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October 11, 2010 in City
Furlough day for many Washington state employees
Associated Press
While Columbus Day is a holiday for federal workers, Monday is an unpaid furlough day for tens of thousands of Washington state employees at dozens of agencies.
This is the fourth of 10 furlough days the state has scheduled to cut spending and help balance the budget. The other furlough days will be Dec. 27, Jan. 28, Feb. 22, March 11, April 22 and June 10.
Public health and safety workers are exempt.
© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
1992 murder trial begins against sex offender 
hawken on October 11 at 7:21 a.m.
It’s probably going to be the laws of economics that shrink state government, not state government…. ie; the current legislature and governor…
The taxpayers might make a run at this November… maybe that’s “Hope We Can Trust In.”
Here’s the bright side for those state employees,,,, they are not unemployed like 10% of our fellow citizens…. nor underemployed like 18-20% of our fellow citizens.
PhiltheBibliophil on October 11 at 8:21 a.m.
hawken, I certainly agree. But when the voters vote in November take the State out of the Liquor business, repeal the taxes on organic candy, bottled water etc., and reject the state income tax, there will be more of these furloughs and alot more layoffs. The fundamental change needs to be better management of the dollars we do send them! If you have constant waste, fraud and mismanagement, you only continue to pour money down a sink-hole!
hawken on October 11 at 10:44 a.m.
PhiltheBibliophil You are absolutely correct!
soccermomsusie on October 11 at 10:52 a.m.
You are all right! This is what our Tea Party is all about!
Let’s stop the Libertard Demoncrat Stinkgressives now.
It’s easy to feel sorry for these state workers, but I can’t. My husband and I are on a state disability and are getting social security and medicare. So, there is no way we (technically) can even have a vacation, let alone a furlough. Must be nice.
Let’s stop ObamaCare too!
W AGAIN IN 2010!!!
HEAR OUR VOICE!!!!!
lewis8457 on October 11 at 11:02 a.m.
Hawken I think you can increase that unemployed number by 10% for those that have fallen off the unemployment grid, the grid only counts those collecting unemployment.
Yes in their wisdom the state thought the cash cow would go on for ever, so they were not prepared for the recession nor are they going to be prepared for when the tax payer says enough is enough and cuts more of their funds.
The State workers better get ready to pay more of their health care premiums because that is coming too.
at least the state makes their free day off on a Friday or Monday in the private sector it would be Wednesday or Thursday.
west on October 11 at 11:17 a.m.
Did t=you notice with all these employees off today, you really suffered in lack of service? Nahhhhh.
hawken on October 11 at 11:53 a.m.
Yes… lewis… you are absolutely correct….
I’m just trying to be “conservative”… otherwise my liberal adversaries might wrongly use the actual, larger, number as an opportunity to again blame it all on Bush… even thought, we are now two years into the Obama administration, $850 Billion more in dept,,,, that has worked out well,,,, with our auto industry, our banks, our mortgage companies, our student loan system, etc, etc….. “NATIONALIZED.”
I have never seen big government really tell the truth about unemployment…. regardless of which party is in control.
Big government’s first concern is big government.
Thoreau on October 11 at 12:07 p.m.
Still, we celebrate Columbus Day - a day of homage toward a slaughtering, intolerant invader. Why not just rename it “Discovery Day”, of “Leif Erikson Day” ?
hawken on October 11 at 1:17 p.m.
Thoreau;
You might be onto something here!
Let’s also rename the 4th of July to “Traitor’s Day”
We could call D-Day…. “American Imperialism Day.”
We could call both Pearl Harbor Day and our remembrance of 9/11… “America Got What It Deserved Day.”
How about this….
Lets call Christmas…. “Religious Oppression Day.”
Let’s call Thanksgiving… “There is No God Day.” …or…. maybe…. “Government Thanksgiving Day.”
Let me give this some more thought…. You might have be onto something here…
Are you,,, by chance,,,, or maybe by design,,,, taking on the name of “Henry David Thoreau, the Fabian Socialist, worshiped by the modern day media and some of the most powerful in our current government?
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread532846/pg1
Naaaa…. Your name, Thoreau is probably your real name… and has nothing to do with the Fabian Socialist… Henry David Thoreau…. my mistake…
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread532846/pg1
Scoutster on October 11 at 1:25 p.m.
I thought Columbus Day was National Syphilis Day
hawken on October 11 at 1:33 p.m.
OK… now I know for sure that Scoutster is a “Fabian Socialist”…. his idea is much better than Thoreau’s!
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread532846/pg1
Pat O'Leary on October 11 at 1:42 p.m.
soccermomsusie…you are soooo clever and to top that you and the hubby are both suckling at the public teat. Apparently you enjoy the largesse of the “libertard, stinkgressive, demoncrats” who instituted the very programs you and your right-wing pals are so dismissive of. Of course, you don’t have the courage of your convictions to live without government help. I guess hypocrisy is not a word recognized by the teabagger dictionary.
hawken on October 11 at 1:58 p.m.
So… Pat Oleary….
people of their age whom have paid into Social Security and Medicare for so many years….. are now hypocrites for expecting something back from all those years of paying their taxes.
I suppose that is also their fault that congress after congress after congress has raided the social security bank/trust for their own pet projects.
Also, I must assume (which would be a huge mistake on my part)… that you have all of the details as to why they are on state disability…. Certainly, since they oppose your liberal world view…. they could not possibly have a legitimate claim with disability…. Only those that support your liberal world view have such a claim…. according to your illogic.
So your conclusion…. they are hypocrites, sucking at the public teat… having no right whatsoever…. to criticize, liberal, big government…
Have I missed something here….
MrNatural on October 11 at 2:02 p.m.
You’re on track soccermom but you only hit the tip of the iceberg.
How can anyone stoop so low as to become a federal, state or local government worker is beyond my imagination. To read the wisdom and insight put forth by the tea party conservative visionaries on this thread I realize that government employees all must be some kind of masochistic parasites. How could they have the gall to take money from these patriotic conservative capitalists and hallowed armchair malcontents. I think when the republicans take over the house and senate and Sarah and Newt (in that order) take over the Whitehouse that every stinking aspect of government should go to the private sector and all services (police, fire public health etc) should go on a pay as you go basis. All schools should quit sucking off those hard working people without children and charge tuition individually to those families who want schoolin’ and any infrastructure should be strictly performed by convict labor to make profit for the private prison firms. Can Medicare because if you can’t afford health care on your own then tough; and all this liberal concept social security and income tax infringement should be eliminated and all spare wealth should only be invested in the holiest of holy’s…Wall Street.
I call on all government employees including all Senators and House Representatives to end their positions and submit to the free market rule, establish a strict pay as you go private societal rule and abolish the concept of election and replace it with the highest bidder or the most wealthy gets to call all the shots
HEAR THAT VOICE!
Scoutster on October 11 at 2:05 p.m.
Mr. Natural…
You ‘da man!
Scoutster on October 11 at 2:07 p.m.
Maybe we should privatize the armed services.
And how ‘bout the police (I mean, we only pay their wages anyway, they don’t really work for us.)
MrNatural on October 11 at 2:14 p.m.
Scoutster…somehow I imagine that in a society based solely on privatization without government that the prospects of labor in the armed services and police will abound!
hawken on October 11 at 2:21 p.m.
Mr. Natural….
did I anger you? …with my 11:31am post in my response to you on the article “Weighing In?” Sure sounds like it when I read your 2:02pm post here on this string.
Yeaaa,,,, I’m sure that I did anger you.
But you must understand that was NOT my intent. My only intent was to expose your faulty reasoning… NOT to anger you.
By the way, Mr. Natural…. are you not jumping strings here?
Misjustice…. where are you when I need you??? Mr. Natural is jumping strings! Where is your reproof, misjustice! Help! You are the string jumper police in this forum!
rshroll on October 11 at 2:32 p.m.
Cut government and cut it some more. Sounds like some people think things are just the same as a few years ago. I do agree that we are extremely heavy on prisons in this state and country, but a lot of other services have been cut to the bone. You don’t have to look very far to see this. Take Medical Lake for example. Interlake School for the severely disabled was completely closed down. The University of Washington Primate Research Center was completely closed down. Pine Lodge Correction Center for women completely shut down. Lakeland Village institution for developmental disabilities will be completely shut down within 5 years. Four large wards at Eastern State Hospital closed. It seems to me that those are real governmental cuts. If you don’t use the particular service you just don’t need it…right? Just let those people live on the streets or die. I would rather live in a “society” that wasn’t full of completely self serving and self centered individuals.
Scoutster on October 11 at 2:40 p.m.
Ron…
Some of these comments are intended to be tongue in cheek. Nobody does it better than soccermomsusie, but Mr. Natural gave a good crack.
Of course we feel it when services are cut. People just don’t want THEIR services cut. And, I think a lot of people object to the inefficiencies of state govt. What a lot don’t realize is that it is not the low level bureaucrat that makes it inefficient—usually it is the unions, the legislature or the Feds that put dumb reporting requirements or compliance issues in place. Sometimes its us.
In 2008 (might have been 2006?), voters had a ballot measure called I-1029. Do you want people who take care of seniors to have better care? Of course, the voters said, by over 70%. Bad idea. Now we have a costly boondoggle that helps unions but probably won’t make one vulnerable person safer. Just one example.
hawken on October 11 at 2:42 p.m.
Ron:
You miss the point, I think…..
Public safety deserves a priority in our state budget. I think most would agree with that.
That is not inconsistent with severely cutting back Washington state big government. Such cuts would require a more responsible group of legislators and governor to set such priorities, rather than fund everything that is laid upon their desk (granted, a bit of hyperbole to make my larger point)…. but, I’m sure that you do get the point.
Problem is that our current legislature and governor have no clue how to set priorities…. Al they know is big government…. “prima facia”…. valid upon it’s face.
hawken on October 11 at 3:02 p.m.
Scoutster;
You have got me wringing my hands with worry, a frown on my brow… and pacing back and forth in my study!!!
This is really hard for me…. but I must confess,,,, publicly,,,, that I actually agree with you! There! I said it!
“And, I think a lot of people object to the inefficiencies of state govt. What a lot don’t realize is that it is not the low level bureaucrat that makes it inefficient—usually it is the unions, the legislature or the Feds that put dumb reporting requirements or compliance issues in place. Sometimes its us.
In 2008 (might have been 2006?), voters had a ballot measure called I-1029. Do you want people who take care of seniors to have better care? Of course, the voters said, by over 70%. Bad idea. Now we have a costly boondoggle that helps unions but probably won’t make one vulnerable person safer. Just one example.”
Might you possibly be indicting big government on the state or federal level?? Just a question…. Far be it from me to make a foolish attempt to represent you position.
Thayne on October 11 at 7:14 p.m.
Hawken What is your alleged PHD in? Not history. The US was one of eight allied countries that supplied personnel for the D-Day invasion. The Nazi Germans were murdering millions of people (not just Jews, but people with disabilities, Poles, Soviet prisoners and civilians and other political and religious affiliations). One of the main purposes of the allied invasion was to stop the genocide. So explain how this is imperialism. Or better yet, don’t. The drivel you post is not worth reading. Your continuous comments about other bloggers being misguided or uninformed or any other terms you use to portray yourself as the only person with a valid opinion is getting old. This will be the last time I address your pompous and egotistical rants. As far as the bible thumping, religion has done considerable more harm to humanity than to help it.
hawken on October 11 at 8:34 p.m.
I think Thayne must be referring to my comments at 7:35am this morning…. “High-tech Low Purpose”…. which reads as follows:
“Have we forgotten the most evil of human depravity?? The Nazis… whom murdered millions of people world-wide, with no conscience, because of their political ideology.”
As you can see, there is no mention of Jews at all…. Where did that come from Thyane? Surely, you would not knowingly misquoted me?
hawken on October 11 at 8:39 p.m.
Oh… by the way Thayne…. I think Scoutster might be of some help to you here… he sees the obvious, which apparently you do not… let me quote Scoutster, probably my favorite liberal..
“Some of these comments are intended to be tongue in cheek.”
Scoutster: 2:40pm post….
bszottlinger on October 11 at 9:01 p.m.
“Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.”
Elbert Hubbard