Some Odds and Ends

Last weekend I graduated from the Nisqually Stream Stewards course. I now have a better understanding of all the groups who want to use our resources, how they conflict with each other, and how they can be brought together. I met a lot of great people, learned some interesting things, and had a great time.

The campaign website recently welcomed visitor number 100. Due to a systems issue I can't tell when it was, but it was sometime in July. I must have someone's attention somewhere because the top city for page hits is Washington, DC. Overall, the Seattle-Tacoma area leads DC metro area. I'm wondering if all those visits are from friend or foe. Also, we've gone international will visits from Taiwan, Canada, and England.

It seems as though House Democrats are taking a page from Olympia's playbook. The entire state budget was written in a secretive process by a handfull of Democrats, and in the other Washington it's looking the same way. House Dems are declaring the budgeting process, which normally allows for input from all 435 member, to be off-limits to all but 60 members of the Appropriations Committee. Committee chairman David Obey (D-WI) says the new rule is limit time spent on debates. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) says it is to save Democrats from casting politically painful votes. Don't we hire these people to debate budgets and bills and make tough decisions? It's just another attempt to rush as much through as quickly as possible without anyone having a chance to stop the train wreck ahead. With a Read the Bills Act or One Subject at a Time Act there would be no need for such shenanigans.

I heard from someone that 70% of Americans are in favor of the national healthcare plan. So far I've met three of those people. Am I in the wrong crowd or is someone switching the numbers on the polls?