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Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 06:35:22 pm
A stark clash of values – or partisanship, or something – at the Pierce County Council meeting today: The council refused to approve a gay pride day proclamation on a 4-3 party-line vote. Tim Farrell, who might be described as "quietly out," introduced the proclamation, a rather garden-variety designation of next Saturday as "Pride Day in Pierce County." Its most controversial language "encourages all residents to join in celebrating the spirit and dedication of this vibrant community." Farrell came away steaming after the council's four Republicans – Shawn Bunney, Dick Muri, Terry Lee and Roger Bush – refused to add it to the agenda. "I figured I had the votes because Shawn had voted for domestic partnerships," Farrell told us. "Come on now, it's a pride resolution. I'm not asking for any money." Farrell says gay-pride resolutions are routinely adopted elsewhere, including in more conservative jurisdictions than Pierce County. He also says the county council hasn't, to his knowledge, refused to adopt any proclamation in recent years. Can't confirm any of that as of the moment. But Bunney, et al, appear to have been as blindsided as Farrell was. Republicans don't have the same political reflexes as Democrats. That's just a reality – no point in being scandalized by it. The textbooks say: Line up the votes first.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 05:32:30 pm
No Washington state politician runs a more aggressive taxpayer-funded, credit-grabbing publicity operation than U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. Nothing evil about it. But it's just so blatant. Here are a couple headlines from press releases her office sent out today:
And ....
Patty Murray, the one-time "mom in tennis shoes," now boasts big-time appropriations clout – and boast she does. By contrast, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, hardly ever sends out a press release when he procures a slice of the federal budget for the Sixth District, although he certainly is no piker in that regard. I can't even remember the last time I saw a press release from his office. Then again, Dicks is a congressman-for-life and probably doesn't feel the need to thump his ample chest. I like quiet porkers better.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 10:13:15 am
Beth Wolfe, one of the organizers involved in helping three disabled Iraq veterans climb Mount Rainier (news story here), sends this Tuesday morning update:
A little backstory here: Beth is a neighbor of mine in Tacoma. She came by one day last month asking for advice on raising enough money to fly the veterans out here for the Rainier climb. My next move was to email former Tacoma City Councilman Kevin Phelps, who likes to do good things and get things done. As I expected, Phelps put the word out to his friends, and the task of covering the air fares was accomplished in two days. Well done, all! Go here for more on Camp Patriot, the Montana-based organization that helps wounded Irag veterans take on outdoor adventures and challenges.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 05:00:57 am
Not many Washingtonians realize that Washington's state constitution goes farther than the U.S. Constitution to protect individual rights. How this came to be and what it means is usefully explored in a short paperback published by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, the conservative think tank based in Olympia. Based on a quick skimming, I don't detect any obvious bias in the 116-page commentary on Article I, Section 1 of the Washington Constitution - the portion that lays out the individual rights the state's founders sought to protect. "To Protect and Maintain Individual Rights: A Citizen's Guide to the Washington Constitution, Article I" is authored by EFF attorneys Jonathan Bechtle and Michael Reitz. They asked state Supreme Court Justice Charles W. Johnson, who teaches a law school course on the state constitution, to review their work during the book's preparation. Johnson, a Gig Harbor resident running for his fourth term this year, wrote a forward for the book. Order it for $9.95 a copy here.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Monday, July 7th, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 06:24:54 pm
Tim Eyman, who promotes initiatives for a living, just sent out another one of his intimate emails – addressed, as always, to “our thousands of supporters throughout the state (cc'd to all media outlets -- reporters, columnists, editorial writers, and others in newspapers, radio, and TV).” As always, he also included a pitch for contributions and helpfully pointed out that you can give by Visa, Mastercard or PayPal. What made today’s missive a howler was Eyman’s claim that the state constitution requires the sales tax charge on state transportation projects to be spent on transportation. Which is, of course, dead wrong. Embedded in Eyman’s overall claim (full text available below) that his latest brainstorm (and hope for a payday) Initiative 985, would boost the state’s economy was this statement:
Where does the state constitution say that, I asked Eyman by email. I asked for chapter and verse. Eyman bobbed and weaved.
C’mon, Tim, I pressed. Quote the actual words of the state constitution that requires the sales tax on transportation projects to be spent on transportation projects. Some more back and forth. Still no citation from the state constitution. Finally, at the end of the day, this remarkable concession from the Eternal Defender of Taxpayers and Scourge of Bloodsucking Politicians Everywhere:
In other words, what Eyman said about the “constitutional requirement” is baloney. He made it up. For the full text of the Eyman email in question, click on ...
Categories: Taking notice
• 3 comments
Posted by Cheryl Tucker @ 10:46:12 am
 This past weekend was the first time the outer loop of Five Mile Drive was closed to vehicular traffic on Sunday (until 1 p.m.) as well as Saturday. I'd be interested in any reactions folks have to it. The closure will last through August, and Metro Parks will survey park users and take feedback. As a regular Sunday morning walker in the park, I welcomed the closure. But this time of year, we're mostly on the trails, not on the road. (In the winter, the trails are often too muddy.) Even there, what I noticed was how much quieter the park was without traffic. The trails we walk get close to the road at many points, and engine noise can spoil the natural experience, drowning out bird songs. This Sunday's walk was a much quieter one than usual – more like what it's like in winter when few cars are on the loop.
Categories: Taking notice
• 3 comments
Sunday, July 6th, 2008
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 06:04:55 am
We told you last week that our Sunday Insight section – which we cherished as much as any of you – was disappearing as of today. We also told you we would do our best to shift as much of its contents as possible to other pages. So you'll be seeing changes in the weeks ahead. Check today's editorial page for Change No. 1: A design that permits an in-depth look at a public issue, in this case the psychiatric traumas of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of the time, our Sunday editorials will run horizontally across the top of the page, allowing room for the longer articles that would otherwise have run in Insight. In the future, you'll likely be hearing a little less from us and a lot more from yourselves, as we place greater emphasis on short reader-written commentaries (in addition to our letters to the editor). You'll soon see invitations to offer your reasoned views on specific issues. Stay tuned.
Categories: What's coming
• 3 comments
Saturday, July 5th, 2008
Posted by Kim Bradford @ 06:16:38 am
Attorney General Rob McKenna made a case last month that prison inmates should be considered non-persons for purposes of the Public Records Act. We said his interpretation of the law went too far. This week, the state Supreme Court agreed. Sort of. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that a prison’s ability to intercept inmate mail does not conflict with prisoners’ rights to obtain government information. Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center points out that the majority opinion clearly states "the Department may not deny a public records request based on the requester’s status as an inmate.” But, as the dissenters argue, giving inmates the ability to request public records is worthless if prison officials can bar inmates from receiving those records. It seems that it will take further court decisions – or legislative action – to truly answer the question of inmates' ability to access public records. Rich Roesler, the Spokesman Review's statehouse reporter, posits that the dissenters might prevail next time. Newly appointed Justice Debra Stephens, who is known as an open-records advocate, was not on the court when the case that prompted this week's decision was heard.
Categories: Taking notice
Friday, July 4th, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 05:31:17 am
The News Tribune's opinion staff wishes everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July. But we really should have had this party two days ago. Peter de Bolla, the British author of a new historical book, "The Fourth of July," notes that John Adams, no less, believed that July 2, 1776, would be celebrated, as he wrote his wife, with "pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one from one end of the Continent to the other from this time forward forever more." Logically, the United States of America was born on July 2, when the Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Britain. A second vote was taken two days later, and 12 of the 13 colonies (I had no idea that New York had abstained) voted again to endorse the Declaration of Independence. The last of those famous signatures, John Hancock's among them, was not added until nearly two months later. A Wall Street Journal review this week called the book "fascinating" but dinged Bolla for using too many phrases like "semiotic functions" and "habitual topoi." And here's a link to Bolla's own list of "Five Things You Never Knew about the Fourth of July and the Founding of America." Betsy Ross never made that flag, for instance.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 05:59:17 pm
The latest issue of Outside magazine lists Tacoma on its 2008 "Best Towns" list, citing the city's downtown rejuvenation, lively arts scene and abundant outdoor recreational opportunities. The article (PDF document here) quotes city resident and Outside subscriber Lucinda Weddle:
The mag didn't explain how it determined its selections, but the headline says:
Can't beat that for good pub. Thanks to the City of Tacoma's Forward Tacoma email newsletter for calling this one to our attention. Subscribe here.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 05:04:42 pm
Was Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg lowballing the cost of his proposed ballot measure to save open space? It looked like it, but he wasn't. The County Council indefinitely tabled his proposal Monday. Our news story the next day indicated that a property tax of "up to 16 cents per $1,000 of assessed value" would cost the owner of a $300,000 home about $2 a month, attributing the latter estimate to Ladenburg. An alert reader sent us a letter to the editor asked if Ladenburg was guilty of "deception or faulty math." At 16 cents per $1,000, the actual cost would be more like $4 a month. Our editors should have caught the discrepancy. County finance director Patrick Kenney explained it to me today, but I was almost sorry I asked. To make a long story short: Not all of the 16 cents per $1,000 would have been devoted to the preservation of open space and farmland. But the portion that would have been would, based on a rough estimate, have cost the owner of a $300,000 home about $2 a month. The tax impact is a "guesstimate," Kenney said, because it is based on some factors that won't be known until November, including the trend in property values that are particularly unpredictable this year.
Categories: Taking notice
• 3 comments
Posted by David Seago @ 11:47:00 am
Opponents of an initiative sponsored by a powerful labor union called on Secretary of State Sam Reed to reject it because its petition forms are allegedly misleading. I think they have a point. Local 775 of Service Employees International Union were to turn in signatures today for Initiative 1029, which would set higher training requirements for workers who care for the elderly or disabled people. The measure is fiercely opposed by the home-care industry, which contends it will drive up costs and make it harder to recruit workers. Companies that provide private-pay care would have to pay for the training. State and federal taxpayers would pay for training state-paid workers. The Community Care Coalition, an industry group, urged Reed by letter to reject the SEIU petitions because they describe the initiative as an initiative to the people, which would require a statewide vote in November. But the text of the initiative calls it an initiative to the Legislature, which means the measure would first go to the 2009 Legislature, and then to the ballot if lawmakers fail to approve it. In an earlier Political Buzz blog post, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office said he thought the office would accept the petitions because he didn't think it was a big mistake. I think it is a fundamental mistake, and who can tell whether it was in fact an intentional? It's a lot easier to tell potential signers that the initiative would give the people a chance to decide the issue right away than it is to explain that it would go to the Legislature first. The tactic could be a strategy to pressure the Legislature to approve the training requirements. An SEIU-backed bill to the effect failed in this year's session. If the Legislature approves the initiative next year, the SEIU is spared the cost of running an expensive campaign to pass the initiative in November. Seems to me the SecState's office should accept the petitions only provisionally today, subject to legal review. Here's what a spokesman for the office said this morning:
Read on for the text of the Community Care Coalition letter to Reed. Read the case for Initiative 1029 here.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Posted by Kim Bradford @ 10:31:30 am
No one ever accused the state Supreme Court of a rush to judgment. Ask the court to hear your case and it could be months before you hear if it's been accepted. Many more months could go by before the court issues a decision. So we were intrigued to hear from Justice Mary Fairhurst, who visited this week for her candidate endorsement interview, that justices can take a hit to their pocketbooks if they don't get their work done on time. Come to find out, the members of the court sign a declaration each month declaring – under penalty of perjury – that there are no cases sitting on their desks that have been there six months or longer. If ever a justice was that tardy, the state would withhold his or her paycheck until the work got done. Can you imagine some schoolmarmish court official chiding the likes of the honorable Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, telling him to hurry up and turn in his homework? Neither can we, but it's kind of fun to try.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 10:08:21 am
Friday: Saturday: Sunday: Monday: Congress should fix a Civil War-era provision in the federal whistleblower act that requires whistleblowers to keep mum about their allegations until the Justice Department has had a chance to review them. In practice, this allows the administration to sit on complaints for years. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
Posted by David Seago @ 05:58:36 am
Carter Clews writes editorials – some people might call them rants – for a group called Americans for Limited Government. He had some strong opinions about the U.S. Supreme Court's widely discussed ruling this month on a Second Amendment case. Here's a sample of his style:
"Lord Stephen" is Justice Stephen Breyer, upon whom Clews heaps truckloads of disdain. For entertainment if nothing else, I recommend a look at Clews' complete editorial. Makes us newspaper opinionaters look like a bunch of pansies, doesn't he?
Categories: Taking notice
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 06:50:34 pm
Puget Sound Energy representatives made a point today of telling us about the utility's rebuttal to claims that selling it to private investors is too risky for its customers in Washington. We echoed that concern in a June 22 editorial. PSE filed responses today with the state Utilities and Transportation Commission, which is considering a proposed $7 billion acquisition of PSE by a consortium of Australian investors and Canadian pension funds. Our editorial followed formal opposition to the deal by the state attorney general's office of public counsel, which represents consumers in cases before the commission. The deal, PSE argued, contains these benefits:
Read on for PSE's complete press release.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 06:31:28 pm
The people who want to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Washington seem almost obsessive about expunging the words "assisted suicide" from the English language. I noted earlier that Initiative 1000 would forbid state agencies from using the term. In fact, "assisted suicide" would cease to exist "under the law." The proper term: "obtaining and self-administering life-ending medication." I-1000's sponsors turned in their signatures today, enough to put it on the November ballot. The Washington Medical Association, an opponent, was ready to pounce. Its president, Dr. Brian Wicks, immediately issued a statement condemning physician-assisted suicide as "fundamentally incompatible with the role of physicians as healers." One of his gripes had less to do with ethics than with nomenclature:
An analogy might be a cancer patient who has a fatal reaction to chemotherapy. Is it the cancer that killed him or the chemo? The chemo would be listed as the immediate cause of death – and it wasn't even intended to kill him, unlike the drugs used for assisted suicide. Americans have a habit of trying to soften the reality of death with euphemisms. We don't like to talk about it; we don't like to think about it. "Coffin" smacked too much of the grave, so we substituted "casket." "Tombstone" was more than we could handle, so it's "monument." But things are what they are. Pretending that a physician-assisted suicide isn't a "physician-assisted suicide" won't make it any less of a suicide assisted by a physician.
Categories: Taking notice
• 2 comments
Posted by David Seago @ 06:22:47 pm
For some reason, our wire editors passed over a New York Times story Tuesday that really startled me. The third paragraph is the eye-opener.
Whoo. That had sharp edges. The ruling was unanimous, and the panel included chief judge David B. Sentelle, described by the Times as one of the court's most conservative members. The administration's whole legal basis for holding detainees at Gitmo is being dismantled piece by piece at all levels of the U.S. courts. It's reassuring to see our judiciary asserting its independence and insisting on the rule of law.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 05:12:37 pm
There’s terrible irony in the report that the harsh interrogation techniques countenance by the Bush administration were originally developed by communist regimes in China and the Soviet Union. Starbucks’s strategy of trying to cover the planet with coffee stores has hit the wall as the company is forced to close 600 stores in the U.S. It turns out that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. About our editorials:
Categories: Taking notice
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