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8/8/2019 PDF of GHRW Newsletter Sep-Oct 2010
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/pdf-of-ghrw-newsletter-sep-oct-2010 1/5
V O L U M E X I I I , I S S U E 5
D inner / Auc t on Fundraiser
S e p/ O c t 20 10
L E T ’S RO L L -O N TO VIC TO R Y
nce a year the GigHarbor Republican
Women hold anannual Dinner/AuctionFundraiser. This year theevent will at the lovely Canterwood Golf andCountry Club, 12606 54th
Ave. NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98332 on September 11,2010.
The purpose for theauction is to help our clubgive financialcontributions to our
candidates, and to helpfinance our Caring for
America Projects: CareNet, Habitat forHumanity, Support theTroops, Dictionaries forStudents, Scholarships forStudents and for ourcandidates. The social hour begins at 6pm, with dinner
following at 7pm. Our silent auction is openduring the social hour.
September 11th
Dinner / Auction FundraiserOur monthly meeting this month is our
annual Dinner / Auction Fundraiser. Theusual procedures will be put aside to be
able to fully enjoy the food and speakers.
October 20th
GHRW Monthly Meeting11am-1pm at the Inn at Gig Harbor. One
of our newsletter features each month is
called “100 Constitutional Questions To
Ask Candidates” Our own Sharon Krey ’s
father is the author of the book these
questions come from. Sharon is
practically as passionate and almost as
knowledgeable as her dad about the US
Constitution AND is our guest speaker
this month. RSVP before October 13th to
to our 1st Vice President, Beckie Krantz,
[email protected] or 253-226-6283.
Please state whether you are ordering
the optional $11.50 buffet lunch.
Featured Speakers 9/11
Our candidates,including Dino Rossi,
Doug Cloud, Marty
McClendon, Jan Angel,
Doug Richards, Stan
Flemming, and Kent
Keel will speak duringour Fundraiser.
at the canterwood golf & country club
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8/8/2019 PDF of GHRW Newsletter Sep-Oct 2010
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Our October speaker is our own Sharon Krey, sharing her
passion and insights about the U. S. Constitution andhow to ask candidates questions about it.
Questions To Ask Candidates,
from The 5,000 Year Leap,
by W. Cleon Skousen.
Sharon Krey teaches a class called
101 Constitutional Questions To
Ask Candidates. Each newsletter
this year has included a few of them, and their answers. For this
month:
How many areas of power were
ultimately assigned to the
Federal Government?
The Constitution gives the Federal
Government twenty powere. These
are set forth in Article 1, Section 8.
What if the Federal
Government thinks it needs
more power?
The government cannot legally
exercise any powers except those
which are specifically granted to it
by the Constitution. The only way
Washington can get any additional
legitimate power is by an
amendment.
Where does it say that the
Federal Government is
specifically restricted from
exercising any power not
granted to it by the States?
The Tenth Amendment.
How did the government get
so much power? The dominating
arrogance of the Federal
Government today came about
primarily through three channels: 1 )
outright usurpation of power, 2 ) an
edict by the Supreme Court in the
Butler Case in 1936 reversing the
original meaning in the Welfare
Clause, and 3 ) distorting theCommerce Clause as the means of
shattering the restrictive chains of
the Constitution and expand in
Federal jurisdiction into hundreds
of areas never intended by the
Founders.
Beckie Kranz and her
husband, Dennis, are the
co-chairs for the Dino
Rossi campaign for the
26th Legislative District.
They coordinate volunteers,
put together phone banks,
put up signs, send out info to
volunteers, and anything else
that the Dino Rossi campaign
headquarters asks them to do
for the 26th Legislative
District.
Our own Sharon Krey is our featuredspeaker for October.
Sharon is passionate about theUnited States Constitution. You mighteven say that this passion is in her blood.
Her dad, W. Cleon Skousen, authoredthe book The 5,000 Year Leap. This isthe book the questions for eachnewsletter come out of.
If you’ve been reading the questions ineach newsletter, you can see the kind of passion for the constitution that she grew up around.
Sharon teaches a class called “101Constitutional Questions To AskCandidates.” She will be giving ushighlights and personal insights fromthis class.
8/8/2019 PDF of GHRW Newsletter Sep-Oct 2010
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From Joe Siegel:“Light Rail Isn’t What It’s Supposed To Be”
The notion of light rail(meaning urban passenger
electric or diesel trains)such as the Seattle Sounder, as apanacea for transportation andefficiency is a common belief adhered to among many.However, a key consideration forthe proponents of light rail shouldbe: Is the public better servedwhen Gig Harborites drive toFreight-house Square and takethe Sounder to work in Seattle,
drive themselves or take anexpress bus?
I recently listened to a CATOInstitute lecture by RandallO’Tool and Ron Utt, bothtransportation experts. Theirpresentation on measuring lightrail efficiency takes a contrarianview. Their basic tenant being thatlight rail, like the Seattle Sounder,
is an inefficient system that costsexcessive amounts of taxpayers’dollars. In short, costs are dividedinto two categories, capital(startup, debt service) andoperating costs (utilities, salaries,maintenance).
With all annual capital andoperating expenses accounted for,the cost per rider on the
Sounder per round trip is morethan $30,000 per year, equal incost to a top-of-the-line, taxpayer-funded new Prius per year, perrider. This is due to the very lownumber of riders in availableseats.
Common counterpoints to theabove are that there are other
transportation subsidies, that it’sbetter for the environment and
congestion, and developmentissues.
Fair enough points, and thesewere addressed:
Regarding other subsidycomparisons, light rail doesn’t doso well. Referencing just federalsubsidies, air travel is subsidizedat $4.23 per passenger, per 1,000
miles. Inner-city buses at $1.50.Light rail? $166.
Additionally, concerning thedistribution of questionabledollars, nationwide, less than 5percent of commuters use rail(even less in Seattle), meaning the$166 is being spent on less thanone-twentieth of commuters.
Also, 75 percent of all rail transitusers are concentrated in onlyseven major urban areas, furthernarrowing the recipientdistribution. Plus, three-quartersof these light rail dollars comefrom federal highway funds, soresources originally meant toimprove roads and bridges arecourtesy of those stuck ingridlocked arteries with their
engines idling, like on state Route16 before the new NarrowsBridge.
Regarding reduced fuelconsumption, in the past 40 years,about 50 light rail lines have beenbuilt, but even so, rail transit losesmore market share than it gains.
Case in point is the ChamplainFlyer in Burlington, Vt. The few
cars it took off the road burnedless fuel per passenger than thetrain because of the very lowpercentage of seats filled. Themost efficient (relatively) is theNew York City subway (and thisonly recoups 67 percent of operational — not capital — costsfrom ticket sales).
Most medium-sized cities like
Seattle won’t ever coverexpenses, so the extensionthrough Tacoma throws goodmoney after bad.
Buses are more efficient. Lowstartup costs and purchase/leaseflexibility maximize capacity,resulting in a high “seats in seats”ratio. Load up buses and run themin HOV lanes. You can reference
the Washington Policy Center fordetailed light rail vs. bus costcomparison studies.
Regarding increaseddevelopment, numerous examplesdispute the concept of transit-stimulated tax revenue as a sourceof transit funding.
In Carrolton, Texas, the city
planners’ position was thatplanned light rail would spurdevelopment of a shopping center.
However, the shopping centerwasn’t built until a parking garagewent in.
In Portland, Ore., an economicboom was promised along therail line in 1986. It never
T
8/8/2019 PDF of GHRW Newsletter Sep-Oct 2010
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Birthdays for September / October
Sharon Krey
September 4th
Jean Munday
September 12th
Carol Hall
September 20th
Pamela Abernathy
October 4th
happened. So now to spur
promised growth along the railline, tax breaks and waivers worth$2 billion are being attempted.
Also, consider that Portland railmoney reduces spending in otherareas, like demonstrably efficientinfrastructure, law enforcement ortax breaks for Portland smallbusinesses to encourage hiring.Appropriations should benefit the
most over the few.
Furthermore, studies fromthinktanks like CATO and TheHeritage Foundation show lightrail only shuffles developmentaround, and that there are nocases of light rail relievingblighted areas or spurringgenuine, non-subsidized growth.
Lastly, Administration statements
on this issue exemplify a“progressive” approach,advocating engineeredtransformation, regardless of cost,to a perceived “livabilitystandard.” This approach wouldartificially create a long marchfrom the suburbs/exurbs to thecity; for instance, from Orting toCentral Tacoma.
One example is Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood’sstatement that his livabilityinitiative “is a way to coercepeople out of their cars.”
When asked if this wasgovernment intrusion intopeople’s lives, LaHoodresponded, “about everything
we do around here is
government intrusion inpeople’s lives.” (Probably asurprise to Thomas Jefferson.)
To paraphrase Margaret Thatcher:“The problem with (light rail) isthat eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
The father of modernconservatism, Edmond Burke,
referred to what passed forprogressivism in the 1700s as“radical political change drivenby abstract theory.”
The more things change, the morethey remain the same. That’s acommon belief to consider.
From Joe Siegel, continued...
8/8/2019 PDF of GHRW Newsletter Sep-Oct 2010
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We stand today at
the symbolic
crossroads of our
nation’s history.
Sarah Palin
Our Oct ober 2 0 t h Meet ing
In addition to hav ing Shar on K r ey as our guest speak er on October 20th, w e w ill hav e a chance t o do phone-bank ing by cell-phone w ith phones that w ill be pr ov ided.
T his is impor tant, as the election w ill be less than 2 w eek s aw ay . W e w ill be r eminding peop
le to v ote, and to v ote f or the
candidates w ho w ill mak e a dif f er ence f or c
itizens in the State of W ashington.
Check it out
PO Box 2683, Gig Harbor, WA 98329
gig harbor republican women