I find it interesting that so many people are upset by the new gas tax that will only add 3% or 4% to the cost of a gallon of gas by the time it is fully implemented. The cost for the average driver can be recovered by driving 500 mile less a year. The 9 cents will do little to solve transportation problems. No increase and gridlock or 50 cents a gallon and decreased driving might lead to a real public transportation system.

The part of the discussion (eastside Vs westside, conservative and liberal, who pays taxes and who benefits from taxes) that should be of most interest to steelhead and salmon fisherman was mentioned by Todd. The "billions in farm subsidies", which a large part of is paid to not plant crops. On the West Coast the primary support for dams, irrigation, and reduced stream flows come from the same farmers that receive large farm subsidies. Look at

http://www.ewg.org/reports/CAWaterTakings/execsumm.php

for a well-documented example of the government paying an irrigation group to put water back into the Sacramento River to protect fish. The profit to the irrigators, a small group of the larger recipients of farm subsidies in California, was $38.6 million. The Klamath River basin and the Columbia River basin are subject to the same kinds of taxpayer give aways. This is all money that could be used to protect and enhance fish runs.

For those with the inclination and time all of the farm subsidy data is available online at;

http://www.ewg.org/farm/

The data is available by state, county, and the top recipients in each county. A quick example of what can be learned is looking at a few counties that are near the Snake River dams and the farm subsidy payments for 2003.

Garfield county - $3198 per person
Whitman county - $827 per person
Walla Walla county - $365 per person

And then King count at a whopping $0.70 per person.

The population data is available on the Washington State web side. The above per person figures include the entire population of the county from babies to 100 year old retirees. The actual recipients of the subsides receive several thousand dollars per person. Who was the largest single receipent in 2003 in the Washington State? The friendly farmer putting food on all of our tables, the State of Washington DNR at $1,121,972.