Besides being a partisan hack, Rob McKenna has very poor math skills

[pscot]

THE CLAIM: "I went back and I crunched the numbers for the state budget to figure out where the spending's been going — what's been driving it. I looked at one 10-year period: 1998 to 2008. And what I discovered is that, in that 10 year period, every single year the state increased the amount it spent per employee by 5 percent — every year for 10 years. "

THE FACT: McKenna specified in an interview, and in his written calculations, that he was referring to average spending on employee salaries. But state data shows that salary spending for each full-time-equivalent worker in Washington actually rose 3.6 percent each year over that period.

By comparison, average Washington salaries for all jobs in the state — not just government ones — grew by an average of 3.5 percent each year during that span, according to federal data.

McKenna reached his incorrect numbers after seeing a 48 percent growth over the decade. His supporting documents indicate that he took that number and divided by 10 years to reach his conclusion about 5 percent annual growth.

But annual growth can't be calculated so easily. Because each year's increase compounds on top of the last, a 5 percent annual growth for 10 years would end up being 63 percent growth for the decade — not 48 percent.



Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/FACT-CHECK-McKenna-campaigns-with-faulty-data-1430794.php#ixzz1Q0v4xxR8

[eridani]

1. Wanna make this into an extended "Dirt on McKenna" thread?

That way people could have all the goodies in one place for purposes of writing LTEs, etc.

[pscot]

2. Good idea

Post 'em if you got 'em.

[freshwest]

3. Please do.