I take Nick’s point about needing to get the operation up and running as quickly as possible. So yeah, it’s easier to get high speed rial in several segments (and would probably be the same for WA if we ever wanted Spokane-Seattle or Bellingham-Vancouver high speed rail) than just starting out DC-Boston. Get more of a buy in from places along the route. And get some people actually using it.

But again, 2040 doesn’t seem like it’s horribly far into the future.* Most big infrastructure projects are for the next generation.

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The P-I reports on arrests in Pike-Pine. A Honduran gang apparently was bringing people here illegally to sell crack. Scary stuff, and I’m glad the police are on it. Still, these arrests don’t ever seem to do much to deter the next group of people selling on the street corner. I’m not sure what the solution is, but I’m quite certain it isn’t more of the same.

It’s an absolute disgrace that we still need this sort of thing, but Seattle Center is hosting a health fair this Sunday. If you need any of the services below, you can avail yourself.

As a part of The Next Fifty’s Global Health Month, a Health Fair will be conducted on July 15th, 2012 at Key Arena. The Health Fair will focus on the health of our communities by providing free health services to the general public.

Services include:
Dental
Screenings for diabetes and cholesterol
Vision and hearing
Mammograms
Physicals
Educational programs about nutrition and general health,
Much much more!

– The distinction between the nuns on a bus and the bishops making demands is quite telling.

– The wingnuts sure know their history.

– “There is a clear business case for supporting equal access to civil marriage rights,” said George Allen, the Chamber’s vice president for government relations.

– Men aren’t going extinct.

– The City of Seattle is supporting a court challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

– If, however, you insist on talking and writing things down, here’s a pro-tip: the terms “distraction” and “chronically ill and abused” don’t mix. Pretty much ever.

– Accused Burglar Incorporates Self

Walking through downtown the other night I came across a couple looking like they were on a date. When I passed them, they were trying to figure out the boot on their car. I’ve seen boots on cars before, but I think this was the first time I’ve seen people trying to figure out what to do about one.

It got me thinking about some consequences of the boot. I’ll reiterate my position, that I’m generally supportive, but worried about some of the consequences to people who can least afford to pay their parking tickets. That didn’t appear to be the case here, so I’ll ignore it and focus on the consequences a few rungs up the economic ladder.

This couple may look elsewhere for their next date. And they might be less likely to come downtown (I obviously don’t know where they’re from) generally in the future. On the other hand, parking is still tight downtown, so whoever parks in that spot next probably is more likely to pay for their space before the boot gets used. Or maybe they’ll learn their lesson and pay for their spot. And when they get a ticket, they’ll pay it promptly, and won’t have this problem.

– Jay Inslee’s first ad.

– I’ll blink when you register.

– The 7 PM Rule

– Publicola is back.

– In truth, the Lethal Presidency is a burgeoning manifestation of the executive branch that finds no adequate counterweight in either Congress or in the courts. It repeatedly asks for our trust, and gives assurances that it is using its awesome powers judiciously and wisely. Has it earned our trust? We don’t know. We are told that we can’t know. But we give it what it asks for, because it seems to keep us safe, and besides, it leaves us barely any choice..

– The problem, at least in part, probably has to do with the “wrong” people having secure, decently paying jobs that they don’t “deserve” which are paid for by taxes. Same old shit.

Gubernatorial, gubernatorial, and US Senate loser Dino Rossi will get to fill in the rest of Cheryl Pflug’s term in the Washington State Senate until the election. I mean fine and all, she resigned and if he wants it, sure. But is this really necessary? There’s probably not going to be a special session between now and then. And I don’t know the constituent services at the legislative level, but can’t this sort of thing be done by one of the representatives? Is anyone in the 5th district feeling more represented because a lame duck has been appointed to a caretaker role?

– Seriously, Seattle. Stand on the right; walk on the left. I don’t know why we can’t master that one.

– Mitt Romney Venn Diagrams may be the perfect combination of political nerd and math nerd.

– America is now a bunch of semi-smart people pretending to be stupid to convince even stupider people that helping people is an awful idea.

– Shaun is having a fundraiser.

– Any questions Goldy asks would be considered abrasive by our differential press corps and political class.

– Big money donors are hilariously out of touch [h/t].

– Seventeen magazine isn’t going to use airbrushing. Or at least will explain when it is.

– I imagine there may be some tense negotiations ahead with Mr Rushdie’s representatives over image rights

I assume most people reading this blog are already registered to vote. But if you’re not, and you’re eligible in Washington, go here. As Shaun says, “Don’t suppress your own vote!” You’ve got until Monday.

If you’d have told me a Washington State city had the 4th worst gap between the rich and poor, my first guess would have been Seattle. Maybe Tacoma or Everett. Possibly one of the gaudy suburbs has a large needy population hit by the economic downturn. So I was surprised to read:

Using the Gini Index, a statistical measure that determines the amount of economic equality within a community, Cle Elum was ranked the least equal of any Washington community, and fourth most unequal in the nation, in terms of the gap between the wealthiest and poorest residents.

The article doesn’t do much to explain why that might be the case. It may have something to do with the housing bust in a former drive until you can buy community. But that still doesn’t explain the wealthy part of the equation.

This is very interesting indeed [h/t].

[Alexander Hamilton] duly makes an appearance as the judges are warming up to denounce the individual mandate as constitutional overreach because it dragoons healthy young individuals into buying health insurance they do not want.

If Congress can do that, the dissenting justices write, “then the Commerce Clause becomes a font of unlimited power, or in Hamilton’s words, “the hideous monster whose devouring jaws … spare neither sex nor age, nor high nor low, nor sacred nor profane.”

Those are indeed the words of Alexander Hamilton, but, as they’re quoted here, it seems that he must have been warning against the ever-present tyranny of the federal government. But that was not what he was saying.

…

The relevant clauses of the Constitution, Hamilton wrote, had been “the source of much virulent invective and petulant declamation…” He castigated his political opponents who had criticized the powers the Constitution gave to the federal government “… in all the exaggerated colors of misrepresentation as the pernicious engines by which their local governments were to be destroyed and their liberties exterminated; as the hideous monster whose devouring jaws would spare neither sex nor age, nor high nor low, nor sacred nor profane.”

Hamilton did not decry the federal government as a constitutional Godzilla. He denounced the Anti-Federalists for their distortions and lies.

I don’t really know what to make of that. I’m not a lawyer, so maybe someone who is can help me out. It seems like the argument Ian is making is that the justices wanted to overturn the act so they turned to some dubious history. Still, shouldn’t some clerk have verified what the quote meant before it got to the opinion?

– Higgs

– Democracy itself is under attack. I don’t think Thomas Jefferson had this sort of thing in mind when he wrote the great document.

– Romney wasn’t so much a captain of industry as a captain of deindustrialization, making big profits for his firm (and himself) by helping to dismantle the implicit social contract that used to make America a middle-class society.

– What to do with disused parking lots is one of those questions.

– Words will never break your bones. But also, they shouldn’t make you numb. You can’t feel everything all the time — nor should you — but don’t forget how to feel altogether.

– I did a fair amount of cleaning yesterday, but I think this may be my strategy going forward.

When a liberal reads the first paragraph of this press release (opinion piece?) like this:

On June 20, the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released its quarterly budget outlook. Tax collections remain flat, but what was more telling is that private-sector job creation is slow, and the outlook is that job growth will continue to slow down.

The thought is how can we speed up job growth. And you’d think that a state representative who is doing this opinion piece (press release?) would think the same. But no, the GOP position is actually something else. Private sector job growth is vitally important. But it’s only part of the picture. They say they’re focused on jobs, jobs, jobs, but ignoring (at best) public sector jobs.

– I love the Donald Verrilli meme.

– And I love the over the top reactions to health care being upheld from conservatives.

– #Noshame

– It must be tough to switch what you believe when you were thrust into the spotlight at a young age.

– Why can’t Democrats just get behind Obama, admit ACA is a big win, admit Obama’s election was a big win? I’m a mopey, pessimistic, anxious, depressive person, but I still can’t understand it.

– How people see conservatives.

– Health care reform glossary

– There are going to be a lot of sappy Olympic profiles. So far, this is my favorite.

The Seattle Times endorsed Rob McKenna. I’m not sure how much I can add to Eli Sanders and Joel Connelly‘s pieces. But it’s sort of my thing, so here goes.

WASHINGTON state is at a crossroads. The people’s selection of their next governor will set a direction toward prosperity and quality of life or constant crisis and decline. Washington will follow California — or set its own course.

The voters’ choice is clear.

It’s an important election. But California is in trouble largely because the initiative process made it near impossible to raise taxes. They’re the logical conclusion of the tax policies The Seattle Times supports. Also, seriously, what? California? Why are we talking about California? Also, too I know technically there are more than the two people, but why endorse at all now? It’s going to be Inslee and McKenna making it through to the general.

Rob McKenna, the Republican, is our state’s twice-elected attorney general. He grew up here; he went to high school and college here, and was elected student body president at the University of Washington. He knows our education system, what is good about it and what isn’t. He has spent his entire career in local and state government, having to work with Democrats as well as Republicans, and knows it inside and out.

First, what does “it” refer to in the last sentence? I think Rob McKenna’s entire career. That’s the only single noun that makes sense. If they meant “local and state government” wouldn’t The Seattle Times have said “them”? I think they’re saying we should vote for Rob McKenna because he knows Rob McKenna’s career.* Second, most of that litany is true of Jay Inslee. We should vote for someone who sent his kids to school here and grew up here as opposed to Inslee doesn’t make a lot of sense.

For the past seven years he has held the second-highest management position in the state.

Come on! The AG’s office is a perfectly reasonable stepping stone to governor. But read that sentence and tell me it doesn’t sound like resume padding. Seriously, how do you define a management position? I’d think people in the governor’s office would qualify. If it’s by order of succession, it’s a silly way to leapfrog over Lieutenant Governor. If it’s not by order of succession, there’s no reason to put it ahead of any other elected executive position. Is the AG’s office an inherently more managerish position than Treasurer or Commissioner of Public Instruction? None of the reasoning is explained as this is the rest of the paragraph:

He has a deep understanding of state issues. Ask him what should be done about state employee pension plans, environmental review of proposed coal ports, on and on, and he has a practical, detailed answer.

A practical, detailed, shit answer where the math doesn’t work.

Jay Inslee, the Democrat, is also a local product but chose a much different career. He went to Washington, D.C. For the past 13 years he has been a congressman, which is not a management position. He has the right positions on reforming the financial system, limiting the consolidation of media companies and opposing the pointless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has a stronger vision about fighting global warming than McKenna does.

Do you know of anyone in the delegation who doesn’t come back to this state just about every weekend? Who hasn’t met with countless constituents? Who hasn’t held town halls and the like? There’s more of this for a while and then.

State government’s overriding problem is not having enough money for all the things it is trying to do. The current administration has responded by cutting too much where it was politically easiest, in higher education, and too little where it was immediately painful, in employee head count and contracts with state employee unions. But this is short-term thinking. It sacrifices the future to the present. It is a strategy for Washington to slide back to the level of Mississippi.

Mississippi’s problem is that their unions are too strong? The fuck? Seriously, if you’re going to reference other states as cautionary tales, you have to know goddamn something about their problems.

The way out is education, and McKenna and Inslee both say they want to invest in it. They are right; Washington needs a world-class education system, including prekindergarten and higher education, so that the next generation can have the best possible chances in life. The question for voters is who can deliver.

They are both wrong, actually. I mean not that we need to invest in education, but that they don’t offer a way to do it. Inslee is better, but neither of them are going to raise the revenue necessary to solve these problems.

Part of the answer in the public schools is reform, including allowing more innovation. Note that McKenna supports charter schools and Inslee does not.

Neither have Washington voters whenever they’re given the chance. Charter schools could theoretically work, but in the real world they’ve failed. In the real world they’re just another way to corporate up our schools. Anyway, having asked for something that voters have regularly rejected, please demand we don’t do something the voters have regularly rejected:

Part of the answer is providing more money. Some suggest a state income tax is the answer, but that would remove one of the state’s competitive advantages, and scare away investment in technology companies. In any case, Washington’s voters have said no to an income tax.

You know what, there’s more, but I don’t have the strength.

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