Probably No. 1 on the Democratic Party wish list, as well as some Republicans , is a state income tax. It requires voter approval, so every few years its backers offer up a package of temptations they hope will appeal to them, i.e., elimination or reduction of property taxes, sales taxes and/or business taxes; changes to other methods such as added value taxes, etc. And they get absolutely nowhere. The last thing the people of this state will do is vote an income tax on themselves because they do not trust their legislators to maintain their end of the deal. read more »
Well, the real Norm Dicks has finally stepped forward. The one who is a Democrat first, with a capital D, and then a congressman representing his district and his countrymen.
Dicks, by the way, is not my congressman. He’s in the 6th district, which includes the southern half of Kitsap County. I live in the northern half, the 1st, where Democrat Jay Inslee seems eager to be a protégé of Baghdad Jim McDermott. read more »
Something I learned in Olympia during my 30 years of covering the Legislature has surfaced in this election.
Namely, no matter how good an idea is proposed, it often depends on who’s doing the proposing whether it has a prayer of being considered. If you’re on the outs with the movers and shakers or have offended one of the ensconced elite, forget it. read more »
Having gone to absentee ballots many years ago, in the days when you had to provide a written request and reason for why you would be absent from your polling place on election day, I have been among the supporters for all-mail voting — i.e., voting exclusively by mail in all elections, primary and general, instead of just doing it occasionally on one-issue measures, such as school levies, in the off-season. read more »
I don’t vote for many initiatives.
It’s not that I am opposed to the initiative process. To the contrary. If an initiative hadn’t been proposed lowering the rate local governments could raise their budgets each year from six percent over the previous year to one percent, we’d still have the six percent. read more »
ITEM As a strike by Boeing’s Machinists’ Union entered its third week, one of the national most influential female labor leaders came to Seattle to tell strikers that their battle is one against a “corporate America” for a better life for working families. The visit by Anna Burger of Change to Win, a new coalition of unions that have broken away from the AFL-CIO, underscores what may be shaping up to be a climactic labor battle between Boeing and its workers. read more »
I knew as soon as I saw the picture of the gorilla in the morning newspaper that the sun would not rise high in the sky before the gorilla called me on the telephone.
Actually, only one of the newspapers I take thought the gorilla picture was worth running, and then it was a one-column shot at the bottom of an inside page next to the fold. read more »
Dino Rossi will win out in his challenge over his defeat to Christine Gregoire in the governor’s election now being heard in Chelan County Superior Court in Wenatchee, and, eventually, in the state Supreme Court.
He lost in Seattle due to the efforts of King County Executive Ron Sims, elections head Dean Logan and the King County elections apparatus, just as U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton lost his seat in the same place in 2000. read more »
There now are six Bainbridge Island 11th graders who are being privately tutored in American History because they and their parents object to a textbook used in American Studies class authored by a man said to be “the most influential historian in America.”
The book is “A People’s History of the United States 1492-Present” by Howard Zinn, whose influence is such, according to Daniel J. Flynn, executive director of Accuracy in Academia, because his book is assigned reading in many colleges and high schools.
It still sells over 128,000 copies a year, 20 years after its publication. read more »
