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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Frank Blethen Parks Where Frank Blethen Wants

Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 3:49 PM

Seattle Times owner Frank Blethen is in Olympia today to ask the legislature to give newspapers a fat tax break.

From the PI:

Under the proposed measure, the business and occupation tax on newspapers would be cut by 40 percent through 2015.

Blethen said a state tax break wouldn't fix all that ails newspapers, but it would help them preserve jobs.

The loss of advertising revenue, mixed with the current economic climate, has put weekly and daily newspapers in the state under "tremendous financial pressure," he said.

Blethen must have been in a hurry because, according to sources in Olympia, Blethen pulled his Porsche into the middle of the permit-only press lot “and beached it" before heading in to a meeting, where he told legislators that:

"Some of us, like The Seattle Times, are literally holding on by our fingertips today.

6014/1234999670-blethen.jpeg

It must be tough to be a Porsche-owning newspaper mogul these days.

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Comments (23) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
I wonder what would happen if we had an income tax for anyone who 'earned' $1 million or more a year (e.g. flat income tax with a $1 million deduction that counted all earnings - salary, bonus, options, dividends, etc.
Posted by Will in Seattle on February 18, 2009 at 4:05 PM
2
Oh, he earned that. I know "earn" is not something liberals understand very well. Or going to bat for your team.
Posted by murder the stranger with spoons on February 18, 2009 at 4:09 PM
3
Damn, that's an ugly car.
Posted by J.R. on February 18, 2009 at 4:10 PM
4
@2: You must also like the word "inherit."
Posted by Mr. Language Man on February 18, 2009 at 4:11 PM
5
Is Porche making station wagons now?
Posted by Sylvie on February 18, 2009 at 4:19 PM
6
@4 for the insightful win.
Posted by Will in Seattle on February 18, 2009 at 4:33 PM
7
At least he didn't take a private jet?
Posted by pedro on February 18, 2009 at 4:43 PM
8
Shouldn't a newspaper mogul know what the word "literally" means?
Posted by tuesdayharmony on February 18, 2009 at 4:43 PM
9
@5
It's actually an SUV, the Porsche Cayenne(based on the VW Touareg\Audi Q7).
Posted by pragmatic on February 18, 2009 at 4:45 PM
10
That's an ugly car.
Posted by Cascadian on February 18, 2009 at 5:19 PM
11
Blethen, you pathetic pussy.

Your paper was in decline long before the economy went in the shitter. If you can't keep afloat without a bailout after your only competition disappears, then you deserve to go under.

No government handouts for you.
Posted by Reverse Polarity on February 18, 2009 at 5:20 PM
12
Hey isn't that the plum SUV Christopher ridiculed in Issaquah?

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/on-st…
Posted by picking on his car, really? on February 18, 2009 at 6:37 PM
13
In the coming, dying days of that turd-wrapper, Blethen's circulation and marketing folks are going to get tired of his malfeasant bullshit. And they are going to have quite some stories to tell about how the P-I was handled, and the administration of the Operating Agreement.

The Sherman Act is gonna' get rolled-out and it is gonna' get mighty interesting. Try holding onto family unity when the justice department comes sniffing with a criminal complaint.

Keep blaming everyone else for your problems Frank! The Times' malignant failure couldn't POSSIBLY have anything to do with you. Right?
Posted by Inkster on February 18, 2009 at 6:50 PM
14
Don't worry Frank, these folks are angry because they are the kind of folks who have to clean cars like yours for a living.

Class envy. So ugly. So silly.
Posted by Stupid White Man on February 18, 2009 at 7:18 PM
15
@2

"Earn" is a concept that's difficult to take seriously in a nation where teachers barely make a subsistence wage while sports stars pull in more money annually than they could spend in a lifetime playing and exercising, and CEOs of industries heavily subsidized by taxes on the middle class rake in bonuses higher than what most of us will ever earn in our entire careers.

I find it hard to imagine what a media mogul could do to justifiably earn that much more than the reporters who actually make his industry work, especially given that the anachronistic paper-paradigm empire he's supposed to be captaining is going down with all hands.
Posted by balderdash on February 18, 2009 at 8:13 PM
16
So he owns a Cayenne, a Porsche that's named after an ingredient. Porsche tried to make the front look like a 911. which it doesn't. And the back looks even worse. It has the sex appeal of a camel with gingivitis.

He should just walk home instead. That's what I would do.
Posted by Simone on February 18, 2009 at 8:36 PM
17
That's what I'd do, too.
Posted by addie on February 18, 2009 at 9:24 PM
18
The Porsche Cayenne: for those who feel overdressed in a PT Cruiser.
Posted by Lee on February 19, 2009 at 6:44 AM
19
@16

Stealing quotes from Jeremy Clarkson I see. Have you also "seen more attractive gangenous wounds than this"?
Posted by pragmatic on February 19, 2009 at 7:40 AM
20
I wonder what Hearst executives drive (or fly).
Posted by MardiFat on February 19, 2009 at 8:02 AM
21
Depending on the year, model and options, a Porsche Cayenne can run from $22K up to $119K. Even the '09 base MSRP is $45K. It's not like he's driving a Bentley or Ferrari.
Posted by The First Darrin on February 19, 2009 at 10:33 AM
22
Seriously. Envy much? Too pissed off when peddling your single speed bicycles? Good for him. He should roll in a Rolls. Who cares what he drives, and ya... its not even that exclusive of a car. Referencing some one's material possessions makes you look low class.
Posted by Peter on February 19, 2009 at 11:18 AM
23
XYZ
Posted by MADMD on April 24, 2009 at 6:04 PM

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