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Troy Hutson Handed Out Seattle Welfare Benefit Cards, No Questions Asked.

Troy Hutson  the head of the states food stamp and child support agency quit just before he was fired. He was defending himself as doing a real good job. His boss Susan Dreyfus thought he did a good job. And believe it or not State Rep. Mark Miloscia D Federal Way hated to see him quit. He says Economic Service is the best run agency in the state. He wanted to give the best customer service he could and said these people are poor and wanted them to feel good about themselves and make it as easy as possible. Well what about the taxpayer that is furnishing the money DHSH to hand out? Mr. Troy Hutson had to know those people were not losing their cards. He replaced 27,000 cards($600 a pop) no questions asked. Why not make it even easier, just stand on a corner near a bar or strip joint and say “step right up” get your entertainment money right here. Kind of like a hot dog vendor. I know from being a landlord of a low rent apartment house and living beside one that the people who are getting a welfare check and debit cards are NOT POOR. They are alcoholics or druggies that have no intention of ever going to work. Of course they can’t hold a job. If they had to pee in a bottle everyday to see if they were drinking or on drugs they would all fail. The ones I know are young, able bodied and say they have issues. Their issue is they don’t want to go to work. You do not help an alcoholic by giving him money. You do not help a drug addict or gambler by giving them money. They know every trick in the book to get more help and not have to sober up or find a job. The fact that they might have a child or two does not help that child if they spend the money for booze or sell their card for cash instead of buying food. It sounded like Troy Hutson had a good education but he was brain dead when it came to common sense. He will not have to pay back a cent of the millions he handed out no questions asked. He wanted to give the best customer service, well he really nailed that one.  But it a recent news article published also said he believed in innovation and accountability. Accountability to who?  I think the DHSH should be completely done over. They have so much money and forget that they can’t give a thing away until it has been taken away from a worker and a lot skimmed off to pay their wages. Its like a white collar crime with the taxpayer getting fleeced.  I wonder with the blatant handing out replacement cards if someone was getting a cut. I worked all my life and I live on my social security. If I lost my check, it would take 30 days to get it replaced. I have to eat just like the drunks and dopers but I would have to figure out how to make it. Guess we old people don’t deserve good customer service. Why couldn’t I walk in and get a new check and just say I lost my old one, and not even tell my name? This is so completely stupid its hard to write. Well in another article you will see that now you can get free tuition to a Seattle University with a free lunch and a flunking grade. Well they could certainly take over Troy Hutson’s job. It would not take much education to hand out replacement cards, no questions asked. No one would ever complain that they did not get good customer service that’s for sure. When will the wasting of our tax dollars ever end?

Getting a Free School Lunch Qualifies you for a Free Scholarship to a Seattle College

I wrote this letter/email to our Seattle Mayor McGinn in response to a recent program created by Washington State that guarantees a free scholarship to any students getting free lunches (or reduced lunch programs).  It’s called the “College Bound Scholarship Program”.  Here is the program summary from Seattle Mayor McGinn’s office here.

Dear Mayor McGinn:

I was so surprised to get this notice about guaranteed tuition to any student on the federal free and reduced lunch program. WOW. This sure beats the toy in the Cracker Jack Box or the Happy Meal at McDonald’s.  It is so STUPID (you know it and you know we people know it) it is hard to know where to start. Up until you sent this notice I have been reading about how our LOCAL kids who have a 4.0 grade average, valedictorian of their class are denied entry to the University. Hundreds of kids were turned down because the University pays their management all 6 figure salaries. Just out of whack completely the waste in upper management but they wont listen at all. They cant afford local students because they can sell the spots to foreign students who will pay 3 times more. NOW, with your hair brained scheme of offering free tuition with a free lunch should really be challenged. You know nothing is free. You have to take it from a worker to give it to someone who does not want to work. I am sure there are some families that need help but any one I know on the free dole sure does not deserve it. You do not have POOR people. You have alcoholics, dopers and people who have never worked and never intend to work that know how to work the system. If the people who are getting welfare checks had to show up every day and pee in a bottle and pass the drug and booze test to get help it would cut the welfare rolls by 90%. Why do you think taxpayers should contribute money for these people. Low paid workers know they cant sent their kids to college. I could not send mine to college. I was a single mother working at Boeing. (For the record, I was married when I had them, all had the same father, but he died of cancer). We were poor. I would write a check for food and hoped that check did not clear before my Boeing check did. I was the youngest of 12 children during the depression. but want to add here that I did get a scholarship to go to any college in Montana. I got it because I had a 4.0 grade average and was the valedictorian of my class in 1941, Victor, Montana. We didn’t get free school lunches, and you could not be poorer than we were. No electricity, running water, but I did not get into any trouble. What you are offering is that if people can somehow stay on welfare, til their kids are old enough to go to college they can go free. 2.0 is actually flunking. What is a college going to do with those kids? Maybe put them to work handing out free welfare debit cards, no questions asked like they do at DHSH. These kids can get a felony plea bargained down because they will have free lawyers. Hope this is the thing that tips the ice burg. Shame on you for thinking this is right. It encourages people to stay on welfare and it does not even require the kids to get a 4.0 grade. I know you don’t read a thing I send, and I will get a copy of a website page from some staff member but needed to write it down and have a paper trail.

Lilly – Seattle

Free Tuition At Seattle Colleges
Free Tuition At Seattle Colleges

University of Washington Leadership Failure

College Books Photo

A new President is about to be named at the University of Washington and his name is Michael Young.  He was a busy guy today with press conferences and visiting the University of Washington.  Today was his first time ever at the University.  He took questions from the student leadership and the general feedback was that he is “down to earth guy and honest.”   The previous President was scheduled to make a little over $900,000 per year.  When asked today about his salary, he said he would be willing to take less.  Michael Young was very excited to be working at the University of Washington (I’m sure he was – I would be to if I was making 75K a month!).

You can read our previous article about the University of Washington and Seattle’s Schools bad revenue but it all comes back to a failure in leadership.  Money that could be used for the students is being used and abused by upper management.  Teachers are the first ones to get the cut in the pay and we continue to hear about schools wanting more and more money in taxes and funding.  Should we keep increasing the taxes and approving school bonds that are just being wasted by upper management?  Michael Young isn’t special. We could have had a qualified University of Washington President for less than $250,000.  The rest of the money could have been used on students in need, low income, or scholarships.  This is just another example of a failure in leadership and the people in charge don’t have a clue.  Unfortunately, seeing it again at the University of Washington is sad.

About the University of Washington

The University of Washington (UW), established in 1861, holds the distinction of being one of the oldest and most esteemed institutions on the West Coast of the United States. Nestled in the city of Seattle, Washington, UW not only stands out for its rigorous academic programs but also for its innovative research, drawing students and scholars from around the globe. Encompassing three campuses – Seattle, Tacoma, and Bothell – the university presents a dynamic learning environment, intertwining beautiful landscapes with state-of-the-art facilities. Offering a plethora of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs across various disciplines, the UW sustains a robust educational ecosystem that cultivates intellectual prowess and research aptitude.

UW’s formidable reputation in research has been underscored by its contributions to various fields, including medicine, science, engineering, and the humanities. The university is renowned for its research in space exploration, environmental science, public health, and myriad other domains. Furthermore, UW consistently ranks among the top recipients of federal research funding, reflecting its pivotal role in advancing knowledge and innovation. With a strong commitment to sustainability, diversity, and societal impact, the University of Washington continues to shape future leaders, foster innovation, and contribute significantly to the global body of knowledge and research.

Update about Michael Young

Michael Young

Michael Young served as the President of the University of Washington (UW) from 2011 to 2015. Before his tenure at UW, Young had an extensive career in academia and administrative roles at other notable institutions. He served as the President of the University of Utah and had roles at other universities before taking the leadership position in Washington. Michael Young was earning an annual salary of $854,000, following a 6-percent raise implemented in October. After 3 years at UW, Young took a position as the president of Texas A&M University.

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Emergency Managers or Dictators

Benton Harbor, Michigan has been taken over by the state. An Emergency Manager has been assigned all the duties. Benton Harbor/s elected commissioners have lost all of their power. They do not have the authority at this point in time to order a pot hole fixed. The new Emergency Manager, named Joseph Harris can set aside all union contracts with the city and call it budget repair.

Does this look like Dictatorship? If a state can take over a city, can Washington D.C. take over our states? Can they say we are in a financial crisis, and appoint an emergency manager, that takes away all the power from our elected officials, break all the unions and even replace the police force with Homeland Security. Obama has mentioned a time or two that he wants to have more Homeland Security force larger than the Military. This has to be really looked into. Could we wake up some morning having been taken over by the government homeland security and our police department gone? Does this scare you?

There is no mistake our cities and states and Federal Govt. have to stop their spending. But is this the way to do it? Hundreds of rowdy non-union protesters filled the State Capitol, and a day later the Senate voted to grant broad new powers to emergency managers who oversee financially struggling cities and schools, including the authority to void union contracts and remove elected officials.

This website is for independent thinkers and it is time for all of you to put on your thinking cap. I know the cities are wasting money, I know there is fraud, but would we better off under a one man dictatorship. I don’t think so. Better really keep up on this story while you are still allowed to read stories like this.

Obama 2012 Election

Does Barack Obama still have what it takes to run this country and how will you vote in 2012?  The Obama 2012 Presidential election is coming soon.

Obama 2012 Election Seattle
Obama 2012 Election Seattle

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Obama

Obama Keeps Blowing Money

As reported previously by Lilly, it is now official President Obama will be making a visit to the devastated OSO

Out of YOUR pocket comes the Federal, State, County and City taxes

This will be a general disgruntled taxpayer/worker diatribe about how it sounds when we get these promises from various branches of government. How often have your heard your President, Govenor or Mayor stand and say with a straight face that THEY have the funds to help you? Once they spend what they can get locally they begin to promise state or federal funds. They make it sound like the Easter Bunny is right there with his basket of money, and if he runs out Santa is standing by with his bag of money or they have the Good Fairy wave her wand and none of this will cost you a cent. Wow bring on the money. What most people don’t think about is that no branch of government has any funds that they didn’t take away from We the People first and skim a big percentage off the top. I am not trying to supply exact numbers or percentages. There are good articles on the website with dollar amounts squandered by the Washington transportation dept, the Seattle Washington Public Schools, Seattle welfare fraud etc. The IRS eats up the big portion of what they collect to pay their bloated salaries and perks and hire more agents to keep us paying out taxes. The state, county and city have to pay all the excessive wages and perks from what they screw away from us via sales, property, gas, and other assorted taxes. Most of the time there is nothing left after they pay for a few evaluations, studies, and meetings to do anything with. They blew over $500 million on the 520 bridge and not a shovel or hammer has been touched. They blew over $300 million on the tunnel that we the people don’t want and not one thing has been done except some shady deals done so they can say a referendum cant be binding now. The monorail money got ate up entirely. Check out the salaries of the heads of transportation, schools, University of Washington etc and you will agree its out of hand. We cannot afford that greedy bunch at all. Of course if they cut anything it will be crossing guards, foot policeman and teachers to punish us for voting down another levy. They cant let our local grade A students attend the University of Washington because they can sell his spot to a foreign or out of state student, but still take our tax dollars. We have to cut them off at the pocketbook. I hope people start to think when the president, governor, mayor stand up and promise you federal dollars. They have taken it away from our state, skimmed off at least 40% of it for salaries. They only take on huge projects so they can try to get more federal funds. The president tools around in his little Air Force One telling us to stick within our means while he is squandering millions traveling around for nothing but photo shoots. He can’t even give an interview without a teleprompter.

 Try to put this in perspective and think of it this way. You cash your paycheck and 4 robbers are waiting outside the bank. Their names are Federal, State, County and City. They take at least 50% and leave you with barely enough to pay your rent and eat. But they live way better than you ever have or will live. They pay big wages and perks to the people they give your money too and squander most of it. If it were a normal robbery you could fight back, but the law says you have to pay income tax or go to jail, pay property tax or lose your home, pay sales tax or you cant buy anything etc.

The government cannot give seattle welfare debit cards(that get spent in strip joints and on booze or sold on Craigslist) until they take the money away from some working citizen.  We have four pockets and somehow we have to find out how to put a zipper on them without going to jail.  Hope everyone starts to realize the government can’t give you anything.  They don’t produce anything.

A 14 Trillon Dollar Deficit Cut

Obama was in the news today suggesting a 4 trillion dollar  (12 year) plan to cut the deficit.  I would kindly suggest the President modify his plan to a 12 trillion dollar deficit cut.  Well as this article suggest it’s not really a 14 trillion dollar cut – its actually a 1 trillion 200 billion tax cut.  I just times it by 12 to figure out the 12 year plan (14 trillion) like all the smart people do in the Government.  Why they do that I don’t really know.  Each year we create a new budget anyway and vote it.

You can read my previous article here:  https://www.emeraldcityjournal.com/2011/04/american-government-why-bankruptcy-is-the-best-option-now/

I updated it, however, so we can reach the 14 trillion dollar deficit cut in 12 years like this:

In the link above you’ll see I cut many departments that came to: 728 billion.

I suggest we make every man, women, and child make a $100 donation so that would come to:  310 billion

The Feds take 2 trillion a year from us for taxes each year and since we are cutting half the programs (see above) at least 25% of that could be saved each year:  500 billion.

That adds up to 1.2 trillion x 12 (for the important 12 year plan which makes everything look good) = A 14 trillion dollar deficit cut (+400 billion positive revenue).

Now seriously, I write this in part with laughter.  But if you really think a 4 trillion dollar deficit cut (over 12 years) with Obama is going to make it happen you’re sadly wrong.  First that is 333 billion a year.  Last Friday when they were negotiating the Government shutdown they blew 8 billion in a week.  52 weeks in the year folks that is 448 billion dollars for doing nothing.  This isn’t even a drop in the bucket to repair the mess we have going on.

We need to be cutting atleast 1 trillion a year.

Metro Transit Doesn’t Make It Easy To Ride The Bus In Georgetown

Metro Transit does not care about their people who depend on buses to be independent and get to doctors or grocery shopping. In Georgetown metro has closed our bus stop. It is what they call the Carlton Ave Stop. I have caught the bus there for 45 years, but the other day when I went to that stop a bag was hanging over it, saying stop closed. There was no sign telling me where to go or what to do. That was a real shock. I came home and got on their website and it showed it was open. Two different people that answer the phone insisted it was open. See picture below. One girl said well just walk down to Brighton. From Corson Ave to Brighton is 2/10ths of a mile or more. I am 87 and after walking 2 ½ blocks to the bus I really cant walk 3 or 4 more blocks and still feel up to getting on the bus. The 124 from Federal Way to downtown on 4th, the 131 and 134 that go to Burien(because the South Park Bridge is closed), the 60 bus that goes to White Center all stopped there. It is the only stop that serves the residential portion of Georgetown. Brighton is the stop for the South Seattle Community College. There is no reason why that stop is closed. We are not asking for a new bus stop. There never has been a bench or shelter, so we are not asking for that, there is no business that the stop is bothering. It is a real hardship for me, for my neighbors in wheel chairs, Mothers with babies in strollers and toddlers walking along beside them are having a terrible time. We don’t have bus service anymore. The same buses go right by so we are not asking for a thing except just stop and pick us up. They can’t say its cost saving. Wouldn’t it be better to stop and pick up a few paying customers than just pass us by?  In the afternoon a lot of workers from the factories around here use that bus stop.  This is plain crazy. I used to ride to Federal Way with my children who live there and then take the bus home to save them a long drive back and forth, but now the bus goes right by Corson and takes me almost to 4th and Michigan and I have to walk back home with my shopping. Well they can’t blame Bush for that.

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University of Washington Is A Private University. It Is Not Public Anymore.

Finally a story in the paper got peoples attention about the University of Washington.  By now most everyone has heard of Brandon Stover. It is hard to believe that a local boy who graduated from high school with a 4.0 grade average was turned down at the University. He was valedictorian of his class. He needs to go to the University of Washington because he cannot afford to go unless he lives at home and keeps his job. You would think the University would be ashamed to turn him down. Hope this back fires big time. They have ran the wheels right off their bus. The House Dems’ say they have to raise tuition. NO THEY DON’T. Politicians blame the taxpayers for the severe cutbacks. The University says the UW budget cuts are because voters passed anti-tax measures. The University is not making any budget cuts and any taxpayer money to that place should end right now.

The House says a quarter of their budget (about $831.9), is dedicated to renovation projects at public agencies. The University is slated for a big remodel job. They should do it with their profits and their own cuts in salaries and expenses.

We taxpayers cannot afford to be screwed over by a bunch of greedy money grubbers. I will name a few, but for every one I name there are hundreds that have helped get them to that position and pay offs, favors, bloated salaries would break any business. UW President Mark Emmert would have been making $900,000 if he had stayed, but he has left for a better job. He was here a long time and his salary would have paid the tuition for $100 local students at $9,000 each. If taxpayers were given a choice which would they choose?  He was replaced by Phyllis M. Wise. Her salary is $535,000 plus deferred compensation. But she had to get a second job on the board of Nike to help her make it in these hard times. It gets worse. The football coach, Steve Sarkisian salary is $1.7 million. This morning in the Times 4-6-11 was the news that the UW hired a new womens basketball coach. His name is Kevin McGuff with a starting salary of $474,000.

Pieces started to fall in place when Governor Gregoire made a trace trip to China during the time she was slashing, cutting, losing sleep over the budget crisis. She took 80 people with her. It had to cost a bundle. She said it was for trade and higher education. I could not understand what that meat. It means she is recruiting foreign students willing to pay three times the amount to go to the UW. That is not the way to fix the budget. Her budget is trying to get all she can from the taxpayers. Someone has to rattle the cage and get the monkeys jumping around. If she was interested in getting the State of Washington back on track she would cap the salaries. Look at the fired Superintendent of school (Maria Goodloe Johnson), look at the Port of Seattle (Tay Yoshitani) Salary. These things are actually theft or embezzling from the students tuition and taxpayers. We were suckered into building two sports palaces for billionaires not we are making millionaires out of almost all the people running schools, city light, port etc. It has to stop.

We sure do not need a levy that doubles our property tax to give to these thief’s. Its pure and simple. Almost like in the third world countries where the dictator sits in a palace and takes money from the poor while they live in shacks and in the slums. We workers are sick of it. Its bad enough to take our money and hand it over to these people who do not want to work and prefer to stay drugged up or drunk, but this is worse to raise our taxes to give to the University of Washington who divides it around the top bracket of crooks. We should cut all ties with the University of Washington, let it run itself, and pay us back for the buildings we have paid for while they were  laughing all the way to the bank. It is sad that the University of Washington got so greedy.

Jesse Jackson & The Death Of MLK

Even Though MLK day was back in January, their was a recent news story about Jesse Jackson that just made my jaw drop in disbelief.  The short of the story is this.  As you know, Martin Luther King was assassinated on his balcony in Tennessee.  A shot rang out (what is believed to be a sniper) hit Mr. King leaving him in a pool of his own blood.  The bullet entered the tip of his chin and tore half of his neck off. 

Right before the shot rang out, Jesse Jackson, Ben Branch, and few others we celebrating a little after winning a recent court case (giving them more opportunities to march) in the parking lot.  MLK actually just went upstairs to get ready for a dinner they were all going to that night.  The shot rang out and MLK was assassinated.  It was a mess for a few seconds with the police running in the wrong direction trying to find the suspect and with MLK’s friends running up to take care of Martin Luther King in his last moments. 

Here is the part that I just couldn’t believe.  Jesse Jackson went upstairs and placed his hands in the pool of blood and smeared it on his shirt.  He went out to the public and stated “he died in my arms”.  Because Jesse Jackson was in the parking lot and not on the balcony (as Jesse claimed) with Mr. King his statement was investigated.  There were many photos taken during the final hours where Jesse Jackson was seen with the smeared shirt on.  The next morning he was on the NBC “Today” show saying MLK “died in my arms”.  It was later investigated and it turns out that statement was completely false.  Jesse Jackson later apologies for the false statement.

It’s an interesting story to say the least.  Did Jesse Jackson really have the “entrepreneurial instinct” to take advantage of a tragic moment.  Remember at this time Jesse Jackson really had no opportunities.  Was this lie (or cover-up) by Jesse Jackson really a move for him to take over the leadership role of the civil rights movement?

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