Hey, I got an idea!

Let's build a Giant Tunnel we can't afford and pay for all the cost overruns from Seattle tax dollars only!

No wonder the mayor wants $25 mil of MOHAI's take.

@2: Hands off our museum money. You can find your socialist welfare money elsewhere. Start by cutting the police force and money for parks and schools. Close all libraries for half the week and fire most of their staff. Cut back on City of Seattle partnerships with Metro and Sound Transit. Cut emergency service staff, reduce funding to Pike Place Market. CUT CUT CUT.

Keep cutting until you make that money back. It's not like anyone needs any of the above anyway.

That'll fucking teach you city officials to fuck with our privately-run museums.

Oh my god, I had the best idea EVER.

Let's play "PICK ONE"!

Since everyone is so incredibly keen on playing one side and not taking the wide-angle view, I'll make it easier for you. This is all considering a round number of $25mil:

If you support MOHAI only, pick one:

-You will not complain if any program, project or service is cut if the cost to maintain current or elevated levels of service is >$25,000,000

-You will not point out services or expenditures of the City of Seattle equal to, or in excess of, $25,000,000

-You will not complain about cuts to art funding

-You will shush up

or

If you support the Mayor's Office only, pick one:

-You will not blame MOHAI in arguments concerning future cuts if said cuts exceed $25,000,000

-You will not point out potential and unfunded services that cost less than $25,000,000

-You will not gloat about cuts to arts funding

-You will shush up

Then again, it seems the half-life of this story was pretty short, so it's probably moot anyway.

@2, that's it exactly - the cultural constituency does not deserve the autonomy we promised. Who do they think they are, economic engines and such?

Er, I meant @3 (and @4, him with the bolding and blockquotes and whatnot).

@5: I'd wager that a suitable compromise would be slashing all of this: http://www.seattle.gov/arts/funding/defa…

Gotta establish it's fair to swipe the money before you go promising it to others.

Well, to be fair gus, the large number of cuts in here make pretty much all of the funding in here look mighty tempting. The MAF is general fund neutral, too, and it's unknown if the City Council would ever touch it via ordinance (worth considering, having at least 2 fiscal conservatives on the Council).

As a matter of principles, however, nobody should be gloating and nobody should be scapegoating. Which is happening on both sides of the aisle in this matter.

The main driver in this is the forecast increase in General Fund expenditure from $899 million in 2010 to $958 million in 2011, not the revenue forecast. That is nearly a 8% increase in expenditure by the City. This is not a story about unforeseen shortfalls in tax receipts.

Also, at one point $5 million of that increase was due to attempting to refund the Rainy Day fund. During a recession...

Look at the June 14th budget update for the source of most of these numbers.

Back from dinner with my sister, the one who used to hit me with her shoe when she caught me trying to swipe from her purse. I thought family money was for everyone, but she explained with a few swift blows that being her brother did not give me raiding privileges.

Anyway, though I'll do my best not to gloat (over what I'm not sure) or scapegoat, the mayor taking a hands-off-MOHAI's-purse policy will help me observe a most respectful attitude.

If only someone in the federal government would propose some sort of infrastructure spending and spending to help shore up municipal and state budgets to help ride out the storm with some modicum of civilization left intact.

If only...

Oh well. Guess we're boned.

Or we could get rid of tax exemptions for non-profit orgs.

Suddenly we'd have a budget in the black.

Hmm.

An even better idea - don't let anyone retire from city employment and double dip on retirement.

Of course, that would screw it up for the electeds who use their Seattle pay as their retirement cash cow in the PERS system. They might actually have to work.

The average person is pissed their taxes are going up for fewer cops to shoot more innocent citizens and for vanity projects for the elites while everyone else is screwed.

But, then, reality bites, @15.

Ooo--big deficit. I know--cut taxes!