Is it too late to ask President Trump for a birthday present given that tomorrow marks the nation’s 250th? It might be if I was hoping for a gift I can unwrap. But I don’t want anything material. Instead, my request is for an intangible present—behavioral changes in the form of things the president could stop doing.
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I signed up on the Let’s Go Washington website as a volunteer to help IP26-645 (see screen capture) get on the ballot in November. IP26-645 is an initiative to the people that would repeal the 9.9 percent tax that was passed by the legislature in March and is to be levied on incomes above $1 million starting in 2028. Although the sample of people I talked while collecting signatures is unscientific, that doesn’t keep me from having some observations about the process.
Continue readingPosted in Current Events, Government, Mud Bay & Rocky Point, Treasure Island
Tagged "Millionaires" tax, IP26-645
Condemnation of Caesar Chavez (1927 – 1993) has been swift and universal following the news this week that he sexually abused girls and young women during the 1960’s and 1970’s. States, organizations, and political leaders are participating in the backlash by removing (or calling for the removal of) his name from places and events that publicly honor him. His family has issued a statement that wishes for peace and healing for the survivors. The one thing no one can do though is to cover up, rename, or paper over the fact that Chavez was publicly honored on a USPS stamp (see screen capture).
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You can tell I’m bored when I’m writing about whether to open a piece of junk mail (see screen capture) that arrived a week ago. The USPS uses a more professional term — marketing mail — and that’s likely what it is. But are there enough outward clues to decide whether it is worth opening?
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Last week Washington state Democrats introduced companion bills in the Senate (see screen capture) and House that propose to tax high earners. Dubbed the “millionaires” tax, the legislation imposes a 9.9 percent tax on annual earnings above $1 million. Although “millionaires” tax is a catchy term, it won’t apply for long, not because the tax will be overturned by a voter or legal challenge, but because of some fine print in the bills.
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Last week the school levy ballot and the Bremerton School District’s justification for passing it (see photo) arrived in the mail. It’s not the increase in property taxes I’m objecting to as I will be voting “yes.” Rather, having lived in Bremerton since the 1970’s, I have seen this movie before many times and I’m bored with it.
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While riding my bike on January 16th I collided with the mailbox cluster shown in the photo. The result was a serious hip injury. A week later I’m still using a walker to get around. Yesterday, I reported this safety hazard to the City of Bremerton. It will be interesting to see if anything comes from my request.
Continue readingPosted in Biking, Government
I live on Mud Bay. My old pickup truck has advertised my place of residence via a personalized license plate for almost two decades. However, it was only about two years ago that I was able to swap it for a license plate that spells Mud Bay correctly (see photo). That meant dealing with the Washington state Department of Licensing, never an easy task.
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Like many (mostly older?) Americans I’m bummed that penny production ended this month. Just because pennies cost several times their value to make doesn’t mean the United States should stop minting them. Lost in the coverage of this issue in both mainstream and social media is what Victor D. Brenner, the Lincoln wheat penny designer, might say if he were still around.
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The cost of Washington’s annual Discover Pass (see screen capture) went up from $30 to $45 on October 1. The price of a daily pass stayed the same. While this is the first increase since the annual pass debuted in 2011, not surprisingly the 50 percent hike affected sales, at least in the first month. This post has a few thoughts on the increase and Discover Passes in general.
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