Gary Crooks

Whoppers of Campaign 2010

The Oct. 25 Thread

In the midst of one of their playful pop tunes, They Might Be Giants drops in this line: “I don’t want the world. I just want your half.” I can’t think of a better slogan for the political polarization plaguing practical policy. It deftly describes the attitude of the two major parties in Congress when it comes to writing sustainable budgets. Compromise? Are you kidding? And get branded a RINO or DINO (Republican/Democrat in Name Only)?

The Oct. 18 thread

Campaign ads

Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibibi recently reported on a tea party rally in Kentucky and noticed a lot of medical hardware, including portable oxygen tanks and scooters: “As Palin launches into her Ronald Reagan impression – ‘Government’s not the solution! Government’s the problem!’ – the person sitting next to me leans over and explains. ‘The scooters are because of Medicare,’ he whispers helpfully. They have these commercials down here: ‘You won’t even have to pay for your scooter! Medicare will pay!’ Practically everyone in Kentucky has one.”

Economy and deficit

The Oct. 11 Thread

Elections are funny, if you don’t think about the ramifications. It’s like that song from “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”: “Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight.”

Science and politics meet again

The Oct. 4 thread

Religion Test

A couple of recent polls reflect the general feeling that people who support health care reform kinda like it, while opponents really, really hate it. The intensity gap is fueled by the fact that many people are plainly mistaken about the law. An extensive Associated Press survey found that 21 percent of respondents don’t know that young adults can now be added to their parents’ coverage; 39 percent aren’t aware that reform has lifted the caps on how much insurers must pay for health care over a person’s lifetime; 20 percent still think insurance companies will be able to rescind coverage even if premiums are paid for and customers have followed the rules; 39 percent believe the law creates committees that will pore over people’s medical records to determine whether government pays for their care; and 65 percent believe that the Congressional Budget Office has determined that the law will probably increase the government’s debt.

The Sept. 27 Thread

Listening to politicians talk about the nation’s deficit is like planning an ascent of Mount Everest without checking to see how high it is. A chief difference is that Mount Deficit continues to grow as you climb it. If you dally or get diverted, the top gets farther away. Apparently, politicians in the midst of campaigns are too busy to check the altitude or to plot a course to the top. Oh, they’ll put various paths “on the table” to “take a look at” … once the election is over. However, if you’re like me, you’d like to see an actual route before climbing it. So I headed off to a veteran budget sherpa to learn just how challenging this will be.

Great Depression in color

Reinstate Maj. Witt, judge says

The Sept. 20 thread

The ballot is brimming with initiatives that will directly affect Washington state’s budget, so let’s say the anti-tax arguments carry the day. What will this mean for lawmakers the next time they convene? The latest projection is that lawmakers are facing a $4.5 billion budget hole, which is much deeper than the $3 billion abyss they were already staring down. Gov. Chris Gregoire’s across-the-board cuts are needed to close an immediate $520 million budget hole. Some of the biggest reductions, according to preliminary estimates, will be at the Department of Social and Health Services, which will cut $280.3 million from programs for the state’s most vulnerable citizens; higher education will cut $84.6 million; the Department of Corrections, $52.7 million; and public schools, $36.4 million (largely in reduced levy equalization funds).

The Sept. 13 Thread

In this up-is-down world of politics, it would appear that Sarah Palin and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer have sipped from the same formula for success. Be authentic, even if you have to fake it. How do they do that? By getting tongue-tied, mangling the facts and making stuff up! This makes them just like family and friends, who are precisely the people you want leading the country.

The Sept. 7 thread

I don’t have to woo voters, so this is easy for me to say: Free parking is bad for the country. We’re used to hearing about America’s heavy reliance on oil and the problems that flow from that, but most of the time cars aren’t moving. And most of that parking is free, or so it seems. In reality, the expectations of plentiful parking and relatively cheap gas prices have incurred tremendous costs. These twin forces made it affordable for us to spread out, which in turn will make it expensive to enact solutions.

Prosecutor's race