Murray for the WIN!

It was announced today that Senator Patty Murray has secured the win over candidate Dino Rossi.  Taking the lead by about 46,000 votes, this amount (51% to 49% out of about 1.8 million votes) is said to be insurmountable. I find it interesting that we were one of the later states to find out the results of this election. While the votes were being counted it was clear that murray had a lot of confidence in herself, she really believed that she would be the winner of this election. Rossi fought hard against Murray in this election attacking her with loads of network ads saying how she is an irresponsible spender and has changes with her 18 years in office, but he took a gracious defeat even though obvious disappointment was present. This will be Patty Murray's fourth consecutive 6-year term in office. Now that the race is over, the question is, what will she do next?

Patty Murray plans to hit the ground running as she states, "Now we have to get to work...to make sure Washington state has what it needs to get its economy back on its feet," this sounds like a plan to me.

Problems with voting?

An interesting fact to add in, I have heard that despite this election being all mail in ballots, some people still could not find time to send in there votes. Because of this a few voting stations were set up around Washington. An unexpected problem with this was that there was sometimes 3-4 hour long lines to vote. I heard some stories of some people ordering pizza's to pass the time and even worse, some people chose to not vote at all rather than wait the 3-4 hours. This is something that really needs to change in the future.

A turnaround?!

Dino Rossi's poll percentage is rising, while Patty Murray's is decreasing.
Poll Update:
Rossi: 49.4%
Murray: 50.6%

It is possible that we will not know who has won the election for up to a week, stated by the news.

Poll Data Right Now!

Patty Murray is in the lead with 52% and Dino Rossi at 46%!

Now that it is almost over, lets review.

Their Views and Ideas:

Patty Murray-

• 2008 Farm Bill: This bill continues to provide security for Washington's wheat, pea and lentil growers and provides funding for necessary conservation and energy programs. It also includes the following crop provisions; National Clean Plant Network, Market Loss Program for Asparagus Growers, Specialty Crop Block Grants, and the Specialty Crop Research Initiative. It funds these programs; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program, and Elimination of the Child Care Deduction Cap. She also is a supporter of agriculture research and making U.S. producers globally competitive.
• Civil Rights: Patty Murray is for protecting the civil rights of all Americans. She is trying to help end the policies she finds to be unfair of Don't Ask Don't Tell. She has cosponsored the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010, the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, the Tax Equity for Domestic Partner and Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, the Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2010, and still cosponsors the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Patty Murray worked for years to pass the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, which was signed in October 2009 and she also worked to pass a provision in Health Care Reform that will make medication for HIV positive people more affordable. 
• Economic Recovery: Murray has been trying to help Washington maintain and create jobs, stay competitive, and recover from this economic downfall. Her investments have been made in a variety of places to ensure more jobs are being created. She helped to pass the biggest middle class tax cut in American history and provided health coverage for millions of low-income children. She is currently working towards  providing everyone with more affordable health care, more use of clean renewable energy, and better schools nationwide.
• Energy Independence and Climate Change: Patty Murray is trying to make it so that there is more cost friendly power in the Pacific Northwest without damaging the environment or the economy. She is also working towards a more beneficial system to address pollution and climate change.
• Environment: Murray believes in environmental protection and healthy natural resources so that we can obtain long-term economic growth. 
• Government Accountability: She is striving to ensure that we protect our  economy so that the misdeeds of Wall Street and lack of oversight don't lead us to the economic downfall again. She is working towards a more accountable government to American families and businesses. 
• Health Care: Murray believes in lower costs long-term, providing more of a choice and stability, allow portability, prevent being denied or dropped by health insurance companies based on pre-existing conditions, and eliminate lifetime and annual caps, promote prevention and wellness, end discrimination based on things like age and gender, and put an emphasis on health information technology to increase efficiency. 

Dino Rossi-

Dino Rossi with American Legion Riders.

• Promoting Economic Growth and Job Creation: Dino Rossi wants to rid of the tax and spending policies that have failed. He feels like it is now the time to worry about the workers who contribute to our economy and the employers who are giving them the jobs. 
• Fix Health Care: Rossi does not agree with Congress' health care reform bill and he thinks we need to repeal the bill and put in a new one that has "common-sense bipartisan proposals that give power to patients and doctors not government and insurance companies." Dino Rossi wants to replace it with something that will lower the costs, provide people with a variety of health insurance plans, and give people a choice on who their doctor is. Also, Rossi would like people to be able to buy health insurance across state lines, give individuals the same tax deductions as corporations, and make insurance more affordable for small businesses. 
• Reform Our Tax Code: Dino Rossi wants to lower taxes to boost our economy and allow for more jobs to be created. This would allow individuals and small businesses to be able to invest more of their money back into the economy and this would create a positive outcome. Rossi would like Congress to repeal the death tax and broad-based taxes, lower tax rates that are paid by the job creators, and put the 2001 and 2003 tax relief back in action.
• Reduce Government Spending: To do so, Dino Rossi suggests that we cancel unspent bailout and stimulus funds and put them towards decreasing our deficit, pass a Balanced Budget Amendment with a supermajority to raise taxes, cut Government Employment, and reduce too generous of benefits and pay. 
• Energy: Dino Rossi feels that we need to create more of our own resources by "developing more renewable energy sources, increasing our reliance on alternative fuels, and expanding domestic energy production in an environmentally and fiscally responsible way." His thoughts to help make this happen are to not approve of energy taxes, enhance safety procedures for energy exploration, and make sure that people polluting pay for any environmental degradation. 
• Protecting Our Country: Dino Rossi's stand on protecting our country is strong, he feels that we should control our borders and fix immigration. RossiRossi believes that listening to what the commanders in the field have to say, and always ensuring that our military has a plan for victory and an exit strategy. 
• Veterans: Dino Rossi is all for honoring veterans and ensuring that their interest is also best looked out for. He believes if you defend our country, then the government will make sure and take care of you and your family.

From this you can get an idea on some of the basic opinions and suggestions that Senate candidates Murray and Rossi have on some current issues in our government. Many of their ideas differ, but occasionally you will find where each candidates opinions relate and are similar. This is not all of the topics discussed throughout the senate campaigns, but these are a few of the most valuable and current.

-Sara Lien

Mixed Feelings

Have they gone too far?

At this time anywhere you look you are able to witness some sort of advertisement in support of the politicians who are running to be elected for the Washington State Senate. The numerous signs, TV commercials, and radio commercials are almost overwhelming. The worst part of all is that they all seem to contradict eachother. I hear Patty Murray's campaign criticize Dino Rossi by saying that he is accepting money from lobbyists and making bad investments at the same time that im seeing Dino Rossi's campaign criticize Patty Murray by saying she is giving social security to illegal immigrants and that she is the biggest spender in Washington. The list of these negatives goes on  and on as I hear them everyday nearly all day long. As far as who seems to be the best candidate, it almost comes down to who has the least amount of negative information on them.

An example of an ad. 

The way I look at it is that there will never be a perfect senator that makes everyone in one state happy and satisfied. There is always going to be a faction for the party and a faction against the party. It is very hard to make a decision with all the negative advertisements against each candidate floating around.

It is coming down to the end of the Washington Senate Election...

The race is so close, with Patty Murray in the lead by only a small percentage. Who will win is a toss up, and no one will know till all the votes are in.

Not only the President, but his wife too...

Patty Murray is striving for support and has gained it from multiple important political figures, including President Barrack Obama, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, and First Lady Michelle Obama. In the fundraiser thrown by Michelle Obama, who was accompanied by the vice president's wife Jill Biden, this morning she stressed about the importance of everyone voting for Patty Murray in this election, especially with such a close race. At the banquet hall in Bellevue, where 1,400 people, mostly women, attended to hear Michelle Obama cheer on Patty Murray, Michelle said that the President "needs leaders like Patty to have his back. And Patty needs folks like all of you to make that happen." Also, Governor Chris Gregoire repeated the same critiques that have been floating around about Dino Rossi. Murray covered the financial and health-care overhaul and the anti-gender discrimination Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in hopes to help her gain more votes. During this fundraiser Patty Murray used a metaphor about relating our state to her family and how she strives to make things "right again." This pricey fundraiser was followed by another fundraiser that was much more expensive and a lot smaller, hosting only 100 press people. Even with all this support, Murray has a very small lead over Republican Candidate Dino Rossi who has had a lot less fundraisers and support. So is all the campaigning and support helping Murray? I think so, without it the race would not be as intriguing and I am sure that Dino Rossi would have a lead over Patty Murray by now, who is lucky to have all the support she is getting. Patty Murray has been criticized for her excessive use of earmarks by Republican Senator John McCain, it is said that she recently requested $2o million dollars in earmarks to give to "firms who had hired her formers staffers as lobbyists" (Seattle Times.) Dino Rossi is trying to ban earmarks, so this brings up a lot of questions about Candidate Murray. In a conference call, Dino Rossi stated that all the support that Patty Murray is receiving is only showing how she is in trouble and in need of more support to win, he feels like this will only increase his chances of winning. 

A rally by Former President Bill Clinton in Everett, another rally by President Barrack Obama at the UW in Seattle, and now a fundraiser by the First Lady Michelle Obama in Bellevue...

What will it take to win this election?

Above is a picture of Michelle Obama campaigning for Senate Candidate Patty Murray.


-Sara Lien.

2010 Immigration Reform

More than a few Americans would argue that illegal immigration has become a problem over the years. While the US does have the nickname, “the melting pot of the world”, immigrating to the US requires a lot of legal documentation and application.


Immigration.

What is it?

Many people immigrate from less fortunate countries to the United States on the premise that they will be able to make more money and start a life living the American dream, or just send the money back to their homeland.

How Many?

It is said that there is approximately 12 million undocumented workers in the US.

Why?

Hiring an undocumented worker is a practice used by some employers because it saves them money. They do not have to pay to L&I, or any taxes or anything else that they would pay for a documented employee. Because there is a demand for this cheap form of labor it is hard to stop people immigrating illegally into the US.

2010 Immigration Reform:

In a summary the 2010 Immigration reform seems simple. With a six part plan the US hopes to crack down on incoming immigrants, document or deport all undocumented illegal immigrants, and Integrate Immigrants into US society. Here is a quick summary of the six parts.

1. Improve Border Security: By doing this it will be harder for Illegal Immigrants to cross the US border. On the contrary, it will be more difficult and time consuming to ship things into the US and when it comes to items that are perishable, this could see difficulties.

2. Interior Enforcement: This would drastically increase penalties for offenders who illegally enter the US. Although the penalties would be greater, they would be administered in a humane and lawful way with special regards to children.

3. Worksite Enforcement: This part of the reform will encourage employers to hire lawfully because there are consequences for hiring an illegal immigrant.

4. Reforming America’s Legal Immigration System: By doing this the only people who would be likely to immigrate successfully would be people of value to the US.

5. Legalization of Undocumented Individuals: This will allow undocumented workers the chance to gain a visa for a set amount of time or also permanent citizenship. In addition to the processing fees, a person over 21 will pay a $1,000 fine. This will help to greatly reduce the estimated 12 million undocumented workers.

6. Immigrant Integration: This part is for the immigrants that are granted citizenship. There will be expanded sources of education to improve literacy of immigrants trying to integrate into American society. This will help communication among new immigrants and current citizens and hopefully reduce frustrations caused by the language barrier.


Rossi v. Murray
Dino Rossi’s Position: Dino Rossi feels that the first thing we need to do is fix our border security. His thought is that once we stop the flow of illegal immigrants we can then deal with the rest of the problem. He does not feel that we should grant illegal Immigrants citizen ship as he thinks they should immigrate legally juts like he and his family did from Italy.

Patty Murrays Position: Patty Murray more openly accepts the Comprehensive Immigration Reform.


This reform is still undergoing consideration by congress. In my opinion I think this reform is very well done and should be implemented but we will just have to wait and see what happens.

--Ryan Fromm & Sara Lien