Posted Thu, Apr 5, 8:43 a.m.

An excellent piece about a pivotal moment in American history. And it drives home a powerful point. Character matters more than anything else in public life. In this highly partisan, hyper-ideological age, that point can't be emphasized enough.

Posted Tue, Mar 13, 1:13 p.m.

The difference between what the Republican budget spends on K-12 education vs. the Democratic budget in the House amounts to less than one-HALF of one percent. So I have to disagree with my friend David Brewster that this amounts to a "bombshell". The education issue in 2012 is not funding. ...

Posted Wed, Feb 22, 11:56 a.m.

Snus, just to remind you, DOMA, which you say was "enacted by those who want to impress their value system on others" was signed into law by Bill Clinton after being passed by a bipartisan Congress.. So let's review where we are, because this is getting fun (read the full ...

Posted Wed, Feb 22, 10:18 a.m.

Harris, not defending DOMA doesn't render it null and void; repealing it does. And yet the President refuses to push for it. And if DOMA was in conflict with the "full faith and credit clause", it would have been successfully challenged on these grounds by marriage equality supporters long ago. ...

Posted Wed, Feb 22, 9:03 a.m.

Wake up, NickBob. If the Constitution meant what you wish it meant, then the marriage equality issue would already be resolved. Seven states now have same sex marriage protection. Do you see gay marriage in all 50 states?

Posted Tue, Feb 21, 7:33 p.m.

Harris if that were the case, then why is Ed Murray and Equality Washington insisting that marriage equality is a federal issue? Have you considered that several states are passing laws and even amending their constitutions refusing to recoginize such unions?

Posted Tue, Feb 21, 2:41 p.m.

Why would I rewrite a piece that Harris has just reinforced? Overturning DOMA simply throws the issue to the states. That's where it is already. As I pointed out (three times), supporters of same-sex marriage believe it to be a federal issue. But instead, the President publicly opposes marriage equality ...

Posted Tue, Nov 15, 11:18 a.m.

Why yes, that must be it! NPR has a previously unrevealed right wing bias!! Woofer and company are stuck on stupid.

Posted Tue, Nov 15, 7:58 a.m.

An audience of Seattle liberals had to listen to a contrary point of view? Oh, the agony!!!

Posted Tue, Nov 15, 7:56 a.m.

An audience of Seattle liberal had to listen to a contrary point of view? Oh, the agony!!!!

Posted Sat, Oct 15, 9:52 a.m.

Yawn

Posted Mon, Oct 3, 8:41 a.m.

Every general election for President in the last 40 years has featured candidates in good, and usually superb physical condition (the perfect example being Bush vs Kerry in '04. So yes, politics aside being fat (Christie), as opposed to a few pounds overweight (the Clintons) is an anomaly. But I ...

Posted Thu, Sep 1, 10:33 a.m.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is really this simple: more density = fewer families with children. That is what you are guaranteed to get with high-density zoning.

Posted Wed, Aug 31, 5:36 p.m.

Has Skip (and some of those making comments) considered that it is the global warming lobby that has turned its back on new science? The recent dyspeptic outbursts from Al Gore (who refuses to debate anyone on climate change, in front of an audience or a microphone) reveals a petulance ...

Posted Tue, Jul 19, 7:29 a.m.

Bella, And the strawman is ???????????

Posted Sun, Jul 17, 1:53 p.m.

Hi Bella, In a sentence: Obama's policies, which resulted in the federal government now borrowing 40 cents of every dollar it spends, made a bad situation worse. Details about how to dig out of it in my next piece.

Posted Sat, Jul 16, 2:42 p.m.

Sarah and Taylorb1's evasiveness is comical. There is no Democrat anywhere who thought Obama would mimic Bush's approach to the War on Terror. I asked "honest progressives" - which apparently don't apply to Sarah and Taylor, to ask why the Patriot Act, JSOC, unilateral military action, etc. was a "constitutional ...

Posted Mon, May 9, 8:24 a.m.

Great piece, Skip. So where's a good "pre-Starbucks" place to go in 2011? My nominee: The 5-Point.

Posted Mon, Apr 18, 4:55 p.m.

WoofWoof2, there is no "military budget" in Olympia unless you're counting the National Guard and the State Patrol. And there is no military spending in King County or Seattle, unless you're counting the police department. The simple truth is that public labor costs account for well over half the state ...

Posted Mon, Apr 18, 2:53 p.m.

Heartscribe, I think you're borrowing without attribution. Back in 1962, legendary Senator Warren Magnuson was in a tight re-election fight with a young conservative minister, Richard Christiansen, who campaigned on a family values platform. At one joint appearance, Magnuson pored over his challenger's literature and advised the crowd to think ...

Posted Mon, Mar 21, 8:09 a.m.

Several people have posted that tolls are used throughout the world, particularly on America's east coast, so they should be welcome here. Keep in mind that Washington opted to forego general tolling in favor of the gas tax, which is why we have very few tolls, but one of the ...

Posted Tue, Mar 15, 7:56 a.m.

Kemper wants to toll MORE lanes on 405 than Doug McDonald? Stop the presses!! Query to Doug. How has the premium tolling experiment worked on 167, in terms of revenue collections and overall traffic flow?

Posted Tue, Mar 1, 8:41 a.m.

The problem with public employee unions is that they simply don't operate like private unions. In business, unions and management are on different sides of the table. In government, as we've seen so often in Olympia, King County and Seattle, they are on the same side of the table. The ...

Posted Mon, Feb 28, 12:18 p.m.

I went to West Seattle High with Bob Besaw and Tommy Burns. They are both great guys and great cops, but Tom, who's been decorated numerous times, lives outside the city in Issaquah. Does that make him any less of a cop? Hardly. The mayor noted that 82% of Seattle's ...

Posted Thu, Feb 17, 1:35 p.m.

Actually Carol, when it comes to foreign policy, Obama is certainly no Reagan, but he is arguably George W. Bush. The Iraq timetable is unchanged, we've doubled down in Afghanistan, drone strikes on targets in other countries are up, Gitmo remains open, and the most controverisal elements of the Patriot ...

Posted Sun, Feb 13, 9:29 p.m.

My only interest, sarah90, is ensuring that the comments are held to the same standard of factual accuracy as the article. Sorry you took it personally.

Posted Sun, Feb 13, 6:05 p.m.

I guess the only question for the hyperbolic lorenbliss is this: If better days were not ahead for America after the mid-to late 70's, and if Reagan really was the "executioner who killed the American Dream", then kindly explain why poll after poll of American citizens shows Reagan to be ...

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 9:20 p.m.

The quality of the posts has picked up in tone, but not so much in content. First, to staybailey, you are entirely right about Paul Volker deserving most of the credit for slaying inflation. He was a Carter appointee, and Reagan reappointed him. Volker has repeatedly expressed gratitude to both ...

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 4:13 p.m.

Actually, 2cents, woofer didn't point that out at all. Woofer simply argued that Reagan hired better people than "W", which has nothing to do with the article. Your assertion that the piece "lacks facts" is easily refuted by simply reading it. Several of those facts underscore my point that Reagan ...

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 2:38 p.m.

Fascinating. Plenty of hostile sentiments, yet no factual refutations of what I wrote about Reagan or Obama. And you wonder why so many people find political debate in Seattle so shallow?

Posted Thu, Feb 3, 10:06 a.m.

Skip's (partly) right. There is nothing sacred about the number of counties in Washington, or what shape they are. With that in mind, perhaps now is the time to seriously consider dividing King County into three counties; one between Puget Sound and Lake Washington; an east King County between Lake ...

Posted Fri, Nov 12, 7:41 a.m.

David's idea is timely, useful and inevitably necessary because the existing budget simply cannot be sustained. My suggestion: use RETIRED legislators who are not lobbying for anyone because they understand the issues and the political process, but don't have ties to vested interests on the right or the left.

Posted Tue, Oct 6, 11:05 a.m.

Isn't it precisely when you run out of green that government can be restructured, rather than just trimmed? Chris has had to deal with government inefficiency at both the state and county level for years. I think he could pen a compelling essay on how he would change the structure ...

Posted Thu, Mar 19, 9:45 a.m.

"There is no organization on the left to counter the (Federalist) Society?" How about the Bar Association itself. It was the leftward drift of the ABA during the 70's and especially in the Reagan era that accounted for the Federalist Society being created in the first place. The ABA of ...

Posted Thu, Feb 19, 9:52 a.m.

The problem with these polls is that the word "evolution" means different things to different people. To some, it means evolution within a species, on which the scientific evidence is firm. For others it means evolving from one kind of animal into another, on which the fossil evidence is scant. ...

Posted Thu, Feb 5, 12:02 p.m.

Geez, Mossback, I'm sorry you had such a lousy experience in scouting. I know people who don't remember Little League or high school with much affection, either. Should we issue a blanket indictment for those things as well? My 11-year old is a scout,learning about knot tying, conservation, first aid, ...

Posted Tue, Jan 27, 9:37 a.m.

I propose......"Mt. Mossback" (at least below the 10,000 ft level).

Posted Wed, Jan 14, 9:52 a.m.

An interesting piece, as always from Terry Sell. Just one addition from my perspective: Hoover's greatest sin, compounded by FDR, which exacerbated the Depression, was dramatically raising tax rates while choking free trade with the Hawley-Smoot tariff act. That's what prolonged the Great Depression.

Posted Thu, Jan 1, 12:51 p.m.

Well, with the benefit of hindsight, it was one of those races that I don't think anyone in the Party really could have won. 73% of the people that year said we were on the "right track", we had the strongest economy in state history, a billion dollar surplus in ...

Posted Wed, Dec 31, 8:40 p.m.

Floyd's right! If Republicans want to win again they need to run respected, pragmatic moderates for high office like John McCain. Oh wait, tried that........ JC