the official blog of the evergreen freedom foundation

The Rainier Club, Seattle’s 121-year-old exclusive and members-only wood-paneled gathering spot is in line to receive a $250 thousand federal earmark thanks to everybody’s favorite liberal, Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Hypocrite. According to a report in The Seattle Times, the earmark is intended “to fund ‘window repair and limestone sill replacement’” at the historic facility located on Seattle’s Fourth Avenue.

The earmark, according to The Times, is “among more than 100 local projects for which…McDermott recently sought funding.” Others include “a new cancer-research program, municipal road projects and a law-enforcement initiative to combat gang violence.”

 

The Rainier Club is home to Seattle’s elite. Founded in 1888, it has birthed an uncountable number of behind-closed-door business and civic deals concocted by the swells and betters. The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair was conceived within its hushed-tone confines.

 

Membership was whites- and male-only until 1966 and 1977, respectively. The first African-American was admitted in 1977. Still, access is restricted to members only and their guests. The membership application is three-pages long, requires a background and credit check, and requires current club members to sponsor and second the sponsorship of prospective applicants. Currently, according to The Times article, there are about 1,200 members who pay $191 per month in dues.

 

The Rainier Club’s website describes it as “a home-away-from-home for business, cultural and civic leaders, diplomats, and other professionals. Our members are pampered with personalized service within the context of an elegant setting. From fine dining to daily fitness, from business gatherings to private parties, from wine tastings to educational courses—The Rainier Club both reflects and enhances the diverse lifestyles of the Puget Sound area.”

 

All in all a glittery gaggle of area greats and great-wannabes, none of whom are candidates for anyone’s bread line or soup kitchen. Why then should the Rainier Club’s “pampered” members – these "business, cultural and civic leaders, diplomats, and other professionals” – be allowed to dip into the pockets and purses of average taxpayers, many of whom are among the 9.2 percent of Washingtonians who are currently unemployed?

 

With ballooning federal deficits, a three-trillion dollar national health care proposal, and more burgeoning foreign crises than GM’s got unsold cars, can anyone justify with a straight face this proposal? Setting the overall legitimacy of earmarks aside for the moment, why is it the federal government’s job to effectively bailout Seattle’s most exclusive club when all it would take would be a one-time contribution of $208.34 per member to pay the tab? According to Club officials, the total bill for the work that needs to be done is $500 thousand, and they’ve only been able to raise half of that from internal sources. 

 

Oh, really? So that means we’re on the hook for the rest? Baloney! When my homeowners’ association needed funds to resurface the neighborhood pool, members were assessed an amount sufficient to cover the cost. We exclusively used the pool, we exclusively paid for the pool – we didn’t ask outsiders who are precluded from access to pony up the tab. It’s total garbage that taxpayers’ money should be shoveled into a private club most taxpayers are barred from entering...or could afford joining on the off-off chance they were allowed in. 

 

Time for the Rainier Club to man up (and woman up, for that matter) and own its own responsibilities. And time for Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Profligate and Libertine, to learn one of the simplest words in the English language: NO!

 

The Piper