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Shouldn’t We Want a “Death Tax”?

by Carl Ballard — Friday, 10/18/13, 8:39 pm

Goldy points to The Seattle Times’ endorsement of the repeal position on the estate tax advisory vote. We just voted for an estate tax like a few years ago, didn’t we? Whatever. But what I find interesting is The Seattle Times’ insistence on calling it a “death tax” as if that’s a thing.

Reading that got me thinking about their other insistence regarding taxes. Specifically, that taxes harm whatever you’re taxing. So they’ve been taking the line for years that you can’t increase taxes during a recession/recovery because it will harm the economy.* But if that’s true, they should support a “death tax” because it will stop people dying. By The Seattle Times’ logic, The Seattle Times wants more death. QED

[Read more…]

Meeting More Than Half Way

by Carl Ballard — Friday, 10/18/13, 5:21 pm

Greg Walden, who represents Eastern Oregon in Congress, is one of the few Representatives from Cascadia who voted to continue the government shutdown and to have the US default on its debts. After Blue Oregon wrote about it, former Labor Commissioner Jack Roberts left a comment:

I think it’s fair to say that Greg knew how the vote was going to turn out before he cast his. Sort of like Obama’s vote against raising the debt ceiling when he was a senator.

Kari at Blue Oregon has some interesting things to say about what that means in terms Walden’s honesty. But I’d add that there was a major difference: The Democrats weren’t in the majority when Obama took that vote, and the minority party typically has more room to make those types of symbolic protest votes.

When Republicans whine and whine and whine and complain and whine and moan and shriek and whine about how Democrats weren’t willing to make any concessions, this puts the lie to it. When most of the votes to keep the government open had to come from the minority party, well, that’s more of a compromise than ought to have been necessary to keep the lights on. That’s meeting the Republicans more than half way by doing something that wasn’t typically the job of the minority. It meant that the GOP didn’t have to whip its caucus as much as they might otherwise, it means that Democrats might have to eat shit in some districts for blah blah debt ceiling. If the GOP wants to be in the majority, they ought to use it to fucking govern.

Rep. Tom Foley (D-WA)

by Darryl — Friday, 10/18/13, 1:29 pm

Former Rep. Tom Foley (D), who represented Eastern Washington from 1965 to 1995, has died at 84 from complications of a stroke.

Rep. Foley, a Spokane native, was the 57th Speaker of the House, serving from 1989 to 1995.

When I think of Speaker Foley, the word “Statesman” comes to mind. The NY Times puts it this way:

When he became speaker on June 6, 1989, Mr. Foley, from Washington State, appealed to “our friends on the Republican side to come together and put away bitterness and division and hostility.” He promised to treat “each and every member” fairly, regardless of party, and by most estimations he lived up to that promise to a degree unmatched by his successors.

By contrast, Speaker Boehner (R-OH) is a shameless partisan, acting more as a majority leader than a Speaker of the House…and frequently acting in the interest of his Party to the detriment of our nation. In my recent letter to Boehner, I reminded him that…

…you are the Speaker of the HOUSE, not the Speaker of the Republican Party. As second in line for the presidency, I expect you to show careful stewardship of our nation.

Indeed, Foley was the very archetype behind my words:

Despite sharp differences on issues, he got along better with members of the other party than any of the speakers who followed him. In that final news conference, asked to offer advice to the next speaker, Mr. Gingrich, he urged him to remember, “You are the speaker of the whole House and not just one party.”

We need more Tom Foley’s in Congress.

Good News for Vancouver

by Carl Ballard — Friday, 10/18/13, 7:54 am

And even better news for same sex Oregon couples:

Gay couples are still legally banned from getting married in Oregon, but, effective immediately, their marriages will be recognized in the state if they choose to get hitched elsewhere in the country.

In an interesting half-step toward marriage equality, Oregon’s chief operating officer Michael Jordan issued a memo stating that all state agencies are required to recognize the unions of gay couples who wed outside the state.

“Oregon agencies must recognize all out-of-state marriages for the purposes of administering state programs,” reads the memo. “That includes legal, same sex marriages performed in other states and countries.”

It is welcome news even as it shows that there is more work to do. I suspect that it will be good for the wedding industry in Southern Washington and Northern California as couples come here to get legally hitched back home. I welcome the economic activity and the spread of love. And those of us who voted for marriage equality in Washington will have helped couples from the other side of the Columbia get married.

Still, for people in parts of Oregon that aren’t near the border, getting access to those rights might be tough. A couple farmers in Southeastern Oregon, or some college kids in Eugene who money is tight for might not be able make the trip.

Against the Public Knowing Anything, I Guess

by Carl Ballard — Thursday, 10/17/13, 6:20 pm

Goldy details the AG’s complaint against the Grocery Manufacturers Association for their anti-I-522 campaign financing.

According to the complaint, the GMA funded its anti-522 efforts through voluntary assessments on its members (major food companies) separate from their normal association dues. Invoices were sent to GMA members in March and August of 2013, with the goal of raising $10 million to oppose I-522. As of the No on I-522’s most recent disclosure report, the GMA had contributed $7,222,500.

Of course, the GMA and its members are free to spend as much as they want opposing I-522; the issue here is their failure to disclose the source of the money. GMA members—familiar brands like Pepsi, Kraft, Coca-Cola, General Mills, and Kellogg’s—faced a ton of bad publicity for the millions they contributed to defeat the similar Prop 37 in California last year. The complaint outlines what appears to be a deliberate effort to shield these companies from similar publicity, in direct violation of Washington’s voter-approved public disclosure laws. In addition to penalties and legal fees, the AG is seeking to force the GMA to register as a political action committee and reveal its donors.

It’s a process story rather than a policy story, and I don’t think people really vote based on that (for specific candidates they do, I’m not convinced they do for ballot initiatives). Still, perhaps this feeds the narrative more than usual. The Frankenfood industry doesn’t want you to know who is spending money in the initiative process just like it doesn’t want you to know what you’re eating. I don’t know.

Open Thread 10/17

by Carl Ballard — Thursday, 10/17/13, 8:01 am

– 144 Representatives, all Republicans none from WA, voted to keep the government shut down and for the US to default. That’s gross in at least two ways.

– In case you missed it during the shutdown, a Seattle resident was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism at the Battle of Ganjgal.

– The 60 Minutes strenuously fact-free assertions about disabled people “leeching” off the system are even more pernicious in this context, since they add to the narrative that the United States bears no collective responsibility to support any of our poorest citizens, regardless of their circumstances.

– Are you ready for Seattle Startup Week?

– Seattle has had a long history of women at the head of bike organizations (see also: Barb Culp). But this is the first time, at least to my knowledge, that a woman has held every top spot.

– I’ve never played either of the Plants versus Zombies games, but the psychology behind those sorts of games is interesting.

Abnormal

by Carl Ballard — Wednesday, 10/16/13, 7:40 pm

I’m sure y’all are reading the NPI Advocate. When Andrew goes into live blogging mode or when he’s making fun of Tim Eyman it’s always solid. So as soon as I saw the title of this piece about Eyman speaking at the transit listening committee was of course going to be great.

“The people attending these meetings, including myself, are not a representative sample of the taxpayers of Washington,” Eyman said, instantly drawing another round of boos and jeers. “Normal people are at home recovering from a long day at work, but their voices deserve to be heard too,” he added.

“We’re normal people!” shouted several indignant audience members in a near simultaneous (but uncoordinated) reply. “I came here straight from work,” one young woman sitting near me said loudly.

People in the room were offended, and certainly they had every right to be.

Were I not an activist who has been watchdogging Tim Eyman and fighting his destructive initiatives for over a decade, I would have been offended too. I’d have resented Eyman’s sneering implication that I was not a “normal” person because I had chosen to give up part of my evening to share my opposition to Metro service cuts with the people charged with deciding what our laws and budget should be.

[…]

Eyman may not be normal – after all, he’s a well paid professional politician – but plenty of people who showed up at tonight’s hearing are regular Washingtonians who claim to represent nobody but themselves. They spoke as citizens and activists, not lobbyists or political operatives. Unlike Eyman, they don’t get paid big bucks to promote cynical initiatives designed to wreck government.

Just because Tim Eyman isn’t normal, he shouldn’t smear the rest of the people who show up on a Monday night to participate in the process. Usually in Olympia at hearings and committee meetings these sorts of things are overwhelmingly dominated by lobbyists and other people more like Tim Eyman who make their living taking one side or another. When they actually come to Seattle and other parts of the state, they can hear from a broader selection of people.

Thanks Rep. Herrera Beutler

by Carl Ballard — Wednesday, 10/16/13, 7:52 am

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler and I don’t agree on much. But at least she can see the value of not shutting down the government over a law she doesn’t like (Seattle Times link). Eventually.

In a statement released Tuesday, Herrera Beutler said she’s avoided public comment before now because she wanted to give Republican leaders leeway to craft a deal.

But she said the time has come for Republicans “to face reality” and made it clear she will not vote for “poison pills” seeking to end the Affordable Care Act, which have no chance of passing the Senate or being signed into law.

Unlike Dave Reichert, who I complained about earlier, this seems legit. As we’re on the eve of a potential default, it seems like a praiseworthy thing. Especially since it’s a pretty conservative Republican who was first elected in the Tea Party wave (and who post-redistricting might be more likely to face a primary challenge than be defeated by a Democrat). So, I doubt I’ll make a habit of praising conservative Republicans in this state, but thanks Representative Herrera Buetler for recognizing reality.

Drinking Liberally — Seattle

by Darryl — Tuesday, 10/15/13, 3:17 pm

The crisis continues…the federal government is still being held hostage, but that won’t keep us from plotting a rescue mission. Please join us for an evening of rescue politics over a pint at tonight’s gathering of the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Our normal starting time is 8:00pm.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out another nearby DL meeting over the next week. The Tri-Cities and Shelton chapters meet tonight. The Lakewood and South Seattle chapters meet this Wednesday. For Thursday, the Spokane and Tacoma chapters meet. And next Monday, the Aberdeen, Yakima and Olympia chapters meet.

With 210 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

Open Thread 10/15

by Carl Ballard — Tuesday, 10/15/13, 8:07 am

– How do you know when a Koch brothers sponsored group is lying in a press release? If it issued a press release.

– And the goddamned town full of righteous assholes who populate Maryville, Missouri joined up to recite the sacred mantra of “boys will be boys” and to condemn and harass the victims.

– Maybe not letting King County fund its own transit is a way to fund the 520 bridge since people are switching in large numbers due to the tolling.

– “As a matter of policy I always wait a few days before reading anything Alessandra Stanley writes so editors have time to issue the necessary 3-4 corrections. So I admit I’ve yet to read the piece.”

– This weekend’s weird protest against the fallout of the government shutdown they engineered is just the latest primal scream from this slowly dying breed of American.

– Three Olympia local food options that aren’t the co-op or the farmers market

– I always try to write a quick email when I’ve had good customer service (although in fairness, I’ve never been great at following through on it). Lately though, it’s been harder and harder to find a good email address. I feel like I’m being pushed to Twitter and Facebook, but those feel too public for that. Is it that putting those addresses somewhere where I can find it means that it’s also somewhere where billions of spam bots can find them too? Has anyone else had this problem, or is it just me?

– Ayn Random

That’s a Metaphor

by Carl Ballard — Monday, 10/14/13, 5:15 pm

Over the weekend, I was crossing the street, and a mom and her 2 or 3 year old kid were walking down the street in the opposite direction when the kid suddenly starts crying and laying down in the middle of the crosswalk. And the mother says “you can’t have your temper tantrum in the street.” Then she pulled him over to the sidewalk where he continued to throw his tantrum.

I’m not a parent, and I have no idea what the back story is, so I’m not going to criticize the mom. But I sort of think that makes a good metaphor for what the GOP is doing.

Maybe the GOP temper tantrum in the middle of the street is hoping that the rest of us will see their temper tantrums not in the middle of the street as reasonable. But their temper tantrums aren’t reasonable.

Open Thread 10/14

by Carl Ballard — Monday, 10/14/13, 8:39 am

– A bill for the next session would make it easier to fire cops. On the one hand, I’m generally opposed to management being able to arbitrarily be able to fire employees, on the other hand, there are some cops out there who probably need it.

– Over at Defeating the Dragons there’s a multi-part piece on how an evangelical becomes pro-choice. In some ways since I’m not an evangelical it’s not my fight, but since there is so much spill over into public polity, it’s probably necessary. In any event it’s so far a pretty good read.

– I’m still think a special session to get a transit bill is our best hope of not losing Metro fundin, but Ben Schiendelman makes the case that it’s bad news and has a way forward.

– If you’re waving a confederate flag, you’ve lost the argument.

Bird’s Eye View Contest

by Lee — Sunday, 10/13/13, 12:00 pm

Last week’s contest was won by zzippy. It was Rehoboth Beach, DE.

This week’s is from Google 45-degree views, good luck!

HA Bible Study

by Goldy — Sunday, 10/13/13, 6:00 am

Ezekiel 23:8
She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her.

Discuss.