I attended the Tea Party rally in Everett yesterday. I was pleased to be able to speak. I was disappointed that my comments were cut short; the other speakers didn’t appear to be restrained by the timer to complete their remarks. On the whole, I think Kelly and her volunteers did a great job organizing the event. I know it took a lot of effort and there couldn’t be a more worthy cause. I suspect I will survive.
The event appeared to have 500 to 600 attendees. Even though Tea Partiers are not organized around a specific structure, they are united in the sentiment that they are fed up.
Most will tell you that they aren’t card carrying members of either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party; but as a Republican, their message is more than just a little bit similar to my own; smaller government, lower taxes, accountability and transparency were consistent themes.
We both believe that private sector job growth is a great goal and more likely benchmark for measuring economic recovery. We cannot spend our way to recovery with tax dollars or buy recovery with more federal debt. We will have to work our way out by creating those jobs in the ranks of our small businesses.
Congressional candidates James Watkins running against Jay Inslee in the 1st District and John Koster running against Rick Larsen in the 2nd District rallied the crowd with their comments. Both candidates convey the feeling that there is blood in the water and their opposition knows it. Winning those two seats would be great wins for the R’s.
Pollsters say Republicans are still likely short of regaining the majority by a few seats, but momentum is gathering for our team. Time will tell. In spite of the polls, the crowd was excited by the prospects for the House candidates.
Every candidate speaking yesterday suggested that they were different Republicans than those of years gone by that ended up being “free spenders”. Traditional Republicans were known first and foremost as fiscal conservatives. Getting the Republican candidates back on that track was a consistent theme.
For a Tax Day event, the mood of the crowd was strangely quiet about taxation. My gut tells me that in spite of our feelings about taxes, we are also very concerned about the national debt. The dilemma we all face is deciding which is more important. Spending is the lightening rod issue. Every level of government is spending beyond their means and Tea Partiers are peeved. I suspect that many Democrats are concerned as well.
For the legislative candidates in attendance, the 44th District had the most candidates. There are two Republicans filed for the Steve Hobbs Senate seat; Dave Schmidt and new comer Ryan Ferrie. There are also two Republicans filed to run against Hans Dunshee in the House; Shahram Hadian and myself. Both of these races will be tough battles. In spite of the fact that Dunshee is arguably the most liberal member of the House, he is a tough campaigner.
Mike Hope reported to the crowd about how the just completed session unfolded at the end. He gave the crowd highlights to cheer about and some low lights to moan about. There is no doubt that Mike is the “darling” of the House. He was able to be involved in two law enforcement related bills that made it through to see the light of day in his two sessions. Veteran lawmakers are envious. And Mike is a member of the minority party. That fact makes his accomplishments even more remarkable.
Voters will get a chance to amend the state constitution in the fall in large part because of the efforts of Mike Hope. Good Job Mike.
Oh, and by the way, congratulations to Mike and his wife Sarai on the birth of their new baby boy Noah.
No Loss for Words 
E-Verify can work for Public Sector too!
by Steve DanaIf the answer to the immigration debate is to make employers responsible for enforcing immigration laws by steering them to the E-Verify system managed by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration I have to believe the same system can work for public service providers as well.
Media pundits point to the high cost of services rendered to illegal aliens on a daily basis. California is supposedly drowning in red ink from the excessive cost of services for illegal aliens. In our state, there is the suggestion that public services are being overwhelmed by illegal aliens. Yet none of the public service entities are allowed to ask about the immigration status of the recipients; and in many cases, they are specifically prohibited from asking.
In Arizona, the state tried to address the failure of the Federal Government to secure the border and stem the flow of illegal aliens and illegal drugs into our country by giving the police the directive to check violators’ eligibility to be in the country. Under my plan, all they have to do is link to the E-Verify system like any business owner would to determine the status of the individual. But unlike the business owner, the police are in a position to investigate further and facilitate the deportation of those folks determined to be in the US illegally. E-Verify is a system that is already in place and would not require a significant addition to the bureaucracy.
If we instruct our Department of Motor Vehicles to link to E-Verify before issuing a Driver’s License (to every applicant to avoid profiling) like business owners could be required to do, we could identify those folks who are legally eligible to be in the country regardless of their ethnicity.
We issue provisional driver licenses to drivers under 21 years of age. We should issue licenses different from the standard one for all aliens. Authorities should be aware when a driver license is presented as identification that the person presenting it is either of legal age to buy tobacco or liquor or that they are citizens of the United States or not.
On a state by state basis, the function of the department of motor vehicles can standardize for that state the process they choose to use with the idea that all the formats be linkable to the E-Verify system. It wouldn’t be a national ID card, but it would be a way to check the national data base.
If we are stopped by police or apply for services we are already asked to provide our driver’s license as identification. If a person is stopped by police or applies for services without that ID, they can offer an alternative explanation that should be verifiable. Either way, the public service agency has a method of determining eligibility. Failing to provide proper ID or acceptable alternative, follow-up action can be pursued.
At the same time, before we enroll children in schools or render medical services at public health providers we link to E-Verify to determine eligibility of the individuals to be in the country legally. The decision to render services or not then can be made with that in mind. If an agency decides to continue offering the service to those individuals, they can at least track them.
If E-Verify is the standard for determining private sector employment eligibility, it can serve in the same capacity for public service agencies.
Certainly there is a cost of implementing the E-Verify system for this application, but if it is a cost small businesses must bear, it cannot be an unreasonable cost to public agencies if the security of our country is at stake.
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