C-Tran’s Proposition 1 Sales Tax Initiative – The Numbers Tell the Story

Submitted by Tiffany Couch

Are you confused by the conflicting statements related to C-Tran’s Proposition 1 initiative? Some have said that the initiative will give the Agency “twice as much money as they need!” Others have said, “the sales tax is not enough!”

So what are the facts?

In my business, the numbers tell the story. And thankfully, C-Tran has reported numbers which tell voters how the agency intends to use your sales tax funds.

Just a year ago, C-Tran came to the voters asking for a .2% increase in sales tax, claiming the funds were necessary for the Agency to maintain current levels of bus service. The initiative was passed, providing C-Tran with an investment of $10 million annually from local taxpayers.

This year C-Tran is asking voters for an additional .1% increase in sales tax to pay for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT). If passed, voters will be investing in C-Tran by an additional $5 million per year. Passing this year’s Proposition 1would effectively give C-Tran a $15 million annual revenue increase in just over one year.

Will that $15 million be enough to sustain current levels of bus service, BRT, and LRT?

C-Tran has provided that answer. And that answer is No.

Their current financial plan (http://www.c-tran.com/assets/HCT/HCT_System_and_Finance_Plan-Final.pdf) includes three different scenarios (“optimistic”, “pessimistic”, and “realistic’). Each of these scenarios shows the following:

• C-Tran will come back to voters as early as 2019 and ask for an additional .2% (or $10 million +) sales tax increase (see Page 33 of their plan).

• Even with $10 million in annual sales tax increases last year, a proposed $5 million in annual sales tax increase this year, and an additional $10 million in annual sales tax increase planned in 2019 (a total of $25 million per year), all of C-Tran’s financial plans show the Agency operating at a loss (i.e. expenditures will be more than incoming revenue), requiring them to deplete cash reserves (see Pages 37 – 42 of the plan).

Some may say these are “doomsday” or “worst case scenario” projections.

But, consider this: during 9 of the last 10 years (2002-2011), C-Tran has been unable to sustain profitable operations. C-Tran has shown significant net losses on the operation and maintenance of their current levels of bus service. In fact, in a year in which they received a nearly $10 million dollar increase in revenue from the passage of a sales tax initiative (2006), they were only able to eke out a $1.6 million dollar net income.

C-Tran may claim that I am being unfair in my analysis because I am not including the grant revenues they received in each of those years, which appear to “alleviate” these losses on their income statement. However, let’s be clear. Those grant revenues were strictly for purchases of capital assets (e.g. new buses). Those grant revenues are separated from the rest of C-Tran’s operating results for a reason: so that the reader of the financial statement (i.e. you, the investor) can understand the revenue and expenditures related solely to the operations of the Agency. And those numbers are clear: C-Tran continually operates at a loss.

C-Tran may also claim that I am being unfair in my analysis because as a result of the 2006 sales tax increase they were able to “bring back” services that had previously been taken away. Even with a restoration of services and an extra $10 million per year, why did C-Tran consciously decide to operate at a loss?

C-Tran has claimed that because of their large cash reserves and lack of long-term debt that they have been a “pay as you go system.” An observer during a recent community event made the following comment, “C-Tran is a pay as you tax system.” His observation is correct. A pay as you go system ensures that an agency maintains operations with current levels of revenue, and expenditures that do not exceed that available revenue. C-Tran’s entire future financial plan hinges on its ability to tax voters now and in the future. Even with a 2011, 2012 and 2019 tax increase, C-Tran’s own financial plans fail. And when those plans fail, C-Tran will be forced to come back to the voters yet again.

Tiffany R. Couch, CPA/CFF, CFE is Principal of Acuity Group, PLLC. A Vancouver, Washington based forensic accounting firm. She can be reached at tcouch@acuityforensics.com

Blog author note: The above Op-Ed was submitted to the Columbian's editorial page editor, John Laird and rejected with the reason given, its "too late."

Something voters need to be made aware of that hasn't been mentioned a lot: "Resolution BR-12-009 and RCW 81.104 authorize a proposition to increase the sales and use tax by 0.1 percent, or one penny on a ten dollar purchase, to fund the C-TRAN share of the maintenance and operations costs only of the Columbia River Crossing Project light rail extension between Expo Center and Clark Park & Ride and the local capital share and operations and maintenance costs of the Fourth Plain Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit project."

Of note in the statement from the voter pamphlet, BETWEEN EXPO CENTER AND CLARK PARK & RIDE.

Yes, if this passes and they force light rail on us, we will be paying for operations and maintenance inside Oregon as well.

Even more money to be drained out of our struggling community to bail out Portland’s folly of light rail.

Denny Heck, That's a Load of ‘Cavallo Sterco’

Yeah right, Denny. When was the last time any Democrat actually tried to reach middle ground?

Remember Jim Kastama, Rodney Tom & Tim Sheldon in Washington State this year siding with Republicans for a true bipartisan budget attempt?

Nice story line, but I think we all know it is just a load of 'Cavallo sterco.'

The ONLY time Democrats are interested in minority input is when they are in the minority.

If I lived in the newly formed 10th district, I'd vote Dick Muri and keep Congress moving forward, not back to liberal Democrat control.

The Heck with Denny.

We Were Warned

Remember this ad from 2008?

The 3 AM call came and neither Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton picked up the phone.

As a result, 4 Americans, including our Ambassador to Libya were brutally murdered.

As we now know, we had a drone overhead and knew it was a well coordinated terrorist strike within minutes.

We also know we had reinforcements nearby who were told to 'stand down' when they requested to defend our Consulate in Benghazi, while the attack raged on for Six Hours!

Yes, who should we trust when the phone rings at 3 AM?

Certainly not those who already ignored it and watched while our countrymen were brutalized and murdered.

Leaks, Lies, Libya...Lack of Leadership

Please visit Special Operations Speaks and help this message get out.

Time is short to save our country.

Legendary Horse Whisperer Monty Roberts Helping Veterans

“There’s a condition in combat. Most people know about it. It’s when a fighting person's nervous system has been stressed to its absolute peak and maximum. In the First World War, that condition was called shell shock. Then a whole generation went by and the Second World War came along and very same combat condition was called battle fatigue. Then we had the war in Korea, 1950. Madison Avenue was riding high by that time, and the very same combat condition was called operational exhaustion. Then of course, came the war in Viet Nam…, the very same condition was called post-traumatic stress disorder. I’ll bet you if we’d of still been calling it shell shock, some of those Viet Nam veterans might have gotten the attention they needed at the time.” George Carlin – 1990 “Euphemisms”

Monty Roberts

George Carlin was well known for his biting humor and as in the words above, often injected social awareness. While I can’t say his words would have changed anything, he did show that society was finally coming to grips with the fact that they owed Veterans something, especially those suffering from PTSD and experiencing problems readjusting back into a peaceful civilian life.

Unlike when those of my generation and before returned from our wars, programs and treatments to help those Veterans are becoming more and more available. Knowing that when dealing with something like PTSD there is no such thing as a ‘one size fits all,’ we are seeing several different approaches, all showing results to help the Veteran overcome their wartime trauma.

Treatments include medical therapy, mentorship, group therapy and many others, such as Hunting for Heroes where Veterans are taken out for a weekend of hunting and fishing and camaraderie. We also see various programs where the Veteran is paired with a dog, as we have locally with Battle Buddies in nearby Battle Ground, Washington.

Another effective program is Patriot Outreach and their successful Coping Strategies series, available free to Veterans.

In California we see real life Horse Whisperer Monty Roberts offering his knowledge and ability with horses to help Veterans in need with his Join-Up® with Veterans.


As with Hunting for Heroes and Battle Buddies, Monty Roberts ‘Horse Sense for Soldiers’ is also showing amazing success in helping those Veterans in need down in California.

It was very pleasing to recently receive word from my friend and fellow Veteran, Rees Lloyd that he and Patriot Outreach founder Col. Antonio Monaco have been invited to participate in the Monty Roberts Training with the intent of coordinating the Project in Oregon and in Washington, hopefully in the near future.

“I hope to be able to set up a special Monty Roberts ‘Horse Sense For Vets’ special workshop for Oregon and Washington Vets with stress in future next year” Rees said and invited me become involved too.

There is no intent to take away from other programs, like Battle Buddies or Hunting for Heroes, but to add another program to help more of our Veterans as they need.

Networking through our local Community Military Appreciation Committee and hopefully with the Clark County Veterans Court, where those struggling Veterans who have had minor scrapes with the law enter a mentoring relationship with another Veteran, more Veterans in need can be saved and reintegrated back into civilian life with less problems.

Divorces amongst our Veteran population is much too high and even worse is the suicide rate of our Veterans who have sacrificed so much on our behalf. We owe these young men & women all of the help we can manage.

Adding Equine Therapy gives all indication of being yet another success story for our Veterans.

George Carlin touched on the lack of treatment due largely to misunderstanding the nature of PTSD.

Fortunately for today’s returning Veterans, both understanding and effective treatments continue to come forth.

I am sure many are like me in looking forward to learning more about this program.

Bush’s Policies Increase Oil Production, Obama Gets Credit

It should come as no surprise to any of us that Barack Obama’s chances of being reelected look very slim. Or that our lamestream media will now do anything they can think of to build support to get him reelected, claiming some of the most fantastic lies they can muster.

A prime example of how the Obama Campaign is self-promoting lies is seen in the latest television ad, ‘Challenges,’ narrated by actor Morgan Freeman. It’s disappointing to see a man of Freeman’s caliber lending his voice to such a fabricated claim.

Perhaps he didn’t hear about the murder of our Ambassador and 3 other Americans in the Benghazi Consulate recently, or the high unemployment still seen in Detroit, Michigan or that GM’s bailout leaves taxpayers facing a $35 Billion loss while two thirds of the jobs promised seem to be overseas more than in Detroit.

He is correct that “more needs done,” especially considering VP Biden admitted the middle class has been buried these last 4 years and even in the last debate Obama admitted in the final debate, “we've neglected, for example, developing our own economy, our own energy sectors, our own education system. And it's very hard for us to project leadership around the world when we're not doing what we need to do...”

It appears that “going forward” with Obama will lead us right over the edge of a cliff of disaster that will finish off our country.

Two weeks from the most important election ever facing our nation, it does not surprise to see efforts by our lamestream media, who have long been hammering against oil production, denying there is more oil to discover and recover, that it causes global warming, we have reached ‘peak oil’ and other such canards to justify Obama’s many denials of permits to drill more oil on federal land and in the Gulf of Mexico, even blocking the Keystone XL Pipeline from Alberta, Canada, now run articles claiming, US May Soon Become World's Top Oil Producer.

The Associated Press article is appearing throughout the lamestream media, even our local version of Pravda, the Columbian, also known as the unofficial daily newsletter for the Democrat Party, who made it their headline.

After years of publishing articles and reports against the very method of recovery touted in today’s article, ‘fracking,’ there can be little doubt that the AP article is intended to bolster support and encourage voters that it is Barack Obama who deserves the credit for this upsurge in oil production seen.

There has no doubt been a marked increase in oil and natural gas production that began in 2008, but we continue to lag far behind what we could.

This blog has posted numerous times about our oil production and the potential of over a million good paying jobs waiting to be created. And while any increase is a step in the right direction, credit must go where credit deserves.

And it isn’t with Barack Obama.

As Mark Green of the American Petroleum Institute informs us, “Remember, the oil production timeline is a long one. Offshore and onshore projects can take up to a decade to develop, from leasing to actual production. Broken out by area, crude production on non-federal lands (69.7 percent of total production) has risen dramatically since 2010. Since 2010 crude production from areas controlled by the federal government has fallen.”

Mark Green also informs us, “North American energy security is within reach if we implement the right polices: Increased drilling on public lands – in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, for example – and off America’s coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico. Americans get this – 7 in 10 support increased access to domestic oil and natural gas resources, according to a recent poll.

We can also build the Keystone XL pipeline mentioned by Gov. Romney, to bring more crude from Canada’s oil sands. Combined with increased biofuels production, we could see 100 percent of our liquid fuel needs met domestically and from Canada by 2024. That’s what energy security looks like.

This also will require a sensible approach to regulation, federal leasing and permitting and tax policy. All would help create a stable investment climate in which oil and natural gas companies can expand energy development. With uncertainty – over whether energy-rich areas will be available for leasing, over how long it might take to get a federal drilling permit, over whether oil and gas companies will be singled out for higher taxes – energy investment and development will be hindered.”

The above has been the very things the Obama Administration has been doing everything within their power to block and deny. Reinforcing that is the Consumer Energy Reports Robert Rapier’s article, Are President Obama’s Policies Causing U.S. Oil Production to Rise?

Rapier plainly shows, Obama “presided over strong increases in domestic oil production that were a result of decisions made before [he] took office.” Rapier adds, “these projects take some years to build, and as in the case of the Alaska Pipeline, decisions that were made 4-6 years earlier benefited President Obama with increased domestic oil production.”

With an expectation of Obama winning a second term, looking more and more unlikely lately since the article was published, Rapier concludes, “[Obama’s] decisions today are certainly relevant for the future, and in 4 years he will deserve his share of the credit or blame for the status of the energy markets in the U.S.”

Regardless of who wins in November, Obama’s failed energy policies will be with us over the next four years.

You can fully expect the blame of those failures to continue being foisted onto others and off of him.

Any Wonder Why Republicans Are Seen As Crazy Hypocrites?

We all know there is a double standard when it comes to judging Republicans versus Democrats. Nowhere is this seen more than in what is labeled “family values,” where Republicans are portrayed as squeaky clean, Christian, upright and such, leaving them wide-open for the Saul Alinsky’s Rule 4: “Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. ‘You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity’.”

Democrats receive a pass for such indiscretions, as we saw with B.J. Clinton over the encounter with Monica Lewinsky, Barney Frank whose roommate at one time ran a homosexual prostitution ring out of their shared apartment and several others.

Republicans, on the other hand, are demanded and expected to be squeaky clean and any indiscretion from a Republican is immediate grounds for removal, as we saw with Florida’s Mark Foley and Idaho’s former Representative, Larry Craig.

The GOP is all too willing to comply with demands to oust even the most effective member of the party for any indiscretion or impropriety on their part.

Republicans using indiscretions to taint a Democrat opponent all too often end with the Republican being left with egg on their face, but that doesn’t stop them from trying and often making mountains out of molehills, losing sight of important issues while they focus on something from long ago that has no real bearing on today.

Amy Biviano

Such is the case now in Washington State 4th Legislative District race between incumbent Republican Matt Shea and his Democrat challenger, Amy Biviano.

Let me say here that I do not live or vote in the 4th District and if I did, my support would go the Matt Shea. But whoever is trying to trump up this issue against Ms. Biviano is hurting Shea more than they are her.

It seems news is out that 17 years ago, Ms. Biviano, when a 20 year-old student at Yale joined in with several other young ladies to be photographed topless for a Playboy Magazine “Women of the Ivy League” photo spread.

“Revealed” by right leaning Western Center for Journalism (photo on their site with strategic blacking out), not addressed by WCJ, as they point to her demands for Shea to reveal his past divorce and label her a hypocrite for not revealing her past, is just who at WCJ was digging through the very “soft porn” magazine they condemn others for reading?

Republicans tried a few years ago using far left liberal Playboy against aging Democrat Congressman John Conyers that did not gain any traction and went nowhere.

Biviano emailed her response on the revelation to the Pacific Northwest Islander admitting it was indeed her and adding that she would not do so today, outlining both the negative and positive results of her youthful college action.

Like others, she has matured, married and has a family and is a long time Liberal Democrat activist in a strongly conservative district.

Shea issued a statement condemning the use of the17 year old spread, but disappointing to read in the very first sentence, “I am saddened by the release by a national media outlet of my opponent’s involvement in pornography.”

That comes across to me as an unnecessary slap included in his “condemnation.”

Matt Shea is clearly the better candidate to represent the Spokane District. Amy Biviano is not who we need sitting in the legislature. But not because she once revealed her boobs in a photo shoot long ago. She is not suited because of her leftwing views and support for leftist policies that led us down this path of economic ruin we remain mired in.

Whether anybody, Democrat or Republican once appeared in Playboy or even if they buy and read it today has no bearing on our economy.

Many weeks ago I was approached by a Democrat friend of mine (yes, even I have Democrat friends) and asked to look over some photos of the daughter of a Democrat candidate and give my opinion if they should be taken down as too revealing or hurting the candidates chances in the election.

I saw an attractive young lady wearing a bikini bathing suit who, like other young ladies, is proud of her feminine figure. I said to my friend then that I saw nothing untoward in the photos and if someone ran across them and tried to use it in the campaign I would speak against such a tactic.

I see little or no difference in this effort to use a 17 year old photo shoot against someone who is more likely to lose on issues.

If anything, this tactic is more likely to gain support for the Democrat Biviano as she now becomes the victim.

Republicans can win elections if they focus on issues and point out how the current Democrat majority has led the state into such an economic nightmare.

Ms. Biviona’s breasts have no affect on our economy today. Her liberal views do.

Let’s focus on what is important.

Democrats Lie About Obama Catching Romney In A Lie

Received in email this evening shortly after the debate ended

The problem for Democrats is even Candy Crowley admitted she was wrong after the debate.


If the video of her words are not enough, the White House gives us the transcript showing Obama did not refer to the attack in Benghazi as an "act of terror."

Remarks by the President on the Deaths of U.S. Embassy Staff in Libya

For a definitive timeline of just what was said when, visit the Washington Post Fact Checker.

Don't expect the Democrats to take back their lie that Romney lied.

Massive Tax Avoidance For Wealthy Political Donors Alleged In Washington State

With the State of Washington suffering some of the worst budgeting and revenue troubles since the Great Depression, it is unconscionable reading that some well-connected wealthy donors to political campaigns may have avoided paying Millions in dollars of taxes, while the legislature continues scheming o take more taxes and fees from the still struggling middle class.

But that is what is happening in our state alleges a 29-year employee of the Department of Revenue.

First broke by the Washington State Wire, Dennis Redmon, who has been employed in the DOR for 29 years, is alleging in a Whistleblower complaint to the State Auditor, “as much as $35 million in taxes have been excused for taxpayers with [political] pull…”

Claiming what has become “routine occurrence,” the complaint states a well connected political contributor known for “large political contributions to the Governor and Democrat among others” avoided paying over $2,000,000 in use tax & penalties on a jet aircraft dating back to 2007. Privacy issues prevent the contributor’s name from being made public, but it is further alleged that when the Tax Assessment was prepared in January 2011, the Compliance Management Team placed a ‘hold’ on the assessment citing “political considerations.”

Contacted by the Washington State Wire, Redmon is quoted on the identity of the contributor, “This person is a very strong advocate for raising taxes, for an income tax on the rich, for the rich not paying their fair share. This person got caught with their pants down, with a very nice aircraft. It is acknowledged by all parties, including his tax advocates, that he owes the money. But he can buy his way out of it because he has paid enough money to politicians in Washington State. And that is about as nasty a fact pattern as it gets.”

In spite of repeated warnings from Yakima staff that the Dec. 31, 2011 deadline for the statute of limitations was fast approaching, Compliance management continued to maintain the hold until some time around the middle of January 2012 when Yakima staff received word “that there were no problems or issues with the tax bill, and the assessment could be delivered.”

Of course, with the statute of limitations for imposing the tax passed, it was too late and the well connected Democrat contributor did not have to pay the tax that should have been paid back in 2007 when the aircraft was purchased from another state.

By all appearance this was a deliberate act returning favors to a well connected political contributor as the complaint names “several top Department of Revenue managers who ‘may have directed or known of or influenced the improper governmental action’.”

Noting that “DOR still had one option, assessing a ‘use tax’ in compensation for the annual lease value of the airplane, an approach that would capture far less money but still might net the state a few bucks,” Redmon states, “Compliance agents have suggested that approach, but DOR has placed a hold on that assessment as well.”

Stating this is “part of a pattern that has emerged in recent years in which well-connected taxpayers have seen tax bills reduced significantly or even eliminated outright without proper legal justification,” Redmon says “This is a direct favor to a politically influential person, where the state is in a budget crisis, the state has lost $2 million bucks plus, and if that wasn’t good enough, they are going to block assessing even the crumbs around the edges that are still assessable.”

Caught unaware, DOR Director Brad Flaherty sent out an email claiming, “At this time, we are not aware of any improper actions on the part of the agency to impose taxes related to the purchase of a private airplane. This is certainly not the way we do business and not consistent with our values. We have an obligation to follow the law and make decisions based on our authorizing statutes.”

“In order to maintain impartiality in an investigation, we are taking immediate steps to ensure the matter is fully and independently investigated.”

Flaherty was just named Director earlier this year and this did not happen under his watch. It has been going on under the watch of former Director Suzan DelBene, appointed to the position by Governor Christine Gregoire in December 2010, who held the office until replaced by Brad Flaherty in January 2012.

DelBene left office in December 2011 to run for congress.

While the call for the investigation is warranted, it too raises concerns depending on just who is enlisted to investigate. If the Washington State Patrol conducts the investigation, there is a better chance at impartiality and getting to the bottom of it.

However, if individuals who were in sub-offices at the time this was happening investigate, chances are they will work to cover their back sides and we could see a sham investigation. At the very least we might see a stalling tactic to try to keep this quiet until after the elections this year.

I have not seen word of this yet in any major media in our state, but it is indicative of over a decade of one party rule that has held power far too long and feels it acceptable to return favors to those who help keep them in power, at the expense of citizens.

This is exactly the sort of allegations we repeatedly hear from Democrats, yet it turns out once again, they are who are doing it.

I’m not a big fan of Rob McKenna and even less of a fan of Jay Inslee. But whoever is our next Governor will be appointing people to run this department. Neither candidate has addressed this revelation that I have seen, but it is an issue that must be discussed publicly, before the election.

There is no place in our state for such favors to wealthy donors of either party.

The corruption alleged here along with the corruption seen daily with the Columbia River Crossing and even the Viaduct project in Puget Sound screams at us to change the face of politics coming out of Olympia and even in our own County.

Liberals and Democrats talk a good game, but once again we see they just utter hollow words.

It’s time this election to change the power in Olympia from Liberal Democrats and send more conservatives there, conservatives who will root out this sort of thing and hold people accountable for their wrongdoing.

We’ve had conservatives in office, but they have been the minority and silenced too often while corrupt politicians continue this pattern, shouting down critics. People like Senator Don Benton and County Commissioner Tom Mielke have been try to stand up to this sort of corruption while their opponents have turned a blind eye to it.

We need people like James Watkins in office as State Auditor, Kim Wyman as Secretary of State and Sharon Hanek as State Treasurer.

But most of all, we need to thank Dennis Redmon for putting his neck out on the chopping block to reveal to citizens of the state this pattern that has been ongoing these past years.

With Democrats in power he will likely face retribution and such tax avoidance will again be covered up.

Let’s take our state back and hold members of both parties and their appointees accountable.

RIP Command Sargeant Major Plumley

Sad news to hear that CSM Basil Plumley, Veteran  of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War passed away today in Columbus, Georgia.

Retired CSM Basil Plumley dies, Fort Benning mourns loss

 

Plumley was immortalized for his role in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in 1965 in the movie "We Were Soldiers" and portrayed by actor Sam Elliot.

RIP CSM Plumley, until we meet in Fiddler's Green. Well Done, Sir.

Clark College Helps Create Controversy Where None Exists

Clark College, in Vancouver, Washington continues to show it is really more of an Institution of Leftist Indoctrination than it is an Institution of Higher Education. Actual education seems to be secondary to actually educating students seeking to better themselves in being functioning members of society as it was when I was a student there.

In typical leftist fashion, Clark recently opened what could be jokingly referred to as their “Diversity Center,” presumably in an effort to overcome previous allegations leveled of rampant intolerance and racism on the campus by certain vested interests, even though none actually existed.

Most students ignored the self admitted neo-Nazi passing out flyers many said were racist, but that did not stop a small handful of instructors and teachers at Clark who leapt at the incident to whip up racial disharmony and demand a call for more “diversity,” a catch word now for acceptance and tolerance of any and everything, except White Christian heterosexuals.

As we have seen since the 2008 campaigns that propelled Barack Obama into office, in large part due to his having one Black parent from Africa, opposition to Obama is quickly labeled “racist” in an effort to impose White Guilt and shut down any opposition to Obama.

We have seen it across the country as something is created or blown out of proportion to claim racial prejudice when there in fact was none to begin with. Nothing can epitomize this better than the case known as the Jena 6 just prior to Obama announcing he would make a bid for the presidency, even though he was still early in his first term in the U.S. Senate.

We now see it locally as a simple protest in the city of Camas, a lone chair tied to a tree has been twisted and blown out of proportion to create a racial incident where there is none, labeled a “Chair Lynching” by the local unofficial daily newsletter for the Democrat Party, the Columbian.

For some unexplained reason, even though this protest is well over 15 miles away from the Campus of Clark College and not even in the same city the school is located in, so-called Diversity Advocates led by Sirius Bonner, Clark College’s diversity adviser have called and invited students at Clark to meet Tuesday at the new “Diversity Center” for a discussion on the so-called “chair lynching.”

In the invitation we read, “This forum offers another opportunity for the community to share their thoughts, ideas, and feelings about the incident through facilitated dialogue.”

Given Ms. Bonner’s comments in a recent Columbian article, common ground appears to be the last thing now being sought. She said, “Effigies of other U.S. presidents have been hung in the past, but those presidents were white. Even so much as hanging an item from a tree that happens to represent a black man harkens back to a painful period in America’s past.”

Missed or ignored by this “Diversity Adviser” is that Whites were lynched in our history as well.

If you will recall, during the 8 years of the George W. Bush Administration, calls of “Kill Bush” were rampant as well as a host of racially insensitive political cartoons appeared on websites and some newspapers against Black members of Bush’s cabinet.

Others, like Colin Powell were labeled “House Negroes” and worse by members of the left, with no condemnation, calls for “facilitated discussions” and not a single call from anyone at Clark College or the Columbian for any discussions on diversity.

But let someone in another city over 15 miles away from the campus tie a chair in a tree to protest Barack Obama and the way it is being portrayed would lead one to think there is a major Ku Klux Klan rally being held, even though those who are protesting have clearly stated they have no racial intent, but are opposed to Obama’s policies and list of failures as leader of the free world. Not unlike many of us.

I fail to see what this has to do with Clark College, but I am sure that this “facilitated dialogue” Tuesday will not be spent explaining to any that lynching’s in our history was not confined to Blacks or that no such lynching has occurred in decades, it is in our far past.

I am sure it will not be a discussion on people’s right to free speech and a chair, regardless of who it is to represent, does not equal a racial attack, or that skin color is not what matters, character and ability is.

I am equally sure much of the discussion will center around how wrong it is to protest Obama in this manner or much of any other manner, opposition frequently being labeled “racist” to play on White Guilt and the conceal or stifle opposition to both Obama and his far leftist agenda.

Will there be any discussion or condemnation of the vandalism seen around town by homosexual activist spray painting as many campaign signs as they can promoting the rejection of homosexual marriage? I sincerely doubt it and wouldn't doubt they will be praised for interfering with free speech of others, just as they are trying to do over this chair protest.

I am appalled that the Columbian and others, including Clark College have latched on to a legitimate protest, a form of protest the left has frequently used and justified and now misrepresent it as a racial incident to silence critics of the current administration.

Where is Clark College President Bob Knight, who has shown himself to be a pathetic president of the school, caving to special interests on such matters and even going before the County Commission to promote tax increases for unneeded projects, insulting Veterans in the process?

Knight shows himself to be just as much of an empty chair as is Barack Obama by not standing up and informing those seeking to feign outrage at someone else using free speech to protest a sitting president that the protest in Camas has absolutely nothing to do with Clark College.

But I guess they must justify their existence somehow.

Obama’s performance in office has been ineffective and made the country worse off in every area. He is not above reproach, I don’t care what his racial mix is. He has bypassed Jimmy Carter as the country’s worst president.

We must not tolerate these efforts to play the race card to silence criticism of his many failures.

Do not let the left guilt you into not speaking out or displaying your displeasure with the poor job Obama has done.

And until these “diversity advocates” include White Christian Heterosexuals in their call for diversity and acceptance, they should be ignored and marginalized.

Just a "Bump in the Road?"

Not hardly!

For more information, visit OPSEC.org

Was Obama Sleeping During The Debate?

As the dust settles and Democrats cry in their beer, everyone now knows that without his teleprompter, Barack Obama is lost. His performance in Wednesday Evenings Debate in Denver was one of the worst performances by an incumbent president ever. It is being reported that 67% of viewers gave the debate to Mitt Romney who in effect, cleaned Obama's clock.

Even Democrats are coming our disappointed. Bombastic James Carvell said, "Mitt Romney came with a chainsaw."

Chris Matthews, a staunch Obama supporter didn't feel that tingle up his leg watching the debate. Instead, he admonished Obama to start watching cable TV to learn what is going on.

Michael Moore nearly came unglued on twitter saying at one point, "This is what happens when u pick John Kerry as your debate coach."

Andrew Sullivan labeled the debate "a disaster" for Obama.

Just about anywhere you looked, liberals were admitting that Obama royally screwed the debate, falling flat on his face.

So how can Obama send out the following email moments after his butt was handed to him?

I don't know just who he feels he did proud because anyone watching the debate or even reading about it afterwards knows he choked and showed just how clueless he really is without the assistance of a teleprompter telling him what to say and when.