Valley(ford) Girl

Okay, fine...
Fer sure, fer sure
Shes a valley girl
So sweet n pure
Okay, fine...
Fer sure, fer sure
Shes a
Its really sad (valley girl)
Like my english teacher
Hes like... (valley girl)
Hes like mr. bu-fu (valley girl)
Were talking lord God king bu-fu (valley girl)
I am so sure
He's like so gross
He like sits there and like plays with all his rings
And he like flirts with all the guys in the class
Its like totally disgusting
I'm like so sure
It's like barf me out...
Gag me with a spoon!

- Frank Zappa

Just when I thought Caitlin "Carpetbagger" Ross couldn't say anything stupider in the paper, along comes this article in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Hailey, Ross share some views, vary on others

On the surface, Republican Steve Hailey and Democrat Caitlin Ross couldn’t look more different.

Hailey lives on a modest ranch in the middle of a narrow canyon outside of Mesa, Wash. A swath of green shoots and seed corn runs down the middle of his farm — a stripe of vibrant life in the desert. Chickens strut freely in the gravel driveway.

The 61-year-old Hailey sat at a round table inside his small gray farmhouse Friday, wearing a denim shirt with that soft, slightly faded, broken-in look that fit his gray hair and wiry moustache.

Ross seemed at home sipping a Peanut Butter Frost drink in the Daily Grind cafe in Pullman on Saturday. The 22-year-old Mercer Island native wore a blazer and long, flowing skirt. Her bobbed hair and freshly scrubbed face exuded youth.

She buzzed with intensity as she talked about what she’s learned by campaigning, and how she’s handled the stings and barbs.

Both candidates are running on their differences — youth versus experience, third-generation farmer versus new college graduate.

Hailey says his life experience as a farmer, businessman, agricultural lobbyist and member of the Franklin County Planning Commission make him better qualified to represent Washington’s 9th District in the state Legislature.

The 9th District is a heavily agricultural region that includes all of Whitman, Asotin, Garfield, and Adams counties, and parts of Spokane and Franklin counties.

Ross says her youth and freshness are an advantage. She touts herself as something different, where Hailey represents “more of the same.”

On the issues, they differ widely — and largely along traditional party lines — when it comes to taxes, the minimum wage and private property rights.

Hailey believes Washington’s business and occupations tax, estate tax and high minimum wage are driving businesses across the border to Idaho or Oregon, or stopping them from locating here to begin with.

“I believe the minimum wage put on Washington — passed primarily on the west side of the state — is a classic example of them not understanding what it takes to survive on this side of the state,” Hailey said.

He cited an example from the Clarkston Chamber of Commerce, which had its annual banquet across the river in Lewiston because it could get a better value for its money.

“It drove home to me that we have an unfriendly business climate in this state,” Hailey said.

He supports eliminating the estate tax and reforming the business and occupations tax so it is assessed on net profits rather than gross income.

“I’m not politically naive enough to think we can get rid of the B and O tax,” he said.

He said he also isn’t naive enough to believe a minimum-wage freeze will pass in the Democrat-controlled Legislature, so he supports the idea of establishing a training wage to give businesses a little breathing room when they make new hires.

Ross, by contrast, doesn’t believe the minimum wage is hampering local business owners.

“They would want a living wage, too, if it were them,” she said. “I’m proud Washington has the highest minimum wage in the country.”

When Ross looks around eastern Washington, she sees opportunities for businesses, not restrictions.

“We have all sorts of options here. A business can start up here just fine,” she said.

She does not support altering the business and occupations tax, or eliminating the estate tax because of the impact that would have on the state budget.

The estate tax is tied to the Education Legacy Trust Fund and the state’s Office of Financial Management has estimated the fund will lose about $100 million per year if the tax is eliminated through an initiative on the November ballot.

Hailey described the Legislature’s move in 2005 to link the estate tax to education funding as the equivalent of budgetary sleight of hand. Money for the fund used to come from property taxes, he said, and it will again if the initiative passes.

He believes elimination of what he refers to as a death tax would entice more businesses to come to Washington state, and that would generate revenue from other sources to make up for the loss.

While Ross sees a need for more funding for public school programs, Hailey believes the state’s level of education spending is on target. Both agree the Washington Assessment of Student Learning — a standardized test all public school students must pass before graduation — may not be the wisest way to use the state’s education money.

“Apparently, there are other tests that could measure students’ performance at a fraction of the cost,” Hailey said.

Another key issue in the 9th District is the skyrocketing cost of health care, both candidates said. Hailey favors looking at the rules under which health insurance companies operate and finding ways to encourage more competition and more options for consumers. He believes that would help drive down costs.

Ross would like to encourage health insurance companies to cover more preventative services so patients don’t develop chronic conditions that cost consumers and taxpayers money.

“We need to teach people how to take care of themselves so (illness) doesn’t happen again, instead of relying on ER visits,”she said.

So,since according to Ross, wages should be based on what you want, why settle for $7.65 an hour. Let's make it a bitchen $100 an hour. I'm sure that's what the owners would want. To hell with supply and demand in the labor market.

Fer sure, a business can start up here just fine. Why, we have to beat them off with a stick. Entrepreneurs are just lining up to open in a state that has a high B&O tax, a death tax, high sales tax, and the highest minimum wage in the country. Just why did Cabela's pick grody old Idaho anyway? Like, gag me with a spoon.

And hallelujah, Caitlin has solved the health care crisis! Why didn't we think of it before? It's so simple. All we need is for the Nanny State to teach us how to take care of ourselves, and no one will ever get sick again.

And she thinks her age and lack of experience are advantages?