Subduction Zone

Northwest Dealings

Author: ed itor

Campaign Finance / Idaho

The DNC is Coming

Yes, it is coming to Boise on 5/25: The Democratic National Committee (DNC), under the chairmanship of former Vermont governor and 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean, is sending assessment teams around the country to speak with Democratic voters. Chairman Dean is eager to put DNC resources into states that have traditionally been overlooked, and the first step in this process is gathering input from Democrats throughout the country. This means sending teams out to get your ideas and opinions on what needs to be done for Dems to win more offices. Serephin is correct in saying that this is an...

Seattle

Seattle Parking Shortages

There are parking shortages all over the city! So why this: The Seattle City Council yesterday agreed to reduce the number of parking spaces that developers are required to include in new apartment, townhouse and condominium projects in some of the city’s densest neighborhoods. According to the council this is all about affordable housing and using alternative transportation. But I suspect the builders and tenants will, respectively, make it about maximizing return on investment and enjoyable living which may or may not match up with the council’s verbiage. Binary Circumstance rightly notes: What they don’t seem to realize is that...

Economics / Oregon

Free Market and Gasoline Distribution

Over at Blue Oregon Kari Chisholm attempts to misplace blame in telling the unsurprising story of a Salem service station operator, Brent DeHart, who appears to be getting screwed by Shell Oil which is both his supplier and the owner of an adjacent corporate station which underprices Dehart. At first glance I’ll accept that DeHart is getting screwed and I suspect is in the company of many others in the Northwest who have had the same thing happen at the hands of one or another of the big oil vendors right along with a lot of drivers who are hammered...

Oregon / Taxation

Coburg Citizens: Pay Your Own Way

Perhaps the folks in Coburg will step up to the plate and start paying for their own services, including their police overemployment plan, by rejecting their operating levy. Enforcement of appropriate traffic laws on their main streets, all two of them, is certainly reasonable and it may be reasonable that such an effort generates a bit more than enough revenue to cover the required monitors and the supporting legal infrastructure. Coburg has, though, become notorious, if not a laughing stock, throughout the northwest and beyond for their effort to fill their coffer through ticketing on I-5 adjacent to town (the...

Campaign Finance / Oregon

Campaign Finance Reform

The Oregon legislature is working on some campaign finance reforms ($ after 14 days): Shortly after Doyle’s Jan. 31 resignation, Merkley and House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village, announced that House legislation would tackle six campaign finance topics. Those included increasing the maximum penalty for personal use of campaign money, prohibiting candidates from paying themselves for professional services, and prohibiting double dipping. They should be encouraged to continue this effort however it does seem a bit like the fox is in the hen house. I suspect they will look more after their own interests than those of the people they...

Education / Taxation / Uncategorized / Washington

Tuition Increases and Tax Increases

Taxes and tax increases are just that even when mislabeled or hidden. Take the case of the tuition increases just approved by the Washington legislature. These increases are, compared to previous years, a tax increase targeted at a specific class of Washington residents. Those who are paying tuition to attend a public college or university: The Legislature has approved tuition increases at all schools: 7 percent at the University of Washington and Washington State University; 6 percent at Western Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Central Washington University and The Evergreen State College; and 5 percent at the community and technical...