Zine Fest was great and we've started taking the new issue--and that cool new cover by @teathy.bsky.social--to the usual spots! Locations so far are in the alt text.

I mean, yes, exactly, but this is all happening in the context of an *election,* not a theoretical conversation about how to cultivate political talent. What would you do if you were in Maine and faced with the choice in November between Platner and Collins? The choice should be easy, even now.

Time to bring a land value tax to WA through the Vibrant Cities Act. It will make our property taxes more progressive--taxing the rich more and lower earners less. And it will punish land speculation and encourage homebuilding.

Easy choice. Implement as soon as humanly possible.

Spokane Councilmember Klitzke is leading the charge for state legislation that would authorize the equivalent of a land value tax: “A property tax that exempts buildings and shifts the burden onto land would give us a new and powerful tool to fill in our gaps while keeping Spokane affordable.”

We all spend a lot of time arguing about the process of institutional candidate selection and policy platforms and all of that but at the end of the day voters are who they are, in all their inscrutability and insanity, and politics-heads overestimate their influence at their own peril

This was really quite a stellar interview. I wish it weren’t happening in the context of a must-win Senate seat, but this saga has provided a worthwhile cultural meditation on accountability, redemption, and transformation.

Extremely proud to have played a part in this! I pitched this to Sightline last summer & they graciously gave me a short contract to investigate its viability. They were convinced, and I got to dive in, working with the Center for Land Econ & evangelizing it in WA www.sightline.org/2026/06/03/y...

I mean, great, but this also seems like evidence it should have been something with more capacity, like a light metro.

Cities already do public engagement. It’s called an election.

Spokane County's annual cocktail week has reached new heights this year, with more than 50 different locations participating in what organizers call the biggest celebration yet.

How much housing is located near the nation's transit? 45% of units are located within a 1/2 mile of bus or rail. But only 10% is near frequent service... and 6% is near a rail station. Our new data tool @urbaninstitute.bsky.social allows you to investigate in detail! www.urban.org/data-tools/h...

If you read the article, this is an example of a police department doing its job well and correctly.

This is… kind of insane?

You might want to stock up on hamburgers and other beef products this week.

It is legitimately bad and states with mail-in ballots should invest in ways to count more quickly. Especially when *when* you vote is so polarized, achieving a quick outcome is essential to ensuring voter trust in the process.

Excited to be working on a new approach to a land value tax that would be legal in WA state. Tax buildings less and land more and you'll get more new buildings and less vacant land. It's a non-zoning solution for mitigating the housing shortage, and it's value capture done right.

Henry George peeking in on Spokane from the afterlife with a big grin on his face and a shirt that says "sickos" (seriously, we should look at this in BC too! It would be so easy to do with our assessment structure!)

The amount of pension, retirement, and insurance fraud that police officers commit is absolutely astounding.

Excited about this! #LVT Heads and #Georgist friends check it out: A new report shows how shifting incentives through a land value tax in Spokane could encourage homebuilding and discourage in-city vacant land speculation. www.sightline.org/2026/06/03/y... #landvaluetax #WAleg

The driver, a 70-year-old woman, was taken to the hospital for evaluation. Still, I hope to God she gets charged with negligent or reckless driving. Intent doesn’t matter—she could have gotten people injured and/or killed.

This report is absolutely excellent. I’m really hoping Spokane and #waleg can get this done so we can build more homes and make more efficient use of our scarcest resource: land.

Homes, shops, public spaces >>>> empty city lots. @danbertolet.bsky.social

Increase property tax rates, but provide an exemption for "improvements" aka buildings so it's revenue neutral. = A doable way to implement a Land Value Tax so we're taxing land value, not over-taxing the useful thing (aka buildings). via @sightline.org www.sightline.org/2026/06/03/y...

What’s going on in Portland?

One part of Single Stair's unbelievably fast success since 2021 is that it re-legalizes everyone's favorite old buildings. New "break-up-the-massing" double loaded buildings so often try to emulate them with fake facade divisions and other visual deception But we can just legalize the real thing

No one should be claiming Waymo reduces traffic. (And I don’t see many people claiming that anymore!) But it does increase safety. As this piece notes, Uber drivers—the substitute for Waymo—also spend more than 40% of their time deadheading. But they’re much less safe. So… what’s the problem?

Ooof

If you want a vision of the future imagine an orthopedic new balance sneaker stamping a human face. Forever.

I will reiterate that the platonic ideal of electoral systems is the Alaska Primary, whereby the top four vote-getters in a jungle primary advance to a ranked-choice general election.

Another day, another @calmatters.org piece about the Insurance Commissioner race that focuses on rate increases but doesn’t discuss actuarial risk of climate change or how unfunded the FAIR plan is. This outlet is so committed to misinforming readers about the stakes calmatters.org/politics/202...

It looks like it’s going to be a Becerra-Hilton general election. Tom Steyer needed to be second in the biggest counties, but he’s underperforming––particularly in the Bay Area.

I hope to God this driver was arrested for negligent or reckless driving. This could have gotten people killed.

Please donate a few bucks to progressive independent Nate Powell’s campaign, and let's defeat Mike Baumgartner this November!

pretty sure any half awake prosecutor could charge and convict clarence thomas for the bribes everyone is aware he's been taking. and im pretty sure you could nail a couple others two. why bother packing the court. you're allowed to do it now. bonus points when they've actually done crimes

Plessy-ass decision

This is truly one of the worst things the court has done — both in terms of legitimacy and in terms of the law — since I have been covering the court.

It’s an illegitimate court and any politician who wants to be taken seriously should say so very clearly and vow to not recognize or enforce any of their rulings; any presidential candidate who wants to be taken seriously should promise to immediately nominate 9 justices to form a legitimate court.

The way to understand this is the same way we understand oligarchs in Hungary doing the bidding of the authoritarian Viktor Orbán regime. It is a flagrant attack on the free press.

this is the most pathetic-ass letter i have ever seen

We should simply string these guys up for attempting to overthrow the Republic.

It's ridiculous that police departments make up around 30-50% of the average municipality's budget, but those same police look at you like you're stupid if you ever ask them to investigate a crime.

The choice in California is clear and obvious. A progressive YIMBY who believes in public sector excellence versus a conservative NIMBY who believes in public sector decline.

The Iran Deal is above us, below us, all around us.

Job openings come in well above expectations, which is good news in spite of *gestures around wildly.*

this has to be a joke

*TRUMP NAMES PULTE AS ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE omg - we are completely f*cked

Washington has the nation’s fourth-highest standard of living.

ANGELENOS: Please return your ballot today with votes for Nithya Raman and Tom Steyer!

judicial decisions on land use & environmental review: "so on the one hand you have the clear legislative intent, affirmed repeatedly by the voters… but on the other hand, footnote 7 of paragraph G says that my neighbor Clarke should have had more say"