Posted Mon, Mar 8, 12:27 p.m.

dbreneman, To be accurate, state spending is down. Spending, if you include federal dollars, is up. Typically Democrats and Republicans in Olympia focus on the near general fund, which is down. Jason Mercier at the Washington Policy Center has done some good analysis of this for readers who want to ...

Posted Mon, Mar 8, 12:22 p.m.

Woofer, Thanks for your feedback. In my mind, this legislative session there's been no shortage of reporting and information on the details of the budget and tax plans the Democrats are writing and passing. What is lacking, I would agrue, is analysis of how Olympia works and how politics impact ...

Posted Wed, Feb 10, 8:15 a.m.

DannyK, First off, why the need to be so rude? A little civility and politeness never hurt anyone. Second, it just so happens I did look it up. And third it refers to the notion that despite the win in court, the legislature will likely cut education funding again this ...

Posted Fri, Mar 20, 12:59 p.m.

Thanks for the comments everyone. Ammons makes a good contextual point. Any tax package is not going to solve this problem. At most, the ballot measure will raise $2B - not that that's not a ton of money. But in this case it's a fraction of the problem. As for ...

Posted Wed, Mar 4, 2:28 p.m.

Boy Ross, that's harsh. To begin with, I have no idea what you have against Othello. It's a great place. The best reporters I know use public records laws to shine light on government and the legislative process. That's what I'm trying to do here. You would be surprised how ...

Posted Fri, Feb 20, 4:04 p.m.

To clarify. I didn't mean to suggest tapping the rainy day fund is an example of a gimmick - it fits into the list of "other" ways lawmakers will aim to balance the budget which includes one-time spending and gimmicks. I think both Democrats and Republicans here in Olympia have ...

Posted Tue, Jan 20, 9:12 a.m.

Cameron, Democrats are very clearly rejecting any suggestion that over-spending had anything to do with this budget problem. That's their message and they're sticking to it. As for whether there's a plan to address the deficit? My sense is that lawmakers are in the early stages of assessing the situation ...

Posted Sat, Mar 15, 10:17 a.m.

RE: 'The Highway of Death' and taxes: Thomas, Perhaps you should re-read the article. I made it very clear that the "partisan politics" I'm writing about are comments from majority Democrats that suggest they're punishing Republican legislators who represent Highway 2 for their no votes on the gas tax increases. ...

Posted Tue, Jan 15, 7:32 a.m.

RE: Hastening death bomber?: Sky Bluesky, Thanks for your comment. Snarky was not my intent. I only wanted to draw attention to the strict and narrow defitinon of suicide that advocates of the Initiative are using: when an otherwise healthy person takes his/her life. Furthermore, during the dueling news conferences ...

Posted Tue, May 8, 3:34 p.m.

Response to robinev:: robinev: Call me in the dark, but this is the first I've heard of the "Tacky Tourist Clubs of America" web site and blog. Thanks for alerting me to the site and the blog postings on Gill's influence in Washington State. - Austin Jenkins