The renovations to their new Bellevue headquarters building cost $11,000,000 more than it should have. Now the city and the contractor are fighting (in court of course) over who pays. If the contractor wins, you pay, but you'll pay in the end anyway. The city attorneys, who are fighting all the contractors who worked on the new building, are getting $1,350,000 from us taxpayers and it's climbing. Other contractors are biting at the heels of the city for more money, lots more money, our money.

Every time we turn around, we taxpayers are getting shafted by government mismanagement, malfeasance, misfeasance and violation of their oath of office. Do you remember Sound Transit's little bond issue of several years ago that we voted for? It was only supposed to be $3.6 Billion. UnSound Transit is now over $10 Billion and rising. Have "heads" rolled? Of course not. Remember the Big Dig in Boston. It is 5 times over budget and rising and it's alleged to be run by the Mafia. Now extrapolate this folly to the new Alaskan Way Viaduct and the new Evergreen Point Bridge, all Seattle-based projects for Seattle-Bellevue consumers that the rest of the state gets to pay for. These are huge projects with a very high potential of multiple cost overruns, along with waste, fraud and abuse. Name a project that government has its hands in, that came in at, or under budget? "Who pays, taxpayers do."

Now take a look at what the State Department of Transportation is spending that 9.5 cents per gallon of increase in the gas tax on, that your "wise" legislators and most of you allowed to pass. This is from a memo we received from State DOT.

"We have a pretty substantial 16-year program," Eng said. WSDOT oversees more than 7,000 miles of highway, 3,000 bridges and more than 90,000 acres of land. "All of our work that's over $50,000 is contracted out."

"In the next four years WSDOT will need about 200 hydraulic reports, 500 NEPA documents, 30 environmental assessments, 10 environmental impact statements, 400 Endangered Species Act consultants, 200 hydraulic project approvals, 70 noise studies and 400 archeological site assessments, Eng said." She stressed that these are broad estimates. (my bold emphasis)

Eng said WSDOT wants to avoid negative impacts to the environment, and her handouts, accordingly, were delivered in WSDOT car litter bags. (What about a cost/benefit analysis on this garbage? Cost/benefit analysis, what's that?)

"We might widen a highway asymmetrically to avoid a sensitive area," Eng explained. In order to protect salmon streams, WSDOT might build a bridge rather than a culvert. (Asymmetrically and bridges means more money, your money, lots more money, your tax money)

In urban areas, noise walls are a large expense, and a controversial one, Eng said. "When you talk about putting up noise walls, people say, ‘That's not transportation. Why are we paying for that?'" (Why indeed)

I'm not saying we don't need the road projects, but this is how government insultingly spends our money. Can you imagine if President Eisenhower had to meet the ludicrous standards of today when he proposed our great interstate freeway system? I guarantee you folks, it would have never been built and we would still be driving across country on two-lane roads. There wouldn't have been enough money in the world at that time, to pay for an environmentally engineered-system using today's standards.

So what is my point? A government not monitored is a government out of control and government, at all levels, is way out of control. 30% to 40% of our tax money is consumed in waste, fraud, abuse and corruption, because WE THE PEOPLE aren't minding the store. WE THE PEOPLE allowed this environmental insanity to invade our economy and legal system that requires government to "weave" highways around sensitive areas", pay for "500 NEPA documents" (whatever they are), "400 Endangered Species Act consultants" and "400 archeological site assessments". We have gone sensitive-area and environmentally berserk and the cost for this insanity, over the last 30 years, is in the trillions of dollars to our economy. That's Trillions with a capital "T". "Who pays? The taxpayers do!"

This environmental insanity and government run amok are two peas in the same pod. This conspiracy of environmentalists and government have caused everything to rise in cost, exponentially. These same conspirators have systematically stopped anything that hinted of progress. For almost 30 years they have done a fantastic job of stopping oil production (new oil wells on our own soil) and new power generation (hydro, gas, coal or nuclear). They have stopped refinery construction and have required so many different grades of gasoline, the existing refineries can't keep up, thus driving up the price of gasoline and limiting supply. Now we have to add ethanol to gasoline, that costs more to produce than it saves in fuel consumption or increases in clean air. This summer you will all be paying well over $3.00 per gallon and you can thank these complicit conspirators, environmentalists and the government that aides and abets them.

Adding to this out-of-control madness are ESA'S, GMA'S, CAO's and the abuse by government of the right of eminent domain. And the government isn't through with us yet by a long shot. Every day they gin up new laws to restrict us, or steal our land, or misuse and abuse our money. It's incessant. It never stops, while we all are sleeping.

And who pays and who loses for this madness? The taxpayers do. Their power over us is the money we give them. They use our money to enslave us and we stand by and do nothing. When do we say, "enough is enough" and take back control our government?" When indeed.

Now if you are truly interested in an answer to this draconian condition we find ourselves in, in this land of the use-to-be free, call or e-mail us and request our brochure, or a copy of our most current Newsletter, "Don't Tread on Me". We are doing something. What are you doing?