This post was written after I read comments on a Seattle Times article on the failure of I-1033. http://bit.ly/2haRLs

As with many things I learned about growing up, there’s a significant difference between the idea of a democratic society, and reality.  In the ideal democratic state, or even the ideal republic, every voter is an informed voter, who casts their vote with full knowledge of the issue at hand, and in the best interest of the society as a whole.  This is not the case.

If such an ideal were to be reflected in reality, none of Tim Eyman’s ballot initiatives or any similar “tax liberation” measures would collect enough signatures to make it on the ballot.  For example, I-1033.  It may have been defeated in this year’s election, but many political analysts have said that that may be due in part to the attachment of Tim Eyman’s name to the measure, casting aside the fact that this kind of measure inhibits the ability of the state to provide adequate basic services.

I-1033 would have limited any increase in state and local government revenue to inflation and population growth, with any excess being returned to the taxpayers in the form of a property tax break.  Washington doesn’t have an income tax, so sales and property taxes are levied instead.

The problem with this is that it would commit all levels of local government to a path of perpetual decline.  Maybe that’s the point.  If the revenue raised by various levels of government cannot grow faster than inflation or population growth, but it shrinks in response to economic downturns, it can only become smaller.  Have a relative on state health insurance, in public school, or drive on any road built and/or maintained by the state including interstate highways? See the connection?

Too many people are selfish, narrow-minded, and short-sighted — and it happens to the detriment of our society.

Examining the posted schematic, PCB layout, and parts list for the Word Clock at Instructables, there appear to be several inconsistencies.  I believe that this is due to the fact that the project was revised a few times after the schematic was drawn. Improvements

• It should be possible to swap out the PIC16F877 that Doug used for a PIC16F887, which has the same pinouts, with minimal changes to the code, should you decide to rebuild his clock without any modifications aside from upgrading the microcontroller.  And added benefit of using the 887 versus the 877 is that the 887 has a built-in oscillator with a default frequency of 4MHz, so an external oscillator is no longer needed.

Inconsistencies

• The parts list supplied by Doug lists the power regulator as a 78L05, whereas the outline on the PCB layout is for an LM7805.

I had a few other things in mind, but I originally drafted this post a while ago, and now no longer remember what else I was going to write.