With great sadness, I share the news of the passing of R.W. (Bob) Robinson, a lifetime Sequim resident, a very active Republican and Precinct Committee Officer (PCO) and prolific letter writer to the newspapers to help spread the message. Bob always brought a witticism or two to every meeting, had great knowledge of political affairs from national to local, and was a wonderful Christian man. We will miss him greatly.
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute examines the relationship between higher education, civic knowledge and citizenship. http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2011/summary_summary.html
It’s interesting to note that college educators have on average only gotten a 55% correct answer rate on the test. Average Americans got only a 49% average correct. Take it, and see how well you can do…
http://www.isi.org/quiz.aspx?q=FE5C3B47-9675-41E0-9CF3-072BB31E2692
Fact of the Day: From 1999-2010, the U.S. Department of Justice spent $43 million to defend the EPA against lawsuits and paid out $14.2 million in attorneys fees alone from 2003-2010 – 75% of which went to environmental groups. Source: Government Accountability Office (GAO), Report 11-650 (published August 2011).
Have you ever wondered how much we’re paying the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) in the way of salaries? Here is a link to the State Office of Financial Management which breaks down the earnings for each of the 461 employees that the DOE has on its (YOUR) payroll. http://www.ofm.wa.gov/persdetail/2011/461.pdf
If you are interested to see how your tax dollars are being spent in other departments as far as personnel – er, human resources – is concerned, click here: http://www.ofm.wa.gov/persdetail/2011/alpha.asp#e
This puts the U.S. national debt in perspective: • U.S. tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000 • Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000 • Current deficit: $1,650,000,000,000 • National debt: $14,271,000,000,000 • Budget cuts: $38,500,000,000 Now, let’s remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:
• Annual family income: $21,700
• Money the family spent: $38,200
• Additional charges on the credit card: $16,500
• Current credit-card balance: $142,710 • Budget cuts: $385
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