Reckless
From the online legal reference dictionary.
Reckless:
“Characterized by the creation of a substantial and unjustifiable risk to the lives, safety or rights of others and by a conscious and sometimes wanton and willful disregard for or indifference to that risk that is a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would exercise in like circumstances.”
Could it be that politicians in Washington State are creating substantial and unjustifiable risk to the lives, safety and the rights of their constituents by a conscious and sometimes with a wanton and willful disregard and indifference to that risk?
Let’s apply the standard to the political class here in Washington State to see for ourselves if they’re acting recklessly.
We all know that Automated Ticketing Machines aren’t about safety, they are about money. Click here to find to study after study showing how Automated Ticketing Machines increase accidents at intersections.
Very recently Peoria, Arizona released their year-over-year accident data showing massive increases in accidents at intersections were Automated Ticketing Machines were installed.
And this from the City of Redmond Police Department for the months of March and April 2011:
- 90% of all violations are for turning right on red.
- Over $500,000 in citations were issued for rolling rights on red.
- The city issued $560,000 in tickets for those two months with the city accepting 9 out of 10 of the vendor’s recommendations for tickets.
- That $560,000 bought essentially no decrease in accidents.
From KIRO Radio’s MyNorthwest.com:
- “Rear-end accidents up at Redmond red light camera intersections”
- “They stopped short of the light because they indicated they didn’t want to get a ticket,” Redmond Police Commander Shari Shovlin told MyNorthwest.com. “It’s not a shock to us. We did expect that might occur.”
They actually expected an increase in accidents!
Is expecting more accidents a justifiable risk to the lives, safety or rights of anyone who drives in Redmond? Is putting you and your loved-ones at a greater risk of being in an accident, all to make a buck, the standard of care a reasonable person would exercise?
It appears that politicians – from the state legislature in Olympia down to the city councils – don’t care if they put you and your family at risk as long as they can feed their insatiable appetite for money. In fact, State Representative Cindy Ryu of the 32nd Legislative District said to me that she didn’t care how much money the camera companies made, or their friends at Goldman Sachs, as long as the cities got their money.
Politicians have all seen the same studies showing accidents increase. They know that Automated Ticketing Machines create hyper-responsive drivers that put you and your family at risk of serious accidents. It seems they care more about money than they do about the safety of you and your loved-ones.
Washington State Campaign for Liberty has been working hard to fight these Automated Ticketing Machines.
Last year we took the fight to the Mukilteo City Council by filing an initiative, gathering the necessary signatures and getting the measure on the ballot. The citizens of the city of Mukilteo voted down the cameras by 71%. Since that time the Mayor, City Council and their friends from Arizona have pressed forward with a lawsuit taking us all the way to the Washington Supreme Court where we are still battling!
This year Washington State campaign for liberty got HB 1823 introduced in the House of Representatives to repeal traffic cameras in the state. Thanks to transportation committee chairman Rep. Judy Clibborn of Mercer Island, we didn’t even get a hearing on the bill that had almost a full one third of the Washington House of Representatives as cosponsors!
But don’t worry – Campaign for Liberty isn’t going to stop until we repeal Automated Ticketing Machines!
Help us continue our statewide fight – sign the online petition here and then forward it to your friends.
This year we also helped launch initiatives in five cities.
In Bellingham, Campaign for Liberty members worked with Young Americans for Liberty leader Johnny Weaver and other groups gathering the necessary signatures to put the measure on the ballot this November.
In the city of Monroe, Campaign for Liberty partnered with Voters Want More Choices, Ban Cams, and The Seeds of Liberty to gather enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot. Rather than face the voters, the money-hungry Mayor and City Council unanimously decided by a conscious and willful vote to ignore their citizens and sue them. Does that kind of blatant abuse of power strike you as something that a reasonable person would do in a like circumstance?
In the city of Longview, Campaign for Liberty member Tim Sutinen partnered with other local citizens and went to work gathering enough signatures to qualify their initiative to be on the ballot. How did the greedy politicians react? They first tried to ignore us but a pending court order made them change their minds. Then they too filed a lawsuit against the very citizens they are there to represent! The Mayor and City Council continue to show their indifference to the risk they are placing on the citizens of Longview by willfully disregarding the voters.
In the city of Wenatchee Campaign for Liberty partnered with Voters Want More Choices, Ban Cams, and Wenatchee We the People. The City council immediately found an activist judge who issued the order for us to stop collecting petitions. Apparently the Wenatchee City Council doesn’t care if they put you or you or loved ones at risk so long as the money rolls in.
And the battle in Redmond continues – it appears that the necessary signatures will be gathered. How will the Redmond City Council respond? Only time will tell.
Help us continue the fight sign the online petition here and then forward it to your friends.
I leave it up to you to decide whether the politicians are acting recklessly or not. It appears to me that they are willing to put you and your family a greater risk of accident, all in the name of money. When they don’t get their way, they resort to bullying tactics dragging citizens into court.
This summer, when you see your State Senators or Representatives at parades, town halls or picnics let them know you want a repeal of Automated Ticketing Machines.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-08-07
- Is it just us, or does anyone else find it creepy that the Federal Reserve website has a "just for kids" page? http://fb.me/15NUVfgey #
- Red light camera company sues Bellingham http://fb.me/GPH9bQ2h #
- Sign the Audit the Fed petition to urge our Washington State Representatives and Senators to support HR 459 and S… http://fb.me/1clebEnyq #
Ready for some Washington sunshine?
Are you, like me, sick of the charade going on in Washington DC? It seems like the whole world has been obsessed with the debt ceiling crisis. The worst part is that it’s a completely manufactured problem! It’s a false choice between raising the debt ceiling and defaulting.
No one seems to be addressing the root cause of the debt debacle. And what is that root cause? You guessed it, the private central bank known as the Federal Reserve.
The Fed enables irresponsible Congressional behavior by allowing our representatives to spend more money than they take in…and then sticking you with the bill to pay it off! Without the Fed, Congress would be forced to live within its means.
As you know, last year Campaign for Liberty took on the private central bank by supporting Audit the Fed bills in both the House and the Senate. We succeeded in racking up co-sponsors but were sold out at the 11th hour when the Senate agreed to a much less extensive audit.
Even though we didn’t get our complete audit, we were able to get a glimpse of what the Federal Reserve has been up to behind closed doors. The results so far are absolutely horrifying!
Go here to sign the online petition
Did you know that the Fed essentially gave over $200 million to the wives of two big Wall Street bankers? The cover story is that they were loans, but neither of these ladies, wives of Morgan Stanley fat cats, have any investment experience. It also turns out they are “non-recourse” loans. Of course, that’s just a fancy way of saying a loan with no consequences if you don’t pay it back.
So again the Fed is caught red-handed, lining the pockets of their bankster buddies. Of course, this is just one example, billions were given to the Fed’s other friends like Goldman Sachs, AIG, Citigroup and Bank of America.
But backroom payoffs are just the tip of the iceberg! The Federal Reserve has loaned or guaranteed trillions of dollars to foreign central banks and private non-banking corporations right here in America. Do you think companies like McDonald’s, Harley Davidson, Caterpillar, and General Electric deserved bailout cash? Well, like it or not, they’ve already benefited from the Fed’s generosity with your money.
Go here to sign the online petition
Unbelievably, even with all of this information coming to light, some members of Congress still refuse to support transparency!
This August many members of Congress will be in their home districts holding town halls. It’s time again to show up and demand a real Audit of the Fed.
So far, only two members of Congress from the State of Washington have cosponsored Audit the Fed legislation. It appears, by their silence on the matter, neither Washington State Senator thinks transparency is a worthy issue either.
Since Campaign for Liberty started this fight over two years ago, over 70% of Americans now support an Audit of the Fed.
Here in the state of Washington both the Democrat and Republican parties have passed resolutions supporting a full and complete audit of the Federal Reserve. With that kind of grassroots support, you would think with that all our Congressmen and women and both our Senators would already be cosponsors!
Click here to sign the online petition urging Congress to pass an Audit of the Fed. We’ll be delivering these petitions to our representatives to turn up the volume on this issue.
