Democrats March in Stanwood Parade for Gubernatorial Candidate Jay Inslee

Before leaving for the Stanwood Parade yesterday,  I listened to Northwest Public Radio. They were reporting changes in the way WA State's 1.5 billion medicaid budget will be administered.   The changes worried me.

photo by Susan Ronken

I walked 1.5 mile to the staging area for the Stanwood Annual Parade where I and other local Democrats were gathering our signs and putting on our T-shirts in support of our Candidate for Governor - Jay Inslee.   As I was getting ready, Candidate Inslee came up and introduced himself.  I was still thinking about medicaid and asked him (and others) if they had heard about the changes.  With all the many things he and his campaign had to coordinate that day, I felt a little crazy bothering him but he graciously said he would look into it.  I am sure the issue will come on our future governor's agenda because medicaid  equals  about 3% of total State government expenditures.  You can check my calculations with the Governmental-wide Financial Statements.  I am taking note that total WA State government expenses for 2010 was 46 billion, so I can place all other discussions of spending and revenues in context.

The weather was perfect as we all joined the Parade.  Candidate Inslee showed boundless energy for greeting the spectators along the route who varied from polite to enthusiastic. There was a good turnout.  Everyone in town seemed to enjoy being outside together.  Just wish I could have seen more of the parade, but one cannot both march and watch.  I did see some polished rehearsals in the staging area.

Candidate Jay Inslee and local Stanwood Democrats Jennifer Kelly and Marsha Armstrong seem to have some serious thoughts about politics just before joining the parade.