I just wanted to give a quick link to Danny Westneat’s column in today’s Seattle Times. [Initiatives can be addictive]
Danny’s column sums up the deep ideological passion behind I-892: Tim Eyman’s need to stay relevant by getting an initiative on the ballot… any initiative.
Tim’s been at this business a long time, and he could see months ago that I-864 was likely a repeat of last year’s I-807, an initiative that didn’t have the popular support or the money to collect nearly enough signatures. And so Tim found himself another initiative, this time with deep-pocketed backers that could virtually assure a place on the ballot and an election season in the limelight.
It didn’t really matter to Tim that much of his base — traditional conservatives — strongly oppose expansion of gambling. He chose to abandon his core supporters rather than face another Eyman-free November.
Tim’s for-profit tax revolt has transformed into a for-profit initiative business. Perhaps progressives should hire him to sponsor an income tax?
