OK, this has been bouncing around my brain for a while. In an open thread a week or so ago, I made a passing reference to the fact that unions are more grassroots than large corporations or one rich guy. The background is that 3 initiatives qualified for the ballot: one a Tim Eyman initiative largely funded by Kemper Freeman, one a let Costco sell booze initiative funded by Costco and one a home healthcare initiative funded by SEIU.

It paints a nice picture if you’re a reporter or a journalist. Tut tut, all sides do it. But I’m sorry to let the people using that sort of construction know, no they aren’t the same. The editorial makes a special case that one person funding an initiative is particularly bad. Fair enough, I guess. Still, corporations, especially large ones like Costco, are nearly as unaccountable. But one of these things is not like the other. Unions are accountable to their membership.

SEIU (and all unions) have to be accountable to their membership. That’s a more engaged group than disinterested shareholders or boards of directors who are often buddy buddy with the CEO. If SEIU’s initiative fails, they’ll rightly be held to account by members who paid dues and elected union officers. When Costco’s last liquor initiative failed, there was no fallout. They just put another one on the ballot.

And membership does hold its officers to account. Those of us in or with family or friends in unions know plenty of people who take active part in union activity. My aunt was a teacher in another state and she and some of the other teachers in her district ousted the old guard who were, “on the take.” This sort of thing happens regularly in unions, but hardly ever in the corporate world.

To get back to this initiative season, SEIU’s home health care initiative is not only something that benefits the union and its membership, but is also of benefit to anyone who needs to hire a home healthcare worker in Washington. We’ll know that our loved ones and ourselves are in good hands. Even if you think Costco’s initiative is beneficial, they only put it on the ballot to make money. So, no, when a union gets something on the ballot that benefits its members and the state, it’s not the same as when a corporation buys itself a law.

OK, almost certainly not. But here are some thoughts with a day’s reflection:

First off, I’m somewhat ambivalent about initiatives. There is too much money in them, and they have all sorts of problems, but I’m not ready to do away with them. Still, I’m glad it made the ballot even if it lost. Before McGinn’s election the cost overrun provision being enforced was a given. After his election, most people said it wasn’t enforceable. And during the campaign, both candidates for governor and most of the political establishment said Seattle wasn’t on the hook. So it helped shift the debate on the sticking it to Seattle aspect of the project (in my opinion the worst part, and the thing McGinn ran against throughout his campaign). I suspect we’ll start to hear the establishment push for enforcement of the cost overrun provision again, but at least we had a year and a half, and especially this year, where they had to oppose it.

Second, I didn’t mention the drunk Legislative staffers I got into an argument with (and I’m not going to name names here) in last night’s post. But try to isolate McGinn all you want, he has been a better mayor than Dow has been an executive or Gregoire has been a governor. I’ll take McGinn’s record over Gregoire’s or Dow’s any day of the week and twice on Sunday. While Gregoire and the Democrats in the Legislature are cutting education and social services to the bone and beyond, while King County has had to cut social services and had a hell of a time just getting continued bus service at a much higher cost for riders, McGinn has signed a budget that doesn’t cut social services and has put transit and education improvements on the ballot.

You can say that he was in a better position when he took office; you can say he doesn’t have to deal with Eastern and Southern Washington or Eastern and Southern King County; you can decide how much of that is McGinn and how much is the City Council. That’s all fine, but I’ll take McGinn’s record of human decency, at least potentially better transit, and better education over Gregoire’s Republican budgets and Dow’s 2 zone peak trip costs $3 each way (and one zone trips are expensive too) for the same service.

Third, I hope I’m wrong, but the I-Told-You-Sos are going to be some comfort. When people complain about the worse traffic downtown, or when they wonder where the on and off ramps went, at least I’ll be able to say, “you were warned.” If buildings have to close or the cost overruns are somehow back on Seattle, if the tunnel machine gets stuck, well that’ll be awful and I hope it doesn’t happen, but at least I’ll be able to say something.

– Sidewalk dining is by far the best news to come out of yesterday.

– $60 isn’t going to get us as much as $80, but let’s pass this thing.

– What could go wrong? (h/t)

– Rick Perry’s gaff machine seems to be familiar to Texans. I have a friend, a recent transplant from Austin, who was about as pissed off about him getting in the race as I’ve ever seen anyone pissed off about anything. Also, on the subject of Rick Perry, what the hell? I mean seriously. But at least there’s a good rule of thumb.

– Plutocrat Pete.

– This thread is going to keep me eating well for a while to come.

Here’s the King County results page. First drop (I believe, the absentees they had on hand) at 8:15. I’m rooting against the tunnel, and I voted against the incumbents for Seattle City Council, but I wasn’t particularly moved by anyone. If there are any other races you’re following, talk them up in the comments.

I’m off to Havana first for the tunnel people. but I’ll probably stop by a few parties and will update as the night goes on. Here’s your list of places to par-tay.

8:00: Judging from the food out this is definitely the grassroots event. A lot of people and hardly anyone I know. T-15 minutes or thereabouts.

8:06: I’ve made it into a press area (you can get anywhere in a tie, but nobody asked for credentials). If someone notable stops by, I’ll try to get you a quote. This has been the most inside baseball update ever, sorry.

8:18: Early results say Seattle wants to be bullied by the rest of the state, hates Art Walk. With 19.59% of the vote in:

APPROVED 43410 59.66%

REJECTED 29348 40.34%

Mike O’Brien to the crowd after announcing the results “I’m going to have another beer.”

8:45: O’Brien came back and said more telegenic things that you’ll probably see on TV but I’d already closed my laptop.

Also, looks like Forch and Ferguson will face the incumbents. To the extent that anything matters for the general (it doesn’t) Godden was under 50% but both her and Clark have big leads. I’ve been talking to transit nerds, but will probably go find another party.

In the comments, it looks good for Wisconsin and Michael likes Mary Vernor’s lead in Spokane who has 70%.

9:22: No bike parking at the pro tunnel people. The least surprising thing ever. I’m trying to find an elected to ask why they hate art walk.

9:29: Dow says if the legislature had let King County extend the stadium tax, they could have paid to mitigate 619. Ifs and buts and all that. Will try to find more.

9:43: Reuven Carlyle will look into if there’s any way for the state to do anything to mitigate 619 (my email’s at the top of the post, Reuven).

10:08: I’m a Forch’s party but he isn’t here.

Michelle Bachmann will be awful for the country. The fact that she’s even in contention is worrying. Her policies will be bad for working people, bad for the environment, bad basic decency. She may be the worst person to run for president with any chance of winning in my lifetime. A lifetime that includes Pat Robertson’s George W. Bush’s Newt Gingrich’s run and many other horrible people. Please don’t vote for her. Believe me when I say that I hate the fact that I’ll be defending her for the rest of this post.

I somehow missed a lot of the Newsweek cover when it came out. So I didn’t comment on it. But it’s still pretty awful. Then during the last GOP debate I noted that she was asked a sexist question. And now this! Seriously, everybody, stop with the sexist bullshit.

Let’s start with the pictures. Everybody takes bad pictures and good pictures. And there’s nothing inherently sexist about choosing an unflattering picture. We’ve all seen men politicians with bad pictures taken of them. The main problem with Newsweek is that it was a studio shoot. Generally in those they pick better pictures of the subject. Newsweek chose that picture to look strange in a way that I can’t recall them doing to a man in a cover shoot.

In the picture of her eating a corn dog, well if you can’t spot what’s wrong with it, perhaps I won’t explain it here on a nice family blog. I’ll just say that I don’t recall similar pictures of men on the campaign trail.

Finally, the question York asked at the Republican debate:

In 2006, when you were running for Congress, you described a moment in your life when your husband said you should study for a degree in tax law. You said you hated the idea. And then you explained, “But the Lord said, ‘Be submissive. Wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands.’”

As president, would you be submissive to your husband?

Seriously, what does that even mean in context of the presidency? One time your husband said you should go to law school and you did, therefore will he decide the cabinet? What treaties to sign? There’s no evidence whatsoever in her time in the MN legislature or Congress that she’d submit her public policy decisions to her husband. And while I don’t think women should submit to their husbands in their personal lives, I don’t see how that’s relevant to her qualifications for office, nor do I see this sort of question being asked of a man.

All of this isn’t to say you can’t criticize her on a whole range of things. Nobody’s above criticism and she’s got a particularly awful track record. Just let’s try to keep sexism out of our criticism.

– The story of the Metro Route 48 is pretty amazing.

– The city council lost its best excuse not to put the full $80 on the ballot. But they’re still not going to.

– What could go wrong with a tunnel (h/t Mike O’Brien on Facebook)?

– Good on Warren Buffet.

– We’ve seen Rick Perry before, he was called George W. Bush.

I love the deal to end the free ride zone (Is it a zone or an area? I’ve always called it a zone, but John Jensen at calls it an area at the link. Then again I still call it the Bus Tunnel, so let’s concede that a transit expert may know more than me about transit terminology.) and adopt the $20 car tab/saving bus service. In addition to the points Jensen made, the economic rule about free things (that people don’t value them) certainly applies to the free ride zone.

The jokes about the rolling homeless shelters have been around since I’ve been in Seattle. You find yourself sitting next to a drunk or a junkie sometimes. Of course we all try to ignore them, but sometimes you can’t if they smell like piss or are yelling. I imagine it’s worse if you’re a woman, and there’s harassment, etc. Those riders will still be on the bus, but in fewer numbers and more distributed throughout the system. Buses aren’t equipped to handle social services anyway.

The other problem is that all the people who can’t afford to pay get off the bus at the same time. I’ve always suspected that at least part of the reason that the open air drug market on Bell Street is so persistent is that all the junkies who ride back and forth in the free ride area get off there (there are other factors, of course, the Recovery Cafe was nearby for a long time, there were businesses that catered to that clientele, a general neglect of downtown).

I guess what I’m saying is that while the $20 tabs and saving bus service is clearly the best part of the deal, ending the free ride zone is a nice bonus. Here’s hoping they implement the changes well.

The other day when Patty Murray was appointed to the Superduperextraspecialcommittee, I noted that the choice of words calling her a co-chairwoman was potentially off.

Also, one other thing. The Caucus piece linked above refers to her as the future “co-chairwoman” of the committee. I assume that means the Republican co-chair will also be a woman. Otherwise, let’s hear it for gender neutral language in the future.

Well, sad to say, she won’t even be the co-woman on the panel. Yes, that’s right, our government has decided that a population underrepresented in Congress should be even underrepresenteder in the Awesomesaucepeachykeancommittee.

Asked by PubliCola whether Murray felt the makeup of the committee is fair or representative, Murray’s spokesman Eli Zupnick responded: “Senator Murray would always like to see more women at the table, but as the only one on this Committee she will be in there fighting for those women who don’t have a voice at the table—as well as for everyone who is counting on her and her colleagues to come together with a balanced plan that works for families across the country.”

Here’s a thread for this bullshit if you want to talk about it.

… I’m not sure anyone will ever talk about “Minnesota nice” again. And apparently Newt Gingrich, John Huntsman, and Herman Cain exist.

… As always, it feels odd when Ron Paul makes more sense than anyone else. In this case RE immigration. Although, his proposals are still garbage.

… Republicans sure don’t like taxes, even though they supported them when they supported them as governor.

… I really like the Minnesota people hating each other. NOBODY CARES ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MN LEGISLATURE, you guys.

… If anyone else is watching online, is the video cutting out a lot for anyone else?

… We also don’t care about the MA Constitution (although it is pretty rad).

… Santorum wants to “fight marriage imposed by the states.” And I think he just compared gay marriage to slavery!

… Everyone on the Fox News online panel during the commercial are in love with Newt Gingrich.

… They’re talking about Rick Parry, as “the candidate who isn’t here.” Then they mentioned Palin and Guilani. I thought for a minute someone might have mentioned Fred Karger.

… Romney, Newt, are you guys hypocrites on foreign policy? Nuh huh.

… And Paul also makes sense (mostly) on Iran and foreign policy (at least in the 30 second bites, if you extend it out, there are things to disagree with).

… “Social issues, that should be fun” after the break. I doubt it. I’m going to make myself a samich.

… Byron York asks a sexist question of Bachman, and she answers it fine. Please stick to issues everyone because I really don’t want to defend Bachman.

… As someone who is used to to watching sports on ESPN3 and MLB.com, I think Fox News cutting out like this is their website and not me. Step up, guys.

… Who wants to use the power of the federal government to force women to stay pregnant the most? Everyone on stage claims its them.

… Mittens, do you hate people who are unemployed? Yeppers.

… John Huntsman wants education to go back to local people because nobody cares more than local electeds and parents. Um, students and teachers?

… Closing comments. Let me just say that this sammich is really good. You guys, I can’t recommend living near Pike Place Market highly enough.

– The survivor of the South Park rapes and murder speaks up in her own name for the first time.

– I don’t know what to say about the UK riots.

– US Bonds have been downgraded. We need to find something safe. Like US Bonds!

– GOP celebrates it’s ability to lose seats in Wisconsin.

– Middle Man.

– Eyman’s latest dumbass initiative may cost us federal money.

5:43: It’s just started, and Tom Rasmussen his speaking and I think I’ve already fallen asleep. Since it’s what journalist do: I’ll note that Nick Licata and Jean Godden couldn’t be bothered to show up.

5:54: 4 speakers, all for putting transit on the ballot but it’s been from $40 to $80.

5:56: Nobody likes the funding mechanism. I’d also rather it be progressive. But compared to the sales tax, well at least people who can’t afford a car don’t have to pay for it. If the legislature ever decides to let locals have a progressive income tax, I’ll support that more.

6:02: I feel like I used to go to more of these things until I was a more regular writer at HA. Now when I see one I think I have to grab my laptop and take it with me to do a post like this. So then I’m too lazy to go at all. This is a neurosis, I think.

6:11: First person wanting sidewalks. It’s still been overwhelmingly pro putting something on the ballot. John Fox was the only one opposed.

6:16: I should have mentioned but Jean Godden came in a while ago. Nick Licata still couldn’t be bothered to even show up to his job.

6:21: A lot of people talking about how this might be the only opportunity for a long time.

6:24: Also, a lot of mention that Seattle voters have been willing to support transit in the past.

6:27: Of course there’s a large difference between the $40 package with all or mostly roads and the $60 or $80 that has public transit, pedestrian, and bike funding.

6:38: A woman from the Low Income Housing Institute (I didn’t catch her name) speaking in favor of the full $80 is the first person of color speaking in the hour or so. Seattle process, I’m afraid.

6:46: I don’t know if they look down to write or the angle I’m at, but it looks like Jean Godden and Tim Burgess are nodding off.

6:50: There’s a baby outside the council chambers. Hi baby. Hi.

7:00: Overwhelmingly pro putting something on the ballot and overwhelmingly pro that being transit.

7:05: A lot of people mentioning that the higher package means that we have better projects. And better projects will sell the package better than a lower price tag.

7:13: Does more applause mean we take more time? Because I’ve been applauding most people, but I guess I don’t have anywhere else to go after the meeting.

7:24: A lot of people who own cars making a point of it, and of their willingness to pay. It’s something I’ve made a point of in the past.

7:27: Also, people made the point that we’re in competition with other cities. The ability to get around is a selling point for attracting people to work here, to go to school here, etc.

7:40: We’re done. Here’s my recap of the testimony: Most people want the full $80. The funding mechanism is bad, but perhaps there are ways to mitigate it. In terms of priority, I’d say transit was the most, then sidewalks, and fewer people spoke in favor of bike and road infrastructure, but I don’t think there’s opposition to those things.

Is this sort of thing helpful in a world where we have The Seattle Chanel, etc?

Some other things Rob McKenna could use a special session to pass:

• The budget
• Transportation projects
• A repeal of the cost overrun provision
• A repeal of drug war legislation
• Marriage equality
• Universal healthcare
• K-12 funding
• Higher Ed Funding
• A progressive income tax

Now you may say, “Carl, isn’t that just stuff you’d like to see in the regular session?” Yes, yes it is.

I’m glad the Democrats chose Patty Murray as Co-Chair of the bullshit deficit reduction committee*. To the extent that it’s almost certainly going to be an all cuts affair, I trust that the cuts she makes won’t be as godawful as some of her colleagues would make. It’ll probably be impossible to make cuts that aren’t godawful.

Her commitment to working people hopefully means that they won’t take quite the hit they’d take otherwise. And her work for veterans hopefully means that the military cuts will be things that ought to be cut and not the things that actually keep soldiers safe, or hurt their reintegration into society when they get home. She’s not really a firebrand, so hopefully she won’t draw the ire some people might in that position. Patty Murray: as good a choice as anyone for a committee that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

Also, one other thing. The Caucus piece linked above refers to her as the future “co-chairwoman” of the committee. I assume that means the Republican co-chair will also be a woman. Otherwise, let’s hear it for gender neutral language in the future.

[Read more…]

– Want!

– Moochers.

– I chose to blame you for not stopping me earlier.

– Metro will cut well used routes without the $20 increase in car tabs.

– Aside from the idea early on that Costco and Kemper Freeman are somehow exactly as ungrassroots as SEIU, this is an interesting piece on Eyman’s latest shitty initiative (h/t).

– I love Thrifty Thursdays.

I.

Hate.

Mike.

Mc.

Ginn.

And.

Taxes.