Come back to us with some progressive funding and we may think about it. But, fuck your regressive sales tax bullshit for a Nice To Have.

@1, exactly! And of course the weeklies fell all over themselves to promote this one, arts orgs pay their bills.

@ 3 Black people can't be rich this is a class thing not a race thing, and I say this as an Asian.

@3, it's sad only rich people can afford crazy expensive cars - should we pass a tax to fund that too? There will always be disparity between rich and poor, no sales tax will fix that.

It's still a 0.1% sales tax increase, Rich, not 0.01%. It's like the only significant fact about Prop 1, and you keep mis-stating it!

Prop 1 did not promise anything to kids.

It promised millions to already-well-funded privately-owned museums. Literally handing out tax dollars from the poor to museums with budgets upwards of $70 million dollars.

If Prop 1 backers want to help kids, come up with an income tax or a capital gains tax or a lodging tax, or -- and a crazy idea here -- tax Amazon, Boeing and Microsoft and give the money directly to our underfunded schools.

there are 5,000 people sleeping on the streets of King Co. every night. art is the best thing in the world, but... priorities, for god's sake.

What sealed the deal for me was hearing King County Councilman Larry Gossett on KUOW's The Record on July 26 talk about using the tax money to send kids to slam poetry readings and to see progressive "revolutionary" plays (his words, not mine).

I want my tax dollars used to pay for sewers and roads, not to be wasted on sending the hoodlums-in-training at Denny International Middle School or the over privileged kids at Bellevue High to go see the latest "experimental theater" production by ACT Theater or some Slam Poetry Fest event at Showbox or to fund an interpretive dance class.

@12 is correct

Uh, please remind yourselves that the resolution of state ed funding crisis was just disproportionately distributed on to the shoulders of Seattle property owners by the Democratically dominated state legislature. As a result there may be a lot of engaged Seattle voters who are feeling a little tapped out right now, and, rightly or wrongly, thinking they've done more than their share for the moment .

These things don't happen in isolation.

If you make $15/hour, every extra $100 in tax is less food on your table. Participating in cool art does not make your kid less hungry.

"They should be ashamed at the laziness of their arguments, as should any well-off asshole who wouldn't vote for the bill on behalf of poor people who stood up in county council meetings and said they wanted it". Irony: poor people want something ridiculous to their current situation and the taxpayers dont want to pay. I guess they never heard the old adage that "nothing in life is "free"" not to mention the attitude that just because you stand up and say you want something means automatically that you are entitled to it. Example to logic: "I want a million dollars and I'm entitled to it"!.....(looking around the room) - nope, no checks are being cut to me.

@1 -- Just out of curiosity, what is not a "nice to have"? In other words, what is essential? How about paying for the police, or the criminal justice system? Should those who are arrested be given the right to a fair trial, and a lawyer? I think just about everyone thinks that those things are essential, which is why passing this made sense.

Read the fucking article again. Here, let me help you with the key piece:

But more likely it's evidence that people don't like voting for prevention.

Got that? Prevention. Every kid that falls in love with art or literature is a kid that feels like they have a future. Someone understands them. The world is not a hopeless place, which means @12, they are less likely to end up homeless. It means they are less likely to end up committing a crime, which means that not only is the world a better place, but it actually saves us money. Rich Smith is right -- this failed because prevention isn't sexy, and voters are selfish dip shits.

Oh, and I have a question for all you mother fuckers who are saying this was not essential: Did you vote no for ST3? Because that sure as fuck wasn't essential. The money didn't go towards feeding the hungry or housing the poor. It went to ridiculous projects, like light rail to Fife, Ash Way and fucking Issaquah. Yet that piece of shit proposal raised sales taxes -- just sales taxes -- five times what this proposal did.

Look, the tax system in this state is fucked up. Everyone knows that. But until we fix it, we sure as fuck shouldn't go all Seattle Times Editorial Staff and only pay for "essential services". Once we go down that road, we end up with a shitty, shelled out public sector, and end up spending more on the things like the police and emergency shelter. Prop one was a sensible proposal to deal with cuts to the arts that have been made for years. But it isn't only for arts, it also would have helped pay for science and history education. Holy shit -- one thing we all know right now is that we need more science and history education -- and this would have delivered it.

All Together Now: No more tax increases until there is a state income tax and no income tax until the sales tax is gone.

@22 and a pony!

Our Dear Paddy Mac's suggestion is not unreasonable. When we revise the constitution to allow for an income tax, just add that a piece limiting sales taxes. (I don't think eliminating sales tax is a wise idea, but we could certainly cap the state sales tax at something like 4%, and let the towns do what they want on top of that.

But this state is full of nitwits and dopes who are happy to let the wealthy walk all over them, so I'm not hopeful we'll ever do that.

It is beyond pathetic the number of people who believe art and creativity are only worthwhile if experienced through established, mainstream venues. My god, what did humanity DO before the existence of museums and arts programs run by career bureaucrats? How did our species manage to ever create anything without the guiding hand of the government?

There are plenty of free arts opportunities out there; the problem is lazy parents who don't seek them out for their kids. (Speaking as someone whose low-income parents did.)

Pianos in the Parks just ended -- a free, two-week extravaganza of piano performances in outdoor spaces all around King County. There are free band concerts and free Shakespeare plays all summer all over the county. How many parents are making it a priority to get their kids out to see these events?

There are also free DVDs and CDs from the library. The symphony and opera have outreach events. The art museums have free days. There are plenty of opportunities for art without imposing another regressive tax.

@21: you're wrong. a regional rail system is essential for the future of this region beyond our lifetimes. that's why I voted for it, but not this.

@26 gets it. Our public libraries contain a plethora of art and creative experiences, and it is often due to a parent's efforts, not the government, that instills a love of the arts.

Seattle's solution to everything is to raise taxes on the peasants and bend over for Amazon and developers. Are we sure this is really a progressive formula? No more fucking taxes on US. Tax wealth!

@8 If your interest is in ensuring that kids have the opportunity to attend art (vs. participating in art as creators, which is obviously also super important and we have many incredible organizations in town doing that work--see ArtsCorps, Coyote Central, Reel Grrls, Vera, SEEDArts), I would recommend donating directly to the education programs at arts organizations, which is where that work is typically centered (Wing Luke, MOHAI, SAM, SIFF, and PNB are a few that I can endorse as being deeply committed to access) or take a look at TeenTix, which has been working with arts organizations for over a decade now to ensure access for all teens (full disclosure: I am the former Executive Director of TeenTix, but I am no longer formally affiliated with the organization). Thank you for your question.

@21 You bet I voted No on ST3. I complained then about its regressive fucking tax structure. But, the transit humpers were all "So? We can't fund it any other way!"

@29 a big fuck you from Seattle property owners to you state Republican parasites for wanting to resolve the state education funding crisis in a way that disproportionately falls on King Co. and Seattle homeowner'. Once again Seattle pays a disproportionate share of the bill for the residents of the Republican dominated areas of the state.