Commentary

Comment: County budget requires balance of cost-savings, fee

Based on an audit, the county can be run more leanly but still needs a modest revenue increase.

Comment: Exporting nations may know Trump’s tariff talk is bluff

If that’s the plan, all can see the U.S. is still recovering from inflation and has little cushion for trade war.

Comment: Trump capitalized on growing mistrust of journalism

That mistrust has been prodded along for decades, but news media practitioners are culpable too.

Jon Holden, center, president of District 751 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, greets members in Seattle on Monday night, Nov. 4, 2024. Even with a strike ending, Boeing and its new chief executive face a daunting to-do list, including improving quality and increasing production of its commercial planes.  (M. Scott Brauer/The New York Times)

Comment: Was Boeing contract unions’ last big win for now?

With a change in presidential administrations, organized labor may face more obstacles ahead.

Jon Holden, center, president of District 751 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, greets members in Seattle on Monday night, Nov. 4, 2024. Even with a strike ending, Boeing and its new chief executive face a daunting to-do list, including improving quality and increasing production of its commercial planes.  (M. Scott Brauer/The New York Times)

Comment: Scheme to avoid Electoral College rife with problems

If Washington state really backs the plan it should award its delegates now to Donald Trump.

Comment: What an independent sees as the dust settles

We agree on core issues; can we agree to find respect for each other’s perspectives and beliefs?

Eco-nomics: U.S. picks poor time to reverse climate efforts

The election of Trump, who considers climate change a hoax, will frustrate U.S. efforts. Yet, there’s hope.

Comment: How Trump can lie, yet sound believable

All that’s necessary is to pair Americans’ practice of skimming issues with Trump’s air of certainty.

Comment: Trump can keep his promises or his popularity; not both

Plans to repeal the ACA and impose tariffs and mass deportation will be felt by those who elected him.

Comment: Trump’s plans may work against economy he inherits

Elon Musk’s budget-cutting zeal could hit employment hard, reversing gains during Biden’s administration.

Comment: County exec’s property tax proposal poorly timed

Days after local voters rejected several tax measures, the executive seeks an 8% property tax hike.

Comment: It’s climate crisis’ damage we don’t see that costs most

A new study says Oregon loses tens of billions of dollars each year to the routine impacts of climate change.

Comment: To understand why Democrats lost, look at wages

In the last 50 years, the bottom 60 percent saw their hourly wage increase only $3. Don’t count on Trump to fix that.

Comment: Democrats are in disarray with no clear path forward

How does a party chart a way out of a post-rational and polarized wilderness.

Comment: Trump 2.0 will be bad for climate, but it’s not hopeless

As Washington state showed in upholding cap-and-trade, climate efforts aren’t solely up to the president.

Comment: U.S. economy will prove stronger than Trump’s tariffs

Even so, they will drive up prices and won’t increase U.S. manufacturing productivity a new study shows.

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) on an engraving from 1834. The seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Engraved by J.B Longacre and published in ”National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans.”

Comment: Trump is no Nixon; but he is a lot like Jackson

Trump has already withstood investigations, unlike Nixon; but like Jackson he’s remade his party.

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) on an engraving from 1834. The seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Engraved by J.B Longacre and published in ”National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans.”

Comment: Failing Edmonds culvert poses risk of rail disaster

Bad decisions in the 1980s have led to deterioration of a culvert beneath tracks along the waterfront.

Comment: Working forests are healthy forests with many benefits

Locking up state timberlands as ‘legacy forests’ is bad for communities and the forests, themselves.

Comment: Meta’s ‘AI slop’ taking the ‘social’ out of social media

By offering free AI tools, Meta is replacing human-generated content with bizarre, meaningless imagery.