With all the focus on eliminating the Bush tax cuts and spurring the economy, President Obama and Congressional Democrats are tripping over themselves touting their small business tax breaks this election season. What they’re not mentioning is an automatic tax increase that will hit family-owned businesses hard, starting on New Year’s Day.

Unless Congress and President Obama act, the inheritance or “death tax” will automatically revert to its pre-2001 level: 55 percent of the value of one’s estate after a $1 million deduction. That tax alone often breaks a small business if its owner suddenly dies. read more »

Finding a job is the best substitute for an unemployment check, but as more and more Americans exhaust their jobless benefits, employment opportunities remain sparse.

In July, the state unemployment rate was 8.6 percent, down from 9.5 percent a year ago; however, in parts of Washington it is in double-digits. The Portland-Vancouver metro area reports 13.3 percent unemployment, about the same as last year. Economists worry that it may take years for our economy to return to its peak of a couple of years ago.

Ironically, the longer we experience high unemployment, the harder it will be for private employers to begin hiring. read more »

With unemployment stubbornly stalled at 9.6 percent, the Obama administration is desperately looking for ways to get the economy moving again.

Recently, in a meeting with my manufacturing counterparts from around the country, President Obama’s representative read a speech about all the administration is doing to spur manufacturing in America. Specifically, she tried to enlist our help in convincing companies to invest the $1.8 trillion they’re holding in reserve in added production capacity and new products and services. read more »

Once again, dozens of wildfires are raging across California, reducing entire forests to cinders and displacing thousands of families. As they burn, these fires pump millions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) - declared by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as a dangerous pollutant — into the air.

Ironically, this environmental and human devastation is due in part to federal environmental policies. read more »

I suppose we should give the state credit for trying to economize by consolidating its computer systems in one place, but the new Department of Information Services (DIS) building at the state Capitol is raising a lot of questions.

When the contractor was selected in November 2007, the economy was flying high. True, the state’s unemployment rate was ticking up, but it was comfortably low at 4.7 percent. The plan called for a state-of-the-art $260 million, 456,000-square-foot office complex and data center to house most of the state’s computer technology currently scattered throughout multiple state and private buildings. In addition, it would provide hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space for other state agencies. read more »

Over the next few years, your trusty incandescent light bulbs will become illegal. Didn’t know that? Don’t feel bad, few people do.

Perfected by inventor Thomas Edison in the 1880s, the incandescent light bulb has been a shining example of American ingenuity and innovation. In fact, the light bulb is the very symbol of a good idea.

Alas, after 130 years of faithful service, the incandescent bulb has been banned by Congress as energy inefficient. Beginning in 2012, 100-watt bulbs will be banned, followed by all others in 2014, although three-way bulbs and some specialty lights will survive — for now. read more »

Ask any wildland firefighter and they’ll swear by their “pulaski,” a tool that combines an axe and a mattock (similar to a pickaxe). It was invented by U.S. Forest Service Ranger Ed Pulaski in 1911, one year after the nation’s largest wildfire nearly took his life and left him permanently scarred. While Pulaski is remembered for his firefighting tool, it was the pain and suffering he and hundreds of other firefighters endured that led to today’s workers’ compensation system.

In 1910, Pulaski was a forest ranger in the fledgling U.S. Forest Service, formed in 1905 by President Teddy Roosevelt. read more »

Facing a $3 billion budget gap next year, Gov. Chris Gregoire recently announced a renewed initiative to streamline state government. The governor created a 32-person panel to scour state agencies for efficiencies vowing, “There are no sacred cows.”

Surprisingly, she suggested that our scandal-laden ferry system could be sold back to the private sector. In the wake of a high-profile investigation by KING 5 News that revealed widespread abuses by unionized state ferry workers, Gregoire raised the prospect of privatizing the state ferry system. She pointed to British Columbia’s BC Ferry Corporation as a possible model. But this “private” ferry company is not quite private. Its sole shareholder is the British Columbia government. read more »

The lame argument of this election year is if private stores like Costco are allowed to sell liquor, underage drinking will explode. According to opponents of privatizing liquor sales in Washington, only state-owned and run liquor stores can keep booze out of the hands of teens.

Give me a break! Any clerk or storeowner — public or private — who sells beer, wine or cigarettes to a minor can be arrested. The law does not discriminate. read more »