HorsesAss.Org

Okay, not to rain on the tunnel parade but Seattle isn’t the only metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest with a pressing mega-project in waiting.

Combine river, wind, eco-friendliness and smooth sailing across the Columbia River and what do you have? A new Interstate 5 bridge with wind turbines generating electricity.

You read that right: The latest bridge design features vertically spinning turbines that would generate an unknown amount of juice while proclaiming loudly that the Portland-Vancouver area is the sustainability center of the world.

Personally, since I don’t live in Seattle, I’ve refrained from commenting much on the whole tunnel versus surface thing. You folks who live there should get the major say.

But since you can’t put wind turbines in your tunnel, you lose the coolness war. Sorry.

Now fork over some more money for down here too. Whaaaa? Money is tight to non-existent?

Oh. Could we have a rowboat or something?

This is bad any way you slice it:

Retail sales plunged far more than expected in December, a record sixth straight monthly decline as consumers were battered by a recession, a severe credit crisis and soaring job losses, none of which are likely to ease anytime soon.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that retail sales dropped 2.7 percent last month, more than double the 1.2 percent decline that Wall Street expected.

And it’s especially bad for a border county.

Retail sales in Clark County experienced a sharp decline in last year’s third quarter as the effect of the housing slowdown continued to seep into the local economy.

According to a report Tuesday from the Washington Department of Revenue, the county’s store-only sales totalled $499.9 million in the three months ending in September. That was down 7.9 percent from $542.6 million spent at retail stores in the third quarter in 2007, and weaker than statewide trend.

Store-only taxable retail sales throughout Washington declined by 6.2 percent to $12.4 billion.

State lawmakers and local governments are chasing a constantly moving revenue target, and the target is going down, down, down.

That’s what happens when your system of taxation relies far too heavily on a regressive sales tax. By the time new revenue estimates are available, they’re most likely already outdated.

People are understandably worried about their own personal pocketbooks. I’m not so sure the wider public truly understands the huge impact on things we all take for granted, like schools, roads, police, parks and other basic services.

Our system of taxation never made much sense, and now it is just going to make things worse. And down here where a short drive over the river takes one to sales tax free Oregon, the trend is likely to accelerate.

Deep thought: usually recessions are relatively short and the state’s coffers are replenished. Is anyone talking much about what will happen in an extended downturn of say, two to four years?

Crying in your beer over the impending demise of the Seattle P-I?  Well join the sobfest tonight at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally, which meets every Tuesday night from 8PM onwards at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. As always, some folks will show up earlier for dinner.

If you’re not in the Seattle area, no worries. check out the Drinking Liberally web site for dates and times of a chapter within snowshoeing distance from you.

How things change…

1/17/2007:

Last month, Gregoire issued her findings on the viaduct options, saying the state could afford the $2.8 billion elevated highway but said the finance plan for the $4.6 billion, six-lane tunnel didn’t pencil out.

1/13/2009:

The overall project is estimated at $4.25 billion, with $2.8 billion coming from state gas taxes and federal bridge funds. That is supposed to cover the tunnel construction, as well as most of an interchange and elevated segment in Sodo.

How can “not having the money” be grounds to spike a tunnel in 2007, but not in 2009? What has changed, other than time?

In any case, back in 2007, State Sen. Ed Murray (D-43) seems to have nailed it:

Murray said he doesn’t believe the idea of eventually building a tunnel is dead yet.

“We’re not done,” he said.

The Seattle Federal Home Loan Bank has problems.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle joined its San Francisco counterpart in suspending dividends and “excess” stock repurchases, after devalued mortgage bonds dropped its capital below a regulatory requirement.

The likely shortfall on Dec. 31 was caused by “unrealized market value losses” on home-loan securities without government backing, the Seattle bank cooperative said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today.

Calculated Risk says uh-oh and quotes Congressional testimony (PDF) by Nouriel Roubini from February of last year:

[T]he widespread use of the FHLB system to provide liquidity – but more clearly bail out insolvent mortgage lenders – has been outright reckless. … A system that usually provides a lending stock of about $150 billion has forked out loans amounting to over $750 billion in the last year with very little oversight of such staggering lending. The risk that this stealth bailout of many insolvent mortgage lenders will end up costing massive amounts of public money is now rising.

So as state and local governments struggle with the crashing economy, and individuals struggle with uncertainty, unemployment, the loss of homes and debt, we still don’t really know the extent of the damage by this insane financial disaster.

It’s like the car has gone off a cliff and we’re somehow going to suspend it in mid-air by giving people $500. Folks may like the money, and the very serious people who have been wrong about everything for eight years will insist the car can be suspended, but most folks won’t have much time to enjoy the dough. The ground is coming up at them too fast.

UPDATE: Looks like embedding isn’t working right now, video is here.

UPDATE 2: A happy ending to an ugly saga involving a local police officer who had the courage to speak out against the drug war.

Consensus reached.

Larry Phillips:

[T]he bored bypass tunnel, along with surface and transit improvements, must be among the options that move forward for further environmental review and design when the Gov. Christine Gregoire announces her viaduct-replacement recommendation.

I think the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and the circus surrounding it’s replacement, are proof that Seattle is one of the least corrupt cities in America. If we were a little more corrupt, the civic elite, with the city’s monied interests, would have put this issue to bed long ago, and we would never had had that ridiculous, and totally ignored, advisory vote back in 2007. After all, asking for the people’s input is really only useful if you plan on following their suggestions.

To answer eburger’s perhaps rhetorical question, yes Republicans in the Legislature tend to be wildly inconsistent. Their constituents want and need things that cost money (roads, schools, cops, etc.) but the GOP is so wedded to outdated anti-tax rhetoric that hypocrisy is the only possible outcome. Those proud, independent real Americans on the east side of the mountains need highways after all! Frankly I kind of wonder why the Republican Party still exists, other than tradition. It serves very little purpose.

When I consider things calmly and rationally every year or two, I realize that a sincere and dedicated opposition party would be very beneficial in running something as big and bureaucratic as a state government. There are always things to improve and it would be naive to think there is not corruption in places, if not illegality then certainly shady practices, back-scratching and nods and winks. You know, like the Bush administration, if we’re looking for textbook examples. But these things are endemic to bureaucracies the world over, public and private, and nobody has a monopoly.

But the GOP never seems to start from a place other than loud, angry, destroy-the-government rhetoric. I guess that’s their purpose, to just be angry. Fun for us as it’s great sport to return the favor. Elections have consequences, you know.

In only eight days, if I wake up, turn on the radio and hear the president is having a press conference, I won’t have to turn the radio off.

Been a long eight years. Is there anyone left who cares one whit what George W. Bush has to say about anything?

It’s been a rough night, but I think I have the software upgrade mostly functional.  You shouldn’t notice any changes at this point, but if you do, let me know.  Especially look for things I might have broken.

Once I’m comfortable the upgrade is stable, we can start rolling out some new features.

Comment threads have been temporarily disabled as I upgrade HA’s software.  Expect service interruptions.

UPDATE:
Commenting has been enabled.