CRC Still Dangling by a Thread

The Washington legislature is in overtime. Governor Inslee has made transportation funding a go-home vote. Columbia River Crossing officials are working on mitigation deals with major employers impacted by a new I-5 bridge. But the verdict remains in doubt whether the bridge project will survive.

Bridge backers staged a rally in Olympia, ran radio spots and conducted phone banks to generate grassroots support. Inslee arguably made his most serious plea for a 10-cent gas tax increase to pay, in part, for major projects, including the CRC. A broad coalition of business, labor and civic leaders have pleaded for support in one-on-one meetings with key Washington state senators who hold the key to any funding this session.

Despite all that, the future of CRC is still a roll of the dice.

The Oregon legislature acted earlier in its 2013 session to approve $450 million for the CRC. Now it is Washington's turn to approve an equal share or risk losing earmarked federal funds for the project, including extension of light rail from Portland to Vancouver.

While proponents have been busy, so have opponents. GOP Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, who represents Southwest Washington, used her leverage as a member of the House Appropriations Committee to insert report language urging the Coast Guard to submit a report on the economic impact of the CRC on river users before issuing a permit for the project.

Citing pending mitigation deals with manufacturers Greenberry and Oregon Iron Works, Beutler said, "We deserve to know what will happen to those jobs once the deals are signed. If the CRC can't provide assurances that those businesses' jobs will stay in the region, then the Coast Guard should not permit the project."

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Obama's Horrible, Very Bad Week

If Alexander thought he was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, President Obama must feel like he is having the same kind of week. Scandals, bad judgment and roiling international events have rocked his boat.

Obama is trying to take command and provide damage control by firing the interim Internal Revenue Service administrator, releasing reams of email after the fatal raid on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and supporting a press shield law. But that may not be enough to stop the political carping.

It also didn't help that just as Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to make a breakthrough by securing Russian agreement to a June summit to discuss the Syrian civil war, Russians claimed they uncovered and expelled a U.S. agent, with whiz-bang spy gadgets and a satchel of cash.

Then came news that jobless filings increased, drought may accelerate wildfire season and across-the-board federal budget cuts may hamper the ability of emergency responders during the hurricane season later this year.

Obama can probably empathize with Alexander's wake-up discovery of gum in his hair, trip to the dentist. distaste for his railroad pajamas and lack of dessert in his lunch.

Whatever the emotion and political fallout, the compounding brouhaha has pushed economic stimulation and job growth back into the shadows again.

The subject that most voters in America list as their number one concern was on track as Obama began his second term, but events and politics have conspired to push it off stage. The Newtown school shooting prompted an all-out push by Obama for gun control measures. The effort attracted national attention, but ultimately hit a roadblock in the U.S. Senate.

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The Intersection of Clout and Dysfunction

Oregon may be on the threshold of reaping the benefits of congressional senority as members of the state delegation move into higher-profile and more powerful positions. But Oregonian political reporter Jeff Mapes wonders whether seniority in a dysfunctional Congress is as important as it once was.

For years, Oregon power brokers jealously eyed the political clout of Washington's delegation, with Warren Magnuson as chair of Senate Appropriations and his protégé Congressman Norm Dicks as a rising star in House Appropriations. When asked about the value of chairing Senate Appropriations, Magnuson famously said it was all about sharing — if Alabama got a project funded, then one was funded in Washington; if Maine got a project funded, then another one was funded in Washington.

Oregon experienced its own political heyday when Mark Hatfield as chair of Senate Appropriations, Bob Packwood as chair of Senate Finance, Al Ullman as chair of House Ways and Means and Bob Duncan and later Les AuCoin as members of House Appropriations. Hatfield didn't approach his chairmanship with the same swagger as Magnuson, but he still managed to bring home a lot of bacon.

Times change and states send new members to Congress, who start at the bottom rung of seniority. They have to fight to get a decent office and don't get to guide major spending or tax decisions. Oregon's congressional power appears to be returning. The Roll Call Clout Index lists Oregon as one of the states gaining the most power on Congress since 2009. It lists Oregon's delegation as the 26th most powerful delegation in Congress, up from 39th when Barack Obama became president.

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Daydreaming about the Future of Cars

Now that Congress has solved traffic tie-ups at airports, it might begin thinking about the challenges that lie ahead with robotic vehicles that are like computers on wheels.

Current predictions place the first driverless car on the market as soon as 2018, which is a couple of elections and political lifetimes away for Members of Congress. Nevertheless, some futurists are already pondering what driving will be like when your car can do the driving for you.

BMW may have to come up with a new tagline when "The Ultimate Driving Machine" requires a remote control rather than leather gloves.

The image is less "Driving Miss Daisy" and more "Driving with Friends." In fact, some speculate that the entire car ownership model could change radically. Instead of having one, two or three vehicles of various sizes and shapes sitting in the garage, you could send a text message to summon an appropriate vehicle, pretty much like ordering a pizza. 

There could be one size for the family outing to the beach and another to haul away a kid's furniture and Playboy magazines when he heads off to college.

Of course, there is always the daily task of driving to work. But even that might be altered through greater ride-sharing, arranged by a computer in the clouds. Let's face it, this is cooler than a keyless car ever was.

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Wyden Could Be a Tax Panel Kingpin

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden may be next in line to become chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which overseas taxation, trade and Medicare. The one hitch is that Democrats will have to fight to retain control of the Senate in the 2014 elections.

Wyden's potential ascension is due to the announcement today that current Chair Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, has decided not to seek reelection. Earlier, the ranking Democrat on the committee, West Virginia Democrat Jay Rockefeller, said he was retiring.

The bad news for Wyden is that it may be hard for Democrats to retain those two Senate seats and a few others in the 2014 mid-term elections when there isn't a presidential race to activate all Democratic constituencies.

Elected to the U.S. House in 1980, Wyden moved into his first major chairmanship this term by taking the gavel of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. It takes that long in seniority-based Congress to move to the front of the line.

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