Subduction Zone

Northwest Dealings

Category: Government

Legislature / Oregon

Not Good News for the People of Oregon

The Oregon legislature is going to have an off year special session. No good can come of this unless they do the unexpected and ban such sessions or spend significant time revoking previously passed legislation. Legislatures tend to spend their time passing legislation, you know, they think they know best how the rest of us should live our lives and spend our money. Unfortunately, most of this legislation consists of patchwork fixes to previously passed legislation. One thing we know is that they will not be doing is the people’s business. The people do their own business, voluntarily, with each...

gregoire / Legislature

gregoire Implies She Has No Responsibility

A so-called rainy day fund might be a good idea. However, governor gregoire should not be pretending that she does not have a role in overspending: “We’re got to have a savings account kupbezrecepty.com ,” shielded from easy spending by lawmakers or vulnerable to the initiative process, the governor said at a news conference last week. The democratic team of gregoire and legislature seemed perfectly comfortable dramatically raising state spending levels during the last legislative session. If she were serious about “enforcing discipline” and smoothing out peaks and valleys she would have worked with the legislature to minimize increases in...

Legislature / Taxation / Washington

NASCAR is Gone!

Here is the good news: A Florida-based racetrack developer has abandoned plans for a $368 million NASCAR speedway near Bremerton, where local opposition to the project was fierce. Unfortunately there is some bad news as well. First, the governor and the legislature did not immediately say no to this project. Second, the developer may be back looking for another handout: But the company said it will look for other track sites in the state and might come back to the Legislature with another proposal in the future. “We think the Northwest is still a great opportunity for the company,” said...

dave reichart / Government / Washington

Checking Up: Were You Watching burner/reichart on TVW

Earlier tonight I was enjoying reading the Seattle Times* while eating dinner with the burner-reichart debate playing in the background. This bit of multitasking was not all that hard as the candidates were dramatically content free. About halfway through the debate this blissful time was interrupted by the phone which would have been fine had it been a friend calling. But no, it was the fine folks at Meyer Teleservices who note on their website: Our goal is to reach out, in a friendly personal manner, using the telephone to engage prospects in a one-to-one conversation with immediate results. They...

City Government / Economics / Taxation / Washington

Let’m Build the Landing

Yes, just as we support either rebuilding Key Arena or building a brand new basketball monument we also support the fine folks who want to develop The Landing in Renton. If this is a viable project, and the developers seem to think it worth a $390 million investment, then there is neither reason nor need to fleece the public to support these already wealthy folks. That is not what the Renton city government thinks: Harvest Partners expects its regional shopping center will create about 2,500 jobs and generate $1.5 million to $3 million a year in taxes for the city....

Economics / Government / Washington

Pharmacists and Rights

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer gets one thing right about the Washington board of pharmacy error: The board’s August meeting will provide a chance to truly correct the mistake by dropping the rule altogether. We’re not convinced the board will do that. Exactly! Pharmacists must perform their duties to the standards of their employer. Their only choice kupbezrecepty.com , if their beliefs preclude them from serving their employer’s customers kamagra pills , is to move to a different employer, e.g., a pharmacy that does not stock Plan B, etc., or a different career. Employers should simply fire pharmacists who do not perform...