On KUOW's "Weekday" this morning, host Steve Scher asked Mayor Mike McGinn what he thought of Josh's editorial last week arguing that if McGinn thinks a provision in state legislation calling for "Seattle-area property owners" to pay for cost overruns on the deep bore tunnel is enforceable, he should push to enforce it---by doing what the provision says: requiring wealthy downtown land owners to pay for any overruns.

Why not, Scher asked, "say, okay, here's how we will pay for cost overruns: You landed, wealthy, horse-riding gentry" will pay for them?

McGinn responded, "While I appreciate what Josh is saying, that's a lot of money." If the tunnel went over budget by 20 percent, for example, that would be $400 million---nearly twice the projected cost of a seawall that will be paid for with 30-year bonds and taxes on property owners citywide. "If we actually went out there and tried to raise $400 million from the landed gentry, we'd have to go citywide."

I guess McGinn prefers his sound bite ("I'm just asking the question") to Josh's ("if you think it's enforceable, enforce it."

McGinn told Scher: "I ask how they're going to pay and they don't answer the question. They change the topic and they attack me" instead.