I was not really familiar with the Ag-Gag laws that various states are enacting. In Washington, it falls to hero of freedom, Representative Joe Schmick to take up this noble cause.

“I view it as a way to protect the farmer,” Rep. Schmick was quoted as saying in the Capital Press. “You can edit anything to make it look really bad.” (Rep. Schmick has ties to ALEC and, as of 2010, was listed as a member of its national “energy, environment, and agriculture task force.”)

That is literally true of any topic. But the great thing is that if you feel that speech isn’t right or good or just, instead of appealing to the state to squash it, you can respond if you like. Or you can just ignore it. Or — and I know this is way out there — you can respond to criticism in a way that maybe improve practices so that it’s less likely you get caught doing bad things in the future. And you become better.

I was reading this piece about the GOP opposition to passing a carbon tax or any type of actually funding a transit package.

While some Puget Sound motorists are angry about longer commute times, House Republican Leader Dan Kristiansen of Snohomish said his constituents are telling him “you guys are blowing my money” on failed projects.

I was someone who was for a cheaper alternative. I was hoping that we could have a surface-transit option. But the state didn’t want that, and so the city voted to approve something different. I think it was a waste of money (although I also think given the will of Seattle voters, we still should try to press ahead as long as the state doesn’t try to force us to pay for the overruns).

But for the infinity squared time, Seattle really isn’t wasting money of Snohomish voters, or, like, Dan Kristiansen, um, personally. Snohomish County gives back about as much as it gets back from the state. And while I don’t have the district-by-district numbers, something tells me that’s more to do with Everett and the North Seattle suburbs than Snohomish. Meanwhile, King County gives about 62 cents for every dollar it gets back from the state. So, sure, there’s some waste in some state projects in Seattle, but it isn’t Seattle forcing poor ol’ Snohomish to pay.

If these GOP lawmakers were so concerned about the parts of the state “blowing my money” they would literally never complain about Seattle projects. We could probably fill the hole in with gold, and it wouldn’t be as wasteful as some counties, like, existing. To be clear, I understand the reasons that it costs the state more to provide services in rural and exurban areas, and am happy to pay for them for the most part. I just wish that their legislators wouldn’t pretend that city folks are blowing their money when we spend much more to get less.

– What could go wrong with catastrophic failure?

– I think we can all agree that when a celebrity talks about her abortion, the important thing to do is to talk about how sad they must be.

– Heads up, Burke-Gilman trail users, there will be closures under I-5 starting in mid-January, so be prepared for the detour.

– A Balloon Juice meetup would be fun.

– Oh hey, the Discovery Institute are still wrong.

– The threat to our way of life comes in the reaction and I’m sorry to say that it’s these critics who are facilitators in that project.

– Cathy McMorris Rodgers press release translated into English.

– I may be (totally am) a big ol’ crank, but I’m not sure a random bluegrass band would be an improvement in my commute.

– #foxnewsfacts

– So, welcome to Olympia. Don’t say Olympia.

– A big Congrats to Dave Neiwert on 12 years’ Blogging. I’m looking forward to what he’ll do with the blog next.

– We are starting to get the outlines of what the budget debate is going to look like this session.

– I don’t know what to do about Boko Haram out here in the West, but jeez.

– Je suis Charlie, indeed. Unless vous êtes Republican.

I can’t find the press release mentioned in this article online, so I’ll pass doing the full metacommentary on it. But Senators Mike Baumgartner and Doug Ericksen are pushing to change the rules in the GOP controlled Senate so that it would take a 2/3 vote to pass tax increases.

It’s a terrible idea, of course. On top of being an anti-democratic copycat of an unconstitutional idea, it assumes that tax increases are somehow a different category than spending cuts. But things being terrible ideas never stopped the GOP from having them.

Without getting too deep into the parliamentary weeds, the changes involve steps before a final vote. Technically a bill should receive three “readings” before coming to a final vote. But full bills are never read completely. A clerk starts on the text and before he or she needs to take a breath the presiding officer usually calls “last line”, meaning the reader skips to the final line of the legislation, whether it’s at the bottom of that page or 1,000 pages later.

The second reading is usually skipped in a procedure called a “suspension of the rules” that allows the bill to jump forward for a final vote. Baumgartner and Ericksen want to change that rule to require a two-thirds vote to move a bill forward for the final vote. They also want to change another bill requiring that super majority when the Senate agrees to a bill that comes over from the House for final passage after being batted back and forth for changes.

Could the Democrats as stridently do that sort of nonsense? Could we require a 2/3 vote for — I don’t know — tax breaks for major corporations in the state House? Or for renewing unproductive tax cuts? Or for spending cuts? Or for spending money on counties over what they send back to the state?

And not to sound like a broken but why 2/3? What’s magic about that particular fraction? I realize several unconstitutional 2/3 initiatives passed, but is it really appropriate to say that some number Tim Eyman pulled out of his ass is the right thing? It’s just so arbitrary.

– Charlie Hebdo: Gun attack on French magazine kills 12

– In our great democracy, all of the white guys are represented in Congress.

– Cis Allies and Trans Suicide

– Well, running citywide would be one way for Sawant to avoid having to run against Rod Hearne.

– Oh, we’re already talking about the next census appointment. Sure.

– Open your wallets, suckers. Huckabee’s back in business!

– SPL is a pretty great place to watch sports.

With GOP control of the Senate, I suspect much of the important work of the legislature will be pushed back another 2 years. There probably won’t be a transportation budget, again. There probably won’t be significant revenue increases (or tax restructuring in a way that will make taxes more fair), again.

On the plus side, maybe McCleary will actually force some action on education funding??? And they do have to pass a budget that in theory has to balance, so maybe that will force the issue on revenue. I’m not optimistic, but who knows?

Still, legislators will be responsible to their constituents, so we might as well say what we want.

– When I was lobbying with NARAL last session, one of the things they wanted was to try to make sure that any supplemental budget didn’t have family planning cuts. Now that the state is working on a 2-year budget, it’s probably something that has to be watched out for.

– As I said above, I don’t hold much hope that our tax structure will improved much, but we can hope.

– Barring that, Inslee’s carbon tax proposal (video loads automatically) is better than a sharp stick in the face, at least for transit funding.

– The social issue that will probably go nowhere that I’d like to see the most is the Reproductive Parity Act

– Maybe the background checks initiative passing will put a little bit more spine into legislators for other popular, common sense gun control measures.

If you’ve got something else you’d like to see, add it in the comments.

I’d also like to say that as the session gets going, I’ll probably be pushing y’all to write your legislators on various issues. I really hope you will consider taking the time to write your legislators, or key legislators, on issues. It really makes a difference. If you want to get started, you can contact your legislator here.

I’m also looking at my calendar at work, and may go down to Olympia at some point to do some actual reporting, or maybe just a bit more lobbying. Or nothing at all.

– So, it’s January, and you have to recycle your food waste. Are you ready (if you weren’t doing it already)?

– Sen Wyden and his staff handled a hands up protest about as well as one might expect, but I’m surprised it was organized without anyone on staff’s knowledge.

– Another reminder that the Supreme Court is not always going to do the right thing.

– Yawn + seethe = contempt

– Male Nerds Think They’re Victims Because They Have No Clue What Female Nerds Go Through [h/t]

– Man, I’ve been taking too much time off. I’m back in real life and, hopefully, here next week. So enjoy 2015, and I’ll see you there.

– Media Follies 2014! – Local

– Looks like last year was a banner year for hate crimes in King County.

– Headline ‘O the Day

– Oh hey, baby orca.

– Happy New Year!

– 1 Million bike trips across the Freemont Bridge this year!

– Emmett thinks that how Seattle and Portland handled Uber says a lot more about how the two cities handle competition more generally. I’m not sure I 100% buy it, but it was a fun read.

– Geez have the Metro drivers even heard of just holding it?

– Good on Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson for being a decent person in response to a letter.

– Sounds like the appropriate response to 2014

– It’s strangely reassuring to read about Oregon’s unnecessary giveaways to Nike. Oh, that sort of garbage happens everywhere!

– The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a pretty lousy economic measure, but yeah.

– The Oil Train Industry is Putting Seattle at Risk

– Twitter doesn’t think these rape and death threats are harassment

– This piece by Digby on the asymmetry of politicians unhinged from reality is pretty much all you need the next time someone is like “but both sides” or whatever.

– This Modern World’s Year in Review Part 1 and Part 2.

– Lets keep up the marriage equality momentum from last year.

– Random Thoughts on Spreading the Blame for a Cop Killing

– The Northgate pedestrian bridge is in danger.

– Law enforcement people claiming that they’re going to half ass their job need to not be there.

– I had not wondered before now how Santa poops. Probably because he’s magic.

– FYI, I probably won’t have an Open Thread on Friday.

– Where to Get a Hot Meal for the Holidays

– Four Reasons To Be Hopeful for 2015

– You know what else? Every one of these fuckers who brings up The Great Dictator would, given the chance, have joined the red-baiters who kicked Chaplin out of America.

– I am digging Emmett’s Gross Happiness Index of Washington, and may have to play around with the data a bit.

– It seems both happy and sad that it’s 2014 and the President one time only calling on women in a press conference is news.

– Have you done all of your Christmas shopping? I should probably start mine (kidding, sorta).

Sorry, but my Internet is being wonky on my commute this morning. Here’s a thread to keep you company.