Jolt
Afternoon Jolt: Today's Biggest Hypocrite, Steve Ballmer
1. Rather than naming a winner or loser today, we're going with the biggest hypocrite. Drum roll please: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Ballmer, as everyone reported today, contributed $100,000 to no on I-1098 campaign, the higher earners income tax. (He's one of the top 1.2 percent of the state's 3.2 million household who will pay the tax.)
A state budget office analysis of the initiative found that it would raise $2 billion a year. The measure earmarks the money for education and health care—70 percent for education.
Here's the Ballmer hypocrisy part. Time and time again he has publicly said taxpayers need to get serious about funding education.
"Taxpayers in this state have to come to grips with the notion that says we need to invest more in our education system overall," Ballmer said in 2003.
Ballmer called for more investment in both K-12 education and research universities to fill the talent pipeline that Microsoft and other "innovation" companies need to expand here. He said Microsoft has many job openings but it "just simply cannot find enough of the kind of talent we need to run our business."
And in a speech before the U.S. House of Representatives Democratic in February 2009, Ballmer said:
2. Addendum: After writing the above, we changed our minds; we're making city council member Mike O'Brien today's loser.
O'Brien, the lone "no" vote on legislation raising the city's commercial parking tax to help pay for design work on the seawall, echoed questions by his ally, Mayor Mike McGinn, about whether the city should move forward with the seawall now, or, as they think, wait to hear the mayor's budget next week and come up with a "comprehensive plan" for the seawall.
(Those concerns, as council member Tom Rasmussen pointed out, are of rather recent vintage; as recently as February, McGinn insisted that the seawall was so urgent the council should put a measure on the ballot in the spring.)
O'Brien, who has served less than a year on the council, is already starting to replace his colleague Nick Licata as the outlier on council proposals that have overwhelming support. Worse, he's starting to look like a puppet of the mayor---and McGinn hasn't exactly been popular these last couple of weeks.
Ballmer, as everyone reported today, contributed $100,000 to no on I-1098 campaign, the higher earners income tax. (He's one of the top 1.2 percent of the state's 3.2 million household who will pay the tax.)
A state budget office analysis of the initiative found that it would raise $2 billion a year. The measure earmarks the money for education and health care—70 percent for education.
Here's the Ballmer hypocrisy part. Time and time again he has publicly said taxpayers need to get serious about funding education.
"Taxpayers in this state have to come to grips with the notion that says we need to invest more in our education system overall," Ballmer said in 2003.
Ballmer called for more investment in both K-12 education and research universities to fill the talent pipeline that Microsoft and other "innovation" companies need to expand here. He said Microsoft has many job openings but it "just simply cannot find enough of the kind of talent we need to run our business."
And in a speech before the U.S. House of Representatives Democratic in February 2009, Ballmer said:
This means investment in education is critical, and I’m really encouraged by the very heavy emphasis on education that’s in the stimulus package.
2. Addendum: After writing the above, we changed our minds; we're making city council member Mike O'Brien today's loser.
O'Brien, the lone "no" vote on legislation raising the city's commercial parking tax to help pay for design work on the seawall, echoed questions by his ally, Mayor Mike McGinn, about whether the city should move forward with the seawall now, or, as they think, wait to hear the mayor's budget next week and come up with a "comprehensive plan" for the seawall.
(Those concerns, as council member Tom Rasmussen pointed out, are of rather recent vintage; as recently as February, McGinn insisted that the seawall was so urgent the council should put a measure on the ballot in the spring.)
O'Brien, who has served less than a year on the council, is already starting to replace his colleague Nick Licata as the outlier on council proposals that have overwhelming support. Worse, he's starting to look like a puppet of the mayor---and McGinn hasn't exactly been popular these last couple of weeks.
