Initiative 920 lost, and it lost huge. The current numbers show I-920 barely passing in only three Eastern Washington counties, and failing statewide by 61% to 39%, an embarrassing 22-point margin that will only grow once the bulk of King County’s ballots are added to the mix.
This was more than a repudiation — it was a political ass-whooping… an electoral “fuck you” to estate tax repeal, its rhetoric, and the selfish multi-millionaires who backed it.
In arrogantly pushing to repeal Washington’s estate tax, proponents like Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen have set their cause back a decade or more. If the state GOP wants to continue to champion the cause, more power to them. Or rather, less power, for repudiating the overwhelming will of the voters is a sure fire path towards cementing the kind of stunning legislative losses they achieved last night. And if Frank or Martin or one of their wealthy buddies wants to sink more millions into yet another hopeless initiative, well… a fool and his money are soon parted, and as long as that adage holds true, voters don’t seem to mind if a tiny fraction of the money ends up in state coffers.
Had I-920 passed last night, even just squeaking by, we would have surely seen copycat initiatives popping up on ballots nationwide. Now that seems unlikely. But should estate tax repeal forces seek to cherry-pick a more millionaire friendly state, the No on I-920 campaign has provided a blue print for countering their carefully constructed, Luntzian, “death tax” rhetoric.
With the Democrats now in control, estate tax repeal is also as good as dead at the federal level, and I-920’s crushing defeat will give House and Senate leaders no incentive to moderate their position. In fact, by arrogantly overreaching, I-920’s backers may have actually damaged efforts to reach a compromise that would have significantly raised exemption levels on both the state and federal tax. Certainly, Blethen should expect no support from Sen. Maria Cantwell, who lost the Times’ endorsement due to her refusal to vote for repeal, yet still won reelection by an 18-point landslide.
If there was ever an example of editorial impotence, this is it.
Geez…..how do you really feel?
Please Goldy… my real name is “Frank” and that headline almost made me wet my pants!!!! :)
Time to ante up Goldy….
You championed two state races in this State and hit people up for cash as often as a panhandler on Braodway.
How did darcy Burner and Pete Goldmark do?
3
Don’t count Rubberstamp’s chickens yet.
Watch now, there goes the economy…stupid!
3 (continued)
Having a bad day, Proud Ass? Feeling a little testy, like Bush? hung over? Tell us what you were celebrating last night. I’m “curious” too.
HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR
Darcy’s race isn’t done yet. For better or worse, we’ll have to be patient.
Goldmark busted his ass, and it was in a tough neighborhood. Win or lose, we put the fear of God into the Republican party in the Mountain West, and proved that they can no longer take the region for granted.
For those of you not listening to Bush’s press conference, he conditioned approval of an increase in the $5.15 an hour federal minimum wage on taxpayers instead of employers paying the higher wages.
So typical. So Republican. So cheap labor conservative. Sooo …
F R E E L O A D E R
Goldmark forced the Republicans to spend how much on a “safe” seat? And McMorris got a scare. Goldmark will be back, and this could be McMorris’s last term. Go ahead and celebrate McMorris’s victory, wingnuts! It’s all you’ve got, and it ain’t much.
Maybe if they finance a few more of these loser initiative campaigns, Selig and Blethen will join the rest of us in not having to worry about the estate tax.
That will be even more true if Blethen continues to steer the editorial positions of the Seattle Times (and of his other family newspapers) toward the same kind of foolish directions they recently went.
I thought it was weird that 39% of the votes were for repeal of the tax. I didn’t know that tens of thousands of families in Washington State would continue to be negatively affected by the estate tax.
ASS: how’d you like the recent decisions made by the people of the “conservative” state of South Dakota?
Gee not much feedback from the wingnuts this morning..
(crickets)
BET WELSHER REDNECK,
Two things:
1) You have been defeated!
2) PAY THE FUCKING GAMBLING DEBT YOU OWE TO GOLDY!
I think it is more accurately, “Fuck you to death, Frank”
Seeing I-920 defeated was one of the brighter spots of my evening. Especially since Frank Blethen was such a major backer of the initiative. And even more so given the hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty displayed by the Seattle Times (Blethen family) editorial board.
The margin of defeat of Mike!(TM) McGavick is interesting. King County has a smaller portion of its votes being counted already, than does the state as a whole. So Maria Cantwell’s lead should get somewhat larger. Right now, Cantwell is ahead of McGavick by 18.15% (which may well increase as more King County votes from mail ballots are counted), in spite of McGavick spending millions, having active party backing, and the enthusiastic endorsement of the Blethen family.
Six years ago, Cantwell won by only 0.09% of the vote — even though she had the backing of the Blethen family editorial board. In that same election, the Blethen family editorial board wrote a scathing editorial against the candidacy of a certain fellow (myself) who was running against Christine Gregoire for Attorney General. In that 2000 election, I was vastly outspent by Gregoire, and still managed to be defeated by only 17.75% — a smaller margin than John Carlson lost for Governor in that same race, and apparently a smaller margin that Mike!(TM) will be losing for Senate in the current election.
Frank probably feels as bad as Smirky McFlightsuit looked this morning, bumbling fumbling stumbling across ginormous words like “punditry.”
Hoo haa whee hee!
Isn’t the defeat of I-920 and Cantwell’s descisive victory really an indication of how little sway the editorial board of the Times has over the electorate?
Of course Goldy’s childish tirade against Blethen also reflects the immaturity of the blogosphere.
Maybe Frank will finally realize that he has to share the reins for his lid’l biznesses. He gets some much-needed capital, moves on past a losing issue, and the new co-owners push harder for editorial board independence.
A guy can dream, can’t he?
If you want to hear something really scary, read this interview with Tom DeLay, post-election. He said the Democrats didn’t win, the Republicans lost because they didn’t articulate themselves well. He predicts that the Republicans will win back every seat in 2008, that the Democrats are just as scandal-ridden as the Republicans, and that if the Republicans had moved harder to the right, they would have been safe. He also said:
“I’m a great fan of Don Rumsfeld. I would not take him out, because he’s done a great job. He will continue to do a great job in leading the military and winning this war on terror. Frankly, I think that would be a great signal to the Democrats that we’re not going to capitulate to you. We’ll work with you, but we’re not going to give up what we believe in.”
What arrogance!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15622165/
Now it is our turn to offer the wingnuts a compromise on this issue. They can keep their birth-lottery winnings if Taft-Hartley is repealed and corporations lose their “personhood”.
Fair enough?
Pope: Maybe if you can get the BAR to say you’re qualified you’ll do better next time. Why not work on that?
RHP6033 @ 20
Scandal-ridden or scandal-prone? Certainly not scandal-ridden, since the Democrats haven’t had much power (at least at the national level), and therefore less opportunity to be corrupted by it. Yes, the minority legislative party can be corrupted, but the chances are much greater with the executive party or the majority legislative party.
As for what voters do in 2008, the unknown variables are what the job performance of the Congress and President over the next two years will be. In theory, if Bush changes course and improves, he could become popular (or at least not drag down the GOP further), since people have such low expectations for Bush right now anyway. The public may end up with high expectations for the Democrats in Congress, especially when they realize how significant the victories yesterday were.
In 1994, the expectations for the Republican Congress were quite high. Especially with the “Contract on America” — which incidentally was completed adopted, with the exception of the constitutional amendment for a balanced budget, which required a 2/3 majority and the Democrats were able to block. (The massive tax cuts of 2001 were NOT part of the 1994 “Contract with America”.)
Unfortunately for the Republicans, they couldn’t even get the Republican House and Republican Senate to agree on a budget for the 1994-95 fiscal year, which started on October 1, 1995. And then had the audacity to blame President Clinton (who, of course, was never presented with a budget from Congress to sign in the first place) for the federal government shutting down.
So when 1996 came around, the Republicans didn’t have a strong candidate for President. Colin Powell could have probably beaten Clinton, but chose not to run for various reasons. Bob Dole could have been a strong candidate, but the inability of the two Republican houses of Congress to get their act together certainly didn’t help him. In the end, the voters re-elected Clinton, but also felt it important to keep the Republicans in control of Congress — maybe to balance Clinton’s power, and maybe because they needed more than 2 years to prove themselves after being 40 years out of power in the House.
Corruption started showing up quickly in the Republicans (just as had been the case with the Democrats when they were in power). Newt Gingrich, right after he became Speaker of the House, got involved in a shady deal of some sort (can’t remember if it was a book advance, or lecture funding, or what) that went to the Ethics Committee.
In late 1996, Gingrich agreed to pay a $300,000 fine — which should have disqualified him morally and politically from continuing as Speaker (imagine paying a fine that was more than the salary for an entire two year term in Congress!). But the Republicans nevertheless kept Gingrich as the Speaker, while pursuing impeachment and removal of President Clinton for a scandal which was in many respects far less serious than what Gingrich had done.
Frank is moving to Arizona or Idaho.
@ 21. “Now it is our turn to offer the wingnuts a compromise on this issue. They can keep their birth-lottery winnings if Taft-Hartley is repealed and corporations lose their “personhood”.”
You guyz just love to hate the rich don’t you?
@25 we’re just trying to help our fellow Christians.
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Freek @ 22
These so-called “BAR” ratings are overrated. The organization in question is the “King County Bar Association”. The KCBA is a voluntary organization of lawyers, mostly from King County. Less than 30% of the lawyers in King County belong to this organization. (The KCBA should not be confused with the Washington State Bar Association, which is the state agency responsible for licensing and disciplining attorneys.)
Look at the three Supreme Court races, KCBA ratings, and election results:
Position 2: Susan Owens, Qualified, and 59.96%. Stephen Johnson, Well-Qualified, and 40.04%
Position 8: Gerry Alexander, Exceptionally Well-Qualifed and 54.35%. John Groen, Qualified, and 45.65%.
Position 9: Jeanette Burrage, Not Qualified and 40.35%. Tom Chambers, Exceptionally Well-Qualifed and 59.65%.
Probably the higher KCBA rating hurt Stephen Johnson. He used it extensively in his advertising, and so did the independent groups supporting him. It probably turned off far more people than were persuaded to vote for him.
@24
Oooh! Ooooh! Does that mean he’ll be building a castle soon? Roaming the hallways at night with a haunted expression on his face? In the market for a sled? ;-)
In 1994, the expectations for the Republican Congress were quite high. Especially with the “Contract on America” – which incidentally was completed adopted…
Yes, Richard. Do tell me about term limits. Your assertion is a complete fraud.
Pope @ 27
Blaming the refs for your poor performance? I think what hurt Johnson was not his KCBA rating but his meanness and ties to BIAW.
What criteria should we use for determining judges qualifications?
FUCK YOU, FRANK BLETHEN IS RIGHT!!!! AND FUCK YOU SEATTLE (BOTHELL) TIMES!!!
It’s time for the fair minded voting community, whether Democrat or Republican, of this area to punish the Seattle Times for their disservice to their community.
The Seattle Times smeer tactics against the Burner Campaign, which I believe are driven by Frank Blethen, show me that they are out of touch with the community and the news they publish is largely driven by Frank Blethen’s selfish, pig-driven interests.
I encourage every fair minded voter, whether democrat or republican, to cancel their subscription to the Seattle (Bothell) Times and refuse to do business with them.
Please support the Seattle P.I. They are fair minded and they’ve clearly demonstrated that they are in touch with their community based on the hard word they’ve done.
SCREW THE TIMES, THE BIAW AND THE WASHINGTON STATE G.O.P.
2008 might be a good year for republicans in WA —
they can get the pity vote.
Proud to be an Ass @ 28
My “assertion is a complete fraud”?
Maybe something I said was incorrect. But it was not with any intent to deceive or gain any advantage, so it isn’t a “fraud”. You shouldn’t accuse people of “fraud”, simply because you believe they made a factual error.
Anyway, here is the “Contract with America”:
http://www.house.gov/house/Contract/CONTRACT.html
The term limits provision was a constitutional amendment proposal. I don’t know whether it made it to the floor for a vote, but there wouldn’t have been the 2/3 necessary in each house to pass it.
If you want to talk about “fraud” on term limits, that argument is more appropriately addressed to people who promise to serve only a limited number of terms if elected, then decide to run for more terms after that.
Richard,
Your assertion is fraudulent because it is rewriting history, and I suspect you are an intelligent and learned fellow. It follows that you consciously know your claim is indeed suspect–which in fact you kinda’ admit above. Thus the charge of fraud.
The much vaunted “Contract” came out late in the election (6 wks. before), and was not a big factor in the GOP electoral sweep. It was touted after the blessed ascension of the Newtie Boys, and that is when it got widespread publicity.
As far as term limits goes–just look up all those GOP hypocrites who stayed in office and ignored their professed allegiance to this “reform”. George Nethercut is just one example of many.
PS: Richard–sorry to hear about your loss. You seem hellbent on holding public office. I offer a suggestion. Move to Grant County and run for local office, perhaps in Ephrata. Then work your way up.
You are totally out of touch with heavily Democratic western Washingon.
Good Luck.
Boycott The Seattle Times and all those who advertise in the Seattle times. Blethen is unethical and greedy? This is miss use of the newpaper. Cancel your Seattle times subscription!!!!!!!!!!!
It is a time for healing.
A time to build gallows.
A time to build airports for VIPs to The Hague.
Time for a fair trial.
A time for hanging those who have committed crimes against the only humanity on the only planet that humanity exists on.
Time to ridicule racists like Klake and Puddy Bud and “Dick” Pope.
Time to celebrate Democracy!
And it is time to keep the DEMONCRATS honest.
God Bless America!
Before I forget, Klake is a Nazi.
Dick Pope is a racist symp.
Mark The Redneck is a complete idiot.
God Bless America!
Hey, where’s Dame Janet and Smeg? Why aren’t they out here providing commentary about the little people?
This represents the first time in the 25 years I’ve lived here that I was on the winning side of every initiative on the ballot. Woohoo!
And let’s not forget our other initiative win this year – that several other right wing measures, Eyman’s and otherwise, failed to qualify with sufficient signatures.
Choosing Hope
Can’t wait for my kid’s school to get its cut of Frank’s money. Ben Stein’s, too.