It takes only one
To the Editor,
I am worried about what seems to be happening to Congress, especially the senate. We have just elected a president by a large popular vote, a president whose approval ratings remain high despite the financial crisis. Yet his legislative agenda seems blocked at every turn by his own party and by the arcane rules of the Senate.
It used to take 41 votes in the Senate to filibuster a bill to death. Recently, it has taken only one. The process is called a "block" or "hold," and is usually practiced by a junior minority party senator from a sparsely populated state. The current chief culprit and practitioner of this art is Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.
If this weren't bad enough, the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, himself from a sparsely populated state, supports this arcane blockage rule, and has told the president that he feels no obligation to support his legislative agenda.
There is, however, a way around this one-man filibuster. The Senate's "reconciliation' rule allows the majority leader to order a vote after 20 hours of debate. Republicans used that rule liberally when they were in the majority; but now that they aren't, Reid seems unwilling to employ it even to rein in a senator like Coburn, who by himself has blocked numerous humanitarian bills in the last congress.
One of these bills was the latest revision of the Jubilee debt forgiveness bill for impoverished nations. It is estimated that this bill alone would have saved over 1 million third world children from starving to death in the next five years.
How any senator can live with himself after single-handedly blocking a bill like that is beyond me!
Write Coburn and Reid and tell 'em what for! Zip code: 20510.
David Duncombe
White Salmon
Egg hunt just part of ABATE family fun
To the Editor,
I see that there were many Easter egg hunts to be had throughout town, but also noticed a group that was not recognized. The Columbia Gorge Chapter of ABATE Easter Egg committee worked for the hunt held with Pine Springs Resort. We appreciate so much being able to work together in this event for our community. There were real live bunnies and a beautiful handmade bird house gifted to winner, Natasha Muzechenko.
We look forward to doing other fun activities in our wonderful community throughout the year. Look for our Charity Ride-a-thon coming in May and our fun scavenger hunt, coming June 13, in conjunction with the 13-plus mile yard sale. Everyone is welcome to join in!
Also, if you like to ride on and off-road motor vehicles, motorcycles, dirt bikes, ATV's, etc., you should be aware of what changes our legislators are considering. For more information, look into the SB5482 and others. It's time to call and email your representatives and senators. Be aware!
Dianna Niday
Goldendale
Community welcomes home and garden show
To the Editor,
The Steering Committee of the Goldendale Regional Home & Garden Show would like to tell the community of Goldendale W O W! You really showed your support for our efforts.
This committee, comprised of various members, was anxious about their first Home & Garden Show. We have been meeting for about a year planning for this event. At first we were concerned that we wouldn't get enough sponsors to get us going. Then we worried that we wouldn't get enough vendors to fill the space. After all this we wondered about the turnout.
The challenges that we encountered were the best kind of problems. Parking overflowed, aisles were a bit crowded, and the weather cooperated so much that some people needed sun screen!
Support came from outstanding volunteers and hardworking crews. Several sponsors stepped in to reinforce the work done by the Committee. The staging, set up and decorations were due to some wonderful business people in the area.
The focus for the event came from a strong desire on the part of the business community to generate exposure of what is offered right here in our area. At times we wanted to bring in other vendors to enhance the show but we always wanted to maintain the original focus of thinking local.
We were definitely testing the waters and it looks like it came out a big YES! By noon on Saturday we had exceeded our expectations for attendance and had clearly decided this would become an annual event.
The steering committee will be meeting again soon to wrap up the details and set the date for next year.
Again your support has been greatly appreciated.
GOLDENDALE REGIONAL HOME & GARDEN SHOW STEERING COMMITTEE
Cindy Bluemel
Karen Henslee
Julian Notestine
Diana Notestine
Mike Canon
Mindy Blomquist
Holly Backes
Linda Williams
Justin Steen
Earlene Sullivan
Steve Wall
Lorraine Reynolds
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