Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, is holding a town hall meeting at the Coupeville Recreation Hall, Saturday, March 21, at 2 p.m. It will be good to have her here with us. We all should be there.
Mary Margaret is now one of our state’s longest tenured legislators. She’s the much needed “Grand Matron” and conscience of our state legislature. With our state and nation in the mess it’s in, we need to let her know how we feel about it so she can do what we need to have done.
Controlled by big business that has lost all conscience, our national leaders have put us in this mess. We’ve suffered through Enron, Worldcom, Martha Stewart, Bernie Madoff, and an endless list like it. Legislative morals have been characterized by names like Jack Abramoff. CEOs like AIG’s are ripping us off with unconscionable bonuses and doing it with our own bailout money. The hacks and cronies of the past administration looted and plundered our treasury all the way from surplus to unfathomable deficit. Cheney promoted the creation of Blackwater, an often outlaw, wholly mercenary army, that operates within his, but outside of, American control. Worse, they are taking their ill-gotten gains out of the country to Dubai, Israel, and elsewhere. We’ve been played for suckers. Where will it end? If it isn’t treason, it’s the next thing to it.
But we have problems here at home too. PSE has been sold to a foreign enterprise and we hear that PSE’s CEO has pocketed more than a million dollar bonus for making the sale. Guess whose pockets that money came from? Guess whose pockets will continue to be gouged as rates go up? He even cozied up to these non-Americans so he could remain as CEO.
Barbara Bailey has made some stinging criticisms of our Democratic legislators for abusing our state Constitution’s emergency clause by using it for non-emergencies. The emergency clause prohibits public referendum. Once again the public is being cut out of the loop.
Finally, we are a nation of law and order. It is the basis of civilization itself. We need to know how within the confines of our own dictum, we tolerate the word “illegal” as in “illegal alien”? The working class on both sides of this issue are being exploited here too.
Mary Margaret has established a long and good reputation for decency. If it’s not already too late, we need to let her know how we feel so she can do what she can to head things in a better direction.
Be there!
Al and Barbara Williams
Oak Harbor
