SpokesmanReview.com

Weekly sections

Extra

awayfinder »
BizFinderNW »
Buy photo reprints
Comics
Crossword
DownToEarthNW
Health
Newspaper In Education
Online Contests
Special Sections
Spokane.net »
Sudoku

About us »
Advertise with us »
S-R Jobs »
Register »
Online login »
Online profile »

Read today's e-paper

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Current weather:
43° F cloudy, breezy

Opinion news

Published Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Initiative a bad idea

Out with the old Tim Eyman idea, in with the new.Yes, it's that time of year when the professional initiative peddler hatches his latest product. In Washington state, you can count on death, taxes and Eyman ballot measures calling for the death of taxes. Last year, he veered off course in a clumsy, unsuccessful effort to battle traffic congestion. Now he's back on track: unrealistic spending controls coupled with tax cuts. Though most Eyman initiatives are unwise and impractical, this one suffers from really bad timing, too. Here's how the "Lower Property Taxes Initiative," now known as Initiative 1031, would work:

Minimum rage

The annual bump in the minimum wage for Washington state is accompanied by the usual complaints.

Social sensitivity still lacking

Clint Eastwood has had it up to here with sensitivity."A lot of people are bored of all the political correctness," he recently told the New York Times. "… The country has come a long way in race relations, but the pendulum swings so far back. Everyone wants to be so" ... and here, he gave a make-my-day grimace … "sensitive."

Letters

Blame misses the point
I share the pain and outrage that Jeanie Smith referred to in her letter to the editor ("Take a lesson from nature," Jan. 2) in regards to the loss of another child's life. It often seems like we are more concerned about animal abuse than child abuse.