Editorial

The design, debate and formation of health care reform haven’t been as open as candidate Barack Obama envisioned. The New York Times notes that in 2007 Obama criticized the Clintons for constructing their reform “in isolation from the American people.” By contrast, he said, “We will work on this process publicly. It will be on C-SPAN. It will be streaming over the Net.”

Washington state’s industrial insurance program is notoriously unconventional. This is one of only four states where private insurance carriers can’t compete for workers’ compensation business. Only in Washington is the rate charged to employers for such coverage based on the hours their employees work rather than wages paid. And only in Washington do employees pay part of the cost.

The sales tax deduction that Washingtonians have come to expect on their federal returns expires with the 2009 tax year, but Congress can still adopt a one-year extension that can be applied to the current year retroactively. This is the likelier, albeit messier, outcome. What would be better is a permanent solution, so that the seven states without an income tax can be treated fairly without waging an annual battle. The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a host of “tax extenders,” including the sales tax deduction, in early December. But the U.S. Senate, with health care and other issues at the forefront, didn’t get around to scheduling a vote.

Contrary to what you’ll hear out of Olympia, fixing Washington state’s budget problems will be easy. There are thousands of easy ways to do it and no shortage of Washingtonians eager to explain them. Slash this program, raise that tax. Repeal these regulations, eliminate those exemptions. Do this, do that. No sweat.

So after billions of dollars in security upgrades and the formation of the Homeland Security Department and the Transportation Security Administration, a man emitting multiple telltale terrorism signs has to be thwarted by passengers on a Christmas Day flight. And after some rhetorical strangeness, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano acknowledges that the system did not work. But is that due to flaws in the system or flaws in the administration of the system?

Several Western Washington lawmakers have made it a goal of the 2010 legislative session to prevent certain criminal suspects from being released while they await trial. The lawmakers’ determination is easy to grasp. Four Lakewood police officers might be alive today if their alleged killer, Maurice Clemmons, had not been able to post bail after his arrest on a child rape charge.

Gov. Chris Gregoire posed a chilling question Tuesday after two more of the state’s law enforcement officers were shot in the line of duty. “How much more of this can we take?”

The Spokane City Council’s vote on Monday to ban stand-alone surface parking lots in the core of the city was understandable, under the circumstances. But with a major parking study coming up in 2010, it shouldn’t be considered the final word. Even when mitigated with strips of grass and a smattering of trees, surface parking lots are aesthetic dead zones in the urban landscape and the fewer the better. It’s not surprising, therefore, that the Spokane Plan Commission would recommend the ban as part of an updated Downtown Plan and the council approve.

It’s no surprise that the city of Spokane’s youth department finds itself in the budget-cutting cross hairs during economic bad times. Small agencies with specific constituencies are often targeted as expendable when costs have to be cut. Still, City Council member Bob Apple’s recent remarks do grab one’s attention for their harshness and shortsightedness.

It’s good to hear that Morris “Mel” Goldberg has rehabilitated himself. That’s considerable progress since nine years ago, when he said he wouldn’t hesitate to participate in the killing of his late son-in-law if he had it to do over. Rehabilitated or not, Goldberg needs to stay behind bars for the full 26-plus years of the reduced sentence he received following a successful appeal.

Previous editorials have examined the payroll impact on local and state budgets, but what about the federal government? It’s even worse. But because the feds don’t have to produce annual balanced budgets, the problem is easier to disguise. Mayors and governors have to face the issue head-on. Presidents and members of Congress do not, because they can lift the debt ceiling and put employees’ raises on the national credit card. USA Today recently examined federal pay and benefits against the backdrop of the recession and general economic decline. While 7.3 million jobs were lost in the private sector from December 2007 to June 2009, federal pay raises and hiring have increased. Some findings:

Let’s say you are a public official about to cast a vote on a public issue in a private setting. Do you: A) Vote.

For the second straight year, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has recommended eclipsing the Sunshine Committee as part of an overall effort to close the budget gap. The committee was formed a mere two years ago to study and make recommendations on the more than 300 exemptions that the state Legislature has adopted since voters overwhelmingly approved the Public Records Act in 1972. Last week, Gregoire eliminated 17 boards and commissions under her supervision and recommended that lawmakers zap 78 more and consolidate some agencies. Cost-cutting is essential, but Sunshine Committee spending is hardly a budget buster – its costs are $22,000 per biennium.

Community activist Cheryl Steele figures half the people who now live in Spokane’s West Central neighborhood would not recognize the names Rebecca West and Nicki Wood. There’s been that much turnover in the residential area since 1991, when the whole city knew about the two girls, ages 12 and 11, who never returned from their candy-buying trip to the store. Nicki’s body was found under a pile of burning pine needles near Riverside State Park. Rebecca has never been found.

What if costs were removed from the health care debate? Everybody is covered and nobody pays more. Insurers and providers get more customers without giving anything in return. That $800 billion to $1 trillion over 10 years? Don’t sweat it. The only suspense would be how quickly reform was adopted.

Coeur d’Alene City Council candidate Jim Brannon faced a deadline this week. Monday was the last day he could call for a cost-free recount in the five-vote squeaker by which Councilman Mike Kennedy survived last month’s general election. Instead of pursuing that familiar solution, though, Brannon chose an alternative response that is becoming an American ritual. He went to court.

A total of four officers had been shot and killed in Pierce County over the past 30 years. That toll doubled Sunday morning when a cold-blooded assassin entered a coffee shop and executed four Lakeland, Wash., police officers. The deaths of Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and Officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Greg Richards, 42, will leave the Lakeland Police Department with permanent scars. But they weren’t just officers. Three fathers and one mother were killed. Nine children are grieving the loss of parents.

In its December edition, Men’s Health magazine rated 100 American cities on their level of charitable giving, and Spokane finished an impressive sixth. Now it’s true that some of these lists can be superficial and are designed to promote the publications as much as the topic. But in this case, we’ll accept the honor, because it squares with the compassion generally on display in the Inland Northwest.

The state of Washington is about to become leaner and meaner. The goal is to avoid being just plain mean. It won’t be easy, because the revenue picture is darkening faster than our winter days. Last Thursday, the state’s chief economist, Arun Raha, released the latest depressing news. The economy is showing signs of life, but this recovery is not only jobless, it’s “revenue-less.” In fact, he had to slash estimated revenues for the next 18 months by $760 million. All told, state leaders will need to cut another $2.6 billion to balance the budget.