This is in response to the Jan. 26 guest editorial that was written by state Rep. Dave Schmidt (“Boeing’s message must lead to state action”).
I don’t think there is any doubt that Washington needs to make some changes or risk losing some of its anchor employers. But where our focus needs to be is on the infrastructure. Mr. Schmidt talks about his “fellow Republicans have created a less hostile business environment.” It is easy to see where Mr. Schmidt’s strategy is heading. The Republican Party in the state of Washington does not have working people in mind when they talk about a “less hostile business environment.” They are talking about corporate welfare, as usual.
For at least a year now the Democrats have been trying to address the transportation problem, but Clyde Ballard wouldn’t even let it hit the floor without taking a shot at our state prevailing wage law. This is a law that makes it so an out of town contractor, say from the southeast U.S., can’t come into our state and pay substandard wages. They would have to pay the wages that our economy is supporting or the “prevailing wage.” Again the Democrats are willing to solve the transportation issue and the Republicans are willing to hand out corporate welfare checks.
Mr. Schmidt also talked about competing with the other 27 states that Boeing does business and as he put it, “we are at the bottom of the barrel.” The bottom of what barrel? Is the glass half empty or half full? I think the Republican Party needs to look at what kind of jobs people in Washington want. Do we want jobs that provide a family wage, or do we want low paying jobs that keep people in the poverty range? The answer for the Republicans always seems to be the latter – cut wages, benefits and working conditions and everything will be all right. Wrong!
If Boeing and most other U.S. based companies want to cut costs, they need look no further than the salaries and bonus of their top executives. The Democrats are willing to work on the problems that our state faces, but not at the expense of the working men and women of our state.
Lake Stevens
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