One glaring misstatement. Washington is not a high tax state. We are an extremely regressive low-tax state. Which means high-taxes on journalists, very low taxes on billionaires (there is a reason we have so many here), low taxes on businesses; all adding up to a low percentage of Gross State Product actually collected in taxes. We will never solve our state's problems if even liberals believe we are high tax state.

Say it with me: low-tax, high-regressivity.

Tell your freinds (and correct your article)

Rich packed an impressive volume of whining in one post.

In the last version of the bill I saw, lawyers would not be able to take advantage of the new pass through rate. Did that change, or does Rich simply not know what he's talking about?

Dino Rossi is no longer an interim state senator. Manka Dhingra was sworn in last month when her election was certified.

#1 thank you that is my pet peeve!

@1 Not a high tax state? Tell yourself that every time you pay 10%+ in retail tax for basically anything.

It just amazes me how many people in economically repressed, rural parts of Washington State and the rest of the country who so ecstatically supported Trumpzilla are now among the ones who stand to feel the butt-hurt of a corporate-corrupt, neo-nazi oligarchy in a RepubliKKKan strangle hold the hardest. Wake the fuck up, already, Trumpists! Do you think the Shithead-in-Chief EVER cared about the common U.S. citizen? The atrocity of this horrible new tax overhaul for the rich should Make America Think Again.
@7 MrBaker: Good. I sure hope so. The sooner the McMorris Rodgers bitch gets ousted, the better. She and Pam Roach can both go.
@8 giantmeteor2016: Thank you for beating me to it.

@7 MrBaker: We also need someone who will successfully unseat Self-serving RepubliKKKan Shithead #1 in the Washington State Senate, Doug Ericksen-R, Ferndale, District 42. Michael McAuley sounded like a strong opponent who would end the corruption and obstruction in legislature, but he recently bailed out. I have to agree with McCauley, though: I couldn't stand the political bullshit, either.

@8, you idiot, how much do you pay in capital gains tax? How much do you pay in state income tax? How much do you pay in tax on your food? Do you pay tax on your on-line purchases? Get a clue.

To be fair, according to Wikipedia this district went for Hillary by three points. But if I had to guess, I'd guess that the Central Washington part of the district that this article is discussing went for Trump. Just another example of the Trumpists getting what they deserve and taking the rest of us down with them.

@9 Do you think crooked Hillary ever cared about the common citizen? I think the reason that Trump (zilla or otherwise) won (barely through the electoral college) is because enough voters were totally fed up with the whole system; they were willing to throw the baby out with bathwater. I really think we are at end times here.

I stopped giving a shit awhile back when it was clear we are in a state of unstoppable decline. But it is funny to watch the left and right desperately pretend that they can stop the unstoppable.

Remember when the bernie bros and stein voters told us Hillary was just as bad as tRump? I do!

@13: yes, I do. using "crooked" when referring to HRC outs you as a rube. you voted for stigginit because you got conned. even a jackhole troll like jakkay is preferable to that.

what's your alternative to the "whole system", then? kakistocracy?

@15 I don't remember very many Sanders ' supporters saying that but I do remember many Clintonites refusing to consider the impopularity of their candidate's policies and telling everyone to shut up and fall in line, with the result we know.

@17:

But, for most Democratic voters Clinton's policies weren't in point of fact, "impopular" (sic); that's one reason why she won the primary and got 3,000,000 more votes than IL DOUCHE in the general.

Also, this.

@17: then you don't remember last year that well.

both things happened: the former prior to the primaries, and the latter afterwards. not in huge numbers, but not insignificant, either.

those that did the former should have also done the latter, if only for the good of, like, the future of the planet.

@18 The overwhelming majority (~90%) of Sanders supporters voted for Clinton. Pointing out a few examples, then claiming that "Sanders Supporters" said this or did that is intellectually dishonest.

Being popular with ~1/2 of the primary Dem voters (a few % of registered voters) isn't equivalent with being popular with the entire electorate. Also don't forget that turnout in 2016 was less than for Obama (2008 AND 2012) despite ~8-4% more voters (assuming 1% pop growth)

@19 I remember very well. First almost nobody said that Clinton = Trump. Saying that Clinton is "bad" isn't inconsistent with believing that Trump is worse, which is reflected by having almost all Sanders supporters reporting their votes on Clinton in the general despite her barely paying lip service to many progressive issues.

@20 "despite ~8-4% more ELIGIBLE voters"

@19:

So, even when presented with evidence of "Bernie Bros say Clinton=Trump" you still insist NOBODY SAID THAT. Is English not your first language? Rather, let me rephrase that:
Является ли английский не вашим первым языком?

@22 You sound just like Alex Jones. You misquote me then you pull some crazy conspiracy theory out of your ass. Good job, joe McCarthy would be proud of you.

Clintonites have gone off the deep end.

anon1256 dear, I am not a "Clintonite", but I'll just quietly murmur that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost three million. She can't have been that unpopular.

@13 Eilabun: It's all a RepubliKKKan plot. And before you start shouting 'crooked Hillary"---if she had committed 1/20th of the heinous crimes against nature and humanity Trumpzilla has gloated over doing in his mad scheme to screw everybody and destroy the world--with help from the Russians---she'd be impeached and imprisoned for treason by now! 'Throw the baby out with the bath water'? Is that why these recessed regions of Trump supporters keep having truckloads of kids they can't afford to raise, much less sustain a solvent household budget and don't bother to immunize their children? Please don't continue to buy this hater bullshit!
This is the GOP scheme since Reaganomics:
Brainwash the people in an idyllic part of the country to believe the following stimulates economic growth so that they'll vote RepubliKKKan: Working class / blue collar / rural parts of the U.S. remain sluggish, then they blame the Democrats for being "weak". This is to make the working class angry at Democrats. So, while they lose their homes and possessions to foreclosure and are left to die in an ER waiting room, they are misguided into blaming Democrats when they should be mad as hell at RepubliKKKans! These same voters need to wise up already and vote Democrat if they want and need to retain their government safety nets they otherwise rely on so heavily. Allow me to translate the Fox TV hype to what's really going on:
1.) "War helps the economy"= war waged by RepubliKKKans in the White House since Reagan has only exponentially raised the national debt. The disastrous tax bill on its way to Trumpzilla's poisoned pen will skyrocket our national debt to $1.5 trillion dollars,---yes, TRILLION--- none of which the wealthy will have to pay. It's all on the 99.9999999% of US, through cuts to funding of needed federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
2.) "You can opt out of heath insurance; there are ERs everywhere"= Bye bye to your ObamaCare, prescription medications and procedures that keep you healthy, and your doctor of choice for those of you who signed up for it. Good luck getting any replacement coverage (neither Trumpzilla nor Paul Ryan has a replacement plan--it's all smoke and mirrors), because now we're right back to jacked up premiums and "Pre-existing conditions". They're going after Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and our right to VOTE next. Kiss the safety nets and basic rights bye bye to citizens of the Divided States. They're tapping phones, deregulating banks, and axing net neutrality until Trumpreich is our only source of media.
3.) "We need the fossil fuel industry desperately for GOOD JOBS NOW!" = Pay no attention to that grinning man in the expensive suit, working Joe Sixpack, with a wife and kids! So what if Mr. Businessman and his cronies just poisoned your water supplies with fracking, oil drilling, coal mining, and transport through pipelines and rail and your air quality is unbearably cancerous? What will you do when the man in the expensive suit insists on making your air quality, public safety, infrastructure, and access to affordable healthcare a horrific mess, but calls it "needed sacrifice and hard work" while raping the land and its resources and killing the labor unions, thus stripping you of your voice? Damn public outcry, full speed ahead on global warming until Earth becomes totally unlivable.
4.) "As long as you get to keep your guns and often misquoted bibles, life is good!" = How good is a sharp increase of homelessness? The return of diseases once thought cured in epidemic proportions? Drastic weather changes? Needless deaths of innocent people by crazed gunmen (how many women have been reported shooters?) and train derailments?
The RepubliKKKan bullshit continues, through bullying, lies, and deception about what is good:
Dumb 'em down (See under no money for schools, fixing bridges or roads), fatten 'em up (eat at McDonald's?), and balk at paying 'em what they're worth (the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Can you live on that? Meanwhile, the average Congress member nets over $3 million annually in hedge funds and offshore accounts ALONE), while destroying once thriving communities until the U.S. dollar (we were at a national surplus when Bill Clinton was in office) is overtaken by the Chinese yuan. How many U.S. businesses have since moved to China? And yet, these same voters continue to bash Democrats for their lost jobs.
Hillary actually had a plan to increase green energy jobs in recessed regions of the U.S.
Sure, working class voters are fed up, and it doesn't look or sound as if Hillary did enough to reach people in the rural U.S. That could have made a big difference in 2016.
We, the PEOPLE, NOT CORPORATIONS, would still live in a democracy, with the rights and liberties we value in check. Not this white collar criminal insanity.
@23: Hillary won the POPULAR vote by 3 million people. Instead, we're stuck with a total Shithead in Chief because of a deeply flawed electoral system. It is now entirely up to the voters to change anything for the better in 2018.
Economist and columnist Paul Krugman has it right upon stating that the current swamp of RepubliKKKan members of Congress, House and Senate under Trumpzilla don't care about the voters they are paid lavishly to represent--only themselves, their special interests, and offshore accounts. Income inequality has now blasted off into a new galaxy, and the rest of us back into the Dark Ages until such shameless abuse of power has been alleviated. It is up to US to stop it.

Seriously, working class----STOP VOTING REPUBLIKKKAN! The reddest parts of otherwise blue Washington State that ecstatically cheered at Trumpzilla rallies in 2016 are going to feel the butt-hurt the worst. Ask anyone from economically recessed Hoquiam, Aberdeen, Maple Falls, Kendall, Centralia, Yakima, Ferndale, and possibly even some in Lynden. A lot of people in Grays Harbor county are living in cars. Buildings are boarded and abandoned. Many are without healthcare or have to travel to another county to see a doctor.
The 42nd District is sorely need of an opponent to Thug Ericksen, R--Ferndale in the 2018 midterm senate race. Note to Trumpists: It's the economy, stupid!

@27 MrB: I didn't want to say anything more after my lengthy comments (@25 & @26), but YEAH!
Here's hoping enough redneck idiots finally wise up and see the gross error of their voting ways soon. And I'm pretty sure that Dave Reichert and Cathy McMorris Rodgers don't give a shit, either about how many constituents in their districts that they've screwed.