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State elected officials across America are in shock over the nosedive in tax collections, rising unemployment and ballooning budget deficits.
It occurred to me, while following the news over the last couple of weeks, it is time to stop, take a deep breath and think about what we are doing and where we need to go.
My parents grew up during the Great Depression, and the lessons from those tough times were etched in their minds.
In their successful initiative campaign two years ago, I-937 proponents told voters their goal was to replace carbon-based electricity with renewable energy — a concept we all support within reason.
Maine and Massachusetts are learning that doing the math carefully before passing legislation would have saved a lot of pain and suffering.
The drive between Portland and Cannon Beach in northwest Oregon reminds us that, when nature unleashes its fury, there is nothing humans can do to prevent the resulting damage.
On June 19, the U.S. Supreme Court (by a 7-2 decision) struck down a California law imposing so-called “union neutrality” requirements on employers in the state.
The law limited what employers could say about union organizing campaigns in the workplace.
The high court’s ruling should be the final stake in the heart of a similar union-backed proposal here in Washington.
There is an old saying that the two things certain in life are death and taxes. Sometimes those two converge.
Take growing trees, for example. Tax policy can be the death knell for tree farmers.
Tree farmers are our country’s real risk takers. If they are fortunate, they buy land with mature trees on it.
Many folks remember the 1972 Seattle billboard: “Would the last person who leaves Seattle please turn out the lights?”
In the wake of an earlier column about our state rejecting a $13.2 million education grant, people are asking, “What is going wrong in Washington?”
The renewed interest in our environment is long overdue and is a healthy sign for the future. Conserving resources, reusing materials, and recycling what cannot be used again makes sense.
It caused big problems for holiday travelers, but Paula Hammond, Washington’s new Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT), did the right thing when she pulled the four Steel Electric class ferries out of service the day before Thanksgiving.
The problem: Cracks and corrosion in the hulls.
Today, there is an unavoidable urge to let government engineer our lives in the name of climate change.
