I really stopped giving a shit. Just vote GOP and let it all fucking burn.

Why vote at all when there's bipartisan opposition to voters who aren't rich?

Seems like this is problem is of ST's own making. Perhaps Seattle should follow their example and declare all houses in seattle are worth $1M

@foobarbaz
Actually, the depreciation schedule ST used was mandated by the state bill which authorized ST3. They couldn't have valued cars differently even if they wanted to.

BTW here's a good read on this: http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/democr…

"At a time when Trump is trying to destroy anything that guzzles fossil fuels, "

That should read doesn't guzzle.

Your welcome.

@6:

The sentence reads: "At a time when Trump is trying to destroy anything that guzzles fossil fuels, AND does not look and move like a car..." (emphasis mine), so the second half of the sentence modifies the first, and therefore is grammatically correct. As to whether the semantics of the statement are accurate, well, that may be debatable.

@1: That's exactly the sentiment that explains why Trump won and why cynicism threatens our democracy.

again with the taxes going up on the poor and down on the rich ugh

They can assess cars however they want, the books they were using or the sacred Blue Book you can buy at a convenience store, but they'll need to adjust the rate they impose on that assessed value.

@6

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

@6 is write: the sentence got scrambled in the edit. but it should read:
At a time when Trump is trying to destroy anything that doesn't guzzle fossil fuels, and does not look and move like a car,

An alternative has to be found to using car tab and gasoline taxes as a way to fund mass transit. A tax should be levied on all citizens in the areas that are being served by Sound Transit not just those who own cars and buy gas. There is no reason why those who don't own a car should be exempt from paying to support ST expansion.

@13 Sounds like you are suggesting that ST3 would be better if funding sources included, say, a 0.5% sales tax and a property tax of $0.25 per $1000 of assessed value.

This region should consider less regressive payroll taxes like those used by Tri-Met. These are employer taxes used to fund mass transit and are not deducted from the employee’s paycheck.

As a point of clarification, the Washington State Office of Financial Management estimated Seattle proper’s population as 686,800 in April 2016, compared to 608,660 in 2010 which is an increase of about 250 people per week. The city of Seattle is not gaining over 1,000 people per week as the author states.

@14, yes your idea would be better, as well as the progressive payroll tax suggested by @15. I believe that everyone should be invested in mass transit in some financial way. This would ensure that every one would care as to how the money was being spent, as well as broaden the base to repay the bonds ST issues. Taxing vehicles and gas is not efficient, especially if fewer people are owning cars and driving fewer miles.

@8 ==> @1: That's exactly the sentiment that explains why Trump won and why cynicism threatens our oligarchy.

Problem is all the legislators drive to Olympia.

@3 - Seems like this is problem is of ST's own making.
Well, it really depends at which scope you are viewing everything in order to assign blame. Pull back further out, and it's Washington State's fault for not having progressive income taxes, instead of regressive sales-only taxes.

We need transit, there is no way around this. Unless you're going to invent Star Trek transporters for every home & office, then we need to move people around. The best way to do that is grade-separated urban rail. If the State political muckety-mucks hamstring Seattle-acoma-Olympia light rail transit, it will --directly-- impede the major economic center of the region. At a minimum, increased traffic jams will affect Port truck traffic.

If the politicians don't like ST3... then come up with a better funding solution!
Don't just kill what exists.

@16 ST3 already provides for a 0.5% sales tax and a property tax of $0.25 per $1000 of assessed value. These measures are predicted to make up the bulk of the project's funding.

Just a quick FYI, don't forget that Charles Mudede is writing opinion pieces with very limited factual support. Before you get all hot and bothered over whatever it is he is blathering on about, do some quick Googling. You might learn something!

Hey Charles:

Why don't you just post the link to Seattle Transit Blog, and abandon the pretense, which everyone sees through, that you have anything original to report on the subject?

@21 I was waiting for that. People are so uninformed, it's embarrassing.

@21, that describes most of CM's posts.

@11
I hate autocorrect and speech to text, but I'm lazy.
@12
Thanks Charles.
Technology will never replace proofreaders.

Should never......

@12 (Charles) -- is that a joke?

@6 is write