MaxRedline

How Green Is Thy Rail?

In an amazing test of Green vs. Green , Bellevue hopes to run a light-rail line smack through the middle of Lake Washington's largest remnant wetland.  The council last week asked Sound Transit to study an East Link light-rail route that would cut through 320-acre Mercer Slough Nature Park. Supporters say the route would be less disruptive than runnning the line alongside homes and businesses.

It's cool to be Green - as long as it isn't too disruptive to the folks who claim to want light rail.  Better to disrupt the lives of the non-voting slough inhabitants.

Increasingly Considered

In Vermont, it's out in the open.  They're talking secession, and seriously.  It won't go anywhere, largely because one of the leaders is a former Duke Economics professor - and as we all know, Duke sucks.  If not for that, they might have had a shot. 

"It's an abusive relationship we have with the central government," says Peter Garritano, a square-jawed 54-year-old Subaru sales manager who is running for lieutenant governor. "We know it's scary to leave the abusive nest. It's a comfort zone in its own way. But we think we'll do better leaving."

Actually, they have the resources to pull it off, and good reason to do so: they only get 75 cents back for every dollar that they pay to the feds; many think they could do better by holding onto their cash and investing in the Republic of Vermont, even if that means substantially restructuring the currency system and infrastructure investments.  Can they actually follow through?  There are two answers to that question:  "No".  And "Hell, No".

But they don't need to push; just by raising the issue, they're making it abundantly clear that they don't want to be dragged down the path that Dems are currently marking.

We're Hiring!

Uncle Sam will hire 600,000 people over the next four years.

Is Portland’s creativity and arts excellence a fundamental part of why you love living here? Do you have what it takes to make a significant impact on cultural public policy in our region for decades to come? Then, come join our team! 

We’re hiring an Arts and Culture Policy Coordinator. The Coordinator will report to the Arts and Culture Director and will be primarily responsible for the team’s communications, constituent relationships, and administrative needs in support of the policies and initiatives that promote the full integration of arts and culture into the lives of Portlanders.

Isn't it nice to know that your taxes are providing such fulfilling (and well-compensated) government jobs? Arts and culture policy coordinators perform the important task of promoting the general Welfare, which is right there in the Constitution. 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Myth

Loved this little piece from a talented musician!

Stray Cats And Dogs

BO, talking to House Republicans:

If you look at the package that we've presented -- and there's some stray cats and dogs that got in there that we were eliminating, we were in the process of eliminating. For example, we said from the start that it was going to be important for us to be consistent in saying to people if you can have your -- if you want to keep the health insurance you got, you can keep it, that you're not going to have anybody getting in between you and your doctor in your decision making. And I think that some of the provisions that got snuck in might have violated that pledge.

Well, now.  Just who might have "snuck" those provisions in?

The primary issue with health insurance - and the only plausible argument for federal intervention - is that states have imposed a variety of mandates upon health insurance providers.  The continuing upward spiral in health insurance rates is directly attributable to the continued meddling by state politicians in what should be free-market enterprise - yet this is precisely what Obamacare would impose at a federal level.

We don't need more political mandates; we need fewer.  Health insurance could, and would, be affordable if politicians simply quit their constant meddling.  The problem lies not with the health insurance industry, but with the politicians who keep mandating coverage that a lot of people just don't need.

Doing The Thinking, So You Don't Have To

Here's a classic example, "reported" by Mallory Simon for CNN:

(CNN) -- Police have identified human remains found buried under recently added concrete at a home in Plant City, Florida, as missing lottery millionaire Abraham Shakespeare, police said Friday.

So far, so good.  But then he gets stupid.

Both Judd and Gee would not comment on whether anything else was found inside the man-made grave or whether a previous person of interest was connected to the area.

Okay.  A "man-made grave".  Exsqueeze me, but aren't all graves "man-made"?  Simon's not done yet, though - his "report" closes with some tantalizing tidbits that nobody could ever have figured out without his incisive reportage:

"It's painfully obvious he didn't get there by himself," Judd said.

"Somebody put that body in that hole," Gee said. "This isn't by any means just where we find someone on the side of the road. Somebody has obviously put him there."

Really?

It's not news - it's CNN.

Small wonder that people who get their "news" from places like this believe in "man-made global warming".

Daley To Oregon: Thanks! We'll Take Those Jobs!

The results haven't even been certified yet, but the mayor of Chicago's wasting no time. 

“What happened in Oregon is not good news for Oregon. They believe that anybody who makes $125,000 or more [annually] or businesses or anyone who makes $250,000 — they’re gonna start taxing them. They call them ‘rich people,’ ” the mayor said. 

Daley said Oregon’s tax blunder spells opportunity for Chicago.

“It will help our economic development immediately. You’d better believe it. We’ll be out in Oregon enticing corporations to relocate to Chicago. I’ll be very frank. I make no bones about that. If those states want to do that, so be it,” he said.

The Chicago mayor gets it, unlike so-called "progressives" here in Oregon.  The Portland Business Journal picked up the Sun-Times article and ran with it, claiming that Daley intends to "poach" Oregon businesses.  That's just silly.  The Chicago mayor recognizes opportunity, and he goes after it.  That's why Boeing relocated its headquarters from Seattle-Everett to Chicago. 

And Portland handed the mayor some prime, low-hanging fruit.

As Coyote, over at NW Republican noted: This sure did not take long.  To which over-ripe fruit Jack Roberts tut-tutted that we need to keep things in context.  Anyone who moves from Oregon to Chicago for tax reasons should fire their accountant.  He goes on to claim that because Chicagoland's combined business tax rates are only half a point lower than Oregon's, it would be a dumb idea for any business to move there.  This only serves to demonstrate that Jack is a podunk politician who could never stand against someone like Daley.  Roberts goes on to crack that if Daley is anything like his father was, companies would pay more in graft than they would by staying in Oregon.

Jack, let me fill you in, as I lived in Illinois for a number of years and you haven't:  Politicians there may play the you scratch my back; I'll scratch yours game - but a mayor who serially raped a 14-year-old girl would find himself not in the governor's office, but at the bottom of Lake Michigan.  Ditto for a mayor who groomed a 17-year-old boy for sex.

How long did your pals play along with Goldschmidt?

Before you go poking at Illinois politicians, Jack - take a good cold look at the cesspool in which you've been paddling around for the past few decades.

iTheft

With all the hoopla over Apple's release of their iPad, and with all the speculation about it being a Kindle-killer, you'd think that their outright theft of the reader user interface might have garnered a bit of play in the major media.  Of course, you'd think wrong.

Wil Shipley, the maker of the popular Delicious Library applicationnotes, accurately, that Apple has stolen his UI for their iBooks app.

They didn't contact him, nor did they cut him a check.  They just stole his company's intellectual property, figuring that if anybody noticed, they could simply portray the similarities between the interfaces as some sort of cosmic coincidence.  It's kind of hard to make that fly, in light of the fact that they hired several of the folks from Shipley's staff to work on the iPad application.

‘If we don’t get the message, we’re [f**ked],”

What Titus recalled saying at a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and freshman Democrats following the Republican victory in Massachusetts, went more like this:

“I said, ‘If we don’t get the message, we’re [f**ked],” Titus said Wednesday. “I said, ‘That’s everybody. Half of us in this room could be gone. You could lose the majority. Harry Reid could lose. The president may not get a second term unless we get a handle on this.’ That’s what I said.”

That was what Nevada Rep. Dina Titus said, and it's clear that while Obama may not quite get it, she does.

Obama, he big man, take some blame for no talk easy to people.  He have plan, people no get.  He need talk slow, use no big word.  Then people get.

Actually, BO has more problems than that: open warfare has broken out among the peace-loving Democratics.  Not quite content with referring to the US Senate as "The House of Lords", Cly has gone a bit further:  House Democrats don't trust Senate Democrats, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said late this week.  Small wonder that BO is looking to Republicans for help in order to accomplish something - anything - that may give his apparently brief term in office some shred of credibility.
 

Oregon's In The News

The Wall Street Journal leads off this little roundup, noting that the recent victory of ballot measures 66 and 67 were bankrolled by big unions:  The cash helped the tax increase roll up a 71% margin in the liberal precincts in and around Portland, even as it lost in most of the rest of the state.

The union message was also as clever as it was disingenuous: All of these taxes will be paid by someone else, such as Wall Street bankers, out-of-state credit card companies, CEOs. Only the richest 2.5% will pay a little more in taxes, the unions also claimed.

The teachers unions exulted yesterday that Oregonians voted to "protect our schools and vital public services." What was really protected was the $83,402 a year average in pay and benefits to Oregon state workers, 30% higher than what private workers receive. This is bankrupting states like Oregon, California, New York and New Jersey. On the other hand, Oregon's folly will be some other state's gain.

They are, of course, absolutely correct: the unions engaged in the rankest of class warfare tactics, claiming that what amounts to a state sales tax wouldn't in any way impact the folks who're barely squeaking by.  That was a lie, but they sold it with impunity.  It has been correctly noted that our former public servants have suddenly become our masters; this is due to the unionization of government.

There was a time when government work offered lower salaries than comparable jobs in the private sector but more security and somewhat better benefits. These days, government workers fare better than private-sector workers in almost every area—pay, benefits, time off, and job security. And not just in California.

According to a 2007 analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Asbury Park Press, “the average federal worker made $59,864 in 2005, compared with the average salary of $40,505 in the private sector.”

And as noted above, in Oregon: What was really protected was the $83,402 a year average in pay and benefits to Oregon state workers, 30% higher than what private workers receive.

Meanwhile, nothing gets done.  The government class today can't even get something as basic as a bridge design pulled together.  Last I heard, something like $100 million has been spent thus far on meetings to consider a new I-5 bridge.  There still is no actual design, because the committees can't agree on what is needed.

Although it would be tempting to remove the impediments quickly and cleanly, that would likely involve the selective application of weaponry - which of course is generally eschewed these days.  As a result, we have to wait.  A new recall effort is underway, targeting Portland's predatory "mayor", and Metro's David Bragdon (one of the child-raping Neil Goldschmidt cronies) is on his way out.  Assuming that "mayor" Sam Adams is removed from office, and assuming that Rex Placeholder is denied the Metro presidency, Portland may actually have a shot at making some headway on the bridge project. 

You may be asking yourself why government has unions, as did I.  But an alert reader noted - correctly, I believe - that unions gain a foothold and subsequent leverage in an environment characterized by incompetent managers.  And in most cases, that accurately describes government.