Posted Fri, Jan 27, 10:47 a.m.

ecwasserman47, Gregoire certainly isn't clinging to that hope. She's hoping it's flat, which would be an improvement. Also, have you been paying attention to what's going on in Europe? That stuff has direct and indirect implications for WA's revenue forecasts. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-27/economy-in-u-s-grows-less-than-economists-forecast-as-consumers-hold-back.html http://www.businessinsider.com/fitch-goes-on-rampage-cuts-spain-italy-and-belgium-2012-1 If there's any increase it's going to be ...

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 10 a.m.

If only the world had more people who agreed with me, what a better place it would be... Got hubris?

Posted Thu, Jun 16, 11:41 a.m.

Steve Zemke's comment is yet another reminder to all of us why he is irrelevant and is interested in his own zany ideas more than he is in facts. A good number of Democrats all over Washington are far more interested in pragmatism than ideology and would support Sonntag vs. ...

Posted Thu, Jun 16, 11:25 a.m.

hlwelborn, here's the solution: If you don't want to be exposed to the comments, don't read them. Repeat as necessary. If the problem persists, consider re-doing all or part of your K-12 education.

Posted Thu, Jun 2, 11:30 a.m.

For once I'll agree with WashPIG. The Democrats have majorities in the House and Senate. If the Democrats couldn't get a bill through, it was because of some of their own members, not because of the Republicans. This article is shoddy journalism (at best).

Posted Thu, Jul 22, 11:33 a.m.

That's right Jan--how dare he reach out to work with members of both parties? How dare he refuse to goose step with the statists in how own party? How dare he insist on using his statutory authority to conduct performance audits of government entities? Clearly he's not cut out to ...

Posted Wed, Jul 7, 8:41 a.m.

What's another $50 billion when we've already racked up $13 trillion in debt (and that's not even counting unfunded liabilities in Social Security, Medicare, and govt employee pensions). Let's spend our way to prosperity! Govt can't do everything we may want it to do--the money just isn't there. As Abraham ...

Posted Thu, Mar 18, 9:10 a.m.

Kudos to Howland for actually writing a news article this time. Most of the stuff he puts on OlyNewswire are editorials posing as news. Not surprising that Crosscut has higher standards than OlyNewswire.

Posted Mon, Jan 18, 6:39 p.m.

From Evergreen Freedom Foundation's blog: "In Crosscut’s recent article on the overstated natured of employee benefit savings when it comes to dealing with the state’s $2.6 billion deficit, we (as in the Evergreen Freedom Foundation) couldn’t help but notice that the Office of Financial Management might be playing down savings—at ...

Posted Mon, Dec 14, 4:33 p.m.

Public school choice would give Ann the ability to place her child where she and her husband thought best. It would have solved her problem. The reason public school choice hasn't improved the system as it potentially could is because of a stiled bureaucracy that is incapable of responding to ...

Posted Mon, Dec 14, 8:40 a.m.

I'm shocked. Social engineering 1) fails to achieve the desired results, and 2) produces a host of unintended consequences. The left's answer will probably be "well, we just need better social engineering." Here's a radical idea: give parents choice among public schools, rather than having a central buereaucracy or scheme ...

Posted Sat, Dec 12, 11:50 a.m.

bkochis, I guess it makes sense to change the direction of the road when you don't like where it's going. Ok, I'll follow. I didn't say anything about rich and poor being "treated the same." I said rich and poor both use government services of one sort or another. The ...

Posted Fri, Dec 11, 6:27 p.m.

SethCool, you see misconceptions where none exist. In no way do I believe that only the poor use or benefit from government services, nor do I believe that the poor are more prone to abuse government services. I realize it makes your argument easier to build that straw man, butit ...

Posted Fri, Dec 11, 1:35 p.m.

dbreneman, you mean your Cratchit can walk? Mine is chained to his desk, counting and re-counting the vast sums of money I make working at a non-profit organization. I do let him out occasionally for bathroom breaks. I have another indentured servant who handles the coal. I've found the division ...

Posted Fri, Dec 11, 9:13 a.m.

bkochis, ad hominem attacks on those with whom you disagree don't lend your position any credibility. My statement doesn't have anything to do with thinking that the poor's "psycholohy is warped." It does, however, have everything to do with human nature and the reality that when something is "free" to ...

Posted Thu, Dec 10, 8:48 a.m.

Do you think, Matt, that there's a problem with distancing people from the real cost of government? Because that's what happens when you institute a "progressive" tax structure. Those who pay far less in taxes (or none at all) will have no reason NOT to vote for more benefits from ...

Posted Wed, Nov 18, 9:59 a.m.

WA's problem doesn't have anything to do with a regressive tax structure. Shopworn taking points about how WA needs an income tax to avoid revenue shortfalls don't stand up against the evidence--just look around the country at states with a more diverse revenue stream or "progressive" tax structure, and they're ...

Posted Wed, Nov 18, 8:49 a.m.

If voters use the initiative process to reduce revenues, the only responsible course of action for lawmakers is to reduce spending. But instead lawmakers act as if government spending is like the weather--it just happens and there's nothing they can do about it. So then a big deficit comes because ...

Posted Thu, Oct 15, 9:59 p.m.

A friend said it this way: "Macs are made for humans."

Posted Thu, Oct 15, 8:06 a.m.

I guess I am one of those people happy to have whatever OS is handy, though Mac seems appealing (but $$). Though I don't have a Mac, I was impressed that OS X Snow Leopard actually reduced the amount of space it occupies. Curious how much space 7 uses compared ...

Posted Tue, Sep 8, 8:44 a.m.

So let's take Fred at his word and ask the question: which candidate is more likely to go against the status quo -- a fresh candidate like Susan Hutchison or Dow Constantine, who has been part of these mounting problems and is backed by the labor groups that just want ...

Posted Tue, Sep 1, 1:06 p.m.

R: If what you say in your first paragraph is true, then there's no good reason NOT to repeal the exemption. Sunlight in government is never a bad thing.

Posted Tue, Sep 1, 10:09 a.m.

R: remember that spat with the "not another dime" email sent to Democrat legislators during the last session? That was an email, and it should have been public record. Fortunately it was leaked. The public has a right to know about that stuff on both sides of the aisle. Bottom ...

Posted Tue, Sep 1, 7:55 a.m.

The difference between journalists and legislators is that legislators are 1) paid by taxpayer dollars, and 2) make decisions on how to extract and spend taxpayer dollars. Both factors require the utmost transparency on the part of legislators. If special interest groups are pressuring legislators to make decisions, the public ...

Posted Mon, Aug 17, 3:52 p.m.

The point is these protests aren't manufactured. People aren't showing up because insurance companies or "special interests" are telling them to. They're showing up because they have genuine concerns. The unions and MoveOn.org, on the other hand, are bending over backwards to bus people in from far away to these ...

Posted Mon, Aug 17, 9:53 a.m.

How sad you must be that NPR didn't just regurgitate the DNC's talking points on health care reform. Such free thinking must be crushed! You guys really need to get a clue and take off your left-wing blinders. The protestors at the town hall meetings are real Americans with real ...

Posted Mon, Jul 13, 8 a.m.

"Washington’s business tax structure is not terribly onerous." What world are you living in? Have you ever tried to run a small business here? The big businesses thrive because they have the margin and size to cope with a burdensome tax and regulatory structure. Much of this article reads like ...

Posted Tue, May 19, 10:52 a.m.

Ben, please don't try to steer the conversation off point (a habit you're rather fond of, it seems). My point was that your last paragraph was below the belt and unbecoming of a "Crosscut Writer." Snarky-ness doesn't accomplish anything. When you do that you're coming across as the real "kook," ...

Posted Tue, May 19, 9:57 a.m.

Ben, you only make yourself look infantile when you resort to personal attacks. If your position is in reality supported by the facts then you shouldn't have to stoop so low as your closing remarks. Take the lead from sjenner and offer constructive points.

Posted Thu, Mar 12, 9:13 a.m.

So why does the Washington Policy Center get a label ("free market") but neither the Economic Opportunity Institute nor the Washington State Budget & Policy Center do? Those two groups have clear philosophical leanings and the EOI lobbies heavily. No bias here, for sure.