Around 10 o’clock last night, as Dino Rossi was leaving Blaine, Washington, a rural town 20-minutes north of Bellingham on the border with Canada—where he and Governor Chris Gregoire had just sparred in their second debate—the GOP hopeful stopped at the Yorky’s Grocery, a convenience store attached to an Exxon gas station.
Garner Palomata, the 36-year-old Filipino working behind the counter, recognized Rossi from the candidate’s TV ads. “Hey, you’re the Rossi guys,” Palomata said—a little awed that “someone famous,” with two other guys in suits and ties in tow, had just strolled into his brightly-lit gas station grocery. Thursday night mostly stars a stream of regulars from the fishing town buying beer and cigarettes.
Rossi told Palomata he had just debated Governor Gregoire, and he had won. “We’re in good shape,” Rossi said. Then he bought a king-size package of King Henry Boston baked beans, wintergreen Certs, and a Red Bull for $20 in cash (one of his entourage paid, actually) and headed out of town.
Later that night at Yorky’s—I was on a junk food run— Palomata said he planned to vote for Rossi. “I’m a Republican. I like the Palin thing.” He was glad that Rossi thought the night had gone well.
I told Palomata about one of the main standoffs in that night’s debate, a point that seemed germane to the clerk. Both candidates were asked if they thought the minimum wage was supposed to be a “living wage” and would either one consider scaling it back.
“I don’t know of anybody getting rich on the minimum wage,” Gregoire told the hostile crowd (the debate was sponsored by the Association of Washington Business and the questions came from their membership). “The people of Washington are struggling. They go to the gas pumps and can’t afford to fill up the car, they go to the grocery and can’t afford to put food on the table…Washingtonians need to be able to provide for their families. Plenty of people are working minimum wage jobs that need to provide for their families, and I want to stand with Washingtonians.”
She said she supported the voter-approved minimum wage, $8.07 an hour. She also said she supported training programs for teen workers.
Rossi took the opposite point of view. Touting his Washington Restaurant Association endorsement (the most adamant opponents of the minimum wage), he said: “The minimum wage was not meant to be a family wage. It’s meant to be an entry level wage.”
The news pissed off Palomata. “If he lowers it,” he said, “I don’t want to vote for him. I’d be cutting my head off. I don’t want to demote myself.” Palomata and his girlfriend live in a rented cabin in Birch Bay, just south of Blaine, where the median family income is $44,000. (By way of comparison, the median family income in Seattle is $65,000.)
While Rossi’s line on the minimum wage didn’t play well with the Blaine convenience store clerk, it did play well with the crowd on the right side of the tracks in the 6,500-square-foot Semiahmoo Grand Ballroom at the Semiahmoo Resort Golf Spa, the classy hotel tucked away on the northern shoreline of the Puget Sound where AWB members drank red wine and nodded in approval at most of Rossi’s answers.
If you were to judge by the crowd reaction—the AWB gave Rossi an award earlier in the day and interrupted him several times during the debate with applause—Rossi was right when he boasted to Palomata about his successful night. He hit the themes he has hit before: Gregoire has increased spending 33 percent, created a $3.2 billion deficit, and raised taxes by $500 million. He also points out that Washington has one of the highest rates of small business failures in the U.S.
In contrast, Rossi says he will create an “entrepreneurial state,” balance the budget (“I’ve done it before and I will do it again”), and scrap all the requirements that he says are keeping insurance companies from coming to our state and creating a competitive health care climate.
Rossi’s most successful turn came when he accurately busted the governor for not being the deciderer on the Viaduct. “The big problem we have with transportation in this state is that we can’t make a decision until everybody is holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya,’ ” he said. “Sometimes you just have to make a decision.”
While Gregoire wasn’t an audience favorite, she was authoritative and forceful and certainly landed some blows herself. She unraveled Rossi’s talk of deregulating health care by linking Rossi’s GOP philosophy to the Bush-era disaster on Wall Street saying: “His other solution is deregulation, well, that worked great for the financial institutions of America.”
She also scored points (and even got a laugh from the otherwise unfriendly audience) when she answered a question posed by Rossi about her budget. Each candidate got to ask the other a question and Rossi asked if Gregoire had the chance, would she do her budget differently? The laugh came when she started by saying “unlike you” she would answer his question—Rossi had just dodged her question to him which asked what policies he disagreed with President Bush on.
Then she hit her main anti-Rossi theme (that his values are out of sync with the voters), saying she stood by her budget: “I balanced the budget and I will do it again…and not on the backs off children and seniors like he did, but by understanding the values of the people of Washington.” Rossi’s 2003 budget raised taxes on seniors in nursing homes, cut education funding by almost $1 billion, and threw 40,000 low-income kids off health care.
As they did in their first debate, the pair continued to fight over the projected $3.2 billion budget deficit. Gregoire maintains the state has a surplus and Rossi maintains Gregoire has spent the state into the red.
One final note that I found newsworthy in its own right beyond the debate: Governor Gregoire said the family leave act, a pet project of the liberal Senate, including Democratic Senate Majority leader Sen. Lisa Brown (D-3, Spokane), was “suspended.” Gregoire noted this when she was asked to detail her plans to deal with the projected deficit. (Rossi’s only specific to the same question was that he would cut the governor’s office budget, which he said Gregoire had increased by bulking up her “entourage.”)
Nice post Goldy.
Readers should note how another key position of candidate Rossi fits into today’s financial institution crisis. This crisis is undeniably linked to deregulation and failure on the part of Bush’s administration to enforce existing regulations.
For five long years Dino has been repeating his intent to slash government regulations here in Washington “so entrepreneurs can be entrepreneurs again”
Folks should be very interested in just which regulations Dino would eliminate or fail to enforce if elected yet he is always careful to not give any specifics. Just which “entrepreneurs” does Rossi want to let back into the game? His less reputable friends among the BIAW membership or crooks like Dino’s felon mentor Melvin Heide?
This fellow Heide took Rossi under his wing even as the FBI was conducting the fraud investigation leading to his conviction and prison term. This housing, real-estate and banking fraud convicted felon continued to employ Rossi while in prison and after his release Dino stayed with him until he moved into the new 5th legislative district to run for the state senate, a race he lost. With Heide’s scam and Dino’s help employees earned a living at the expense of defrauded investors and caused the failure of Shoreline Savings and loan. Rossi followed Heide from company to company and to this day remains loyal to his felon mentor.
The Governor for her part, stated that she supports good regulations, presumably like the ones that sent Heide to jail. I am sure Rossi would not agree with her though.
Good job Josh, you nailed the key to the entire debate.
Republicans who oppose a livable minimum wage are socialists. They want taxpayers to subsidize their businesses’ labor costs with rent subsidies, food stamps, and Medicaid. In my opinion, a product or service that can’t be sold for what it costs to produce it, without labor subsidies from taxpayers like me, shouldn’t be on the market. Subsidizing unprofitable businesses creates market distortions that drag down the economy’s productivity. If businesses that need labor subsidies to survive are allowed to go out of business, the capital tied up in these enterprises will be reallocated to more productive activities, making all of us richer. Therefore, I support raising the minimum wage to the subsistence level to remove the labor subsidy for uneconomic products and services.
The latest cycle of Wall Street greed and excess is coming to an end — until the next one. Once again, a government bailout is saving capitalism from itself.
Ah….. Josh nice post. So fine I thought you were Goldy.
Particle Man @5,
We’re both fast talking Jews. So I understand the confusion.
@1 “Nice post Goldy.”
Nice post yourself, Particle. It’d make a good reading for Gregoire’s camp.
ah the minimum wage debate.
I don’t really have a problem with the minimum wage on the wet side of the state. However, I do have a problem with the minimum wage in eastern washington. It shouldn’t be a one size fits all proposition.
I could easily see it being based on the median wage earned by the workers in a particular county. If you are a barista getting $8.07 an hour in Twisp don’t you think that the barista in Seattle should be getting a little more?
For example.
Take the median wage of all of the workers in the state and that is the benchmark for $8.07 an hour. If your county is above that mark the minimum wage for that county would be higher than $8.07. If it was lower it would be less. Of course you’d have to have a cap on it both ways. That would protect the workers in Matawa from making $2.00 a hour. Total Pipe Dream…but if I were king that is what I’d do.
Hey it’s just a suggestion.
As far as the debate goes…Rossi was just pandering to the audience. He knows full well that he won’t be able to lower the minimum wage without some sort of slicker than shit plan.
“Rossi was just pandering to his audience…” -but by doing so he reveals his true self. He trys to run this campaign saying less than Sarah Palin, and now his true self comes out.
Attacking the minimum wage, deregulating insurance companies- that is his true self. Rossi promoted the Repub deregulation schemes in the legislature in the 90’s, too. The Dems, and Gov. Locke, AG Gregoire and Commissioner Senn stopped them then. Thankfully, because otherwise we would have had deregulated energy at Enron’s behest, (they has a bunch of lobbyists working it up here)and gutted the role of Health Departments, fair wage enforcement, workplace safety, consumer protection- the list goes on.
This is the true Rossi agenda. Better wake up or we can have our own scandals and regulatory failures and collapses here.
Gregoire said we need smarter and more effective regulation, and said it to a tough crowd. Speaking truth to power. Thats leadership.
When is Rossi coming to a debate in front of environmental activists, women’s equality groups and labor leaders? Not in our lifetime.
Great post. Thank you.
Nice piece Josh.
Did you get a chance to see the other three debates from that afternoon?
Josh–
Did Gregoire clap for Rossi when AWB gave him the award right in front of her for being friendly toward business!!?
That was pretty darn funny.
What a stab in the back to Gregoire…and well deserved. There was a serious message there boys.
Josh, didn’t Dino say deliberately that he would lower the minimum wage for high school kids and people starting their first job? Just trying to clarify.
Yes, he did say he would lower it for teenagers so they can get jobs, not what Josh lied to the guy at the convenience store about.
The man said he would vote for Rossi, so Josh lied to him about a position. Welcome to Horses Ass, Josh.
Journalist. Not much. Just report the truth, if you want to be a reporter. Otherwise, you are an opinion columnist. That is all.
I would have liked to have heard or seen or read more about the actual conversation. Just for the future.
Journalism and reporting are different maestro. A robot can report. A human can be a journalist. People are people, and it takes a person to tell a story in a connected way.
And, just to make sure, which of us at 16 can’t get a minimum wage job? Oh right, none. Hell, I had two minimum wage jobs and one job over minimum wage (because of my work in the other two), but my 17th birthday. And I was manager.
So blow it out my ass, Dino. God knows you love your head up yours.
My daughter is 16, still in high school, but taking Running Start classes in community college.
In community college, books cost money — BIG money. My daughter is baby-sitting close to home and cracking the books while the little ones sleep. She gets that she has to work to pay for her books, and she’s all for it.
One prospective client offered her $5 per hour. My kid said “Nuh-uh! I don’t work for under minimum wage, and you’ll get your money’s worth from me.” She got minimum wage.
Dino Rossi wants to take away my kid’s earning power. He wants to take away your kid’s earning power.
You’re a no good prick, Dino.
ivan–
Minimum wage for babysitters??
That will really help the economy.
How many people will actually go out & spend money if they have to pay a babysitter minimum wage.
PS–You look way too old to have a high school daughter ivan. Did you rob the cradle or something??
As it happens, Cynical, you stupid prick, a *lot* of people are paying my daughter minimum wage to baby sit because — wait for it — she gives them their money’s worth, like washing dishes that the kid used, and cleaning up after the kid, and they line her up weeks in advance.
It’s called entrepreneurship, and liberals are as good at it as right-wing gaping assholes like you think *they* are.
ivan-
Why do you have to be so mean??
Your daughter is more than a babysitter…she’s also a maid.
Good for her.
Actually, for a maid/babysitter, she is underpaid. She should get at least $10/hour!
You should be proud of her…as opposed to the lazy asses in your Democratic Party who want something for nothing.
Is your daughter a Republican??
Since she is a maid, do her employers withhold Social Security…or is this all “under the table” stuff???
You want to make sure your daughter and her customers pay lots of taxes ivan, right?
Isn’t is sad that Josh Feit is now slogging for a 5th tier web site?
Josh, you should not have quit The Stranger in a huff over not getting that promotion.
You might go for Postman’s job at The Seattle Times ……Not!
Smell you later, dipshit!
Having spent most of today canvassing for Gregoire in a nicer-ish suburban neighborhood, i can tell you that Rossi’s opposition to our voter-approved minimum wage law has fucked him big time. At least, it has with everyone who lives behind the doors i knocked on. i mentioned it to just about every single person who stayed at the door long enough to listen, and that, along with my spiel about him cutting 40,000 kids in low-income families off of Medicaid, and him supporting that horrifying unemployment insurance bill in 03, very visibly shocked people. Eventually, i got to where i kind of enjoyed watching that look of horror spread across voters’ faces as i explained what that nice man from the ads is really all about. Is that schadenfreude? If so, i’m cool with that.
Every January 1, the majority of the wage earners of the city of Spokane and the Spokane valley gets a raise.
Entry level pay rate my ass.
I drove to Blaine and explained to Palomata what a bunch of slimy cunts democrats are
and got him voting for Rossi again. All in a days work.
Is there really no one that sees the other side of the minimum wage arguement.
When a company, big or small involuntarily has to raise a persons wages, where you you think the money comes from? Higher prices. That’s it, end of discussion.
The real goal should be educating people on the lower side of the economic scale.