This blog is designed to give readers a glimpse of our editorial-page operation and how we make our decisions. We’ll let you know who we’re meeting with, what they’re telling us, what events and issues we’re looking at. We’ll also pass on information and observations that may not make our print editions. In addition to the editorial board members who post on this blog, the board includes Publisher David Zeeck, Executive Editor Karen Peterson and Managing Editor Dale Phelps.
Editorial board bloggers
Editorial page editor Patrick O’Callahan oversees the online and printed opinion sections of The News Tribune. He came to The News Tribune in 1987 and has worked at Washington newspapers since 1979. E-mail him at patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com
Editorial writer Cheryl Tucker, in addition to writing commentary, manages the daily production of the editorial and op-ed pages and edits letters to the editor. She began her journalism career in 1974 at a Virginia newspaper and came to The News Tribune in 1978. E-mail her at cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com.
Editorial writer Kim Bradford manages the online opinion section of The News Tribune and writes commentary. She joined The News Tribune in 2005 after working 11 years at newspapers in Washington and Maryland. E-mail her at kim.bradford@thenewstribune.com.
Guest bloggers
Editor emeritus David Seago retired from The News Tribune in 2008 after 41 years at The News Tribune. E-mail him at sds99@harbornet.com.
Richard Davis’ column on state politics frequently runs in the print edition of The News Tribune. He was president of the Washington Research Council, a statewide think tank, from 1986 through 2006. Currently, as a principal with The Simeon Partnership, Inc. he coordinates the activities of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, a business coalition founded by the Research Council, the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable.
Karen Irwin of University Place, a mother of four, has been a frequent contributor to The News Tribune's print editions. She has also written for Seattle's Child, Puget Sound Parent, the Tacoma Weekly, the Fayetteville Observer Times and the political blog Right Meets Left. She graduated from California Lutheran University with a degree in English literature and is currently working toward a history degree.
Michael Allen, professor of history at the University of Washington Tacoma, was born and raised in Ellensburg. He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1969-70. He has written five books, including the prize-winning "Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus' Great Discovery to the War on Terror," "Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination" and "Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse." Allen lives in Tacoma and Ellensburg and has three children.
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In 1968, an infamous issue of Look Magazine, journalists featured photographs of 200-plus American soldiers who died during one week of the Vietnam War.
Some of those same journalists have now reached their 60s and 70s, and before our Iraq victory, they were anxious to give the 60s "one more go" for old time’s sake. In 2005-06, amidst angry headlines of “Another Vietnam” and “Bush’s Vietnam,” we were treated to the names and photographs of American dead in Iraq served up to us in plagiarized renditions of the Look magazine piece; a favorite motif was pictures of flag-draped coffins.
But there was one big contextual difference between the Vietnam and Iraq pictures: In seven years in Vietnam we lost 55,000; in five years in Iraq we have lost 4,000.
We honor these 4,000 brave American volunteers, and the Iraqi policemen and soldiers who, since 2004, have fought alongside them.
This editorial will appear in tomorrow's print edition.
It would be more reassuring if all $798 billion were actually meant for economic recovery.
What – exactly – is in that $789 billion stimulus bill?
As both House and Senate rushed Thursday to give it final approval by Saturday, major news organizations had only secondhand reports of its contents. It’s a good bet that only a few members of Congress will completely understand it before they send it to President Obama’s desk.
Haste and lack of scrutiny invariably lead to major flaws in spending bills. The argument for speed here is a good one: The faltering American economy needs a large injection of money and jobs right now, if not three months ago. But an injection shouldn’t be watered down when there’s only so much room in the syringe.
The big question about this package is not whether it’s buying too much stimulus but whether it will deliver too little.
This editorial will appear in Friday's print edition.
The Legislature has yet to pass a spending cut, making a huge budget problem worse by the day.
Another day, another $63 million in the hole.
Tuesday’s revenue collection report continued the downward trend that’s bedeviled Washington tax coffers for months now.
The deepening recession is undermining the assumptions state economists made in forecasting a $5 billion shortfall last November.
Over the last three months, tax collections have missed even those pessimistic marks, to the tune of nearly $200 million. Economists are expected to deliver a new bottom line next week.
A little panic would be a healthy thing at this point, yet it seems to be missing from the mix in Olympia. The Legislature has yet to pass a single spending cut, to the frustration of a governor who had advised quick action.
It’s not a good sign that as the $789 federal stimulus package heads for fast-tracked approval, most major news organizations – and probably most members of Congress – are still trying to figure out what's in it.
The state Legislature, which has yet to pass a single spending cut, is either in denial about the size of the budget problem or hoping that the situation gets so dire that new taxes are an easier sell.
If you have comments or questions about these topics, please email them to patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com. Editorials represent the consensus view of The News Tribune's editorial board.
Want to sit in on a daily ed board meeting? Email cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com to make an appointment.
