Silver,

Whew!!! I hope your feeling better by getting all that off your chest!

You make some excellent points regarding long term thinking and pay as we go government. Because we don't have an income tax in Washington (did 'ya hear that Dave J! ha ha :p ), we pay taxes as we go, and you and I both know, that we are paying plenty. Even those that don't pay as much as we do through the taxes and fees related to recreational fishing still are users of the same infrastructure. I'm not sure I can blame myself for not paying enough on that point.

Seems to me that your position on taxing and spending in this state is based on a belief that the government is doing the best it can. This may be the case, I admit, governing is not a win-win situation, tough choices must be made. My belief though is that government is wasteful and doesn't necessarily do the job we need them to do, even if it's the best they can do. I think that the government should get out of the business of being all things to all people and provide the basic infrastucture to build the economy. Oh God, is that the basis of trickle down economics? Well, sorry for that, I just don't believe that more government is the answer to our challenges. Not saying I do know the answer either! I'm not the governer for God's sake!

On the issue of car tabs, I haven't said whether I agree or disagree with that referendum, what I said was that it cannot be blamed for the loss of hatcheries directly. If you agree that there was misuse of the exise tax as it was inacted, check it out Silver, it was inacted to pay for roads and infrastucture but was rolled into the general fund for ???, then I would agree that losing those funds has some indirect impact on the general funding for the WDFW. I'll skip over the fact that it was enacted when cars cost $3,000, not $30,000.

But separate from that issue is the enhancement fee. It was added to the cost of licenses for hatchery funding, to sustain them! Period. They have meddled with those funds and are now crying that they can't maintain and upgrade the existing facilities. I say foul ball! It was the program that was implemented by the legislature, and whether it was a constant source of income during good and bad periods of license purchases, geez, that's another topic all to itself. It was an additional fee. You know that Bern Shanks was the fall guy for the lack of license revenue, right? Now we've got Doctor Koenig, and the prescription he's on is to maintain maximum allowable harvest. Where will that eventually lead? You, yourself sold your boat, and I can understand why. Too much harvest. Not enough opportunity. OK, I digress...

I do agree that the wealthy are not taxed in a way that is fair to the working middle class. But will we ever be able to change that? Not as long as our government is for sale, which I believe that it is. Democrats and Republicans alike pander to special interest. Until we change that fact, we're screwed!

Just some more opinions, I know that it won't change the big picture or anyones mind, but I feel better!