Welcome to The Blog

So, I'm reluctantly Republican, and spending a fair chunk of time explaining what that means, given that I'm running for State Representative, 34th District, Position 1. Most campaign blogs seem to simply be a quick recap of positions already stated on the website, but I'll re-state.

I support efforts to shift to a more sustainable interaction with our environment, particularly in urban areas - but I believe that is best achieved through voluntary participation, education, and leading by example rather than through coercion and fiscally punitive measures.

State fiscal issues are important - they vitally effect our ability to fund necessary programs (when property values are down, and everyone is too broke to buy anything...property and sales tax revenues tend to drop off something fierce, making it hard to PAY the folks working on the programs).

Where revenue falls short, we can either emulate California and play the free-spending drunken sailor as we stagger towards inevitable bankruptcy - or we can make the necessary painful cuts to ride out a recession.

The economy plays a role in almost every aspect of our lives - whether and where we work, what we can afford to eat, how much our wages are worth when we get them and far more. When the economy is in the doldrums and vast numbers of unemployed roam the land in search of unemployment...a certain number of those will, faced with starving under a bridge (or lesser inconveniences, folks thresholds of pain do differ from person to person after all) will develop an exciting new moral flexibility.

At that point, we see violent crime of all sorts pick up...from bank robberies to home invasions, from assault to murder, as fear and desperation drive folks to that exciting new moral flexibility.

As a bonus, progress (or even holding the status quo) in civil rights matters tends to be an artifact of "good times". It's going to take more work to maintain, let alone advance, civil rights than usual as individuals and elected leaders flail about looking for the magic "how do we make it all better" economic bullet.

Oil is not our friend now, and is likely to be even less so in the future. With escalating tensions in the Middle East, impending legislation likely to halt or severely limit domestic production, and the further joys of "Cap and Trade" legislation slowly coming to fruition...we may not be able to precisely predict the price of oil at a given moment - but a steady upward spiral seems a pretty good bet.

Given that today we need oil for such a huge portion of our energy needs, primarily transport of goods and persons, getting off that particular bandwagon in a reasonably orderly fashion seems a prudent measure. I am not entirely objective. I sell electric cars for a living, and I believe the current generation coming out in highway speed are finally a good fit for business and private consumers - comfortable, decent ranges, and with battery issues beginning to be resolved reasonably.

All persons should be equal before the law, neither gaining favor nor suffering disfavor as a result of their race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, creed, or ethnicity. 'Nuff said? That is the goal, not carving out special provisions to compensate for past injuries - we can't fix the past, we can only moderate affect the present, and the future only holds a constantly changing mix of hope and concern. Let's play nicely amongst ourselves, eh?

Finally, Washington has some of the best gun laws in the nation. Such tweaks as I might favor are just that, tweaks. I don't believe the people of Washington are uniquely evil or stupid (and if I'm wrong, we have much more important problems to pay attention to) , so where an approach to this issue has actually worked (as opposed to being legislative chest-beating), I'm probably pretty willing to at least consider it - particularly if it leads to less hassle and fewer pitfalls for the average citizen.

Enough for now...semi-mandatory re-cap complete.

- Ray