In 2009 the federal Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), better known as “Cash for Clunkers,” provided cash rebates of up to $4500 to owners of qualifying cars and trucks who traded them in on energy-efficient new vehicles. This year Democrats in the state senate want Washington taxpayers to return the favor by paying sales tax on the value of vehicle trade-ins. Call it “Cash from Clunkers.”
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Category Archives: Government
Cash from Clunkers
Posted in Cars, Government
Padding the State Utility Tax
By law the Washington state utility tax rate on Cascade Natural Gas accounts is supposed to be 3.852 percent. After looking over my most recent bill, by my calculation the state is collecting more tax than it should. Although collecting extra tax helps offset our current $2.6 billion budget shortfall, you would still think that the Department of Revenue would double-check every revenue source for accuracy. But if they do, they don’t figure percent the way I was taught.
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Posted in Government
Why Write About the Belfair Bypass?
There’s an excellent letter in yesterday’s Kitsap Sun by first-term state representative Fred Finn (D-35th District) in which he urges that the Belfair Bypass be taken off the shelf (link at end of post). The idea of a bypass has been around since the 1980’s, and currently there is almost no local opposition. Nor is there much disagreement on when we need it: now. Yet budget woes have delayed the project until at least 2019. In the interim, it has little chance of competing successfully for funds against the state’s mega transportation projects. So I was curious why Rep. Finn wrote the letter. To find out why, I asked him.
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Blue Mailboxes
How many locations are there for blue mailboxes in your zip code? Officially known as USPS collection stations, these sturdy steel containers, bolted to the sidewalk, do yeoman duty collecting mail and seemingly used to be everywhere. There’s a link at the end of this post to a web site that will tell you how many are near you. Before you click it, take a guess. Hint: The number is probably less than you think.
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I’m So Busted
I ran the traffic signal at Wheaton and Sylvan Ways in Bremerton the evening of August 31—more than a week ago. Yesterday the “Notice of Traffic Infraction” arrived in the mail, complete with inculpatory photos and instructions on how to pay (or fight) the $124 fine. In this day of instant communication like email and 24/7 cable news, it now takes longer to actually get a red-light ticket than when the officer used to hand it to you on the spot. The rest of the process is impressive in its moneymaking efficiency, although the amount of the fine and who shares in the cash raise some questions.
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Posted in Government
No Painting Congressman Dicks into a Corner on Health Care
Last month I criticized Congressman Norm Dicks for not holding a town hall meeting on health care. Since then the congressman has changed his mind, and I applaud him for facing his constituents, although I think he was uncomfortable and not well prepared. But try as they might, attendees in the noisy crowd couldn’t paint the bulldog Dicks into a corner on any of HR 3200’s controversial sections.
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Posted in Current Events, Government
Congressman Dicks’s Rationale
Last week I blogged that none of my congressional representatives replied when I asked if they would be holding a town hall meeting this month on health care. Since then I have heard from my congressman, Norm Dicks (D-Wash.). I will let you decide if his rationale for taking a pass is pure genius or just a clever dodge. Either way, the congressman didn’t say whether he would hold a town hall meeting when the House does have a complete bill.
“Thus far legislative proposals have been developed by key House and Senate Committees yet no complete version has been presented to the full membership of either house for a vote. I had hoped to be able to meet with constituents at home during the month August to explain the House version of a reform bill and to seek input from 6th District constituents, but the reform package has yet to be completed. In lieu of a specific legislative proposal, I wanted to take this opportunity to re-state my priorities in this important legislative effort…”
Posted in Government
Redress Not Address
I thought it was a typo. Hard to believe there would be one in an email sent to thousands of Alaska Airlines Insider subscribers. There wasn’t. They didn’t mean address, although address would have made some sense given the context. They actually meant redress, one of my favorite words in the Bill of Rights, which, among other things, gives us the right to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
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Posted in Government, Travel
No Town Halls Near Here
You cannot turn on talk show radio these days without hearing endless and repetitive opinions about the congressional town hall meetings on health care. Conservative hosts are framing the issue as one in which some members of Congress are refusing to listen to the public before passing a bill that literally affects life and death for all Americans. Liberal hosts point out that the status quo is unacceptable, a lot of misinformation is being spread, and the current bills need some work but are the best approach to comprehensive health-care reform. To get some first-hand information on these opposing views, I contacted my congressional representatives about attending a local town hall meeting.
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Posted in Current Events, Government
That Was Fast
Good Old Government Cash
According to several news reports, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), better known as “cash for clunkers,” was suspended yesterday, a casualty of its overwhelming popularity. Apparently bean counters need to verify whether the billion-dollar pot of government largesse is already empty. Meanwhile Congress is scrambling to add additional money to keep this stimulus vehicle running. It was obvious that anyone who wanted to participate shouldn’t delay too long because the program, as initially funded, was bound to run out of money well before its expiration period. But one week? The above photo of the reader board at Parr Ford, a Bremerton new-car dealer, helps explain what prompted some local residents to jump onboard.
Posted in Cars, Current Events, Government
