Does Tyana Kelley Think Gov. Gregoire is Insensitive?

Democratic 9th Legislative District State Representative candidate Tyana Kelley wrote on her blog:

The Republican candidates were out in force at both parades. Each candidate had their own vehicle: either a gas-guzzling truck, or car with an equally big engine. In Albion we were put in the line to walk right in between all these vehicles. It was a bit intimidating. My opponent, Joe Schmick, had the biggest truck, a Ford F-350. With gas at $4.50/gallon, it seemed a bit insensitive.

Huh.

I wonder what Tyana thought of Governor Gregoire's Lentil Festival Grand Parade ride, a Ford Mustang convertible (EPA estimated gas mileage 15 MPG city/23 MPG highway with 4.6L engine and manual transmission)? I think that counts as a "gas guzzling car with an equally big engine."

I seriously doubt the Governor has had to gas up since she signed the 9.5 cent gas tax hike into law 3 years ago. She doesn't feel the same pain at the pump that Washington's working families do.

Cheapest Pullman Gas Prices - Updated

As of June 4th at 8pm, Shell on E Main had the lowest I saw at $3.979 a gallon. Safeway was at $4.029 a gallon. Conoco on Bishop is now at $3.999.

Non Sequitur of the Day

Instead of waiting until gas is $9 per gallon, we could seek to develop augmented water supplies.

- Chuck "Mr. Civil Discourse" Pezeshki, "Like it or not, change is coming for us all," Moscow-Pullman Daily News, May 10, 2008

Huh? What does the price of gas, which we have no control over, have to do with water supplies?

Runners-Up:

We could pull out all the stops and work toward developing sustainable housing close to the university, where many of the staff that now must commute from Colfax, could live.

Apparently, with Chuck away in Europe, he didn't hear that College Hill has been designated a historic district listed with the National Register of Historic Places. Good luck putting in your "sustainable housing" now. Those drafty, old, energy inefficient houses are here to stay.

We could work toward making both Moscow and Pullman the most bike-friendly communities in the West, and move the majority of our student population toward cycling.

Ditto. Chuckie must not be aware that Pullman was recently named one of the most pedestrian-oriented cities in the U.S.

We could actively engage our organic farming faculty toward a goal of campus food self-sufficiency.

I can't wait to see the organic farming faculty grow enough food to feed 18,000 students.

Honorable Mention:

Some of our faculty and staff in my university building, from professorial to janitorial, still drive from homes far distant, alone in their pick-up trucks, spending up to 15 percent of their take-home pay on gas.

15 percent?

We celebrate the commissioning of an unnecessary and useless golf course that will only further deplete our pristine water supply.

I am definitely taking up golf because it pisses off the liberals so much.

We still welcome obesity with our dietary choices.

What a rant. Chuck is taking swings at everything that makes him mad, including apparently, fat people driving pick-up trucks. You gotta love the intolerance of the "tolerant."

Instead of having city councils making backroom deals for large developments promoting failed models of consumerism, we could have our local governments actively address some of these big issues.

"Failed model of consumerism?" Unfortunately for Chuck and his fellow socialists, consumerism hasn't failed. Otherwise, Hawkins wouldn't be building a mall. And just what would he have local governments do? It's the people that decide where they want to shop last time I checked.

Feeling Gouged at the Gas Pump?

Well, you shouldn't. It's not the fat cats at ExxonMobil, price-fixing collusion among gas station owners, or a Bush conspiracy to help out his Texas oil buddies.

It's simple economics, says a new study on gas prices released by the state Attorney General's office. Crude-oil costs increased by more than 76.5 percent from December 2003 to May 2007. Gasoline providers are simply passing that cost along to us.

If you're looking to blame someone, try the Democratic administration in Olympia. The AG study found that Washington has the highest gas tax in the nation. Efforts to repeal the latest 9.5 cent gas tax hike via I-933 failed as the Democrats engaged in scare tactics using the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle. Now Queen Christine's "solution" is to just tear the Viaduct down without replacement in 2012. But they're still collecting the 9.5 cents for its replacement/repair.

Blame the environmentalist wackos as well. According to the AG study, Washington only has five refineries, and even at full capacity, they do not produce enough gas to meet the state's needs. The state therefore has to import more expensive gas. The last refinery built in the U.S. was back in 1976. It is not likely there will ever be another refinery built in this country. The last one proposed (in Portsmouth, VA) was fought for 9 years by environmental groups and local residents before the company cancelled the project in 1984.