Patty Murray and other good news

I am so thrilled that Patty Murray has been re-elected to the US Senate for a fourth term!  She has done an amazing job representing the state of Washington and I just cannot imagine our political landscape without her.  And maybe, just maybe, Dino Rossi has finally had enough and will get out of politics and go back to showing people how to make money off the backs of people who have had their homes foreclosed upon.  I wanted to read a headline today that said "Dino's Done!" 

The BIAW was unsuccessful in its campaign against L & I with I-1082, which would have opened up the industrial insurance market to private insurers.  As a business owner, I don't think that this initiative was totally without merit.  Labor and Industries has some serious flaws, which I've seen from a couple of different viewpoints.  It needs some serious overhaul, and I hope the powers-that-be will consider doing just that.  While 1082 would have given employers a choice in how they insure their workers for industrial claims, perhaps it didn't get to the root of the problem.  For myself, any initiative that is backed by the BIAW is suspect.  Their cry of  "affordable housing" is laughable, and any thinking person sees past that--it's all about the profit, Baby!  And that is why I-1082 failed miserably in Washington.

My friend Dave campaigned strenuously for the defeat of Initiatives 1100 and 1105, which would have privatized liquor sales in Washington.  Indeed, he had a vested interest in their defeat, as a liquor store is a tenant in one of his buildings, and I was not sure of my feelings about privatization when he first approached me about supporting the campaign against it.  However, after a little research and a lot of thought, a couple of things became clear to me.  The revenue from liquor sales is not something that the state can afford to lose right now.  Also, do we really want liquor available at every corner store and at all hours?  I've been approached at convenience stores by kids wanting me to buy for them, as many probably have.  Heck, I probably did that a time or two myself, but it makes no sense whatsoever to me that we would make it that much easier for kids to obtain liquor.  Who would this have benefited?  Those of us who don't plan ahead to buy alcohol during business hours?  Or the manufacturers and retailers who sell the stuff?