It will be worth listening to Governor Christine Gregoire on KUOW this morning at 9:00. Cool stuff is the table.
One big issue is yesterday’s Supreme Court decision that:
The State has failed to meet its duty under article IX, section 1 by consistently providing school districts with a level of resources that falls short of the actual costs of the basic education program. The legislature recently enacted sweeping reforms to remedy the deficiencies in the funding system, and it is currently making progress toward phasing in those reforms. We defer to the legislature’s chosen means of discharging its article IX, section 1 duty, but the judiciary will retain jurisdiction over the case to help ensure progress in the State’s plan to fully implement education reforms by 2018. We direct the parties to provide further briefing to this court addressing the preferred method for retaining jurisdiction.
As Publicola points out, this feels like
…one of those damning federal court orders to put a bankrupt business or corrupt union in receivership
The real problem isn’t that lawmakers somehow dislike funding education. Rather, the education funding problem arises from four issues:
- The worst economy since the Great Depression that has resulted in drastic shortfalls in projected revenue
- Another Constitutional duty, a balanced budget, that has resulted in massive cuts in numerous state services
- Republican obstructionism in adequately funding the government
- Lawmaker’s inability to raise new revenues with a simple majority to a great extent because of the 2/3 majority requirement in Initiative 1053
Many of us believe I-1053 is unconstitutional, and a July court case is pending. The Supreme court has previously weaseled its way out of making a decision about whether an initiative can impose a standard on lawmakers that trumps the state Constitution.
Yesterday Gregoire announced that:
…she plans to bypass the state attorney general’s office and seek court guidance on the constitutionality of a law limiting tax increases.
Gregoire, who is technically listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, said she is working with outside counsel to petition the courts for a ruling on Initiative 1053, which requires lawmakers to have a two-thirds majority to raise taxes.
Gregoire says, “fuck you, Rob McKenna,” and goes straight to the Supreme Court.
Given that I-1053 is one of the biggest impediments for lawmakers to adequately fund basic education, and given that the Supreme Court is now playing an active role in forcing lawmakers to meet this Constitutional duty, Gregoire’s request is an offer the Supreme Court cannot refuse.
To hell with what the people have voted for…tax them till they bleed!
mookie blaylock,
“To hell with what the people have voted for…”
Sorry, Squirt, the People cannot amend the Constitution by initiative. If the People want a 2/3 majority for tax increases, they have to ask lawmakers to amend the Constitution.
“tax them till they bleed!”
Yeah right…Washington state is ranked 30th in state and local tax burden.
Sorry, chump, if you want a state that provides better education than, has better infrastructure than, and functions better than a third-world country, I’ll cost you a bit.
McKenna refused to represent the Public Lands Commissioner in an appeal for no other reason than he was a Democrat, despite being clearly required to do so by law. He filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the health care reform act, despite the express wishes to the contrary of the Governor, legislature, and the majority of Washington citizens.
Now the governor has to hire outside counsel to challenge the constitutionality of the initiative, because Rob McKenna can’t be trusted to do his duty.
And this guy thinks we should put the governance of the state in HIS hands?
@2
Ya darrwhyle, ask yourself why the people voted that way in thefirst place…..do you think perhaps it was because the democrats couldn’t keep themselves from raising new taxes or increasing existing taxes if thei lives depended on it? People finally got fed up. Same goes for the car tab measure…oly got pwn3d…..
When you gonna right a bonus check to olympia for the fine job the are doing?
Go pound sand, squirt….hope your not on a uw computer…that would unethical and stuff…..
@1
Yeah, to hell with the rule of law, let’s go with mob rule.
************
Nice to see the governor growing a spine, now that she’s got a year left in office.
@5
The only mob are the ones who occupy olympia…….
@6
Actually, there’s a question of constitutional law. If The Supreme’s call I-1053 constitutional and the Dem’s don’t go along with that then you might have a point.
1. mookie blaylock spews:
To hell with what the people have voted for…tax them till they bleed!
Yup. Now that the 1% have rigged the system so they don’t pay taxes, the little people have to make up the difference.
Also, paying for a couple of unfunded wars is pretty expensive.
re 4: There is always a well-known solution to every human problem–neat, plausible, and wrong.
H. L. Mencken
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Yesterday, Gregoire said she’d support gay marriage. Today, she’s talking about challenging Timeh’s supermajority initiative in the courts. Has Gregoire had an epiphany? Has she finally realized the governor’s job is to govern?
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@11
Lol..this from the same gov who said “we don’t have a budget problem”…then a few months later “discovered” a budget problem.
@1 Hey stupid, what the people voted for are the legislators they elected to represent them in Olympia. So what is your problem with comprehending that if a majority of legislators who were elected by a majority of voters are in favor of something that’s what the people want? Why should one-third of the people be able to tell the other two-thirds of the people what to do? Where the hell does that idea come from?
As I’ve posted before on this blog, Washingtonians have enjoyed massive multi-billion-dollar tax cuts since 2008, and it didn’t require any legislative action or an initiative; all they had to do was reduce their spending on things like new cars.
@14
Guess you missed that whole initiative thingy a few years back….dolt
@15
Dumb roger the ex-crooked lawyer also fails to mention that thbose same washingtonians as a hole took a huge paycut…of course the crooked ex lawyer forgets that.
Go back to sleep asshole, nobdy with a brain reads your diatribe anyway…..you jumped the shark a long time ago..
Correction..”as a whole…”
Makes ya’ wonder, huh.
@4 What taxes have Democrats raised, dumbass?
@17 I didn’t forget anything, you uninformed piece of slug dung. If you were to look at actual numbers, you would see that the consumer spending that provides the state with sales tax revenues has dropped much more than personal incomes have. But you don’t even need statistics to tell you this, if you have half of a logical brain, which you clearly don’t. The sales taxes paid by Washingtonians have dropped more than their personal incomes because:
1) Consumers are using more of their incomes to pay down debts and less to buy stuff;
2) Consumer purchases are gradually shifting from goods, which are taxed, to services, which are not taxed; and
3) Consumers are buying more stuff online, evading state sales taxes in the process.
It’s okay for you to admit you’re stupid, but don’t try to pretend you’re smart, because you’re not.
@16 See #2. (And you call me a “dolt”? That’s funny … )
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Number of recess appointments made by George W. Bush: 99
Number of recess appointments made by Barack Obama: 32
And guess what? Republicans are squealing like pigs over Obama’s recess appointments, natch. Can anyone explain how these GOPers are not cynical hypocrites?
number of years bush was president: 8
number of years obama has been president: 3
sure, and the democrats never made a peep during bush’s term..
fool, go take your meds.
re 25: I’m not just trying to be snarky, but your remarks don’t make any sense in the context of the conversation.
“number of years bush was president: 8
number of years obama has been president: 3
sure, and the democrats never made a peep during bush’s term..
fool, go take your meds.”
The length of time of presidencies and making a peep. Making a peep about what?!?!??
“fool, go take your meds”
I have a better two-step plan.
Step 1: Obama should make more recess appointments.
Step 2: If you don’t like it, go fuck yourself.
The biggest problem I have with Democrats is they don’t behave like Republicans enough.
Folks…you seem to be mistaking this for an open thread.
@26
refer to post #24
@28 We’d be less confused if there was a 1/6 open thread to go to.
Roger Rabbit @ 30,
There will be one today (the Friday Night Multimedia thing), but it won’t be posted until just before midnight.
So if you find yourself in need of an open thread, here is an idea to avoid confusion: Step backwards through the posts until you find an open thread. In this case…a mere 2 posts back from this one.
@31 Ah yes, I figured you’d say that, tinged with a bit of sarcasm. The problem with the 1/5 open thread is that it’s already stale and comments posted there won’t be read. I’ll try to hold my pants up until the bat belfry strikes midnight, but I’m an impatient rabbit.
@26
I like it when a new monumentally mentally challenged winger shows up. So in 3/8 of the time period, Obama has slightly under 1/3rd the number. You can do 6th grade level fraction equivelancies right?
@33
so your going to quibble about what? 20 or so appointments over the span of 8 years..wow, thats gonna total out to a whole 2.5 a year. WOW!
you really dont get it do you?
BTW, I can do math just fine. its you who doesnt seem able to come to grips with the point.
way to pwn3d yourself there guy…..
@34, Actually that was my Admiral Akbar impersonation.
You see, GW had 77 in his first term, 61 in his first three years. I was pretty sure you wouldn’t bother to check. But in case you need help, your point is 100% bogus as Obama has made 45% of the number of recess appointments in his first three years compared to W.
You were saying something about pwn3d?
Hmmm…I seem to have a comment in HA purgatory.
@34
The fun thing about ignorant wingers is the don’t check anything. Paging Admiral Akbar, Mookie needs something explained to him.
The actual numbers through three years are GW 61 (77 first term total and a whopping 171 in 8 years) Obama….28. So, Obama has made 46% as many recess appointments.
Cue the Price is Right Loser horns. You were saying something about pwn3d?
shame on me for trusting roger rabbits numbers.
never trust a lawyer, even a former one.
I should have known better – most the garbage he posts is made up anyway, just like his imaginary investments.
@37 Those aren’t my numbers, those are MSNBC’s numbers, but it’s your responsibility to fact-check stuff before you rely on it.
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@38
yep, you are right….especially with YOUR postings. You have a long and established history of making shit up, posting false data, or just plain being a stupid fuck-up who posts garbage.
my bad – your shit isnt to be trusted.
like I said before, you jumped the shark long ago.
lesson learned.