Just a Minute!

Easy to see why people don't trust government (4/24/09)

     Trust no one.

     Remember that mantra from “The X-Files”?

     Mulder and Scully were on to something, and the latest Edelman Trust Barometer bears them out. In its 10th edition, the survey by the world’s largest independent PR firm reveals that 62 percent of “informed” people in 20 countries say they trust corporations less now than they did a year ago.

     As you let that “well, duh” moment pass, consider this: A global majority agrees that government should impose stricter control over business, but there has been no corresponding rise in a trust in government.

     Look no farther than Olympia to understand why. The state House of Representatives has approved legislation that will allow a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct on Seattle’s waterfront. The measure approving the $4.3 billion project passed only after House Speaker Frank Chopp insisted on an amendment requiring cost overruns be borne “by property owners in the Seattle area who benefit” from the tunnel’s construction.

      Chopp no doubt knows such a tactic is unenforceable. But apparently it’s his way of saying to Seattle: “Who’s your daddy?”

      What remains unclear is why Papa Chopp would do something so crude, cynical and mean-spirited, and then expect “informed” voters to trust him.

JUST A MINUTE! is a weekly essay intended to be read in about 60 seconds. Find more online at seattlepostglobe.org.