This and That: I-1033, Hydro in I-937, Great Health Care Videos, and More

I spent most of the last two days at a meeting of the Western States Petroleum Association, a good WashACE supporter. Here's a bit of catching up on things we've posted on previously...and some new stuff.

New:

• In this Puget Sound Business Journal Column I take a look at Initiative 1033, a revenue cap that promises property tax relief. Read it and let me know what you think. 
• There's a lot of talk about taxing the rich to pay for new federal programs. That makes this new Tax Foundation report particularly timely. 

The top 1 percent of tax filers earned about 22.8 percent of the nation's income in 2007 (the latest IRS data available), and paid 40.4 percent of all federal income taxes - more than the bottom 95 percent of tax filers combined, according to a Tax Foundation analysis of just-released IRS data.

Ongoing:

• It looks like health care reform may be slowing down in Congress. That's a good thing. The News Tribune editorial board points out this morning that good health care law won't expire like milk. This post from The Heritage Foundation should erasie any lingering doubt about the importance of taking the time to get it right. 
• Worth a special health care bullet is this excellent video series from the Washington Policy Center. The WPC managed to break down the complexities, bring out important information, and do it in a compelling and concise manner. Great work.
• In an earlier post on the challenges facing renewable energy, I linked to a seattlepi.com story citing Speaker Frank Chopp's support of including hydro as a renewable under the definitions of I-937. In a sharp editorial today, "We're not Las Vegas - say it here, be heard there," the Tri-Cities Herald challenges the Speaker's attempt to distance himself from the remark.
• The Seattle-Charleston connection, something I wrote about here, gets a nice treatment in this Puget Sound Business Journal post. The two metros have more in common that you think.