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Yesterday, I testified before the Washington State Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee in support of a bill to establish a partnership with an accredited online university. (I am a former student of the institution – Western Governors University or WGU – and a big fan because they made an advanced degree possible for me five years ago when the traditional model would not work.) The bill will not cost the taxpayers a dime because WGU is a non-profit, self-supporting university.

The points I tried to make included how a partnership with an online university would add another option to the state system, especially for working adults. I do not see WGU replacing the traditional system or even in much competition because of the differing target markets. Another high point is how WGU assigns a student mentor that stays with the learner throughout enrollment. The mentor serves as part guidance counselor, part professor and part cheerleader. My mentor was tremendously experienced, kind and helpful (we still keep in touch).

I should not have been surprised at the strident, emotional argument against the initiative. Now in fairness, there were a few unnecessary comments from our side but nothing rising to the level of criticism from the traditional colleges in the state. They attacked most parts of the program as well as the concept of the bill since the state will not be putting out any money. I couldn’t help wondering if they also objected to the free market idea of WGU.

Sadly, there are plenty of statistics to show Washington ranks very low in college availability (47^th) and this problem will only increase due to a liberal effort to “guarantee” a college education to young people starting in 2012. Establishing an official connection with WGU would raise the visibility of this option for all Washingtonians and should be just one of many alternatives for bachelor and master degrees.

On our way out the door, one of the traditional college staff accosted the other student and me asking how we heard about the hearings. I first asked where the individual worked before responding to her question. She was obviously looking for a figurative stick to hit us with. Very strange. As I walked away, I had to wonder, “what are you afraid of”?

Lessons on the Process

1. Stay classy – As I mentioned above, there were a few “stray” comments from those arguing in favor of the bill that did not help the tone of the session. I maintain if our position is not strong enough to argue on its merits, we should re-evaluate the initiative. I am absolutely convinced there is much to talk about on the conservative side in a visionary, positive – dare-I-say constitutional – way. There is no need to lower ourselves to petty, personal attacks even as the other side does.

2. Prepare a few notes ahead of time – Sounds obvious but a month ago, I testified before the Washington House committee for the companion bill and did not prepare notes beforehand. I am accustomed to public speaking so just organized some thoughts in my head going in. The session went OK but could have been better. I used a few notes yesterday and felt better about my short talk. (The house bill passed, by the way.)

3. Testifying before a committee can be relatively pain-free – Both committees were gracious to us and the Senate committee especially so. More importantly, I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to insert myself in the public discussion. It was a matter of signing up before the session and checking the block, “I wish to testify.” Try it on a bill you feel strongly about. The committees appreciate having average citizens speak.

I attended a local townhall meeting with Congressman Brian Baird, 3rd District for Washington (state). At first listen, Congressman Baird sounded quite moderate, even friendly. Dig a little deeper and things did not look so well. Here are some examples.

Early in the evening, Baird made comments about how in a representative republic, it is rare for everyone to get what they want 100% of the time. Fair enough. Where the good Congressman and I part ways is how far he is willing to bend in order to gain something for the home town. In the recent cap-and-trade fiasco, Baird said he voted for the bill because it included provisions that allow logging in the Pacific Northwest of dead and diseased timber. At what cost? How could Baird hold his nose to all the other bill provisions unless he is a far-left legislator? How could he justify the trickle-down impact that will raise the cost of energy to all of us average tax payers?

In the Obama-care debacle, Brian Baird is equally slippery. On the one hand, he talked about how we need to ensure “our kids” have the best health care possible and those with pre-existing conditions need to be included not denied. I fully embrace the importance of taking care of our families and finding ways to treat all those who need it. How in heaven’s name do we fund all this? How can I trust the same bunch that brought us self-financing mortgages to improve our health care system by increasing the level of government control? By Baird’s own admission, this bill is very complex. Anyone else jittery out there? Baird insisted the government will not force anyone to choose the government option. What Baird failed to mention is the government will drive the private sector out of business so although the statement is technically correct, it is equally deceitful as well.

As the incredible dialogue continued, the Congressman took direct aim at greedy insurance companies who charge lower rates to those companies or groups who have lower risk and vice versa. Gasp! This sounds vaguely like supply and demand but I digress. Somehow, I did not get all warm and fuzzy when Baird later stated he is a strong proponent of the free market system. His free market system is a bit on the wimpy side.

The suspension of reality kept on trucking as Congressman Brian blamed President Bush for TARP (somewhat fair) and was proud of his vote on the porkulus … uh … stimulus bill because it included infrastructure spending. Here we went again. Imagine me almost falling out of my chair when the straight-faced Congressman later stated his strong support for a balanced budget! (Read my lips, lots of new taxes coming down the pike.) He even went farther and talked about how there should be an annual omnibus bill to rescind stupid laws! By now I had to suppress my laughter in order to hear. The silver lining is stupid laws would be easy to find; just look at the majority of Baird’s votes and you have a great start.

You can run, you can shuck, you can tap dance, you can parry. However, you cannot escape what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong. Spending us into oblivion is wrong regardless of the party in power. Enacting out-of-control government intrusion is wrong, regardless of how sanctimonious the defender may sound. Congressman, if I would have had the chance to talk, my first comment would have been something on the order about my strong opposition to your relentless attack on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the Constitution. Government cannot add value to the economic mix. Its only proper role in a original constitutional setting is to create and maintain a civil society where individuals are free to flourish. The government serves us, not the other way around. Congressman, you seem to have this fundamental value backwards.

Ross Perot has a useful web site called Perot Charts that gives all that data you could want regarding various pieces of the government spending, taxation and other related information. There is also space to respond to various blog entries on current economic issues such as TARP.

Fred Thompson’s latest video on our economic state is a great, satirical monologue. However, more than that, it illustrates the plethora of common sense solutions available if we would decide to support rather than fight our free market system.

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