just in their budgets, but in their thinking about what the federal government should be providing.
I would support the House of Representatives sticking to their proposed budget for the Continuing Resolution and if the Senate Democrats refuse to play ball, let the chips fall where they may.
When you only control half of the legislative process like the House Republicans do, you have to use whatever tools you have available to advocate for your agenda. Neither the President nor the Senate is likely to give ground unless they are forced to. I would stand by my campaign promises to the voters and let the other side take their chances.
Senator Murray doesn’t have to worry about re-election for a while, so she can be a free spender. Let’s see if the twenty or so Democrats who are up for re-election in 2012 can afford to do the same.
No Loss for Words 
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