Kitsap Caucus

Farmers in 20 Washington Counties that were declared disaster areas as a result of extreme weather last April, and farmers in 12 “contiguous” counties, including Mason County, are eligible for federal disaster funding, Sens. Maria Cantwell and Murray announced Tuesday.

“The losses in these counties were caused by the combined effects of excessive rain, frosts, freezes, unseasonably cold weather and high winds. Tree fruits, vegetables, hay and wheat were particularly damaged,” reads the press release from both senators. “Farmers in both the primary and contiguous counties are eligible to be considered for assistance from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), as well as the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) Program. Farmers in eligible counties have 8 months from the date of the Secretarial disaster declaration for apply for emergency loan assistance. People seeking more information should contact their local FSA offices.”

For the complete release. see below.

Chris Henry, reporter

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For Immediate Release
January 11, 2011
Contact:
Cantwell: (202) 224-8277
Murray: (202) 224-2834

Cantwell, Murray: WA Farmers Eligible for Assistance for 2010 Losses
20 counties given federal USDA disaster designation; can receive assistance for losses suffered from extreme weather

SEATTLE, WA – Today, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) announced that farmers in 20 Washington state counties are now eligible to apply for emergency assistance to offset losses suffered during extreme weather conditions in April 2010. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) designated Adams, Benton, Chelan, Clark, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, Klickitat, Pacific, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla, Whatcom and Yakima Counties as primary disaster areas, making farmers and producers in these areas eligible to apply for USDA emergency funding. Cantwell, Murray, and the rest of the Washington delegation wrote Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack in July, supporting of Governor Christine Gregoire’s June request for immediate disaster designations stemming from the weather-related losses.

“Washington’s farmers suffered severe losses after last spring’s severe weather,” Senator Cantwell said. “This federal assistance will help farmers maintain productive farms while they recover and rebuild after last year’s storms. I encourage our farmers to take advantage of this emergency aid.”

“Washington state farmers have been hit hard this season, and I am very glad that they are now going to get the support they need to get back on their feet,” said Senator Murray.

The losses in these counties were caused by the combined effects of excessive rain, frosts, freezes, unseasonably cold weather and high winds. Tree fruits, vegetables, hay and wheat were particularly damaged.

In addition to the twenty counties that have been designated as primary natural disaster areas, twelve counties have been named contiguous disaster counties: Garfield, Jefferson, King, Kittitas, Lewis, Lincoln, Mason, Okanogan, Pierce, Skamania, Thurston, and Whitman. Farmers in both the primary and contiguous counties are eligible to be considered for assistance from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), as well as the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) Program. Farmers in eligible counties have 8 months from the date of the Secretarial disaster declaration for apply for emergency loan assistance. People seeking more information should contact their local FSA offices.

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If you are wondering why Democrats held on so well in Washington while across the nation they did not do well at all, the basic answer appears to be that they voted here. Democrats in Washington, despite the dire predictions for them nationally, mailed in their ballots. A Portland pollster makes that case, as well as the one contending that Washington is getting bluer.

Some of the information is included in a story about the county certifying the Nov. 2 election.

Moore Information of Portland, Ore. sent out an analysis (posted below) suggesting that Dino Rossi, Republican challenger for the U.S. Senate here, did better among Republicans than any other Senate candidate in the country. He also won the vote of independents by big numbers. He lost, according to Moore, because incumbent U.S. Sen. Patty Murray did even better among Democrats, and there are more Democrats than there used to be and they didn’t get too depressed to vote here.

Of course, if you read our story from Nov. 1, this may not surprise you at all. The last two paragraphs said this:

Turnout was markedly higher in 1998 and 2006. Carl Olson, Kitsap County Democratic Party chairman, said his party’s get-out-the-vote effort is tracking as well as it did in 2006, when turnout was 68.2 percent.

“My personal sense tells me there may be some surprises,” he said, meaning Democrats may do better than expected. Whether the party’s tracking of those who are solid or lean Democrat means they voted Democrat again, he said, he doesn’t know.

While Democrats lost ground in Washington, what their voters did by voting was prevent a party disaster. They maintained control of both chambers in the state. Locally every Democrat incumbent had a closer race, but they all won.

My hunch is this also explains why late votes, those counted after those from election night, did not break Republican as they have in past elections. Democratic margins, in fact, grew larger.

Moore’s analysis, co-written with Hans Kaiser, also with Moore Information, follows:

(more…)

Jerry Cornfield at the (Everett) Herald gets to the questions of how the candidates ended up in the parties they chose in the race between U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. and Republican Dino Rossi.

Cornfield points out that both had influences in their lives that could have pushed them in different directions. From the story:

Patty Murray, 59, and Dino Rossi, 50, are not party ideologues and neither engaged fully in partisan politics until comfortably in adulthood.

Both come from large, middle-class families. Each has six siblings; Patty and her identical twin, Peggy, are the second and third eldest while Dino is the youngest.

Both grew up in small suburban cities Murray in Bothell and Rossi in Mountlake Terrace. Their fathers are World War II veterans and their families each hit by hardship that tested their will.

While there are parallels in their lives as youngsters, by the time each reached college, their life’s journey was driven by very different political values.

I continue to periodically point out stories worth reading in the block of stories above, but this one deserves special mention. It confirms to me that the embracing of any political philosophy is not exclusively an intellectual exercise or a response to self interest.

Sorry for the grainy image. I took the photo with my cell phone as I came into work this morning. We were stopped at a light.

This vehicle, festooned with Oakland Raider garb; including this decal, a license plate frame and a sticker on the suitcase rack on top, also includes support for Republican Dino Rossi in his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a three-term Democrat.

My question was does this sticker help Rossi or Murray? Did NFL conference realignment make this display less of an issue in this region? The Raiders, for those of you who don’t follow America’s national religion, used to be in the same division as the Seahawks. It meant our guys would play their guys at least twice a year. And the Raiders were considered the bad guys by fans of just about every team. That earned them some affection, mind you, from those who like the idea of a team with a bearded, long-haired quarterback throwing passes to a slow receiver being egged on by a fat, disheveled man on the sidelines and supported by a defense that considered dirty play part of the uniform.

The Raiders won three Super Bowls, including one when they were the Los Angeles Raiders. Nowadays the Raiders are about as powerful as the British monarchy, and they share a similar history. They once ruled the world but now are a kind of cute, little nuisance.

I wonder how people who are fans of Prince Harry line up in Washington in the Senate race as opposed to those who favor William.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray will be in town as a senator and as a Democrat running for re-election Thursday. At 3:15 p.m. she will be part of a roundtable discussion with veterans to discuss employment. We will cover that one.

Later that day there will be a campaign event at the Kitsap Conference Center. We will not be covering that, because press is not invited.