I just came back from a debate hosted by Publicola and I had a great time. It seemed like most of the people in the audience were opposed to the tunnel, although it wasn't a huge margin by any means. It's hard for me to get too excited about the issues around replacing the Alaska Way Viaduct. From what I know, it seems like the tunnel is going to be very expensive and will probably not work nearly as well as what we have now. Additionally, by default position is to build fewer roads and more transit. So I would obviously prefer that we had gone with the surface/transit option.
That said, the viaduct does need to be replaced. One good earthquake and the thing is coming down and, although I wish things were different, a lot of people need to drive from West Seattle to downtown so its not like we can just close it and move on. The tunnel is the thing that could get funded, so I guess that's what we're going to build.
On a different note, it looks like Obama's tax compromise has passed. Good for rich people, I guess. Not so good for the rest of us. Who cares about the deficit anyway? Certainly not the Republicans. It certainly would be horrible if taxes returned to the levels they were at in the 90s. The economy was really horrible back then.
If there is a good earthquake your building is coming down also, so at that point you can probably stop concerning yourself with that issue. I think the tax cut thing is necessary maybe because as Obama did with the surge, he had to at least try it to show that it doesn't work. I wish it didn't come as the result of consolidating wealth at the top tier.
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