In an interview with Publicola, even with Josh Feit softballing it, Rodney Tom decides to act like an asshole. When asked why he’s endorsing someone who would undo the progress made on civil rights for gay people, he decides to attack Seattle.

I think that there is a lot of talk of that. The politics over there get a little weird. If we’re measuring any of their politicians from a Seattle basis, they think Seattle’s crazy, and Seattle’s probably going to think they’re crazy. But overall, she’s an intelligent legislator that I think can serve her community well. I think she’s an intelligent lady that can work her way through some very complicated issues that we need more of in Olympia.

I’ll defend Seattle any day of the week and twice on Sunday, but that’s pretty fucked up. Oh those awful Seattle folks with thinking gay people deserve not to be discriminated against and that workers deserve basic rights. Crazy.

Also, it doesn’t really paint a picture that Rodney Tom respects Eastern Washington either. “Vote for Sharon Brown, you crazies” is maybe not as great a slogan as he thinks it is.

Anyway, later Josh asks him why he didn’t support the DREAM Act on the floor of the Senate if he supports it in theory (the aside is Josh’s):

Sen. Tom: I don’t know. If 25 and 50 are the magic thing to get anything past out of both the house and the senate, that’s a very different element in the way this place has been run. There’s a ton of votes over in the house that I can get 50 votes for that never see the light of day. If that’s going to be the measuring stick, let’s use it for both the house and the senate. [PubliCola, has, in fact, pointed out this Democratic double standard before.]

PubliCola: Can you give an example?

Sen. Tom: A lot of the workers’ comp type issues. A lot of labor issues. Pension issues. There’s a lot of business-centric Democrats like myself over in the house that would be voting for these things that don’t stick in labor states—you know, they don’t love it—but our business communities and small businesses in particular need some of these reforms.

If you wanted to have a say in how the House does business, you probably shouldn’t have left that body. Also, the difference is that the Speaker HASN’T SAID HE SUPPORTS GUTTING WORKERS COMP. The House Speaker killing a bill he doesn’t like is not analogous to the Senate Majority Leader killing a bill he says he is for.

See, that’s why the analogy doesn’t work. If Chopp was trying to convince people he really wanted to gut worker’s comp, then that would make sense to make that comparison. But the leader isn’t going to have a vote on gutting workers comp because he doesn’t want it to pass. In fact, the only way the analogy works is if Rodney Toms critics are right and he doesn’t want the DREAM act to pass. So, we’re all on the same page then.

– Upon order of the King County Sheriff, Jeremy Griffin was supposed to be out of his home by Tuesday at midnight. Instead, starting late last night, he has played host to members of Standing Against Foreclosure & Eviction, a group that grew out of the Occupy movement.

– In fact, the only known 501(c)(4) applicant to have its status denied happens to be a progressive group: the Maine chapter of Emerge America, which trains Democratic women to run for office. Although the group did no electoral work, and didn’t participate in independent expenditure campaign activity either, its partisan status apparently disqualified it from being categorized as working for the “common good.”

– The mechanics of getting death penalty drugs to states that use them is both fascinating and disgusting (h/t).

– That’s right: “Save the Boobs.” Not the human beings those boobs are attached to—women who, like Jolie, could benefit from potentially life-saving mastectomies—but the boobs that give those women value. Boobies: Save ’em! Ladies: not so much.

– I would hope Pam Roach’s plan to make it easier to recall elected officials would include abusing staff.

– Thurston County dams.

I’m writing to urge you to adopt rules federally banning states, cities, and other municipalities from paying for sports arenas for professional teams. Or better, prohibit teams in leagues with over some amount of assets to play in municipally built stadiums. Model it after Seattle’s initiative, so municipalities have to be able to make money off the deal or no deal.

With the NBA telling the Kings they can’t relocate, part of the underlying reasoning they’re staying in a smaller media market with a worse offer is that town is willing to shill out an obscene amount of money to build an arena. The amount that cities are willing to bilk their taxpayers is a large part of the reason the Kings aren’t coming to Seattle. So, while it would probably be too late to get the Sonics back this time, this would better lay the groundwork for future.

It would also be fundamentally more decent. After all, these sort of deals are out of control, and most cities with sports teams are on the bad end of these types of deals, having to take much of the risk with any financial gain going to the teams. The teams rely on taxpayers to make themselves a profit.

It’s the sort of problem that, really, can only be solved at the national level. After all, as long as different cities in different states are competing for these things, the threat of leaving is going to be too great. These leagues that span the country are the sort of interstate commerce that Congress should be regulating. I don’t know if it could get through the dysfunctional Congress, but it’s worth a try.

And would this be punishment for the NBA for leaving in the way that it did, and then voting not to let us get another team? And to a lesser extent to MLB and the NFL for foisting bad stadium deals on is in the first place? Sure. But it’s still a better idea than having municipalities fight over teams with taxpayer stadiums.

Hugs and kisses

Carl Ballard
horsesass.org

There was a hearing last night at King County. I wasn’t there, but any time you can get hundreds of people into a government meeting on a lovely day, you know it’s an important issue.

It was standing room only Tuesday at a public hearing on the future of Metro. The transit service is facing budget cuts that will seriously affect riders.

Ultimately, King County is going to need the authority to tax itself on a more permanent basis. And that’s where we need to make sure to contact our legislators. You can find your legislators here. As always be polite but firm that you want them to let Metro keep funding itself.

– It’s filing week, everybody.

– Is anyone following the British Columbia elections? Joel is disappointed that they aren’t talking about marijuana.

– If you want to tell Metro to save Metro, here’s where to do that.

– Macklemore is not happy with the Thunder using Can’t Hold Us (h/t to Will on Facebook). I’m confused as to if NBC didn’t understand that Detlef Schrempf’s tweet contained a pun, or why else they put the [sic].

– Y’all are reading about Tom Hardy and a puppy, I hope.

– In yesterday’s Open Thread, I said Thomas Friedman was beyond satire. I stand corrected.

– I love Seattle’s dedication to fair play. But maybe we give less time to Sacramento media on Hansen.

– The free market isn’t always the best way to make health care decisions.

– At least it’s a bit more transparent now.

– Bicyclists are helpful to bicyclists.

– This piece on swear words was interesting.

– Congrats to Thomas Friedman on being beyond satire.

– An Open Letter to White Male Comedians

Dominic Holden has a pretty amazing piece about the fact that The Seattle Times is charging its employees to use the Seattle Times online archive.

As a reporter, I frequently have to search our website’s online archives for linking, providing context, or developing backfill on articles. It didn’t seem possible that a newspaper would actually charge its reporters for an essential function of their jobs. That would be like installing payphones on everyone’s desk and pocketing the money.

At first, when I read that last sentence, I thought don’t give them any ideas. Giving Frank Blethen ways to screw his employees over is like giving Frank Blethen a gun and a puppy: nothing good can come out of it, yet Frank Blethen will be full of smiles. But then I thought fuck it, and came up with a list of other ways he can screw his employees:

• Charge reporters for pens and notepads
• Force delivery drivers to pay for routine maintenance on their trucks, or at least to paint them over
• Reclassify all employees as interns, and don’t pay them
• Instead of paying writers per word, charge them per word for proofing and editing
• Force freelancers to buy ad space
• Force columnists to sell ad space
• Give ad space away free to candidates and causes, thus devaluing the pretense of neutrality that the paper strives for
• Make nepotism hires for important jobs

I didn’t know about it until a little while ago, but this seems like a great thing if it might be helpful for you.

Many women have never considered career options such as welding, electricity or carpentry, but these opportunities are available, and even more so as baby boomer workers are nearing retirement. Who WILL keep our lights on, our bridges safe, our water running and our roads paved? These are jobs that cannot be outsourced.

As the oldest women’s trade organization in the Puget Sound, it is WWIT’s job to educate and inspire our youth, as well as steer work-ready women toward these high paying, mentally challenging, and self-empowering careers in the trades.

The other day I was riding the Link Light Rail, and at Columbia City. The doors started to close and then re-opened with the train not going anywhere. Then it happened again. And again. And again. I didn’t see anything wrong, and assumed it was someone holding the door, or something else happening in another car.

But then the person in the seat next next to mine got up, and grabbed a plastic bottle, and said that it had been blocking the way. And with that the doors closed, and the train got on its way. All told, probably less than a minute, but given the way Seattle can be, who knows how long it would have been if he hadn’t done something.

So this post is mostly just thanks to whoever it was who picked it up.

– I’m still opposed to spending money beyond bonding capacity on a stadium, but now I hope some hiccup means Sacramento doesn’t get to keep their team just out of spite.

– “This was a step forward for justice,” Inslee said after the bill signing ceremony. “We can’t return people their lost years, but we can take a step that gives them a measure of respect and dignity.”

– Councilwoman Godden writes a fairly mild piece saying we should work on fixing the fact that Seattle is the worst big city for pay inequality, the comments are unhelpful.

– We’re still pretending Benghazi is some uniquely awful thing.

– I hope the Colbert Busch loss doesn’t mean Democrats write off the deep South.

– The Lake Forest Park farmers market opens on Mother’s Day.

Joel Connelly snarks on McGinn’s anti-violence stuff. But I think it’s good. Mostly on the teach kids not to be violent aspect.

“Weapons to Words” will ask Seattle schoolchildren to come up with a short quotation about gun violence. The best of their quotations, on what a violence-free future means to them, will be inscribed on plaques made from the 760 weapons collected earlier this year in the gun buyback program. Schnitzer Steel is making the plagues. Chihuly Studio is “shaping the aesthetics” in the words of Leslie Jackson Chihuly, its president.

“The plaques will be placed across Seattle so they can leave a lasting legacy,” McGinn said.

Sounds like a good idea. Teach kids to think about what a violence free world would look like. And it’s a nice metaphor to use the returned guns for that. It seems like a win-win. Except that it gives Rush Limbaugh a sad, so he doesn’t win.

When he got back to the office, McGinn found himself a politician doubly blessed. The “Weapons to Words” program was promptly lampooned over the air by that rhinoceros of right-wing talk radio, Rush Limbaugh. Liberal Seattle doesn’t boast many of the followers Limbaugh calls “Ditto Heads.”

If this was a bad idea, the fact that Rush Limbaugh doesn’t like it wouldn’t improve it. But the fact that it’s a decent lesson for children that he’s upset about means that it’s really icing on the cake.

And the fact that Limbaugh is upset about it is probably all you need to about if compromise is possible. Taking guns that people voluntarily turned in, and making them into quotes about not being violent is too much for these fuckers.

No, this isn’t the first rant on this subject on HA. Unlike Will, I don’t think this is just a not getting it thing or a lack of basic politeness thing. And it’s not some inherent flaw among the escalator users of Settle. I think its signage.

Namely, most cities have signs on at least their public transit saying to stand on the right. They don’t trust it to chance, or whatever. They don’t think you should just know. Ideally it would go beyond just public transit. It could be for multiple story malls, or for the Convention Center. Basically, anywhere with escalators wide enough that you can pass someone.

Yes, you should know to clear a path for people who want to go. It’s common decency. On a busy time of day, it helps people who need (or want) to rush somewhere. Sometimes it just feels claustrophobic to not be able to get through. But I bet most of the people bunched up just don’t know that there can be a system.

I emailed the King County Metro customer service and asked if there is a rule even if it isn’t posted and if there might be signage at some point in the future since trains will be coming in from East Link and University Link. No response.

I feel like this is the sort of thing that’s about the right size for some HA activism. So I’m going to start bugging public officials. I assume King County is responsible for the Bus Tunnel, and ST for the rest of the off grade escalators along the system? [Late Update, KC responded, and said it was a Sound Transit issue. I’ve emailed them.]

But until then, please stand on the right.

– Speed Limit 20

– It’s nice that we have a mayor and at least one challenger who are at least willing to talk the talk on addressing the pay gap in Seattle. Not sure if that translates into actual progress.

– The gun is called “The Liberator,” obviously. Because all the privileged people who have access to 3-D printers are super fucking oppressed and shit.

– I’m not sure that a wishy washy factor would be meaningful in any way, and a couple debates is way too small of a sample size. Also, those yes/no lightning rounds are pretty much unhelpful.

– By not testing available DNA evidence using new scientific techniques that were not available at the time of his 1994 trial, Mississippi is choosing to ignore readily available scientific evidence in favor of flawed conclusions based on shaky racially charged testimony, as well as jailhouse informant testimony, which studies have found is particularly susceptible to manipulation.

– Oh hey, the Volunteer Park conservatory is having a plant sale next weekend.

Goldy points out that any push to dismantle Worker’s Comp as part of the budget will be disingenuous.

In other words, Republicans are attempting to impose hardship on workers in order to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. Kinda like Rodney Tom’s campaign to eliminate the GET program, or the Republicans’ broader efforts to end state pension programs that are among the best funded in the nation.

It will be tempting for Democrats to give in to the Republicans’ anti-worker demands in order to craft a compromise budget, but one hopes they have the smarts and the courage to call bullshit on this bullshit when bullshit it is.

Of course that’s true. But fixing the budget was never the GOP goal. Weakening our workers comp system is good enough for them. Putting the state further on the side of employers over employees has always been the goal. It’s the reason for the existence of the modern GOP.

– I’m hardly ever in Tacoma anymore, but when I go there, I always picked up a copy of the Weekly Volcano. Sadly, no more (h/t).

– It’s always a choice to be a bigot.

– There’s a rally opposed to Don Benton’s appointment to Director of Environmental Services: Tuesday May 07 at 6:00 PM at the Public Service Building, 1300 Franklin St. (I couldn’t find a permanent link, but right now it’s the post at the top).

– But the one about how Obama doesn’t have a mandate because he’s too good at politics is something special; it’s so self-refuting it’s almost a Zen riddle.

– Washington is number 1 for biking (h/t).

–Argument from Sociopathic Cost-Benefit Analysis is sociopathic

– Welcome home USS John C. Stennis