2005 | EOI View

Our mutual dependence provides biggest tie that binds

12.28.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | On one side are the dependent. On the other are the self-sufficient. By giving a hand up, you are helping people from one side to the other. This is a widely accepted national myth. No matter what our income is, none of us is self-sufficient. What enables each of us to pursue life, liberty and happiness is mutual interdependence. | Read

Use part of state surplus to fund sixth period in high school

12.14.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | This week, Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed a major education initiative for young children. She recognizes that it makes a lot of sense to provide the foundation for learning early in a child’s life. And in the long term, it saves society a lot of money. As important as this new initiative is, it doesn’t do anything for the children who are already in the “pipeline.” | Read

Full-day kindergarten should be priority for Legislature

11.30.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Kindergarten teachers are confronted the first day in school with children who are not prepared to follow a sentence through to its end, who haven’t been read to, and who don’t know their numbers or their ABCs. Today, the state only pays for half-day kindergarten as part of basic education. But half-day kindergarten lasts two hours and 15 minutes – just about enough time to get these kids organized and almost ready to learn. So each day is too close to starting all over again. We could change this, with state funding for full-day kindergarten. It’s not a radical idea. And the results are proven. | Read

We must learn from Grays Harbor's globalization losses

11.16.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Is Weyerhaeuser trading away good jobs that create profits to keep already wealthy shareholders content? That’s what leaders in Grays Harbor are wrestling with and are all stepping up to the plate to keep that pulp mill open. It is profitable. Even if Weyerhaeuser abandons it, there may be a way to keep it going, keep those jobs and keep that investment in the community. | Read

Let's loosen voting restrictions so everyone has a choice

11.2.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Why don’t people vote? A survey by the Census Bureau found that of the people who were registered to vote but did not vote, 15 percent were sick, four percent had no transportation, more than 20 percent had no time off or were too busy, and more than 30 percent weren’t interested or disliked the candidates. | Read

Washington voters know how to take care of their own

10.19.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | One of the best ways to eradicate poverty is to increase the minimum wage, that is, pay people a little more. That’s the conclusion that Washington voters arrived at seven years ago, when they overwhelmingly passed the minimum wage initiative by a 2-to-1 margin. For the first time in our country, the minimum wage was tied to inflation. So on Jan. 1, when the minimum wage will be $7.63 an hour, Washington citizens can take pride in the fact that we have the best minimum wage in the country. | Read

New state gas tax not to blame for high gas prices

09.21.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Each county gets money to work on transportation infrastructure, safety and mobility projects. To do this, the gas tax will rise 3 cents per gallon next year, 2 cents in 2007 and 1.5 cents in 2008. With this year’s tax contribution in place, the gas tax is 25 percent less than what we paid in the 1960s. In fact, the tax collected per vehicle mile dropped more than 10 percent between 1980 and 2004. Let’s not confuse the cost of gas with the gas tax. | Read

Schools need big investment of money, not rhetoric

09.07.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | The Legislature needs to do more than just reinstate initiatives 728 and 732. One quality education model details the need for almost $2 billion more in funding for K-12 education if we are to open up doors for the vast majority of our children. We can’t be content with a slim majority of achievers. Public education that creates opportunity for all is the foundation of a robust democracy. | Read

Health care, hospitality jobs can't sustain state economy

08.28.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Recent news reports would have us believe that organized labor is disorganizing and that employment trends are up in our state. But digging beneath the headlines reveals a far more positive story for union workers and a far more complex story for overall employment. | Read

Old reliable Social Security buoys struggling Americans

08.10.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Social Security remains the most financially robust government program we have. No other program can claim a growing stream of financing for the next 70 years. It is embattled today only because the marauders are at its gate, threatening to tear down the program. | Read

Pedaling toward Portland, bikers take road to better health

07.13.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | The great thing about this ride is that it wasn’t just a bunch of jocks racing each other. There were thousands of ordinary people of all ages, shapes and sizes who got on their bikes and made the journey to Portland. | Read

Educational improvements, investment must continue

06.29.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Our place in the world will rest on brainpower. If we want to compete, we have to give our children the skills to compete. Our democracy is based on an informed and thinking citizenry. If we want to renew our democracy, we must educate our kids in the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic and critical thinking. Our children – all of them – deserve the opportunity to learn and succeed. If we want to give them this chance, we have to invest in them now. | Read

Redistricting plan would improve primary election system

06.15.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Last month, the Republican Party filed suit to overturn the Top Two primary. The Democrats are supporting the Republicans’ suit. It makes you wonder, what do these two enemies hold so dear that brings them together? | Read

Can-do attitude could help us solve health care troubles

06.01.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | When you have a big and growing problem, the solution demands changes in business-as-usual. The incentive is to avoid these changes and to just make do. So we replace “can do” in policy formation and social progress with “make do” in just getting by. | Read

Legislature has a long way to go before scoring touchdown

05.18.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | The work of the recently concluded legislative session has been applauded as a big step forward for policies generally favorable for the people. The Legislature renewed programs that had been placed on the back burner during years of political stalemate and economic stagnation. But many of the “victories” only prevented further steps backward. | Read

Don't look to Wal-Mart for health-coverage answers

05.04.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Wal-Mart employees and their dependents end up looking to the state for health coverage. Wal-Mart encourages its employees to sign up for the Basic Health Plan, so the public subsidizes Wal-Mart’s employees’ health care, and Wal-Mart’s profits. Wal-Mart has figured out how to outsource its benefits to other employers, the government and the taxpayer. | Read

Initiative 601 restrictions, levy requirements mock majority rule

04.20.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | The minority-rule restrictions of I-601 mirror the requirements for school levies that allow a small minority to override the will of the people. In these elections, 59 percent of the vote isn’t enough. An even larger majority can be nullified if the vote totals don’t exceed 40 percent of the turnout from the preceding November. This enables a small minority to veto support for the public schools by voting “no” or not even showing up to vote. | Read

Estate tax opponents enjoy public benefits but want free ride

04.06.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Estate taxes are not taxes on people. They are taxes on a transfer of property from the deceased. Proponents of the estate tax realize that in our country, we are expected to earn our living, not have it handed to us. Opponents, those who have already enjoyed the privileges of wealth as the children of the wealthy, want a free ride. | Read

To retain control, Democrats must respect voters' values

03.23.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | The solution for retaining the trust of the voters is not to do as little as possible, but to move our state forward, to wield power for the greatest good. Legislators need to step up to the problems that we all face. | Read