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Another small bit of good news, Tacoma only has to fill an $11 million dollar gap.

In essence, the city has spent a bit less and collected a bit more than expected through the first three months of this year. Much of the extra money comes from a surge in revenue from licensing and permits – but it’s a mistake to pick any single trend and call it a cause, according to Bob Biles, the city’s finance director, who relayed the pleasant news to council members.

Obviously, there’s a lot of work still to do, and more cuts after several years of economic shit won’t help the city. I wouldn’t say it’s a sign that things are good, but at least things are moving in the right direction.

Darryl already linked to Rob McKenna’s non-answer of the Reproductive Parity Act/ telling someone to get a job because they asked him a question. The news is the get a job part, but the Reproductive Parity Act is reveling too:

First off, he doesn’t seem to know the history of the Reproductive Parity Act. I mean his answer, “I’m a lawyer for the State” doesn’t make sense. He seems to think the question referred to a law his office might have to defend. Does he not know it didn’t pass the legislature? Was he confusing it with the pharmacy regulations? It was one of Washington’s pro-choice community’s biggest concerns in the last session and the fact that he isn’t aware of what happened with it doesn’t signal much of a commitment to women’s health.

Now, Rob McKenna is an ostensibly pro-choice politician, and that would be great if that was a simple binary. But this brings up that state government does a lot of things that — even if the governor isn’t trying to outlaw abortion — can have an impact on women’s access to health care including abortion. We’re seeing trap laws in Mississippi and other states that are making it tougher for doctors to perform abortions. While I doubt we’d go that far in Washington, the governor can enact many regulations that might make it tougher for abortion providers. States are pulling or considering pulling funding for Planned Parenthood. In tight budget times, we don’t know if he’ll look to pull that sort of funding even if ostensibly he supports their mission.

Closer to home, the Reproductive Parity Act that he seems not to know anything about passed the state house and looked destined to pass the state senate until the budget shenanigans. It seems reasonable to ask if he’d veto or sign it if it made it to his desk. In the previous session, the legislature passed a bill expanding family planning services to women from 200% of poverty to 250%. While this doesn’t turn on abortion since it’s taking federal money, it’s easy enough to see McKenna using his line item veto on it in a bid to save money (it’s penny wise and pound foolish, but that hasn’t stopped other GOP ideas).

Finally, Republican politicians go from pro-choice to anti when going from a liberal state to trying to get the GOP nomination. Ronald Reagan signed the law that legalized abortion in California before opposing abortion when he ran for president. George Herbert Walker Bush was pro choice until he needed to be anti-choice to be selected as the Vice President. Mitt Romney used to be pro-choice in Massachusetts but he’s anti-choice now. This wouldn’t be too much of an issue if McKenna were adamantly pro-choice and willing to answer all choice questions. But since he isn’t, you have to wonder if this position is here to stay.

– Well here’s a bulletin on this dog and pony show. Window dressing isn’t going to hack it. Women, the ones to hold families and communities together, are major casualties in the ongoing economic crisis. They and people of color have lost the most jobs, homes, savings and social services.

– Seattle is the coolest city ever, you guys.

– I’m glad to see what they’re doing to improve One Bus Away. And I appreciate the digitizing analog music metaphor.

– The EEOC says you can’t discriminate based on gender identity.

– Baseball in Portland

– Norse faith: 1 Atheists: 0

Another advantage of mass transit.

Since the opening of Beacon Hill Station, many people who ride bikes have figured out that for a couple bucks, Link Light Rail will make one of Seattle’s mightiest hills disappear. Just hop on at Pioneer Square Station and two stops and an elevator later you are at the top of the hill.

Michael van Baker at the SunBreak asks: Will University Link do the same to Capitol Hill?

It is another thing that makes bike riding easier. I’m more a tootle around town person than a go for a 40 mile ride person. So I can usually get up the hills. But it is another nice option to have. Also, if you get caught in a storm, you have aren’t stuck in the middle of the rain.

But it looks like there are several Catholic parishes that won’t collect signatures for R-74.

The congregation at Seattle’s Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church gave the Rev. Tim Clark a standing ovation Sunday when he announced that the parish would not gather signatures for a referendum to repeal same-sex marriage.

The parish became the sixth in Seattle to opt out of the petition drive for Referendum 74 that has been endorsed and foisted on parishes by Archbishop J. Peter Sartain.

“I am happy to report that Our Lady of the Lake parishoners have been overwhelmingly and, thus far, unanimously supportive of the decision I made NOT to gather signatures in support of this Referendum,” Clark wrote in response to an e-mail.

“The standing ovation experienced during one of the Masses says less about me and much more about the health of this parish. I only wished the archbishop could have experienced the sustained applause — the ‘sensus fidelium’ — of the people. He needs to listen to this ‘voice.’ That is my prayer.”

Other parishes to shun the signature drive have includes St. James Cathedral, St. Joseph Church, St. Mary’s Church, St. Patrick Church and Christ Our Hope Catholic Church.

Obviously, the Church collecting signatures at all for this referendum is a problem. There were exemptions carved out for them, and other religious organizations that didn’t want to perform same sex ceremonies. And yet, they can’t just live and let live with the law. Still, the parishes not participating is a great (even if small, and possibly overrepresented as a story) part of the story.

I don’t want to overstate this, because the Roman Catholic church remains very much a not-democracy, and the Archbishop Peter J. Sartrain, who has been foisting this petition drive on his parishes, sounds like a real not-peach. He’s been trying to muster Catholics in favor of Referendum 74, which would block Washington’s new same-sex marriage law.

But this outright refusal to accede to the Archbishop’s wishes touches on a post I made back in February arguing that the Conference of Catholic Bishops’ attempts to mobilize a “Catholic voting bloc” a la the conservative evangelical Protestant vote, would backfire badly. Yes, on paper the Church is very hierarchical; in practice, Catholic voters are much more diverse than the Bishops would like to admit

Rob McKenna wants you to know that he isn’t Scott Walker. Via Politico (audio link added):

Rob McKenna…told a gathering of Puget Sound Carpenters last week that he’ll strive for a “positive relationship between labor and management,” even lamenting the agenda pursued by Walker.
“We need to have a good strong relationship between labor and management in this state,” McKenna said at the April 11 meeting, according to the audio that was secretly recorded. “Now unfortunately because of a couple of governors — particularly Scott Walker — everyone thinks that someone who’s going to be a Republican governor, they’re going to be Scott Walker. I’m not Scott Walker. This is not Wisconsin. This is Washington state.”

You know who else isn’t Scott Walker? Gov. John Kasich (R) of Ohio, also elected in 2010 who, a year later, signed Senate Bill 5 that limited collective bargaining for public employee unions.

And who else isn’t Scott Walker? Two-term Governor Mitch Daniels (R) of Indiana who, on day one of his first term used executive orders to decimate public employee unions.

Who are other not-Scott Walkers, that have waged war on collective bargaining, public employee unions, and labor in general? Govs. Rick Scott (R-FL), Jan Brewer (R-AZ), Rick Snyder (R-MI), Bobby Jindal (R-LA), and Chris Christie (R-NJ).

Who else isn’t Scott Walker? Scott Fucking Walker, that’s who.

Here he is, just a week before the 2010 election, being interviewed by the Oshkosh Northwestern‘s editorial board (video here):

Editorial Board Member: Before, we were talking about state employees contributing to their plan, paying their share of the pension plan. Collective bargaining come into that?

Walker: Yep (nodding yes)

Editorial Board Member: How do you get that negotiated and accepted by the state employee unions?

Walker: You still have to negotiate it. I did that at the county as well.

McKenna is asking us to trust that he will not engage in the same ALEC-fueled agenda we’ve seen coming from his fellow Republicans in Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Louisiana, Maine, and New Jersey. Really, Rob? After claiming to be the co-creator of the Teabaggy lawsuit to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act? After refusing to represent state Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark in a lawsuit to protect public lands? After making a closed-door campaign promise before an anti-light rail group that he would work to find ways to kill light rail to the East Side?

Get real.

Six months ago, Florida Governor Rick Scott had plans to make Florida a “better” state by de-funding state higher education programs in fields like psychology and anthropology:

“Is it a vital interest of the state to have more anthropologists? I don’t think so.”

Scotts “War on Anthropology” was based on an incorrect assumption that there is no job market for anthropologists:

…[T]he difference in job growth between [math and science] jobs and anthropologists is slight. Anthropology jobs are expected to grow by 28 percent, while computer software engineers and environmental engineering technician jobs will grow by 30 percent.

“The expected growth isn’t that much different in terms of percentage,” said Chris Cunningham, an analyst with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And then there is this from today’s news:

Jim Yong Kim was chosen to be president of the World Bank, becoming the first physician and Asian-American to head the lender after emerging markets failed to rally around a challenger to the U.S. monopoly on the job.

The World Bank board of directors said today it chose Dartmouth College President Kim to succeed Robert Zoellick, whose term ends June 30. A specialist in HIV/AIDS with a Ph.D. in anthropology, Kim, 52, faced rival bids from Nigeria and Colombia.

Be warned, Gov. Scott, anthropologists will rule the World… Bank.

Romans 13:6-7
You must also pay your taxes. The authorities are God’s servants, and it is their duty to take care of these matters. Pay all that you owe, whether it is taxes and fees or respect and honor.

Discuss.

It’s not too surprising.

State Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45, Kirkland), one of six candidates who announced for the First District Congressional seat being vacated by US Rep. Jay Inslee (D-1)—Inslee, of course, is running for governor—announced today that he’s dropping out of the race. Goodman’s decision comes on the heels of what he himself called an “anemic” quarter of fundraising, which prompted rumors last month that he planned to withdraw from the race.

It’ll be interesting to see if this puts any pressure on any of the remaining non-Darcy Burner candidates to drop out and coalesce around an anybody but Darcy candidate, or if the rest of the pack stays in. It’ll also be interesting to see (if you can with small numbers) where his support goes. As I’ve said, I like all the candidates I know in the race.

Democrats have pushed the fact that Senator Zarelli wants to eliminate Disability Lifeline, but is on a different disability program. I’ve never been a fan of accusing people of personal hypocrisy because they live differently from how they govern. So someone supports public transit, but drives a lot doesn’t concern me; I’ll take the transit, and if other people want to drive a lot with these gas prices, go for it. People who take farm aid and oppose it don’t concern me. And Zarelli opposing disability programs is much worse than the fact that he opposes the program while he benefits from a similar program. But the Tacoma News Tribune feels the need to not only defend him, but to make strange metaphors.

The two kinds of disabilities involved aren’t merely apples and oranges; they’re apples and zebras.

Are apples and zebras the most dissimilar things the Trib can think of? I mean you could eat both of them, for example. Here’s one of my nonsense lists to help them out the next time they want to grope for a metaphor about how things aren’t the same:

• Apples and plastic
• Apples and the concept of fear
• Apples and explosions
• Apples and cars
• Apples and people with black mold in their brain who benefit from the program that Zarelli wants to cut
• Apples and the people who Zarelli would make homeless with his awful budget
• Apples and the people who’ll die if we pass Zarelli’s budget
• Apples and declining state revenue as a share of the economy
• Apples and the concept of time
• Apples and mustaches
• Apples and TV shows
• Apples and Higgs particles
• Apples and corporations
• Apples and Unnecessary Capitalization
• Apples and Mispellin the word Misspelling

Lots to talk about. Let’s see…the Washington legislature has a stalemate with a huge deadline tonight, Newt is bouncing checks, Santorum has suspended.

Let’s talk about it. Please join us tonight for an evening of politics under the influence at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally.

Seattle DL meets every Tuesday at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. We begin at 8:00pm, but some folks show up even earlier to enjoy a peaceful dinner.

SPECIAL EVENT: This Thursday (April 12th) the Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) will hold their 2012 Spring Fundraising Gala Mercer Island Community Center, 8236 SE 24th Street.

The event will benefit NPI and will feature food by Frankie’s Pizza (my favorite pizzeria in the PNW), music, memorable speakers, and great company. The speakers include Senator Maria Cantwell, Congressman Adam Smith, the Honorable Ron Sims, and NPI’s Andrew Villeneuve.

The reception begins at 6:30 PM, main program to begin at 7:15 PM. Tickets are available here or at the door. (The individual rate is $60, household rate is $90. Those living lightly can get in the door for $20, and students who want to volunteer with event setup and takedown are welcome to come for free.)

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? You’re in luck…there are DLs meeting all over Washington state. Tonight there are also meetings of the Tri-Cities, Bellingham, and Vancouver, WA chapters. And on Thursday, Drinking Liberally Bremerton meets. Next Monday there are meetings of the Woodinville, Olympia, Yakima, and Shelton chapters.

With 233 chapters of Living Liberally, including twelve in Washington state and six more in Oregon, chances are excellent there’s one near you.

– Just put a school downtown.

– It’s not a future many in the Northwest had considered in the past. A region that prides itself on green energy, new economy jobs, and a clean environment is about to crown a new king—coal.

– Republicans on Twitter have found the real racists.

– The best encapsulation of every problem with Slate.

– Because we were in Iraq promoting freedom (h/t).

– Whatever you think of Obama’s policies, this GIF of him reading Where The Wild Things Are is pretty great (h/t).

– Middle aged is different for sports stadiums than for people, but I think the Safe is going to be around for a while.

Late last week, media sources, both local and national, were abuzz with the figure $770,000 released by Secretary of State Sam Reed. That is, supposedly, the “cost” for a special election to replace Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA-1). Inslee recently resigned his seat to run for Governor.

Last Friday I listened to KUOW’s Weekday Friday news round-up as they spent quite a bit of time on the topic of this special election. (Aside: I was a little surprised that the four esteemed journalists in the studio didn’t understand that the Governor cannot appoint a replacement for a Representative…it’s in the Constitution.)

I was puzzled by the figure. I mean, the special election will take place on the same days as the primary and general election. Does it really cost $770,000 to add one race to the ballet for about 11% of the state’s voters? Is that the cost of adding a couple of pages to the voter’s guide for residents of the old 1st CD?

Now…if Inslee had resigned just days earlier (before March 6th), it would have required a stand-alone special election. I could imagine a new election costing taxpayers $770,000. But that isn’t what happened. Inslee, intentionally or not, delayed his resignation and a stand-alone special election was avoided.

For the answer to the puzzling cost figure we turn to TNT.

Katie Blinn, the co-director of elections with the Secretary of state, said there isn’t really an increase in election costs only a change in how those costs are distributed. County elections offices divide the cost of elections among the government entities with matters on the ballot. But state law dictates that the state doesn’t pay anything for state and federal elections held in even-numbered years like this. It only chips in for special elections that are normally held in odd-numbered years and for any election to fill an unexpired U.S. Senate or U.S. House position.
[…]

So there are not additional costs other than the postcard mailing. What Blinn’s response seems to indicate is that the costs will be shared by an additional governmental entity. As state costs go up, the costs borne by local governments will go down.

In short…the election itself costs taxpayers almost nothing extra. What we are talking about with the $770,000 is the transfer of funds between different government entities; budgetary shuffling. Somehow, the mainstream media missed that subtly. And maybe it’s because Sam Reed wasn’t particularly clear about what the $770,000 is.

The Democrats, of course, point out that Sam Reed is the McKenna campaign’s Thurston County co-chair, and that “[t]he conflict of interest is clear.”

The SOS office is also requesting $225,000 to do voter education—essentially to mail out postcards to educate voters about the confusing special election in the old 1st and the regular election in the new first. I’m not sure why the voter’s pamphlet—you know, that document sent to all voters that educates them about the elections and candidates—cannot be used to educate voters about the special election. Perhaps it violates the RCW or something. I don’t know.

So boos and hisses to the majority of the MSM that hyperventilated over the $770,000 “cost” of a special election.

And boos and hisses to the SOS office for failing to clearly communicate to the media the meaning of the $770,000 figure. It’s an integrity issue, given how a high-ball estimate would look like conflict of interest. Reed should have gone out of his way to explain exactly what the figure means, and provide an actual estimate of taxpayer’s costs.

Finally, Reed should have been out front with corrections last week when the media was hyping the figure incorrectly.

Because the governor might die, or otherwise have to leave. And also because Owen often does annoying things. Mostly deciding the unconstitutional 2/3 requirement was rad. Also, on the plus side of the ledger, he doesn’t fuck around when Gregoire is out of the state, and he could. But while I want the Democrats’ budget to pass, I don’t know that this is the best thing (if he’d actually do it).

It’s a 24-24 tie in the senate because Republican minority leader Sen. Mike Hewitt (R-16, Walla Walla) one of the 25 votes that gave the GOP (and a couple of conservative Democrats) the majority for the GOP version of things, is out recovering from surgery.

Conservative Democrat Owen, who’s made momentous decisions before (ruling against the Democrats by deciding that repealing tax loopholes is tantamount to raising taxes and requires a two-thirds vote), could step in a give the Democrats the budget vote they need.

I mean I’d prefer we win the day because someone realizes that the GOP position is horse shit not because someone needs surgery. I mean the people of Walla Walla deserve representation in this budget mess. That said, I wouldn’t shed a tear if it happened. The Democrats have a better budget than the Republicans and the people voted for Democrats in the majority of both houses.

The right-wing media has a huge breaking scandal….

The Democratic Party’s newly appointed Jewish outreach liaison is pictured on Facebook in a series of provocative photos with her friends holding dollar bills and referring to themselves as “Jewbags” and the “Jew cash money team.”

Dani Gilbert, who has been a staffer in the office of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), was recently appointed as the Democratic National Committee’s Jewish outreach liaison, according to her Twitter feed.

Ooohh….that sounds weally, weally, wascally really, really bad.

The whole thing supposedly exposes a huge riff between Pres. Obama and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Here is the offending picture….

There she is kissing the money!

Except, wait. That Facebook page is from January 2006. I presume Ms. Gilbert was in college (or maybe high school) and was goofing around with some friends.

Inexcusable still. It’s scandalous!

Clearly, Ms. Gilbert should be fired and forbidden from participation in politics.

And kept away from young children.