Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if Chris Gregoire had taken the plunge in 2000 by running for the US Senate. She was heavily recruited, but decided to stay in Olympia as Attorney General, and Maria Cantwell won the race. I think that Senator Gregoire would have been a tough customer, and I’m even more sure of it when I read about Governor Gregoire’s trip to DC:
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire should be celebrating her state’s robust economy and record exports. Yet sagging tax collections are lowering an estimated budget surplus by $400 million.
In this slow economy, states are struggling. People are spending less and state governments are taking in fewer dollars.
The financial bottom line is a top worry for many governors in discussions as their annual meeting about paying for public works and energy projects.
“Everything’s been going great for us and now the national downturn has slowed us up,” said Gregoire, a Democrat.
State governments have to do the heavy lifting whenever the federal government shirks it’s duty. Gov. Gregoire has made some tough choices but always looks out for those who don’t have lobbyists to make their case. I mean, who’s going to stick up for kids without health care? Students? Seniors? Not Dino Rossi, thats for sure. Rossi, a Bush Republican, named his dog after the president.
The dog’s name?
“Useless Flea Bag Who Pisses The Carpet.”
Or “Dubya,” I’m not sure exactly.
Doesn’t matter; useless fleabag or dubya one in the same pile of dog shit.
Just think if we had a Bush clone running Washington we’d me in the same mess or worse the rest of the nation is in.
Good thin felons voted for Rossi and had his vote tally reduced by a Republican judge in a Republican county for the case brought forth by the Republicans.
Conservatives; one big joke that nobody laughs at.
correx at 2
Should read “good thing”
That sounds like Doofus. Just add “and eats shit.”
Regardless of what he named his mutt, it’s Dino himself who wants to hump your leg.
New polls out in Rhode Island today:
ARG:
Clinton 52
Obama 40
Rasmussen
Clinton 53
Obama 38
Classy post will.
Keep up the hard work!
Must I remind y’all once again that Gregoire has played a “shell-game” with the State Finances. There is no “Rainy Day Fund” when the State Retirement Fund is underfunded by $5 BILLION per the 6/30/07 Annual Report AND with nearly $37 BILLION invested in Equities and markets down approx 10%, that is another $3.7 BILLION underfunded.
Nice try on ignoring the shell-game dudes.
But hey…keep dreamin’!!
If you borrowed another $200,000 on your home equity and put the proceeds in the bank, would that mean you have a Rainy Day Fund?? Yeah and another $200,000 in debt that someone must pay off.
Rossi has plenty of campaign fodder.
I know of no one who voted for Rossi last time and is now a Gregoire fan.
Isn’t is amazing that a State with so many anti-Military KLOWNS fail to connect the dots that Boeing, Microsoft & others have been the proud beneficiaries of War dollars.
Also, the anti-builder KLOWNS fail to see how important the Construction Industry has been to State & Local Governments.
Local Governments rely heavily on Sales Tax & Permits.
Things are slowing down.
Wait until the next State Economist Budget Forecast Revisions.
The phoney-baloney Rainy Day Fund could evaporate overnight and we are still stuck with the $5 BILLION+ Underfunded State Retirement Fund…and all those new State Employees.
@ 4
Didn’t you know? Dino’s been taking care of our very own Jane Balough’s Dog.
@ 6
Hm… No mention of today’s CNN poll from Texas. Why?
I think it worked out for the best — we got a great senator (Cantwell), and the additional experience Gregoire got from her 3rd term as AG followed by 2 terms as Washington governor and THEN maybe 4 years under her belt as a U.S. Senator (if Murray retires) will position her to run for president in 2016 as President Obama’s successor.
@9 – I dunno, probably because the other two polls that came out today show her ahead:
Rassmussen
Clinton 46 (54)
Obama 45 (38)
ARG
Obama 50 (48)
Clinton 42 (42)
CNN/Opinion Research:
Obama 50 (48)
Clinton 46 (50)
And if Murray doesn’t retire, Gregoire could be a cabinet secretary or serve a 3rd term as governor.
Maybe Gregoire needs to go to Olympia, and bust Chopp’s.
@8 Cynical, you don’t know a fucking thing about the state budget. There is no general fund appropriation in the state budget for pensions. The pension system gets all of its money from employee and employer contributions, and investment gains and income. Employer contributions are currently fully funded. Employees have always made the contributions required by law. Investment performance has been lagging recently, but then, so have everyone else’s. The state pension funds typically earn north of 20% a year on their investments. Overall, the pension system is healthy, with nearly $50 billion in assets, and cash inflows exceeding pension payments and other outflows. I’ll tell you what, Cynical, I would much rather depend on the Washington Retirement System than on some privatized account vulnerable to being looted by Bush’s Wall Street buddies.
Way to kick ass on the BIAW shill there, Super Sylvilagus!
You rock!
Cynical is another dyspeptic rageaholic like his ideological (or is it illogical) soul-mate mark-the rageneck.
All bluster…no brains.
@6: dustin
Yup – Rhode Island is the state where Hillary Clinton will make her stand and make up all the delegates she lost due to lousy campagning – oops, she gone all Karl Rove negative again – in a desperate, last ditch effort to smear Obama as a “black Muslim” and claim that her foreign policy (yes on Iraq, before no) is somehow more consistent.
Ya know – Hillary will lose bigger if she presents as an attack dog with no bite.
@ 11,
Um. Two of the three polls you’ve cited have Obama ahead, and the third, Rassmussen, now has Clinton ahead by a single percentage point when the previous poll had her leading Obama by 16 percentage points.
Talk about Rhode Island if you wish, but Texas is certainly trending toward a Waterloo for Clinton.
By the way, have you seen Darryl’s analyses of the Obama vs McCain and Clinton vs McCain match-ups? Obama has a huge (96% probability of winning) edge over McCain, while Clinton has a correspondingly huge (91.6% probability of losing) hill to climb against McCain.
If I don’t want a Republican in the White House next January, explain to me how pulling for Clinton gets me closer to that goal.
19
DustinJames works for the McCain campaign. His disingenuity, lack of integrity, and disdain for reality mark him as a Republican.
OsamaObamarama in his new Jihad Gear.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....tworkfront
so if felons voted for gb thats means you voted for being a felon why to go gbs thats for the vote
@20 – quite the opposite, it makes me a fiscally conservative socially liberal centrist, not a “progressive”, as most of the posters on this site seem to be.
And @ 19, I was just copying the polls off the Daily Kos website that seem to be what feeds the progressives on this site to make you feel better about Backtrack Obama.
Many other polls out there that do a better job of canvassing the entire state have released today that show basically the same results, just turned around and show Clinton in the lead…
Roger 14:
“The state pension funds typically earn north of 20% a year on their investments.” Right on Roger, take that one to the BANK.
What exactly do you mean by typically? I hope our “gov” does not count on that as a sustained return. Sounds like you think she should? Or what point are you trying to make by dreaming up that outlandish “typical” return?
And Will, you are correct that state gov has to do the heavy lifting. The democrats running this state have not done so. Do you really think increasing spending as fast as the “Bush years boom” tax revenue materializes is “heavy lifting”?
I like the part of your post where you say state government is taking in fewer dollars. Compared to what, Will? Use your abacus and compare this biennium revenue to any previous biennium and tell me there is less dough coming in. Go ahead and factor in inflation, health care costs, population growth, whatever you want, there are still more dollars coming in.
Increasing spending at the insane clip she has and then whining that the national economy is slowing down so the children won’t get health care is “Clintonish” wouldn’t you say? Looks like the “gov” will have to learn a new script before November if she wants to ride Obama’s coat tails.
PU @ 22
Man, you need to put down the bottle. You’re slurring your typing.
Isn’t Rossi’s dog named Lixhisnuts?
Here is how the Washington Open Government machine does business per Amber Gunn of EFF:
Speedy budget process leaves public in the dust
Posted by Amber Gunn – February 22, 2008
Of all bills passed by the legislature, the budget is the most critical. Most members of the public won’t spend hours combing through the budget; that’s why we elect legislators. It is their responsibility to examine proposed spending meticulously and thoughtfully.
If legislators don’t give themselves enough time to do that, they are failing in one of their primary obligations as a lawmaker.
On Wednesday House Democrats held a press conference at noon to announce the release of their supplemental budget. The document was not available until after the press conference. At 1:30, people were still waiting in line to get a copy.
Two hours later, the House Appropriations Committee held a public hearing on the budget. The not-so-funny thing is, not a single member of the public would have had an opportunity to review the document and make comments in that amount of time.
In fact, most of the committee members probably had not reviewed the budget before the hearing either. Which begs the question, why hold a hearing on a bill that no one has had time to read? This hardly makes for informed and rigorous debate.
As a result, lawmakers may come to regret what they voted for once learning more details.
EFF created model legislation last year that would require a 72-hour budget “timeout” before hearings or votes on revenue or appropriations bills could occur. The American Legislative Exchange Council also thought that was a good idea, and adopted the legislation at their annual conference.
A budget timeout is intuitively a good idea. It’s another way to bring sunshine into the legislative process. Legislators need time to learn what they are voting for or against, and the public and watchdog groups like EFF also deserve time to review the budget and raise red flags on questionable priorities before hearings or votes are held.
Gregoire leads the nation in “Emergency Legislation” and other BS that denies the Public time to participate.
Open Government?? My derierre!
@ 23
Apparently you didn’t read as you were copying and pasting.
BTW, take a look at http://www.pollster.com/08-TX-Dem-Pres-Primary.php. Always nice to have a good visualization of the trends.
Mel says:
From Seattle Times:
Health Care: the Billion-Dollar Dreams
Posted by Bruce Ramsey
Here is the first bill I’ve seen in Olympia with a projected cost in excess of $100 billion over the next decade. It is Senate Bill 6221, whose prime sponsor is Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines. Also sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle. It is a “universal coverage” medical care bill, called a bill to “establish a Washington Health Partnership.”
The Office of Financial Management, following I-960, has put out the following “projection of increased cost to taxpayers and affected ratepayers.” The estimate is zero for fiscal 2008 and 2009 because the program wouldn’t start until 2010. By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, this program would more than double the state near-general-fund budget:
Year Individual and Employer Assessments for Washington Health Partnership
FY 2008 –
FY 2009 –
FY 2010 $ 7,197,000,000
FY 2011 $ 18,274,000,000
FY 2012 $ 18,731,000,000
FY 2013 $ 19,198,000,000
FY 2014 $ 19,677,950,000
FY 2015 $ 20,169,898,750
FY 2016 $ 20,674,146,219
FY 2017 $ 21,190,999,874
Total $ 145,112,994,843
Whether these numbers are right I have no idea. They are not comforting.
WOW! And how much is Gregoire gonna ask us to raise our taxes to add an additional 10+ BILLION a year? AMAZING!
Well Gregoire has added to the state payroll about 70,000
dollars an hour 8 hours a day 5 days a week since shes been Governor. 6600 new employees . WHAT THE FUCK do all
these people do? Locke hired 20,000 himself. Now before
Roger tells us how much the IRAQ war costs per hour, I wonder if this will be the year JOHN KERRY will collect the
million dollars by proving the swiftboat patriots wrong
by releasing his medical records. OH and AL GORE is gay.
30-So are we talking 2.8 mill a day? No freakin wonder my property taxes, um gas taxes (since they don’t go where they say they’re supposed to go) are so damn high! ARGH! Maybe the budget “loss” of 400 mill is from people moving out of state to get away from this outrageousness!
Mr. Cynical @ 8
So what is your proposed solution to the state budget crisis? Increase subprime lending so that the BIAW can build more houses that people really can’t afford?
Or better yet, increase L & I premiums so that the “retro” refunds will become artificially larger by the same amount? And allow the BIAW to skim 25% off the top from refunds, instead of 20%? Sounds like free market economics to me!
Oh, Mark?
Senator Kerry released his records some time ago. Oddly enough, the Swift Boat Liars never paid up on their bet.
Why does that sound familiar?
BIAW doesn’t build houses they fight completely retarded
bills brought forth by our esteemed legislature like the
ergonomics bill. That would have been a beauty. You know
some work sucks and some work is hard. Always has been.
They help keep costs down for housing by reducing the
endless beauracracy that builders face. Most people
cannot understand unless they “live it.” If you don’t
believe me go to King County Building department and get
yourself a “packet” for getting a permit for building a
new home. I assure you that you will never again vote
for a democrat. If I were Rossi addressing the issue of
affordable housing I would suggest this very thing. This
of course unless your’e an alcoholic. Then you can have a
“free” apartment in Seattle. The BIAW is strictly
voluntary and anyone that would be against them probably
are not the sharpest tack in the drawer.
31 Mel, maybe per week, but it compounds week after week.
I guess they do it for the votes. Im guessing that 70k
per employee includes their remarkable benefit and retirement package. My property taxes went way up too
due to the last election cycle. I thought it could only
go up no more than 1 percent (EYMANS deal that passed)
but I guess what the taxpayers want doesn’t matter. Could
you imagine what would have happened back in the 40’s or
50’s if the legislature pulled this kind of shit.
By the way Will(a Gregoire Democrat) maybe you should
talk nicer about “Dubya” or he possibly could mastermind
a “terrorist” attack in your hometown. “How you like me
now, Hans?”
slingshot says:
Isn’t Rossi’s dog named Lixhisnuts?
No, that’s what your significant other calls you when you’re not around.
@10 Roger Rabbit
Yiu must be eating that funny grass again. Cantwell’s first term was so so, she laid low until the last year and still is pretty much an invisible force. Gregoire, whateer esle is hardly a superstar either.
WA state does have number of very impressive folks .. Murry and several of our congressmen. I think Burner has more chance of being a star then either of your faves.
You think I am wrong? Tell me something to get excitied about.
A lower budget surplus? Surely we need the scrupulous ethics and fiscal responsibility of a Republican administration!
To spend the rest of it, I mean.
11 DJ
Um, in the polls you posted, two out of three show Obama ahead and not Clinton. 50 is more than 42 or 46, right?
#34 John Barelli says:
All I have to say is… “Seared, seared into my memory.” The story he told for decades was proven to be a lie. Want to talk about “his” medals he threw over the white house fence in protest? Too easy, like shooting fish in a barrel.
The day after John F. Kerry said he would make all of his military records available for inspection at his campaign headquarters, a spokesman said the senator would not release any new documents, leaving undisclosed many of Kerry’s evaluations by his Navy commanding officers, some medical records, and possibly other material.
http://www.boston.com/news/pol.....e_records/
Richard–
Call the L&I Actuary Bill Vasek.
He will explain to you that Retro Refunds are strictly a function of how Retro participants perform compared to Non-Retro participants.
Retro participants, as a whole, with the help of the sponsoring associations outperform non-Retro by offering Light-Duty jobs, keeping injured workers on salary and being more actively involved in returning injured workers back to work. They also provide Safety services and other help in reducing the # of claims.
It has virtually nothing to do with the rates…it’s about performance.
You might want to get educated before shooting off your mouth….if that is possible.
Also, blaming Builders for building houses people cannot afford is bubbleheaded. Did you actually read the article in the Seattle Times where the UW professor calculated $200,000 was added to the cost of an average home by local & state regulations and the cost of permit delays??
Seems like you have an axe to gring with BIAW Richard.
Spewing ignorant platitudes is like dulling your blade by slamming it on the sidewalk.
Call the L&I Actuary and get back to me.
Or read the L&I website on Retro.