Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.

President Ronald Reagan

First Inaugural Address

Not long ago I praised 33rd District Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, for going after the Port of Seattle's recklessly misused property tax authority.

A broken clock, after all, is still right twice a day.

But as the current legislative session continues, it becomes increasingly apparent how abysmally - and irresponsibly - wrong Sen. Keiser is on so many issues

In 2007, she sponsored the paid family leave bill that was signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire, another of Washington's biggest spenders.

Lest we forget, Gov. Gregoire has presided over an increase of more than 30 percent in state spending in just three years.

Many of these increases, which pay for new state employees and programs, are based on revenue projections that anticipated sustained economic growth. But with declining revenue forecasts, Washington now faces the real possibility of a deficit. Yet spending by Democrats continues.

(Note: In the past, I have been criticized for referring to "tax-and-spend" liberals. I now admit this reference was wrong. They are "spend-and-tax" liberals, who foist programs onto the public, then tax the people to pay for them.)

Confounding as it may seem, Sen. Keiser pushed paid family leave onto Washington taxpayers without an accurate fiscal impact or a means to fund her new program.

Gov. Gregoire likely considered the votes she will need to win a second term this November in going along with this unfunded "entitlement."

Even as the Legislature continues to look for a way to tax the public to pay for paid family leave, the Employment Security Department is confirming that the bill as written would permit illegal immigrants to receive these benefits.

Then again, illegal immigrants in Washington are entitled to benefits that taxpaying citizens pay for but can't receive.

And it only gets worse. The agency estimates a total cost, including tax collection and administration, of $113 million per biennium by 2015.

Yet Sen. Keiser, appearing on the Dori Monson Show on KIRO Radio last week, casually discounted this projection as she claimed the previous lower cost estimate for the program is the correct figure.

Paid family leave places an unfair burden on small businesses and farms, needlessly increases government bureaucracy, and its costs will far outweigh the benefits.

Sen. Keiser should step back and take aim at the problems in her bill, just as she is targeting the port's taxing authority, and ask the Legislature to suspend or repeal this well-intended but misguided program.

Although such an action would constitute good public policy, it is highly unlikely.

Sen. Keiser, after all, has introduced this year a proposal for the state to provide health care for all Washington residents.

It should surprise no one that she has no idea what her plan for socialized medicine would cost or how the state would pay for it.

LEFT OUT of my comments on Jan. 30 about the message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were two facts that politically correct liberals, including those who present school programs honoring his memory, conveniently overlook:

He was the Reverend Dr. King - a minister of the Christian gospel - and had an earned doctor of theology degree. When these vital facts are ignored, the meaning and context of the Rev. Dr. King's message are not truly understood.

SPEAKING OF special observances, Monday is President's Day - a non-celebration over a three-day weekend that largely overlooks the birthdays of the two greatest American presidents.

As our first president, George Washington set the example and the standard for governing this nation.

Abraham Lincoln presided over a fractured America during the Civil War and preserved the Union.

Both leaders were men of great faith who sought divine guidance and referred without hesitation to God in both their public and private remarks. Yet, as noted above, none of this is taught in the public schools today.

Then again, neither is much other U.S. history.

Take time on this President's Day weekend to discover, or rediscover, these and other great presidents who have led and shaped our United States.

The views of Ralph Nichols are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Robinson Newspapers. He can be reached at ralphn@robinsonnews.com or 206-388-1857.