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Fourth of July!

There is so much to be grateful for in this great nation. We sometimes are guilty of dwelling on what is bad or worse or negative. Let us all remember the extraordinary level of personal safety that we all enjoy, the longer lives, the greater opportunity; the ability to talk to relatives half a world away, reliable power and clean water. Many places in the world lack these things. Although things may vary from bad to good over the course of a human life, our own lives when placed beside our great-great grandparents enjoy a level of prosperity and peace that must’ve been almost impossible for them to imagine.

Yet sometimes there is something lost in our affluence. I have lived in many places around the world, and observed that people are often happier than those I encounter in the west. Our prosperity allows us to not need each other, and it erodes our sense of community and family ties. Humans are social creatures that need to belong and contribute. The value of remaining together as extended families, even into retirement and old age, have repeatedly been shown to be tremendously beneficial to a sense of well being and community. And yet when a nation reaches a certain level of affluence, the first thing people do is separate into their immediate families.

We are blessed to live in a county that still has a sense of community. Many places do not. In many places nobody even knows their neighbors names. Please consider volunteering to help with the Republican Party fair booth, a wonderful annual event that has “community” written all over it. You can sign up here. I have done it many times, and only rarely do you encounter people who are determined to make things difficult.

I wish you all the best! (Remember, personal fireworks are illegal)

Next SJCRP Event: July 15th

Central Committee meeting, 11:30 am. Later that day, 2 pm, ice cream social. No charge! Please bring cookies or brownies to share. Ed Kilduff will be speaking to us about water issues, rural development, and the Hirst decision. Both events at Earthbox Inn and Spa in Friday Harbor.

All details on the website here.

 WA State Budget Deal

This week we avoided a budget shutdown in Washington State. You may have heard on the news of many state services shutting down, but it appears that will not be the case. Seattle Times reports. See also “Proposed Washington state budget boosts spending by 13.5%” here.

The main issue that made the budget difficult this year was the McCleary decision, where the state supreme court said that the state was not keeping its (state) constitutional obligation to adequately fund education. The conservative Washington Policy Center has an excellent article on the McCleary decision.

Although the budget deal announced 6/29 is very new and has not yet been fully covered, they also posted a brief piece explaining the new budget. It seems that state property taxes will go up, and that the state will be looking for new revenue streams (*ahem* — taxes) to cover the budget increases.

The state legislature has been trying to find a way to deal with this for several years. This is just one state supreme court decision among many that has broadened the role of government in our daily lives. I cannot comprehend how a judge would think himself better qualified than our elected representatives to determine what adequate funding for education means.

These kinds of things illustrate how much state politics matter — and yet they are often ignored. It makes sense to point out here that Jinyoung Lee, GOP candidate for the 45th legislative district, is under attack by the left! This isn’t suprising, since she is in the lead financially. This race will determine who controls the state senate. Her campaign says that the Seattle, “Eastside Leadership Council” is pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars from out of state special interest groups in attack ads against her.