Most of the "IronHeads" I have met are pretty independent (scary sometimes). I could round up a group of them and send them to Olympia to make the new governor an offer he couldn't refuse.

The state of Washington has participated in recent studies that show, as many before have, that the sports fishing industry is a huge part of this state's economic base. This does get ignored though. Why? Well just examine actions taken by the likes of Ron Simms and Gary Locke. Those two extreme socialists have done the opposite of what the public wants (except their support base in Seattle) and what makes economic sense many times. Social programs like the new apartment building in Seattle for drunks so they can sit in their new apartments and get drunk, light rail that is very unpopular, more than double over budget, smaller than promised and off schedule by miles, A DSHS that runs around promoting "services" instead of saving money and getting people out of the system. They have chased business out of this state and raised taxes to an extreme, they encourage illegal immigration and offer "services" such as in-state college tuition rates to illegals. Opened up the hospital emergency rooms to all comers for free medical treatment if you have no insurance and no money. The list goes on.

The bottom line in, my opinion, is that the extremist socialists who have dominated politics in our state are more concerned with attracting votes from their growing pool of those who collect from the public trough than they are with business and sensible monetary policies. So preaching to those fools about how much money sports fishing generates is a waste of time. If we came up with a scheme to tax the rich (those making over $50,000 a year) so we could give salmon away free to the "service takers" THEN we would get their attention. If we gave in and let the tribes fish 24/7 because we feel so bad about how the white man screwed them over 200 years ago THEN we would get their attention.

OR.....we could consider throwing the socialists out of state and city government and electing people who believe in personal accountability, private property, hard work and a healthy business climate. And don't give me that hackneyed old BS about business raping the environment and not caring for the little guy. Get a life with that crap. Look at the track record of our state.

We have made some great strides in the last 4 years or so with our fisheries. The sports fishing groups have gotten involved in the process and we are very visible. We need to step it up another notch or two this coming year and keep the heat on with positive proposals and we need to make it known that sports fishing is a viable business that involves all walks of life...not just the rich.

The crop of candidates out there doesn't look too promising. Jay Inslee?