On Tuesday, we vote...(Primary Election)

On Tuesday, we vote.  Here are some still valid links to Voter Registration information from last year's election.  Here are the websites of the Bellingham Mayoral Candidates:

• http://www.stevemooreformayor.com
• http://petreeformayor.com/
• http://www.linvilleformayor.com/
• http://www.pikeforbellingham.com/

Here are the websites of the Whatcom County Executive candidates:

• http://www.davidstalheim.com/
• http://www.tomforwhatcom.com/
• http://iknowjack2011.com/
• http://www.dougericksen.com/

All I can say about this primary and the upcoming general election  is that the "make or break" issue will obviously be whether or not we want up to 25 miles of coal trains running through our city and county for the rest of  our lives. Strangely, almost no candidate features this issue on the front page of their websites. The second most important issue ought to be whether or not we want red light cameras strung up all over our town. Again, not well featured on any candidate website. 

But the most important is issue is the impending takeover of Bellingham, Wa by Goldman Sachs, ATS, SSA Marine (Carrix), Peabody Coal, BNSF and Warren Buffet.  No one seems to be talking about the fact that Goldman Sachs is a majority owner or a major investor in both SSA Marine (Carrix) and ATS.  Or that Warren Buffet (financier/owner of BNSF) and Goldman Sachs (GS) have been financially in bed together for quite some time. So let's just cut the crap:

Powder River Basin Coal sells for about $13/ton. In China, spot price for coal has been over $130/ton at points this year. So: 48 MMT/year * ($130-$13) = $5,616,000,000/year ? Did I do that math correctly? Well, that's a pile cash that will fly over the heads of  most residents of Whatcom County, the single most impoverished county touching Puget Sound.  Let's see here:  $5.6B/year * 4 year mayoral term = $22.4B/mayoral term...hmmm.).  On top of this, GS has invested in the red-light camera company ATS (An initiative banning red light cameras will probably be on the November ballot despite the suit by ATS.) In reality, some share of every red light ticket will be directed to GS. Warren Buffet (BNSF and historic investor/owner of insurance companies through Berkshire Hathaway ) has heavily invested in Goldman Sachs. Like GS, BH may stand to benefit from increased insurance rates for which increased red light ticketing would probably provide.  But it makes some sense strategically to put up high speed cameras in  a politically volatile, activist, impoverished county.  It would allow the forces that be to easily surveil coal train protesters and human rights activists should they have such a need to put us all in a really large sized jail!  But don't look for your mayoral and county executive candidates to put all of that together for you citizen. We will  be lucky if we can find even one candidate not firmly (if not clandestinely) placed in the pocket of the corporate capitalism takeover of Bellingham, WA.

Poverty Rates in Washington