Somewhat lost in the immediate partisan examination of Dino Rossi's transportation plan has been the net effect of the news coverage. In general, it has been copious and remarkably fair. For Republicans, that tends to be about as good as it gets in the Puget Sound region.
The Seattle Times gave the story exceptionally prominent placement on front of the local section.
The Everett Herald splashed "Rossi has plan to fix U.S. 2" at the top of its front page with a pretty decent picture too.
The P-I gave prominent attention to Rossi's belief that "Seattle ought to get back their waterfront."
The TNT's coverage was decent and balanced.
Local radio and TV coverage seemed equally abundant and reasonably well balanced, discussing Rossi's plan and noting the critics.
All that crosses two important thresholds:
1) The enduring theme of all the coverage was that Rossi has a transportation plan. Like all such plans in this state and region, it has its critics. But, it comes across as a legitimate attempt to discuss a highly identifiable problem.
Keep in mind that a notable portion of the general populace has reached a default mindset that Republicans don't have a plan on transportation, or other kitchen table issues, other than opposing tax increases. Fair or not, that perception has been a problem for Republicans and they have the legislative minority to prove it.
Thus, simply having a serious, well-publicized plan is an important step forward.
2) The other threshold crossed is that many in the voting public see a demonstrable void in leadership capable of producing transportation solutions at the state and regional level. The current crew of elected officials isn't getting the job done on this issue. The public gets that. Rossi now has to convince them he can credibly fill the void, even though he's one of those knuckle-dragging Republicans. Putting out a serious transportation plan is a start.
Sure, the usual cast of characters have and will object. The anti-sprawl, pro-transit activists. The urban-enviro crowd. And all public officials with a "D" next to their name. Yet, the objections of these denizens of the left-of-center status quo are fundamentally objecting to Rossi's plan because it deviates from that very Democratic establishment thinking.
That garners earnest nods at party meetings and interest group gatherings. But at a certain point, real voters without a serious partisan bone to pick just want their concerns addressed. Rossi's rollout this week was an important step forward in a long process of laying out his case to that demographic, despite the challenging baggage of running in a Democratic state.
Posted by Eric Earling at April 16, 2008 09:38 PM | Email ThisYou mean to say that Dinno Rossi doesn't have a magical money hat he can use to solve all our transportation issues?
I look forward to hearing Mr. Rossi explain how this all would work when McCain cuts off the revenue stream during his gas tax holiday.
Anyone? Anyone? Beuller? Bueller?
Oh, that's right - ignore the problem, hope it goes away... That's some leadership there!
Leadership means taking a position and action that you believe is right based upon your information, even if many of those you are leading do not agree. You sell them on the plan, or at least earn their trust that you'll solve the problem.
Right now, Gregoire's transportation plan is what? About equal to her leadership - nowhere in sight.
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on April 17, 2008 12:21 AMCriticism: Senator Mary Margaret Haugen, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said funding and carrying out such a plan would be difficult. I've never seen it happen in my political career and I?'e been here for 26 years. Vancouver Columbian, 4/16/2008
Rebuttal: This is also the same time frame that Olympia has had one party in the governor's office and exactly why Dino Rossi needs to be governor. Like this transportation plan, he'll bring new ideas to a city that ran out of them years ago.
Criticism: When Dino released his plan to find 2% efficiency in the state's $33 billion budget in order to fund these projects, Christine Gregoire said: In order to make that up, you'd have to take huge cuts or raise taxes. King 5 news, 4/15/08
Rebuttal: Christine Gregoire's 33% increase in spending has the state facing a $2.5 billion deficit next year. What's her plan for "huge cuts or raising taxes" to fill this hole she created?
Criticism: Mark Hallenbeck, director of the Washington state Transportation Center at the University of Washington, said Rossi's numbers are "completely divorced from reality" He lowballs almost all the estimates and never says where all the funds are going to come from. Seattle Times, 4/16/08
Rebuttal: The project costs for Rossi's plan come directly from RTID and WSDOT, and are adjusted to reflect 2007 dollars. The plan is based from numbers that come directly from state government and Sound Transit. If Hallenbeck questions the accuracy of these numbers, he needs to address his issues directly with the government agencies that produced the numbers.
Cato is just upset that it was an R that suggested that and not a D.
Posted by: TrueSoldier on April 17, 2008 01:33 AM
Cato, your mind really isn't engaged, is it?
McCain's recommendation is for FEDERAL TAX ON GAS. Now, how that would impact the STATE revenues on gas that Mr. Rossi is addressing I have no idea. Perhaps you can explain it?
Dude it's not your week is it! LOL
Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on April 17, 2008 07:53 AMIt also means being able to show how to pay for the ideas put forth by your leadership. This is something Mr. Rossi has not done. Until he shoes us the magical money that that he will pay for all of these fabulous items with, I'm going to remain skeptical.
One is to stop adding sales tax to materials purchased by contractors for road construction
So we're going to cut revenue even more to pay for this plan...time to break out the foreign credit card.
McCain's recommendation is for FEDERAL TAX ON GAS. Now, how that would impact the STATE revenues on gas that Mr. Rossi is addressing I have no idea. Perhaps you can explain it?
You are telling me that Mr. Rossi will use NO federal money to fund his pie in the sky transportation initiative? LOL!! Maybe we should ask him to make that a campaign pledge, since it's quite a ridiculous claim.
Hey buddy. I miss "headless" (-:
No dummer remarks have ever been said except the ones from Headless.
Heck even Cato get a few right.
Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on April 17, 2008 09:57 AMI dunno if she needs it. Gregoire is not proposing pipe-dream solutions to the regions transportation problems (at least not yet). She's too busy pandering to the pro-sports crowd.
You're nothing but a Democrat hack
Haha, if I do will you agree that you are nothing but a one sentence Republican troll? =)
Then again, maybe it's not our trolls' fault, perhaps it's the weary, old, divisive, socialist rhetoric they spew.
Rossi is proposing increasing the size of the DOT (how else would he get these projects done), he must be a socialist because no self-respecting Republican would ever increase the size of the Govt.
Slathering, if you want a GOP love fest you can always go hang out with the Freepers. =)
Sure he does. All he has to do is cut about 10% of the 33% increase in state spending that we've had over the past 4 years for Gregoire to pay off all of her friends as the SEIU and other such things and put it toward transportation and other useful things.
And this is even assuming that there was nothing worth cutting in 2004. Which is, of course, dead wrong.
Posted by: Cliff on April 17, 2008 10:56 AMYou want to deny quality health care to low-income children? THINK OF THE CHILDREN!! =P
Even if he cuts 10% off the 33% he's going to need a whole lot more than that to pay for the inflationary costs of the materials needed to build all those roadways.
Meanwhile, people are dying, unnecessarily, because of partisan politics as practiced by the people YOU support.
Future blood spilled on that road is blood on their hands. And your support of that kind of politics, as despicable as it is, earns you the party hack label.
You see, it's not that you just "disagree." It's that you disagree immediately, regardless of the issue, if the person behind the idea has an "R" after their name.
Nothing like, "Well, gee... candidate x has a plan, it's made a splash, we ought to look it over... consider the ideas... maybe stake out common ground." Nope. Just an immediate, moronic condemnation based entirely on the source.
I proffer that as the reason for your condemnation. And of that, you are most assuredly guilty.
Posted by: hinton on April 17, 2008 11:17 AMYou think this is bad? Oy. There is much, much worse trolling on other sites.
Duffman's not that bad. At least he has a sense of humor and still thinks Hillary is the schizzle.
And Cato's certainly not as bad as some I've seen. Annoying at times, yes. But rarely have I seen him spew the irrational hatred I see from the others.
You want to see some nasty stuff? Head over to the P-I's foreign affairs forum some time.
Posted by: jimg on April 17, 2008 11:45 AMWe stop paying TAX dollars to pay a TAX on building materials that goes to the TAX dollars we used to pay the tax with in the first place.
And that is called a cut in Revenue?
I recommend that Economics 101 or an even easier class: Introduction to Basic Economics be mandatory for all Arts degrees.
Libs just seem to have the weakest of grasps when it come to economics and funding all their feel good ideas.
Posted by: Sam Adams on April 17, 2008 12:02 PMNaw, they're not that bad, and you're right, Duffman does have a sense of humor. And you're correct in stating they are not like the profane subhumans you see on some sites. I guess they're just a little too predictable. I'd like to hear something besides Bush-bashing, Democrat Party talking points. Jim Miller has challenged the Dem supporters to tell us why they favor Obama or Hillary. Haven't seen anything yet, have you? I'd like to know why they favor socialism, heavy taxation, gun confiscation, extreme environmentalism, abortion, homosexual marriage and other Dem positions. Some Dems I've talked to are actually, issue by issue, closer to being Republicans than some of the Rinos we have in Olympia.
Posted by: Saltherring on April 17, 2008 12:06 PMWell, here's how I see it - especially since the dawn of the political Internet forums and blogs coming during the time the GOP is/was in charge - they don't think they support those things by supporting Democrats.
Most - not all, but most - are knee-jerk, reflex, anti-anything Republican. Tomorrow, this site could start posting things directly in support of the D platform - label it Republican - and you would find them opposing it. If Bush came out and said the sky was blue, they would say it's green because the sun is yellow and yellow and blue make green. Besides, it would be a better shade of blue/green if we would just do something about global warming. Or global cooling. Or the ozone. Or ...
Anyways, aside from the true leftist power-grabbers like Ivan, most people ARE conservative in philosophy. They don't like higher taxes. They would like more accountability from government, to be able to can K-12 deadwood, to preserve the institution of marriage between a man and a women, less money spent on welfare and end affirmative action.
Some Dems I've talked to are actually, issue by issue, closer to being Republicans than some of the Rinos we have in Olympia.
Precisely. A friend of mine has a relative who comes from the FDR era. I can list 100 items and ask where he stands on the issues. And without fail, he'll side with the GOP on 95 of them.
And who does he vote for? Every time? Without question?
Democrats.
Regarding the RINOs in Olympia? Well, as soon as they stop trying to out-Democrat the Democrats on giving everybody what they want, they'll find themselves with a larger seat at the table. Or at least at the table.
This state isn't as blue as some make it out to be. Fairly recent history - the last 15 years or so - proves that.
Posted by: jimg on April 17, 2008 12:34 PMIt sounds like you should be blaming your GOP legislators for not standing up for Hwy 2's denial of funds travesty. Vote the bums out!!
Future blood spilled on that road is blood on their hands.
How many people died on this so called deathtrap highway? 8-10 people a year? Heck, why don't we make drunken driving a felony, it would save many more lives and money. You know this argument sounds a lot like you are using the loss of innocent human lives for political gain. Shame on you!
Nope. Just an immediate, moronic condemnation based entirely on the source.
I'm happy to find common ground, I just think it's an unfunded pipe dream that Mr. Rossi has proposed. I mean seriously, digging a tunnel along the waterfront is a huge expense. Tunnels ALWAYS come in late and over budget.
Let us not forget that the tunnel idea was the least popular of the three options presented to the Seattle voters. Nice to see Dino respecting the wishes of the voters.
You are a misinformed clown. Want revenues for these projects? Here are some:
- tolls on 520 bridge
- eliminate sales tax on transportation projects (a no brainer the democrats are against!)
- Divert 40% of all new and used car sales to roads
- Divert half of Sound Transit's Eastside subarea money to fund 405
We have the money, we just are not allocating it correctly.
You're ruining all my fun Palouse. =)
Besides Dino's not wearing a lapel pin in the PDF file photo. How can I trust a man without a US Flag lapel pin has my best interests at heart and truly loves America?
Reasonable tolls on the S.R. 520 bridge will be charged as a way to help fund the new replacement bridge. Tolls may be necessary to help pay for new infrastructure, but should not
be used on existing roads and bridges.
Rossi's proposing tolls, nice. It's not really a tax if it's a toll. Those darn elitist 520 drivers can afford it with their $3 latte's and their overpriced Whole Foods arugula!!
If this ever gets passed watch I-90 become the new 520! Better expand 148th to a 10 lane road for all the traffic it's going to be getting from the skinflint MS folks.
How about we put tolls on Hwy 2? Could slow the death rate quite significantly and pay for the necessary improvements.
Check out my discussion with Kaelin and Timmy from Southpark yesterday. I also proposed the streamlining of "environmental" reviews.
Posted by: AP on April 17, 2008 02:15 PMI know, darn MS....spending millions of dollars a year on their own buses, carpools and other incentives to help their employees get to work.... they don't care about anything.
Posted by: Pops on April 17, 2008 02:41 PMYeah, cutting corners during the building of transportation projects is the obvious solution. They way you save a ton of money and no one has to worry about something bad happening when everyone is looking the other way.
Maybe we should start calling streamlined reviews "Enron reviews", it's a much more fitting name for the proposal than the one you have.
How about running performance audits on all departments of the state government in order to eliminate redundancy and increase efficiency? That alone would provide a huge increase in available revenue just by eliminating wasteful spending. Or do you honestly believe that the government is run efficiently?
Posted by: Ken on April 17, 2008 03:24 PMI'm for that, to bad it's completely different from what AP is proposing. Good try though.
Regarding tolls, I'm for them. I actually don't have a problem with the level of tolls being proposed recently, even though they never committed to an amount (because that would actually be doing something, can't have that).
If it's good for the people paying the Narrows toll, it should be good for the people paying the 520 toll. And I don't see why the toll amount shouldn't be comparable. Rossi might be trying to sell a lower toll in order to get votes there. ;)
Posted by: Palouse on April 17, 2008 04:04 PMWhat's your option if you don't want to pay the toll on the Narrows? You have to take a ferry across or drive even farther around the bottom of Puget Sound. There is not a FREE alternate bridge you can cross 5 miles to the south like there is for 520.
Like I said earlier:
Better expand 148th to a 10 lane road for all the traffic it's going to be getting from the skinflint Microsoft folks.
Go ahead Sound Transit, throw another 50 or 100 Billion dollar attempt in this November's election, and it will not only fail massively, it will also help re-elect Dino Rossi, and we will surely get some control back to the massive massive spending sprees that these Democraps and the DOT are on which get nothing at all built except their pocketbooks!
Bring it forth in November Sound Transit, I DARE YOU!
Posted by: GS on April 17, 2008 05:19 PMUh huh. So if in the future a Hare only finishes half a race he's already accomplished more than the Tortoise who is at the starting line (with the Hare) because the race hasn't started yet.
That's some mighty fine logic you got there.
You could start competative bidding for everything including schools, that do not just include your overpriced Union Hacks sitting on their ass half the time.
You could cut 100% of the new social spending on illegals etc etc etc etc
You could cut travel by 80%
Yuo could quit offering massive pensions and move to a simple 401 K plan like the rest of the large businesses in this area have moved to.
Just for starters!
http://www.dinorossi.com/downloads/Rossi_transportation_plan.pdf
WOW!!! That's fantastic!
Dino should print one of those up and have them delivered to every swing voter near every one of those projects. That's much more bold and specific then just about any proposal for such things that I've ever seen! It's really impressive.
Posted by: Cliff on April 17, 2008 07:19 PMsaid funding and carrying out such a plan would be difficult. I've never seen it happen in my political career and I've been here for 26 years. Vancouver Columbian, 4/16/2008
This statement shows where most the problems are in government in general. After 26 years she admits to not being able to accomplish anything on the transportation front; yet she is the chair of the committee. So not only is Gov. Gregoire the problem, but so it appears and members of the Legislature that have done nothing in 26 years.
Why should I? It's not my job to defend the Governor or buy into your lame partisan attack that Rossi is somehow going to pull out his magic money hat and solve all the regions transit problems. It's a jok, if he really cared about the regions transit problem he could have easily made a lot more noise about it during his long vacation from State politics. Where was this proposal two years ago? It's an election year pet project like McCain's federal gas tax holiday.
If Gregiore had tried to fix the viaduct you would be criticizing her for something else.
Your greatest fear appears to be that people are paying attention to the fact that Gregoire has done nothing.
Traffic sucks everywhere in the world where large numbers of people live in big cities. Been to LA? They have freeways going everywhere and still have traffic jams at all hours of the day.
Besides, something is obviously something is being done about 520 (arguably a bigger problem than AWV & Hwy 2), because Rossi's own election year literature cites how he differs from it.