I thank the honorable Mr. Tom for not allowing King County to hold car drivers hostage for a bloated and poorly administered transit system. Pay $5 a ride on the Metro and collect ALL fares.

Goldy, you bloated and pus-filled bitch, how many whinefests are you going to write about this? So you didn't get your way. Well, that's what happens when you act like you're the only game in town.

This assessment of the budget that passed is completely off the mark. Don't get me wrong, I understand that Mr. Goldstein is just a little bias. So all the criticism for Mr. Tom, fine.

But where is the balance of criticism for Gov. Inslee and his call for a 10.5 cent increase in gas tax? Wasn't that the ONE damn this he was consistent with during his campaign last fall? I'm not arguing against funding Metro, I'm saying that everyone seems to ignore the fact that this governor is the most untrustworthy politician out of a crowd of relatively untrustworthy people.

@5, the Stranger is fine with lies as long as they are their lies.

The truth hurts, guys, doesn't it?

Poor, poor Goldy. Didn't get his basketball team. Waaaaah! Didn't get his arena. Waaaaah! Didn't get his hockey team. Waaaaaah! Didn't get his tax increases. Waaaaaah! His mayor is going to be defeated. Waaaaaah! The bus agency is going to have to tighten its belt. Waaaaaah! That mean Rodney Tom. Waaaaaah!

just throw away $850,000,000 of our hard earned tax dollars that we could have gotten back from the federal government but will now go to a bunch of hill billy homophobes somewhere else. And when you fill up your umpteen cylinder gas hog go ahead and blame the governor and the Democrats the way the Republicans are hoping you will for the extra few bucks, even though it was the Republicans who blocked ending free giveaways to their corporate sponsors that would have saved the money instead of raising your taxes.

@9 auntie jim: Thank you. I could NOT have said it better.
Rodney Turncoat GOP corporate-dicksucking shitwipe should have his ugly pig head roasted on a stick. He needs to be ousted YESTERDAY
along with Doug Ericsen, Jason Overpreach, and his faithful dog,
Vincent Buys Votes.

@5: I know a busload of Republicans I trust a whole lot less.

And when you fill up your umpteen cylinder gas hog go ahead and blame the governor and the Democrats the way the Republicans are hoping you will for the extra few bucks

Beats walking, chump. What's the matter, jealous of people who aren't too poor to buy their own wheels?

How old are you Noicons? 15?

@14, why would you say that? Because I can keep up with your side in the nastiness derby?

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…

Answer the question Noicons.

Exactly! It's bad enough that Tom and Ericksen and Sheldon did the damage they did, but then to have the dailies say that, really, everything is OK is hypocrisy and cynicism at its worst.

The legislature going home having closed only two tax loopholes and adding even more of them for business - yet slamming teachers is shameful.

I don't know how to judge the governor on the outcome -

And you didn't even mention the gimmicks of sweeping both the Public Works Trust Fund and the revenue from the Toxics Control Act . . .

Fucking sucks.

That was a very well-done summary of the Olympia (cess-pool) situation, Goldy. Who ever is running The Stranger should make you the exclusive Olympia reporter.

Rodney Tom protected the little guy. I'm sick and tired of being raped to pay for a bus system that will not live within it stream of revenue.

@19, I agree!! It's time ALL of the tax money King County generates stays ONLY in King County! The rest of you tax leeching welfare whores in the state PICK YOURSELF UP BY YOUR BOOTSTRAPS!!!

Good job, Goldy.

Damn Goldy, you make people mad in a way that rivals ECB during the olden days. Good job.

Noicons wishes he could be the asshole he is on the Internet in real life.

And Turncoat Tom wants a third special session in December to rehash the MCC’s failure on transportation and transit.

Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom, D-Medina, said Monday he will work with other lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee on a transportation deal. “We can either pass it in December or early next session,” Tom said.

@1: " I thank the honorable Mr. Tom for not allowing King County to hold car drivers hostage for a bloated and poorly administered transit system. Pay $5 a ride on the Metro and collect ALL fares."

Two points in response. First, 95% of Metro riders have access to a vehicle.[footnote 1] I'm one of them so I pay the exact same vehicle taxes you pay. Why is it so horrible to put transit tax funding to a vote? (As a corollary, why is it mandatory to fund roads with no direct voter input but transit taxes almost always have to be put to a vote?)

Second, you do realize that getting people to use more space-efficient vehicles keeps cars off of the roads you're trying to use, right? An every-seat-occupied Metro or Sound Transit articulated 60-foot bus carries 60-67 people, depending on configuration. That's four Ford Explorers that carry 5 people, or 20 people in the same space (or about 18 people at 4 per car using a Hyundai Accent). Even half-loaded buses carry more people per vehicle. What's my point? Transit--buses, trains, streetcars--produce extra road capacity in the same space and, as such, should be funded as part of the overall transportation system.

Footnote 1: http://metro.kingcounty.gov/am/reports/2…

Footnote 2: That's right, I own two vehicles, both of which are registered to an address in the corporate limits of the City of Seattle, plus I don't live in an aPodment. So far as I know, the gestapo hasn't yet kicked down my door and confiscated my driver license, keys, or cat. War on cars, indeed.

Rodney Tom basically owes the people of Washington the full cost of two special sessions brought about by his betrayal of his voters by switching parties after getting elected.His grand standing nonsense should be punished with a recall.

On Saturday, July 20 the Transit Riders Union and allies are holding a demonstration to ask WTF, Olympia? (Which of course stands for "Where's our Transit Funding, Olympia?". We will be collecting grievances on this and other issues to be delivered to choice state legislators. Please join us:
https://www.facebook.com/events/52726229…
http://transitriders.org

I am ready to give up on the republican, eastern half of the state. Let's just cut it in two on the cascade line. Then the people who are against taxes can just try to survive on dust and experience a wonderland of no more Puget Sound money.

In our new state (Let's call it Switzerland), we can have higher taxes that pay for needed infrastructure and education.

@25 retrogrouch: Spot on!
@26 KatieWilson: Thanks for the information, Katie! Here's hoping that transit funding--despite Washington State's new Rodney hurdle--can be restored.
@27 AnotherDamnProgrammer2: Count me in on ousting Republicans. But don't forget that they're not exclusively on the eastern side of Washington State. It would take more than a single east-west divide to get rid of the GOP's conservative voters and their Tea Bag goon squad.
Whatcom County alone has three evil Repigs we seriously NEED to get rid of, for starters.

Everyday the #532 bus between Snohomish County and Bellevue is so full that several people are standing in the isle of the bus, coming and going. Some days there is not enought room to board on the return trip and people have to wait for the next bus. Do you think they are adding buses or parking space at the Ash Way Park and Ride-no they are building a monsterous apartment building next to the park and ride. No leadership at any level-we need a new generation of legislators and community representatives.

Isn't it illegal for a candidate to change political parties after they get elected?How can they say they represent their constituents anymore?They don't,and should step the fuck down(you know who I am typing about!).They seemed to have violated voters'-rights law (especially the federal ones).And only two of the over six-hundred tax loopholes-for-the-few were closed!Pfft!!!I asked all three of "my" so-called legislative representatives what their stance is on tax loopholes for the few:that was a month ago,never before have I waited so long for a reply from any of them(and with them all out of session,you'd think they now have time to answer me:after all,I'm one of their employers!!!) ---- http://www.taxsanity.org , http://www.ballotpedia.org (demand a change to the state's constitution so We the People of Washington can amend Our Constitution via ballot initiative!!!Like Oregon can . . . .