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Genesis 6:4
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Discuss.

Rep. Cyrus Habib (D-48 LD) is running for the 48th LD Senate seat as a Democrat, but will he have other opponents?

I live in the 48th, and have pondered this a bit. I haven’t heard any scuttlebutt about potential opponents. Given the importance of this seat—Dems won’t control the Senate without it, and Dems get some chance of controlling the Senate if they win it—I would be very surprised if the Republicans didn’t try recruiting some high profile candidate.

One high profile candidate would be the former state Senator Luke Esser (R-48). Esser was defeated by Tom in 2006 after Rep. Tom switched from R to D and ran for Senate. Esser went on to be state GOP chairman until being unseated by Kirby Wilbur in early 2011.

I doubt Esser will run. He likely burned his bridges with the GOP when he became a lobbyist for the SEIU.

What about Tom’s 2010 opponent Gregg Bennett? Bennett lost to Tom, 47.3% to 52.7%, a mere 1,400 votes that year. Still, Bennett has not declared and his former campaign web site is dead.

So, imagine my surprise and delight this afternoon when I received a polling robocall from Republican pollster Moore Information. The poll included a pair of head-to-head match-ups of a Republican against Democrat Cyrus Habib. The first match-up was Habib against Gregg Bennett.

The second match-up was surprising. It sure sounded like Butch Goncharoff. I could have misunderstood the last name, but that’s what I wrote down as the poll was in progress.

Who is Butch Goncharoff? He is the nationally-ranked football coach for Bellevue High School. Really? Why would a football coach run for a part-time Senate position that doesn’t align very well with the school year or the football season? Besides that, a brief web search reveals no information about Mr. Goncharoff’s political affiliation. The man is all football, all the time. The PDC has no record of donations from him. The only thing that has the slightest whiff of politics is that Rep. Dave Reichart (R-48) once gave a House floor speech to congratulate Coach Goncharoff and his team. Maybe he is a friend of Reichert? Or not.

Aside from some kind of mid-life crisis, a run by Goncharoff seems highly unlikely. Still…the domain names GoncharoffForCongress.org and GoncharoffFor48th.org are, oddly, unavailable. That’s interesting, but hardly conclusive.

I see several possibilities:

1. Neither is running and the state Republicans commissioned the poll as a way of recruiting either Bennett or Goncharoff.

2. Bennett is thinking about running and they are using some other high profile person in the 48th as a diversion—to leave some ambiguity.

3. Goncharoff is thinking about running and they are using Bennett as a diversion.

4. They have both expressed interest in running…for the good of the party, only one will.

So…it seems that someone has Bennett or Goncharoff in mind as an opponent for Habib.

I know a lot of establishment folks are rolling their eyes at the notion that 15Now.org is holding a national conference in Seattle today. Arrogantly overambitious, amiright?

But it turns out, that’s exactly what this is. Among the 300-plus attendees who have already arrived for the morning plenary session are vocal contingents from Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Minneapolis, LA, Oakland, and other cities scattered throughout the US. It really is a national conference.

And the focus  of the conference is national as well. Attendees today will approve the structure of a national organization, and elect executive committee members from throughout the country. Today’s conference is about much more than passing a $15 minimum wage here in Seattle. As 15Now.org co-founder Jess Spear told the crowd, “$15 isn’t the end—it’s the beginning.”

I’ve agreed to speak at tonight’s rally on the topic of the role of the media in the fight for a living wage. What will I say? I’m not exactly sure yet. But stop by the basketball auditorium at Franklin High School at 7:30 pm to find out.

Liberal Viewer: Amend the second amendment?

John Oliver stops by to visit Jon.

ONN: The Onion Week in Review.

Sam Seder: Charter Schools are NOT performing better than traditional public schools in Chicago.

Thom: The Red State Medicade doughnut hole is KILLING people.

Stephen with Jon on leaving the Colbert Report.

David Pakman: Issa’s conspiracy theory debunked…IRS targeted progressive groups more than Tea Baggers.

Mental Floss: 18 famous people missing body parts.

Sharpton: 49 Million Americans lack access to healthy food & GOP wants to make it worse!.

All Bundy:

• Sam Seder: Cliven Bundy is a liar
• Chris Hayes: Whoa Bundy!
• David Pakman: Absurd double standard on Bundy cattle ranch
• Jon rips Hannity a new asshole over the welfare rancher.
• Mark Fiore: Cliven Bundy’s Home on the Range.
• Young Turks: Bundy’s lunatic racist rant
• Stephen Sings The Ballad Of Cliven Bundy:
• Ed and friends: Sean Hannity is desperate and delusional
• Sam Seder: Were Negros better off as slaves?” ponders Republican hero Cliven Bundy
• Young Turks with the “Which Bundy Said That?” game
• Ed: Sean Hannity + Cliven Bundy + FAUX News = KU + KLUX + KLAN, Part I
• Ed: Sean Hannity + Cliven Bundy + FAUX News = KU + KLUX + KLAN, Part II
• Maddow: Exploring the racist context of the Cliven Bundy / FAUX News Tag Team, Part I
• Maddow: Exploring the racist context of the Cliven Bundy / FAUX News Tag Team, Part II
• Jon rips Professor of Negro studies, Mr. Bundy.
• Sam Seder: Cliven Bundy gives us an amazing look into the Right Wing “mind”.
• Fanboy Hannity is POed: Bundy is now embarrassing conservatives.
• Bundy tries splainin’…blames MLK.
• Sharpton: Bundy compares himself to MLK
• Jon: The shit gets weird with Hannity
• Ed and Pap: Ranchers, racists, and Hannity
• Sam Seder: Why the right wing needs Mr. Bundy.
• Young Turks: Cliven Bundy blames his racism on MLK

White House: West Wing Week.

Ari Melber: Bob Dole, NUT-case Ted Cruz not ready to be President.

Paul and Paul.

Ann Telnaes: Georgia—the Nut state.

Ed: The GOP’s love affair with ‘voter-intimidation’ and fake voter-fraud.

Dr Phil does some therapy with Barack and Vlad.

Thom: The flat earth society has risen again.

David Pakman: Seattle Boy Scout troop gets cut off…

Late-night laughs: 2016 contenders edition.

The Cowboy and Indian Alliance:

• Reject and Protect: Opening ceremony.
• Thom: Cowboys and Indians ride into D.C.

Pap: SCOTUS is rotten at the top.

Sam Seder: America forgets Herman Cain.

David Pakman: GA passes “guns everywhere” bill.

Young Turks: Is running against Obamacare a bad idea?

Stephen with another episode of Better Know a District.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

I’m as curious as anybody to see how large a crowd shows up for the 15 Now National Conference tomorrow at Franklin High School, so I’m planning to show up and find out. But I’m doing more than that. I’m also scheduled to speak at the 7:30 rally, along with the likes of Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist David Cay Johnston, and others. My topic: the role of the media in the struggle for a living wage.

What will I say about my own employment circumstances? Show up and find out.

At yesterday’s no-news conference, Mayor Ed Murray refused to release details on the minimum wage compromise on which he says his advisory committee has almost but not quite reached consensus. So in the absence of facts, I’m just going to have to go with some of the rumors leaking from committee members and their posses—the most disturbing of which is a proposed phase-in of as long as seven years for some businesses… not adjusted for inflation. (The inflation index wouldn’t kick in until after the seven-year phase-in was complete.)

So, let’s see, if you phase in a $15 minimum wage over seven years, starting in 2015, and conservatively presume an average annual inflation rate of 1.75 percent, that means that the 2022 Seattle minimum wage of $15 an hour is really only worth about $13.25 an hour in current dollars. Give or take.

Don’t get me wrong: $13.25 an hour is not nothing. It’s damn well better than today’s state minimum wage of $9.32 an hour. But $13.25 is not $15. By that math, we already have a $15 minimum wage—in 1993 dollars. So please don’t call it a $15 an hour minimum wage.

I don’t know where my friends at 15Now.org stand on this, but personally, I could accept a two or three year phase-in to the number 15, if not the actual value, depending on the totality of the package. But five to seven years, not inflation-adjusted, like I’m hearing, that’s just ridiculous.

So if that’s part of your proposal Ed, no patting yourself on the back for negotiating a compromise that gets us to a $15 minimum wage. Because you didn’t.

I’m not surprised that King County Metro’s Proposition 1 failed at the polls during a special election, but like most other observers I am surprised that it failed by such a wide margin. Late ballots have softened the blow somewhat, but there aren’t many late ballots remaining. When the final vote is tallied, Prop 1 will have failed by about eight points.

By modern American standards, eight points is almost a landslide.

So the question remains: had the county gone to the ballot with the more progressive Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) we requested from the legislature (a 1.5 percent tax on the value of your car), would voters have approved that at Tuesday’s election? And I think the answer would likely have been a resounding “No.”

Editorial board opponents had touted the regressive nature of Prop 1’s car tab/sales tax combo, but of course that was disingenuous. All our taxes are regressive, and there’s no support from the Blethenites to fix that. The truth is, any Metro funding solution that didn’t involve busting the bus drivers union would have earned a “no” endorsement from the Seattle Times.

Not that there wasn’t a sizable contingent of “no” voters on the left who failed to weigh the regressive nature of bus cuts versus the shitty reality of the tax authority we have. But I just don’t believe that’s a large enough swing vote to overcome an eight point margin. The fact is, most voters just aren’t going to distinguish between an MVET and a VLF (Vehicle License Fee)—they are both taxes that you pay when you renew your car tabs.

King County voters voted against raising taxes on their cars. Period. By eight fucking points. So it would be a mistake to read too much nuance into Tuesday’s results in order to presume that an MVET would have fared much better.

That’s why, unless the legislature is prepared to give King County councilmanic authority to levy an MVET without the approval voters—and the legislature most certainly is not—I believe Olympia’s failure to act is probably now moot. We can’t pass an MVET in a special election, and maybe not in an off-year general election either. Perhaps in 2016, during a high-turnout presidential election, but even that wouldn’t be a sure thing. In the meanwhile, systemwide Metro cuts are now unavoidable.

Politically, that means two things. First, Seattle must act on its own to save our in-city bus service from the cutting room floor. We can do that. Prop 1 passed handedly in Seattle precincts. And we have plenty of funding options.

Second, our county’s legislative delegation must wrap its collective mind around the fact that an otherwise crappy state transportation funding package is no longer a price worth paying in return for Metro MVET authority. The hostage has died. So don’t make major concessions elsewhere in return for a non-councilmanic MVET authority we likely can’t use.

Elections have consequences, and most of Tuesday’s consequences are bad. But let’s not compound them by pretending they didn’t happen.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray packed a conference room at city hall this afternoon to announce that he has no minimum wage proposal. At least not yet. Oh well.

Murray did outline several main points. If he had made a proposal it would phase in to $15 (eventually), indexed to inflation (eventually), with a slower phase-in for small businesses, however “small” is ultimately defined. There would be no “exemptions” we’re told, but there would be a phased out deduction for the cost of providing some benefits. And maybe a tip credit. That’s still under discussion.

I don’t mean to come off as snarky here. This isn’t easy. But he’s pretty much talking about all the things we’ve all been talking about, but without providing much specificity.

So, yeah. No news, really.

Is hipster oligarch David Meinert saying yes?

We’ll know the details at 3 pm. Headed to the press conference now.

(You know, in case you missed it.)

Don’t really know why anybody should be surprised that Mayor Ed Murray’s Income Inequality Advisory Committee would “fail to reach a consensus” on raising Seattle’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Murray filled the room with business owners and low-wage worker advocates. If there was an easy consensus to reach between these two camps, government coercion wouldn’t be necessary. And let’s be clear: a minimum wage is government coercion.

It was worth trying. And the conversation was worth having. But consensus never seemed a likely outcome.

And so Murray will pick and choose from the committee’s ideas and put forth his own proposal today. And then the folks who really get to write the ordinance—the city council—will get to work.

UPDATE: The mayor’s 1:15 pm press conference has been bumped to 3 pm. Is he hoping to achieve “consensus” after all?

A day later it’s above the fold in the paper of record, but remember: you read it here, first.

Well, actually, you read it here, first, way back in December of last year. But it was still me getting out ahead of the curve on a crucial issue:

City officials have been quietly exploring options to “buy back” in-city Metro bus service cuts in the event that all other options fail.

Seattle has unused Transportation Benefit District authority of its own (sales tax and car tab fee) that could yield up to $51 million in new revenue a year if approved by a simple majority of Seattle voters. Officials are also exploring a $25 million property tax levy “lid lift” that would also require a simple majority at the polls. Meanwhile, there’s another $50 million in new revenue available to the council without voter approval, via a hike in the city’s commercial parking tax, and a reinstatement of the controversial head tax, a per-employee tax on city businesses.

Those are the options that are on the table. Personally, I prefer the head tax/commercial parking tax option, as all it takes is the political balls to implement it. But I’m happy to see any proposal for buying back Metro cuts get the above-the-fold attention it deserves, as this will help push city decision makers to, you know, make a decision.

– 90 years of fucked up Seattle public transit history

– I agree with most of these points about the aftermath of Tuesday night’s vote, but 4 seems like a stretch. Despite being Goldy’s co-blogger I don’t have much of an opinion on TNC’s one way or the other.

– One-bedroom housing wages, by county [h/t]

– Even in a year that will probably be good for Republicans, they feel the need to unskew the polls.

– The Seahawks schedule is out.

Alaska Airlines joined the Seattle International Film Festival this year to sponsor SIFF’s “Explore. Dream. Discover. Film” competition:

Competition Rules
The title of your film must respond to the question: how is your life different or better because of where you have traveled?

Your film must include an Alaska Airlines element. These can include, but are not limited to the following:

· Competition title card (download here) must appear at the beginning of your film
· Our mobile app or mobile website
· Footage of alaskaair.com
· Airport footage including Alaska Airline branding and aircraft shots
· Existing Alaska Airlines advertising in market (if applicable) such as Billboards, print, etc.

Feel free to be creative. You might even come up with something that we didn’t even think of.

Something creative they didn’t think of? You mean something like this?

Oops.

When the book is written on the fight for a $15 minimum wage, a lot of the credit for the movement’s success will have to go to Alaska Airlines for their belligerent abuse of their own airport workers at Sea-Tac. It was Alaska’s refusal to come to the table that prompted the SeaTac initiative, and it was the passage of the SeaTac initiative that helped pave the way for $15 here in Seattle and beyond.

Explore. Dream. Discover. Thanks, Alaska Airlines!

Even as the Metro cuts we voted to make happen start to happen, we should consider other ways to pay for it. Goldy had a piece on Seattle maybe keeping our transit, but it really should be a regional thing. The Seattle Times tells us that the biggest problem was how regressive the tax was (and that we pay bus drivers). I’m sure the fact that they haven’t suggested any solutions is a lack of imagination, not proof that complaining about a regressive tax was bad faith. So with that in mind here are some suggestions to at least pay for part of the shortfall:

– King County should up the B&O tax for newspapers to match what the state cut: A few years the state gave an exemption to a portion of that tax to newspapers. Since The Seattle Times is so against unfair, regressive taxes, they’re surely against this unfair regressive tax loophole. I know their publisher lobbied for it, but he also shot a dog [Spokesman Review link]. People do things they regret, and I’m sure given his paper’s fight against regressive taxes, this is another thing he’ll change his mind on. As long as the state insists on being foolish, King County should impose a B&O tax on newspapers to match what it would have paid to the state.

– Private Charity: As we all know when Boeing and Microsoft help gut state education, and then pay a tiny little itty bitty portion of what they saved back, we applaud the paying back. Since The Seattle Times will undoubtedly claim victory for the defeat of Prop 1, they should step up and pay for buses. This is especially true since The Seattle Times doesn’t think 550,00 hours is very much of a loss, it won’t be very much for them to make up.

– Local income tax: It’s time — it’s probably past time — for a King County high earner’s income tax, and apply that to the Metro gap. Is it constitutional? I don’t know! Would the Seattle Times support it? Well, they wanted a less regressive tax, so who knows?

– Dog shooter tax: I don’t know the demographics of who shoots dogs, so this might not be as progressive as I would hope. But obviously, they’re terrible, terrible people. Anyone who thinks people who shoot at dogs shouldn’t pay their fair share and then some more must also be a terrible person who frankly doesn’t deserve to be listened to on anything ever.