Y’all, housing is getting pretty expensive in Seattle. I don’t know what, short of another crash, lowers prices, but Goldy’s plan will help, rent control will help, the Housing Levy will help. None of them are enough. Maybe all told, combined they aren’t enough. But we really need to do a lot to deal with a large problem.

27: 25
26: 24
25: 23
24: 22
23: 21
22: 20
21: 19
20: 18
19: 17
18: 16
17: 15
16: 14
15: 13
14: 12
13: 11
12: 10
11: 9
10: 8
9: 7
8: 6
7: 5
6: 4
5: π
4: 3
3: e
2: 2
1: 1

So, back when she was First Lady, and considering a run for Senate, Hillary Clinton moved to New York. She told people that she enjoyed watching baseball and that even though she grew up a Cubs fan in Chicago, her American League team was the Yankees. I grew up in New York and as a Mets fan, this is probably my least favorite thing about her. Like, I know a lot of Yankee fans, and like and respect a lot of them: I consider it a character flaw in all of them. Even though there were no Mets when she was growing up, and anyway, she had a team on the Senior Circuit, I’m still disappointed.

But, the point here is that people thought they could audit her fandom. Sure, she used to wear a Yankee hat before she even became First Lady, and she talked about he Yankee fandom before anyone thought about her running for Senate. Anyway, so she’s a Yankee fan who and literally anyone who cares the least bit knows that.

So, you’ve probably heard about that David Brooks column that he has no idea what Clinton does in her spare time, therefore she’s not popular.

I would begin my explanation with this question: Can you tell me what Hillary Clinton does for fun? We know what Obama does for fun — golf, basketball, etc. We know, unfortunately, what Trump does for fun.*

So, yeah, Wonkette does a great job making fun of Brooks (at the link above). But I thought I’d add that if reporters weren’t trying to prove how unauthentic she is, they might be able to answer his bullshit question.

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This week’s open thread’s are apparently random stuff related to me going to the Seattle Center. It’s kind of shameful to admit as a writer for HA, but I went to the Chihuly exhibit. I have always felt about it the same way I felt about Safeco and Century Link Field: I didn’t like how they were created, but now that they’re there, I’m not going to boycott them in protest or anything. I feel a similar way about some of the bars/restaurants/coffee shops whose owners were dicks about the $15 minimum wage or sick leave/safe leave.*

It’s quite impressive. I would certainly go again.

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I really like Folk Life. It’s free. It’s all sorts of music. I remember going from clog dancing to hip hop shows. It’s fun, and you guys, it’s next weekend. Nothing is really calling me as a must go. But I’m still totally going.

Like all of us do from time to time, I was reading about the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. I know, I know: You’re all bored of me talking about the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. It’s pretty much what every liberal blog, and especially every one that deals with Washington State politics, is just obsessed with. I hear you, so just this one time, and then I’ll have to go find some other thing to write about.

Anyway, I was reading about the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and I was surprised to learn how pro-trade the Democrats were, and the Republicans weren’t, at least according to a few paragraphs in Once in a Great City, and then some Internet research.

Part of that is a strange bravado that Kennedy had with things when he said “A vital expanding economy in the free world is a strong counter to the threat of the world Communist movement. This act is, therefore, an important new weapon to advance the cause of freedom.” So sure, Democrats being cold warriors. OK. We kinda did that.

But I think part of it was an assumption that it’s pushing our values. At the time, the head of the UAW supported it. It was still an open question what post-war Europe would look like, and I think trading with us, with our then strong unions and democratic values would pass that on.

So, maybe for those of us who aren’t big on NAFTA and the WTO for labor and environmental reasons, there are lessons. Maybe we need to have those sort of protections in the trade deals. I don’t know exactly what that looks like, but if earlier liberals thought of trade as a way to improve things, we probably could too. I don’t know if that makes more sense than just rejecting them, and I don’t know what labor or environmental protections you could get 2/3 of the Senate to pass for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, how will I drag the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 into the next post is anyone’s guess.

Are you excited about whoever has filed where you are? If not, are you gonna run? Are you? Seriously, you have until 5:00 Friday. Here’s the list of the people who have filed so far, and it looks like some of them could use some competition.

I never get allergies, but this year, they’ve just knocked me on my ass. I don’t know if it’s the warm spring or what looks like all of the world’s Scotch Broom growing by the building where I work.

The Obama administration’s administrative directive on trans students is great first and foremost on its own. It’s tough enough navigating high school no matter who you are. But if you’re a trans person and even pooping can be a mined field, this will hopefully make things a bit easier.

On top of that, it’s great for how much it makes the right people sad. Oh my God, do I love asshole tears.

The women on the Seattle City Council have written a nice opinion piece rebutting the garbage people have thrown at them over their stadium/land use vote. It’s sad that the article was necessary in 2016.

Oh man Don Benton’s make work job is going away.

Benton and three other employees’ jobs will be eliminated due to the reorganization, and could save the county as much as $1.2 million over the next two years, McCauley said. Benton’s salary and benefits package totaled about $154,000 in 2015, according to Clark County.

Benton’s position has been the subject of continuing controversy after he was appointed to lead the department in May 2013 on the orders of Republican County Commissioners Tom Mielke and David Madore. As the controversy built, both men, who at the time had sole authority to hire department heads, have denied their role in Benton’s hiring. Instead, they blame then-County Administrator Bill Barron for the action.

On the one hand, I know, I know. I know. There are all sorts of government orgs, non-profits, and businesses that hire legislators. It’s not really that different from the former members of Congress (even ones I like) who are now lobbyists. It’s not that different from Ed Murray’s job at the UW (Seattle Times link). It’s not the best look, but whatever.

But on the other hand, I am definitely petty enough to laugh when it’s an asshole like Benton. Especially given the process in the first place. So ha!

It’s been three years almost to the day since Madore and Mielke tapped Benton to lead the environmental services department during a now-infamous board time meeting in 2013. The issue has continued to be a popular subject for those who comment to the council, despite Madore and Mielke’s continued insistence that they never directed Barron to hire Benton in the first place.

Benton’s appointment also drew criticism from around the state, including a Seattle Times editorial headlined “State Sen. Don Benton for environmental post? Really?”

And I’m legit sorry to anyone else who got caught up in the restructuring.

I cast my second meaningless vote in the primary (my caucus would have been 2 delegates for Clinton, 4 for Sanders no matter how I voted; this one awards no delegates). Still, if the system is going to be this, I’m happy to participate at the cost of a couple weekend afternoons and a stamp.

Great news that the Army Corps of Engineers rejected a permit for the Gateway Pacific terminal. It’s still something that may be appealed, but for now it’s a good thing for those of us who have to live along the route. For anyone who has to breathe or to fish between Montana and Bellingham. It’s also pretty important for the climate impact going forward.

And it is important in a history of defining taking in the treaties. The right to take is pretty meaningless if what’s left to take is inadequate or non-existent.

I’ve been quite impressed by KUOW’s series on The Jungle. The most recent piece this morning on the social worker and the preacher who go into the jungle was just amazing. It tied those two to the larger situations and to the city’s looking at future policies, so well.