Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, January 9, 2013
Transportation Tacoma Is to Blame
Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 2:11 PM
In the comments to my post about how the voters of Pierce County all but killed public transportation in their neck of the woods, giffy wrote...
It should not be Pierce County Transit, it should be Tacoma Transit. Transit makes sense in dense areas, not sprawling counties. By having these large County or regional bodies doing transit you create a need to provide service to areas where it makes little sense.This got me thinking. If Tacoma voted for Proposition 1 (a very small tax increase that would have saved the bus service), and the surrounding, less urban (and more suburban—even more country) areas didn't, would it be fair for the cuts to be across-the-board? Wouldn't it be more sensible to concentrate the cuts in the areas that strongly voted against Proposition 1? When I asked Pierce Transit's spokesperson Lars Erickson about this, he first pointed out that many of the areas that voted to destroy the county's public transportation system have low-income and minority communities, and then recommended that I have a look at this graph, which he granted me the permission to post...
- Hitting That Tacoma Traffic on the Bolt Bus
1
Um, Charles? In the world of elections, terms like "overwhelmingly" have somewhat different meanings, namely that it doesn't imply, say, a 2-1 margin of victory to be used. Elections are typically much closer than that.
Tacoma voted 55-45 for this proposition. America voted 52.5-47.5 (approximately) for Obama. Obama is treating his 5-point victory like a mandate, and only hardcore right wingers dispute that he has one. So... given that Tacoma voted by double that margin, would you really say that they didn't "overwhelmingly" approve it?
Tacoma voted 55-45 for this proposition. America voted 52.5-47.5 (approximately) for Obama. Obama is treating his 5-point victory like a mandate, and only hardcore right wingers dispute that he has one. So... given that Tacoma voted by double that margin, would you really say that they didn't "overwhelmingly" approve it?
2
"One expects the bulk of the voters in the country and suburbs to be stupid, to vote against their own interests, and that kind of thing, it's up to the dense core to diminish the force of this stupidity."
Best line I've read all day.
Best line I've read all day.
3
It might have helped if the transit supporters in Tacoma had limited themselves to preserving what they had rather than pushing for a tax increase that also would have funded expansion. Of course, the "progressives" at the Stranger can't bring themselves to be truthful about it, so I guess I'll just have to do that.
7
Take a look at the fallout from Bellingham's Proposition 1 from 2010. They tried to pass a bus levy county-wide to fund their bus system, it failed because the county voters shot it down. That November they ran a Bellingham only transportation district that would fund the buses in Bellingham. It passed and Sunday service was restored within the city limits.
8
Following up my thought @ 1, even places like San Francisco and Boulder don't vote for things at a 70-30 margin. Charles, your last comment is perfect example of you talking out your ass.
9
"One expects the bulk of the voters in the country and suburbs to be stupid, to vote against their own interests, and that kind of thing, it's up to the dense core to diminish the force of this stupidity."
this is the exact same argument the right uses, chuckles. they have to save us liberals from ourselves, 'cuz weeze so stupid.
and, much like you, they are the true idiots.
this is the exact same argument the right uses, chuckles. they have to save us liberals from ourselves, 'cuz weeze so stupid.
and, much like you, they are the true idiots.
10
Charles is totally ignorant about Pierce County. Pierce County is where people go to sleep every night plotting and scheming what they might do the next day to deliver a big fat "fuck you" to elitist urbanist snots like Charles.
11
Hmm, 55-45 is "overwheming?" Let's see what the "progressives" say the next time one of their cherished candidates or causes loses 55-45.
12
Wait, wasn't the first part of your article about how folks in the country and suburbs don't benefit from the public transit as much? Weren't they voting in their interests, then?
Because one expects the bulk of the voters in the country and suburbs to be stupid, to vote against their own interests...
Wait, wasn't the first part of your article about how folks in the country and suburbs don't benefit from the public transit as much? Weren't they voting in their interests, then?
13
Oh, and if 55-45 is overwhelming, then what's the word for 64.5 to 35.5? Maybe, "I'm Eyman and fuck you if you don't like it?"
16
No, I wasn't lying. But 2008 was the end. After seeing what the "progressive" monopoly has done to Seattle, I closed the checkbook. Still voted for Obama, but no money.
17
I can say this much, Matt: If the right opponent emerges to McGinn, he'll get a big slug of cash from me. Same goes if McGinn's poodle Mike O'Brien gets a viable opponent.
18
@ 16/17, if you were such a major muckety muck in politics, then you know very well how a 55-45 victory is taken. Maybe "overwhelming" isn't the right word, but many elections settled by that margin have been called "landslides." Whether that's accurate or not is beside the point; it's a 10-point margin, it's insurmountable, and leaves future elections (whether for people or for issues) strongly in favor of the victors.
Charles is all wet when he looks at this and says Tacoma is still at fault. He basically admitted that he entered this prejudiced against them, and seeing that he was wrong only made him seek a justification for continuing to hold his prejudgment rather than reassessing his opinion in light of the facts. It's an example of why he is just about the least credible writer The Stranger has ever employed. (Although I enjoyed Police Beat [both the column and the film] so he's got genuine writing talent going for him.)
Charles is all wet when he looks at this and says Tacoma is still at fault. He basically admitted that he entered this prejudiced against them, and seeing that he was wrong only made him seek a justification for continuing to hold his prejudgment rather than reassessing his opinion in light of the facts. It's an example of why he is just about the least credible writer The Stranger has ever employed. (Although I enjoyed Police Beat [both the column and the film] so he's got genuine writing talent going for him.)
19
55-45 is a decisive victory no doubt, but hardly a landslide and certainly not overwhelming. If you're looking for a landslide, try Eyman's I-1185. Statewide, 64.5% to 35.5%. Passed in every single county. Yet we still have "progressives" actually thinking people will give them "new revenues."
20
As for his last paragraph, well, that's hard to say. He didn't give enough information. We don't know if there's a history of Tacoma being a mirror image of knee-jerk Seattle, running up gigantic margins for anything the local "progressives" tell people to vote for. Based on the transit vote there, I have to doubt it, but you never know.
The real omission in his story was that the failed measure wouldn't have merely preserved transit there but would've expanded it. The proponents overreached. They could've sought less of a tax increase and proposed maintaining the status quo, but like transit weenies everywhere, they wanted to expand the empire.
The real omission in his story was that the failed measure wouldn't have merely preserved transit there but would've expanded it. The proponents overreached. They could've sought less of a tax increase and proposed maintaining the status quo, but like transit weenies everywhere, they wanted to expand the empire.
21
Charles, your statement that people in rural Pierce County are voting against something that would benefit them is inaccurate. Having grown up there, I know from experience that the rural parts see no benefit from transit whatsoever, with the majority of benefit going to the Greater Tacoma Area and Puyallup/South Hill. I agree that it should be city transit and not county transit, because a good chunk of the county sees none of it.
In any case, it's a shame transit got beat up. I've ridden the buses around the poorer areas in Lakewood and Parkland quite a bit and can tell you it gets a lot of use from low-income populations. Moreso than even Downtown Seattle when Ride Free still existed, I would say.
In any case, it's a shame transit got beat up. I've ridden the buses around the poorer areas in Lakewood and Parkland quite a bit and can tell you it gets a lot of use from low-income populations. Moreso than even Downtown Seattle when Ride Free still existed, I would say.
22
It would also be interesting to know two other things, but of course reporting them would likely go against the "progressive" religion so we'll never be told, at least by the Stranger.
1. What's been happening to taxes in Pierce County in the past three or four years, separated by Tacoma and not-Tacoma?
2. Is Pierce and/or Tacoma being taxed for Sound Transit? If so, at what rates, through what mechanism, and have there been any increases lately?
See, Tacoma doesn't have the same population of tax-insensitive "progressive" yuppies that Seattle does. So it could well be that people there are feeling a little overloaded, especially at a time when long-term unemployment is as high as it is, and wages are stagnant at best.
But, you see, considering any of these things would require "progressives" to actually give a shit about the working class, which has never been the case in these parts, especially Seattle.
1. What's been happening to taxes in Pierce County in the past three or four years, separated by Tacoma and not-Tacoma?
2. Is Pierce and/or Tacoma being taxed for Sound Transit? If so, at what rates, through what mechanism, and have there been any increases lately?
See, Tacoma doesn't have the same population of tax-insensitive "progressive" yuppies that Seattle does. So it could well be that people there are feeling a little overloaded, especially at a time when long-term unemployment is as high as it is, and wages are stagnant at best.
But, you see, considering any of these things would require "progressives" to actually give a shit about the working class, which has never been the case in these parts, especially Seattle.
23
And how much attention did the Stranger give to Tacoma during the last electoral cycle?
None.
So fuck off. You lost the right to complain when you refused to give us the press coverage that might have helped us win the election. Bitching about it 2 months after the fact just proves how badly Seattle has jumped the shark. Now you think it's news, but at the time you couldn't have cared less. And you decided to hold HUMP! in Olympia and not Tacoma.
None.
So fuck off. You lost the right to complain when you refused to give us the press coverage that might have helped us win the election. Bitching about it 2 months after the fact just proves how badly Seattle has jumped the shark. Now you think it's news, but at the time you couldn't have cared less. And you decided to hold HUMP! in Olympia and not Tacoma.
25
24,
Yes, it does. You can pick a copy up any of a dozen boxes on streetcorners within a 3 block radius of my apartment downtown, and all across the rest of the city as well.
It may have the title of "Seattle's Only Paper", but it's a damn sight easier to find a copy of the Stranger lying around than it is to find any local Tacoma paper. Every cafe, bus, bar, and sandwich shop will have a discarded copy of the Stranger left behind by some reader after they've finished it lying on some bench or table.
And we really could have used some attention during the campaign season. We lost R 74 in this county by less than half a percentage point, and Prop 1 failed by less than 1 point. Inslee won the primary here but lost the general. All of these could have been won in Pierce County with a little more media attention.
Yes, it does. You can pick a copy up any of a dozen boxes on streetcorners within a 3 block radius of my apartment downtown, and all across the rest of the city as well.
It may have the title of "Seattle's Only Paper", but it's a damn sight easier to find a copy of the Stranger lying around than it is to find any local Tacoma paper. Every cafe, bus, bar, and sandwich shop will have a discarded copy of the Stranger left behind by some reader after they've finished it lying on some bench or table.
And we really could have used some attention during the campaign season. We lost R 74 in this county by less than half a percentage point, and Prop 1 failed by less than 1 point. Inslee won the primary here but lost the general. All of these could have been won in Pierce County with a little more media attention.
26
#25, why would you ever imagine that any Seattle "progressive" would ever give a flying fuck about Tacoma or anyone who lives there?
27
26,
because what happens here affects you. Imagine for a second if Jeannie Darnielle had not won her election to the state Senate representing the 275th LD. Imagine if Jack Connely had won. This is the same man that tried to repeal the city's anti-discrimination ordinance, an avowed opponent of marriage equality and a woman's right to choose. Imagine for a second that he's one of the people deciding how this state runs.
Imagine if R74 had failed completely in Pierce County. What if this had caused it to fail statewide?
Imagine if Inslee had not won his primary in Tacoma. Would he have been seen as a viable candidate? What if he hadn't been?
Imagine what your life in Seattle would have been like with Governor Rob McKenna and Senator Connolly at the Reject 74 victory campaign on election night.
That's why you should give a fuck about Tacoma.
because what happens here affects you. Imagine for a second if Jeannie Darnielle had not won her election to the state Senate representing the 275th LD. Imagine if Jack Connely had won. This is the same man that tried to repeal the city's anti-discrimination ordinance, an avowed opponent of marriage equality and a woman's right to choose. Imagine for a second that he's one of the people deciding how this state runs.
Imagine if R74 had failed completely in Pierce County. What if this had caused it to fail statewide?
Imagine if Inslee had not won his primary in Tacoma. Would he have been seen as a viable candidate? What if he hadn't been?
Imagine what your life in Seattle would have been like with Governor Rob McKenna and Senator Connolly at the Reject 74 victory campaign on election night.
That's why you should give a fuck about Tacoma.
29
@27 - And yet R74 managed to pass in Whitman county in eastern Washington without help from the Stranger. And Snohomish county. And Thurston county to your south.
Tacoma has basically become Spokane only with a water port and less people. At least Spokane has the excuse of being surrounded by low pop red counties and fucking Idaho as to why its a hellhole. Stop whining about media outside of your city not helping you enough and take some responsibility for fuck's sake.
Tacoma has basically become Spokane only with a water port and less people. At least Spokane has the excuse of being surrounded by low pop red counties and fucking Idaho as to why its a hellhole. Stop whining about media outside of your city not helping you enough and take some responsibility for fuck's sake.
30
#25, I guess you didn't pick up my sarcasm, did you? My comment wasn't aimed at you, it was aimed at the phony "progressives" in this state whose only real interests are sucking some developer's cock in Seattle. They don't give a shit about anything else, anywhere else.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
SL Letter of the Day: The Tell-Tale Handjob by Dan Savage
-
Foie Gras Tastes Like Cat Food by Callan Berry
-
GOP Congressman: We Have to Ban Abortion Because Fetuses Are Masturbating In There by Dan Savage
-
Cap Hill Is Becoming a Little Like What? by Charles Mudede
-
SL Letter of the Day: Let Me Think... by Dan Savage
-
Pizza Update: Breaking the 5-Minute Barrier by Goldy
-
President Obama Says NSA Spying Is "Transparent" by Paul Constant
-
Less Than a Quarter of Americans Have Confidence in Newspapers by Eli Sanders
-
Slog Bible Study: Leviticus 20:9 by Goldy
-
The Wednesday Morning News by Goldy
Stranger Personals
The Stranger
RSSSeattle Art & Performance Quarterly
A complete guide to Seattle's current art, film, dance, and theater season.
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (30) RSS