In 1807 Thomas Jefferson concluded, “Nothing can now
be believed which is seen in a newspaper…the man who never looks into a
newspaper is better informed than he who reads them”. The Jan. 7th Seattle Times editorial,
“Lawmakers should focus on these issues” validates Jefferson’s advice. It devotes two full columns
urging legislators to, “stay focused on a handful of key priorities” but
ignores the most pressing issue.
Much of the first column urges legislators “find a
way to substantially invest in areas of public schools that still need their
attention”, whatever that means. The rest of the editorial urges they
pass a capital budget, resolve the Hirst water rights issue, crack down on "dark
money" in politics, enact a state "Voting Rights Act”, and "open up" lawmakers' records.
For months the Times has been replete with articles
concerning the skyrocketing price of homes in Seattle. Surely one of the reasons is that living in Seattle is the only
way to avoid the delays on “some of the worst congestion in the country” on the
roads into Seattle. A Dec. 26th Seattle
Times front-page article “Everett to Seattle: 94 minutes in the morning”
exemplifies the problem. Yet their editorial page
“key legislative priorities” doesn’t include anything regarding transportation
problems.
A Nov 4th 2016 Times article conceded the
billions spent on ST3 would not reduce congestion. Most papers would conclude spending billions on light rail
extensions that do nothing to reduce congestion would merit some sort of review. Yet shortly after the ST3 vote the
Times ignored a Nov 9th 2016 post urging Sound Transit be audited,
the first since 2012. Now more
than a year later, with ever increasing congestion, the Times still doesn’t
consider the need to audit Sound Transit a priority for the legislature.
The Times failure to do so makes it doubtful there
are enough Republicans who aren’t “influenced” by the construction companies
involved with extending light rail, or Democrats who aren’t “influenced” by
their labor unions to pass the needed legislation.
The entire area will likely pay a heavy price for the Times choice of legislative priorities.
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