Link: Dems Introduce Capital Gains Tax Bill in Olympia

Dems Introduce Capital Gains Tax Bill in Olympia “Representative Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma) introduced HB 2563 today, which would impose a 5 percent excise tax on capital gains over $10,000 a year ($5,000 for an individual), a bill that borrows generously from proposals made by the Washington State Budget and Policy Center. The proposed bill would…

We need a Financial Transaction Tax

RootsAction is reporting: News from France: Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy announced this weekend that he would take the lead in introducing a Financial Transaction Tax in his country. Referring to the tax as a “moral issue” and blaming deregulation and speculation for the global economic crisis, Sarkozy has said financial traders must “repay for the…

Fight Like Crazy: Response to State Representative Mary Lou Dickerson's plea for fiscal sanity

State Representative Mary Lou Dickerson has written a timely and eloquent post on the Slog: I am Angry. She says that the state budget cuts will make life miserable for many vulnerable people. She describes how the voters repeatedly vote for costly initiatives (for example, to decrease class sizes and raise teacher salaries) but then…

Burn ban ignored

There’s a burn ban in effect in much of the Puget Sound area (http://www.pscleanair.org/airq/burnban/default.aspx), but many of my neighbors ignore it. Often the air is thick with smoke that burns my eyes. So much for the great environment of the Northwest! See also What is a burn ban? and http://www.pscleanair.org/airq/status.aspx. Video: “Where There’s Smoke, There’s…