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<DIV><FONT size=2>It's easy to see why the Latah Democrats are having
problems. Not only do they not have the testosterone to speak boldly and
plainly, but content themselves with almost meaningless pabulum, and, in
addition, there may be a few lights out in some of their marquees.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>But the Republicans are not any better, but worse, if we are
speaking about ethics, inclusiveness, honesty, openness, and the tendency to
greatly oversimplify complex problems, and therefore propose sure-to-fail,
misery-bringing solutions. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>As an independent, I have been lately demonized and shunned by
certain Democrats because of my support of Tom Trail; the
treatment from certain Republicans has been even worse for my alleged
unforgiveable political statements including demands for forthright answers
from some of their candidates.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Below is posted from <EM>The Spokesman-</EM>Review an
example of journalism going beyond "she said, he said" to examine the facts
behind the assertions. Is too bad that the local print media, in fact, all
the local media, can't do this, maybe even, as a combined, public interest
consortium. The maybe more of the electorate would vote, and decide on
their votes with better, more relevant information.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=2>
<DIV><BR>Wayne A. Fox<BR>1009 Karen Lane<BR>PO Box 9421<BR>Moscow, ID
83843</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:waf@moscow.com">waf@moscow.com</A><BR>208
882-7975<BR>__________________________________</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 28px; OVERFLOW: hidden"><A class=nolht
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<H5 style="FLOAT: right" class=details>October 30, 2010</H5></DIV>
<DIV class=clear></DIV>
<H1>Truths, half-truths and other campaign claims</H1>
<DIV class="details nested grid-8"><SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/staff/jonathan-brunt/">Jonathan Brunt</A><BR>The
Spokesman-Review </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=clear> </DIV>
<DIV class="tag-details details-top"><SPAN
style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 3px">Tags:</SPAN> <SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/tags/2010-6th-legislative-district-senate">2010
6th Legislative District Senate</A></SPAN> <SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/tags/2010-election">2010 election</A></SPAN>
<SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/tags/chris-marr">chris marr</A></SPAN>
<SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/tags/michael-baumgartner">Michael Baumgartner</A></SPAN>
</DIV>
<DIV id=story-body>
<P>More than a million dollars has been spent fighting for one Spokane seat in
the state Senate – and the election season isn’t even over.</P>
<P>The milestone was reached this week in the 6th Legislative District fight
between incumbent Democratic Sen. Chris Marr and Republican challenger Michael
Baumgartner, according to records from the state Public
Disclosure Commission.</P>
<P>Marr’s campaign has topped $500,000 in fundraising and has spent $470,000 of
it. Baumgartner has $387,000 and has spent $352,000. Independent groups, many of
which have hidden themselves as the source of ads by diverting money to
creatively named political action committees, have spent $118,000 on behalf of
Marr and $80,000 on behalf of Baumgartner.</P>
<P>Today is part three in a series analyzing some of the attacks made with that
$1 million.</P>
<P><STRONG>Claim: “With (Marr’s) tax increases, it’s hurting my employees and my
business and the last thing I need right now is an income tax,” says Julie (who
doesn’t give a last name and claims to be a Spokane
business owner).</STRONG> </P>
<P><STRONG>Source: </STRONG>TV ad from “Spokane Families for Change,” a group
created this year. It is funded completely by Working Families for Change, which
is funded completely by The Leadership Council, a committee aimed at electing
Republicans to the state Senate. Among the top contributors are the Washington
Health Care Association, the Building Industry Association of Washington and the
Washington State Hospital Association political action committee. By diverting
money like this, the true source of the money does not have to appear
on ads. </P>
<P><STRONG>Truthfulness: </STRONG>Perhaps true if Julie sells cigarettes. False
as it applies to income tax. </P>
<P><STRONG>Analysis: </STRONG>Marr voted this year to increase the tax on
cigarettes from $2.03 to $3.03 a pack. He voted against the other taxes that the
Legislature used this year to balance the budget. </P>
<P>It should be noted, however, that even though Marr voted against the final
budget, he voted for an earlier version of the budget that assumed new taxes
would be approved, saying he wanted to move the process forward.</P>
<P>Marr and Baumgartner both have taken strong stands against the income tax in
general and the proposed income tax on next week’s ballot. The ad cites the
Democratic Party platform as the source for their allegations that Marr backs an
income tax. But Marr never signed or took a pledge to support the
party platform.</P>
<P><STRONG>Claim: Baumgartner “Supports corporate income tax that would harm
small businesses.”</STRONG> </P>
<P><STRONG>Source: </STRONG>Mailer from Marr campaign </P>
<P><STRONG>Truthfulness: </STRONG>Half-true, maybe even a quarter. </P>
<P><STRONG>Analysis:</STRONG> What Marr doesn’t say is that Baumgartner would
only support instituting a new business tax if the state’s unpopular business
and occupation tax were eliminated. And, technically, Baumgartner is supportive
of a single business tax, not a corporate income tax. </P>
<P>Baumgartner has endorsed the Washington Policy Center’s proposed single
business tax, which is based on a tax in Texas. It’s a hybrid between the
business and occupation tax, which is a tax on revenue, and an income tax, which
would be a tax on profits. </P>
<P>The proposed tax would be a tax on revenue, but businesses could deduct their
cost of labor or cost of materials or $60,000, said Carl Gipson, who co-authored
a report for the policy center about the single business tax.</P>
<P>Businesses have long called the B & O tax unfair because businesses have
to pay it even if they’re not profitable. Marr has said he opposes the policy
center’s proposal.</P>
<P><STRONG>Claim: “Chris Marr (D) has wasted too much time in Olympia. (He)
voted to designate the Olympic Marmot the official endemic mammal of the State
of Washington, voted to create Christmas tree inspectors, voted to require truth
in music advertising (and) voted to designate the Lady Washington as the
official ship of the State of Washington.”</STRONG> </P>
<P><STRONG>Source:</STRONG> Mailer from “People for Jobs,” a group that gets all
its money from Enterprise Washington’s Jobs political action committee, which
gets its money mostly from business interests. Contributors include Comcast,
Farmers’ Insurance and Puget Sound Energy. </P>
<P><STRONG>Truthfulness:</STRONG> The first sentence is for voters to decide.
The second sentence is 100 percent true and could also be said about almost all
Washington legislators from both parties. </P>
<P><STRONG>Analysis:</STRONG> People for Jobs sent at least three mailers
targeting Marr so far this campaign season. All of them make some questionable
connections to Marr, including one that talks about how someone stole $431,376
from a victims’ compensation fund – as if Marr had anything to do with it.
He didn’t. </P>
<P>Imagine the ad that could have been produced if Marr had voted against the
Olympic marmot proposal. Here’s a possibility: “Chris Marr hates schoolchildren.
Marr viciously stomped on the dreams of fourth- and fifth-graders at Wedgwood
Elementary School when he voted against their proposal to honor the Olympic
Marmot, which is found only on the Olympic Peninsula.” </P>
<P>(Note to campaign workers: It would not be fair to pull the first sentence,
use an ellipsis and post it on a mailer so it says: “ ‘Chris Marr hates
schoolchildren …’ – Spokesman-Review 10-29-2010.’ ”)</P>
<P>The “marmot issue” really didn’t seem like a prominent campaign topic until
this gem arrived in mailboxes. So let’s quickly review Senate Bill 5071 from
2009. Kelly Clark’s fourth-grade class had lobbied the Legislature for years on
several proposals as part of her civics lessons. The marmot bill was the first
to gain traction and pass. Final votes were 43-4 in the Senate and 84-13 in
the House.</P>
<P>The other bills were also popular, judging by votes. The Christmas tree bill,
sponsored, in part, by Republican state Sen. Mark Schoesler, of Ritzville, was
approved 45-1 in the Senate and 96-0 in the House. Marr was one of six sponsors
of the music bill referenced by the ad. It passed 97-0 in the House and 47-0 in
the House. </P>
<P>The vote to give the “official ship” designation to a craft actually in
Washington (the old official state ship no longer docks in the state) was 94-0
in the House and 44-1 in the Senate.</P>
<P><STRONG>Claim: “Michael Baumgartner pledged to outlaw all abortions – and to
not allow women and their families to decide what’s best when facing serious
medical complications in their pregnancies.”</STRONG> </P>
<P><STRONG>Source: </STRONG>Mailer from Healthy PAC, which is funded completely
by Safety PAC, which is funded mostly by Service Employees International Union
and Planned Parenthood. </P>
<P><STRONG>Truthfulness: </STRONG>False. </P>
<P><STRONG>Analysis:</STRONG> This mailer is similar to a few other mostly
misleading mailers against Baumgartner paid for mostly by unions through tactics
that prevented them from having to list themselves as the top contributors on
the ads. </P>
<P>This claim is attributed to a Spokesman-Review article about the Spokane
County Republican Party platform and to Human Life of Washington. The platform,
which Baumgartner signed, defines life as from “conception until natural death,”
but it does not specifically address abortion and whether exceptions should be
made in cases where a woman’s life is at risk. Human Life CEO Dan Kennedy said
his organization, which endorsed Baumgartner, does not ask candidates about
their position about making an exception in cases where a woman’s life is
in danger.</P>
<P>Baumgartner said he would make an exception in those cases. He said he would
not make an exception in cases of rape. (Marr supports abortion rights and says
he agrees with the state’s current laws related to abortion, which do not
require minors to notify parents before receiving
an abortion.)</P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=thansen@moscow.com href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">Tom Hansen</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Moscow Vision 2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, November 01, 2010 5:43
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] So,Just What Does
Lee Rozen Consider "Equal Time" . . .</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>One would rightfully expect an inflammatory response aimed at
the public<BR>digs made by Lee Rozen . . . maybe even a request for
apology.<BR><BR>But then, when you place Fox News on the pedestal as a role
model . . .<BR><BR>A softball letter to the editor by David Nelson, Chair of
the Latah County<BR>Democrats<BR><BR>Courtesy of today's (November 1, 2010)
Moscow-Pullman Daily
News.<BR><BR>---------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Debates
are important for voters<BR><BR>Lee Rozen wrote in the Weekend Daily News that
"the chattering class of<BR>the left of center sees ... the end of Democracy
in Latah County" because<BR>some right-leaning candidates didn't make it to a
KRFP candidates' debate<BR>this week.<BR><BR>Lee is right about those debates.
They probably weren't really that<BR>important. Left-leaning candidates
probably should skip the New Saint<BR>Andrews debates as well, for all the
votes they earn there. But Democratic<BR>candidates politely go and engage in
conversation to help determine how<BR>Latah County and the state of Idaho is
governed. What is the proper role<BR>of government? What is an appropriate
level of education and other<BR>services? How do we construct a fair tax
policy that encourages business<BR>expansion and pays for the
education.<BR><BR>It's important to have that discussion with all
participants. Hearing from<BR>the candidates in a variety of forums is an
important way for Latah County<BR>voters to select their leaders.<BR><BR>I
believe that in Latah County we are a bit of a throwback to a more<BR>patient
and thoughtful generation in America. All of our candidates ,left<BR>and
right, attend the Lions' meeting in Troy, visit the Deary community<BR>center,
speak before the League of Women Voters in Moscow and at New Saint<BR>Andrews.
Sometimes, we even all appear on KRFP.<BR><BR>We aren't the chattering class.
We just want to discuss the issues and<BR>debate what's important for our
future and our children's future. Please<BR>vote Tuesday. It's
important.<BR><BR>David Nelson, chair, Latah County Democrats,
Moscow<BR><BR>---------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Seeya
at the polls, Moscow.<BR><BR>Tom Hansen<BR>Moscow, Idaho<BR><BR>"The Pessimist
complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change<BR>and the Realist
adjusts his sails."<BR><BR>-
Unknown<BR><BR><BR>=======================================================<BR> List
services made available by First Step Internet, <BR> serving the
communities of the Palouse since 1994.
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