Observations May 2019

Democratic Socialist Pramila Jayapal made the Wall Street Journal’s”  editorial page recently with her Medicare For All Act which has drawn the support of more than 100 house Democrats.  Representing the 7th Congressional District, which encompasses Seattle and most of King County, the Bernie Sanders supported socialist has put forth her plan to socialize our medical system. 

Years ago I put forth a plan to provide medical care to all Americans.   it called for drafting all doctors right of medical school to serve in a National Medical Force for five years.  They would work in low income and non-served areas of  our country for five years, after which time, the government would pay their student debt and release them for service.  The plan never got beyond my small circle of friends.  I still think it makes more sense and is cheaper than Jayapal’s plan.

There’s an old legal statement that goes something like this:  “When you’ve got the facts on your side, argue the facts.  When you’ve got the law on your side, argue the law.  When you don’t have either on your side, scream, yell and pound on the table.”   That seems to be the track the House Democrats are taking in regard to the Mueller Report.  Re-direct attention away from the facts and the law and hope someone listens.

The flap in Lacey over the cost of the Train Depot Replica is running without facts.  I think it was Mark Twain who said something like: “A lie can make it around the world before the truth can get its boots on.”    Opponents of the historic train depot are saying the cost is a million dollars for a bathroom.  There’s no truth in that statement. 

The actual cost of the Historic Train Depot is around $660,000.  It is a two-story structure of about 4000 square feet.  The bathrooms are only part one of the entire project.  The building has space for meeting rooms, areas for musical and artistic performance, and will tie into the new Lacey History Museum when it is completed sometime in the future.   The city is building now and looking down the road to creating an anchor for the city’s historic district.