| Election year could translate into a quiet session in Olympia
Followers of the Legislature should expect a lot of talk but much less action on an array of meaty issues this year: * A new family leave benefit is supposed to take effect in 2009, providing $250 a week for five weeks for workers to care for a newborn or adopted child. But the Legislature hasn't yet determined how it will be paid for. A number of ideas, most notably a payroll tax on workers, have been floated but consensus has been elusive. Gregoire and at least some Democratic leaders agree whatever solution they settle on will have to go to voters. * When the Legislature convened for a one-day special session last month, lawmakers pledged to consider property tax reform during this session. But major changes don't appear in the offing. Chopp said last week lawmakers should seek study "not just slogans for the campaign trail later on." * There again will be proposals to change requirements for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning tests.
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BACK IN IRAQ: THE 'WHORES OF WAR'
In May this year, a Blackwater employee shot dead an Iraqi civilian who was said to be driving too close to a security convoy. The company insisted the guard acted lawfully. The company, based near the Great Dismal Swamp in North Carolina, was co-founded by Erik Prince, a billionaire right-wing fundamentalist. At its HQ, Blackwater has trained more than 20,000 mercenaries to operate as freelancers in wars around the world. Prince is a big bankroller of the Republican Party - giving a total of around $275,550 - and was a young intern in the White House of George Bush Sr. Under George Bush Jr, Blackwater received lucrative no-bid contracts for work in Iraq, Afghanistan and New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. His firm has pulled down contracts worth at least $320 million in Iraq alone.
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