Watch for defective products this election

Published 12:20 am Friday, October 3, 2008

Throughout my life I’ve purchased many products that promised to do things they were unable to actually do. The “limited warranties” and “money-back guarantees” proved insufficient for me; I still felt cheated.

Today, there’s a product running for the state Legislature in Olympia and I can already see that the guarantee is simply unrealistic. The product is defective.

Jeff Griffin is telling seniors that he wants Washington “to become a state that approves the purchase of lower-priced medication from Canada.” It sounds good, but when you dig below the surface you find that this idea is in violation of the U.S. Constitution (Article One, Section 8, Clause 3 gives this power solely to Congress – our representatives in D.C.). Other states (who sent defective products to their state capitals) have tried it anyway and found themselves spending state tax dollars defending lawsuits on this very issue. What a waste of tax money.

Jeff Griffin wants to reduce traffic by allowing hybrid cars to use the HOV lanes. I don’t know about you, but when I’m stuck in traffic I don’t find myself in a sea of hybrid cars that I wish were out of my way and over in the HOV lane. Although this is a “nice” idea, it will do nothing to alleviate traffic congestion.

Jeff Griffin claims he will represent us, not special interests. I guess that’s why he accepted money from the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Society (which has nothing to do with Lincoln, but instead is a group of greedy Seattle trial lawyers, some of whom sue doctors). He has been endorsed by the likes of Howard Dean (a man who is totally out of step with our district). He has accepted no less than 24 different donations from 24 different firefighter unions outside of our district (one as far away as Yakima).

I admire Jeff Griffin’s service as a firefighter, but these donations are simply a union investment, hoping that they will be able to put a firefighter in charge of firefighter pensions with my tax money paying the bill.

Simply put, Jeff Griffin is a defective product. Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, please do not fill in the bubble next to Jeff Griffin’s name on your ballot. We can’t afford to send a defective product to Olympia.

Elliott Johnson

North Bend