Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi has been hammering Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire in his advertisements for raising "the gas tax." But as Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Joel Connelly points out today, "Rossi would take a chunk of the gas tax increase to pay for his $15 billion 'Pave, baby, Pave!' roads expansion plan ... complete with its specter of an eight-lane Evergreen Point Bridge." Said another way: Rossi is against the increased gas tax — unless he's elected and able to use the extra cash for his transportation proposal.
But as the folks at Washington Policy Center's blog note, Gregoire isn't being entirely forthright about her tax stance, either. (The governor can't seem to find a working definition of "tax increase.") Either way, Rossi's heavy campaign spending lately seems to be working. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows Rossi leading Gregoire 52 percent to 46 percent. ...
Meanwhile, Democratic congressional candidate Darcy Burner unveiled a tax plan yesterday that would reportedly save families $4,500 a year. Her opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, said the plan was "political sleight of hand" and a "gimmick." Eric Earling at Sound Politics says it gets to "one of the most annoying trends in congressional candidates on both sides of the aisle: "Proclamations of grand plans that are guaranteed to whither even if they are elected." ...
Taunting: Thursday was a victory of sorts for local initiative king Tim Eyman, who won his court bid to clarify the ballot title for Charter Amendment 7, a measure that — if passed by voters in November — would double the number of signatures required to change the King County Charter. Following the Superior Court decision, a smug Eyman sent out this memo to members of the King County Council and statewide media:
Eyman to King County politicians: Repeat after me: "I made a mistake, I'm sorry, it'll never happen again."Loophole: While numerous news articles have pointed out that Eyman's traffic congestion measure, Initiative 985, would "require that tolls on a bridge or freeway by used only for that project," the folks at Washington Policy Blog say that's not entirely accurate. ...
In the loop: Adam Wilson at The Olympian reports the Washington Federation of State Employees reached an agreement with the governor's negotiators last night, settling on an $85 million deal that gives state workers a 2 percent raise. ...
For the love of money: Chris Mulick at the Tri-City Herald takes a look at which candidates were the best fundraisers last month. ...
For the love of Todd: Did you miss Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's interview with ABC news anchor Charlie Gibson? Here's the video. ...
For the love of plastic: The American Chemistry Council, a trade group representing plastics manufacturers, reported spending $180,625 in August to fight the recently imposed 20 cent fee on paper and plastic bags. ...
For the love of themselves: Both The Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer took some time to toot their own horns today about recently received Blethen Awards. ...
And finally, Eli Sanders at The Stranger has penned a hilarious story about shaky Democratic nerves. A snippet:
But now you're increasingly feeling anxious. You can't concentrate. You can't manage anything close to the euphoria of January and February, nor can you summon the optimism of June, July, and August. Ever since the Republican National Convention, ever since Sarah Palin, a gnawing dread has been lying just below the surface of your every interaction. Sometimes you can't keep it bottled up. Sometimes you snap–at the screen, at your friends, at your family.
What you feel these days is that it's happening all over again: the lies from the right, the successful pandering to the evangelical Christians, the sinking poll numbers for the Democratic ticket.
You find yourself thinking ominously of how they stole the election from Al Gore in 2000. You have flashbacks to that heartbreaking, alienating moment in 2004 when you realized John Kerry was going to lose, too. You can't stop worrying. But you also can't stop following the events that are terrifying you.
If this is you, help is available. It's time for a pharmaceutical intervention. Thankfully, several new mood-stabilizing drugs have been developed for this particular condition, Election Anxiety Disorder.
A note: I'm going on vacation next week. An able-penned Crosscut writer will cover the Sausage Links while I'm gone.
