Yet another stupidly conceived, stupidly written Tim Eyman initiative was tossed out by the courts last year, I-747, which capped the revenue growth from regular local levies at 1-percent a year. And now I hear that House Dems are stupidly caucusing today to discuss the stupid idea of reinstating I-747.
Oy.
I’ll come back later with a more substantive post on the issues involved, but I just want to take a moment here to discuss the politics. I have been told by more than one legislator that there is a real concern that failing to reinstate I-747 would create the opportunity for Eyman to come back with an even more damaging initiative, thus reinvigorating his flagging career, and I just have to respectfully say that this is the most heads-up-your-ass, mind-numbingly backwards analysis that I have ever heard in my life.
If you are desperate to breathe new life into Eyman, go ahead and prove to the world that you fear him, by reinstating I-747. He’ll claim credit for your boneheaded, reactionary blunder, and the Capitol press corps will give it to him, because… well… he’ll deserve it. Hell… why not just abdicate your responsibilities entirely, boot Frank, and elect Tim as Speaker?
Or, of course, you could calmly explore the policy alternatives, impose a more reasonable cap of say, inflation-plus-population with a 4-percent max, and then address the growing regressivity burden by creatively passing a property tax homestead exemption or an income-sensitive circuit breaker.
And you know how Tim will respond? He’ll send out a couple of angry emails to a list whose most avid readers include a handful of email-weary journalists and some anti-Tim activists like me. Maybe Dave Ammons will quote him in an AP story. And that’s about it.
You see, in case you weren’t paying much attention, Eyman really hasn’t done much these past five years, his last tax-cutting initiative having passed way back in November of 2002. He has no organization to speak of, no grassroots, and apart from the deep pockets of Michael Dunmire, an anemic and ever-shrinking fund raising base that barely brings in enough cash to pay for mailing his many fund raising appeals.
The legislature has nothing to fear from Tim Eyman. He’s toothless. He’s a paper tiger.
No… I take that back. To call Tim Eyman a paper tiger would be to grossly overestimate his chance of delivering a political paper-cut. With his dwindling support and our shifting political climate, Tim is at most a toilet paper tiger… the soft, 3-ply, fluffy kind my grandmother buys, not that coarse, off-brand variety you find in the Capitol restrooms. Provoke Tim, and at most he might leave behind a political dingleberry or two. But come back with a killer initiative? Not likely.
So my advice to the House caucus is please… take your time and carefully evaluate all the implications of reinstating I-747 — the stupid political implications as well as the stupid policy ones. And please remember that Tim Eyman is a toilet paper tiger, so the last thing you want to do is feed him. No, you just want to wad him up, wipe your ass with him, and flush him down the toilet.
You need to get over your hatred of Tim Eyman. The stress is going to shorten your lifespan.
a political dingleberry
I LIKE THAT. SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD NAME FOR AN ELIMINATIONIST CREEP LIKE TYPICALNAZI.
YOS LIB BRO:
Like my new screen name?
YOS LIB BRO:
I’ve edited the Hell out of my screen name to get all the pertinent elments of facts to fit on one line.
I like it.
What do you think?
I wonder how many of the neocons will try to copy me?
Yeah, you gotta be a progressive thinker in order to have an original thought.
No, you just want to wad him up, wipe your ass with him, and flush him down the toilet.
Now, why am I thinking that Tim would enjoy even that attention?
GBS,
NICE. 3 IS PRETTY CONCISE BUT 4 HAS MORE INFORMATION. IT’S A TOSSUP.
MY ORIGINAL POINT IS THAT THE RACE ISSUE IS AMPING UP THE HEAT HERE WITHOUT A LOT OF LIGHT. IT’D BE A LOT BETTER IF RACE DIDN’T POP UP IN THE DEBATE OVER LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE GOVERNANCE.
BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO? THIS IS HA.ORG.
@ 6:
I’m going with 4. It’s my personal favorite.
However, I could NOT disagree with you more, Bro. Racism is far from over in this country and talking about it, pointing it out, and ridiculing it, must discussed openly.
Katrina exposed the fact that “Shinning Hill on the city” is hiding its ghettos and how we choose to govern ourselves in the future, Liberal or Conservative, racism and equality for women and gays has to be part of the equation.
I’m boldly moving forward with abrasive humor pointing out the obvious.
I asked John Barelli this question and I’m going to ask you to do the same.
Will you “hug the tar baby” with me?
If the Legislature wants to enact a popular initiative that was thrown out by the courts, they should pass a bill declaring Eyman a horse’s ass.
Eyman’s problem is that our state is rapidly running out of unpopular car tab taxes.
That tax was so bad that a chimpanzee could have made a name for himself by opposing it. Come to think of it … one did.
GBS: SURE, WHY NOT?
@6 GBS isn’t the one who brought up the race meme.
@6 (continued) I mean, what are you supposed to do when some guy decides to wear a sign that says, “Kick me because I’m black?” I think we should kick him, just like we would on any other normal day — not because he’s black, but because he’s a lying Republican traitor.
The White House has withdrawn the ambassadorial nomination of a troop-hating scumbag. http://tinyurl.com/2cxbjo
Thanks, LWB/YOS LIB BRO (.5 HISPANIC .5 SOUTHERN EUROPEAN)for hugging the tar baby.
The world just became a little bit better.
Who else will “hug the tar baby” with me?
Roger Rabbit, you up for “hugging the tar baby?”
PS: For those of you who are slow on the uptake (YO, MTR, RigthStuff, especially you YO)the “Hug the tar baby” is a reference to Crony McSnowjob and his big ass yap.
Hug the tar baby, Tony, it just might cure what ails ya.
7
For ease of reference, can we just go with LWB? I like the ring of that, though the last two letters do coincide with the last two letters of the idiot-in-chief’s initials. Come to think of it, that’s just too close for comfort. Maybe just go with Lily White Boy.
DON’T FORGET FELLOW LIBERALS.
HEARINGS BABY!!!!
SO MUCH CRAP IS COMING OUT, THE TROLLS WILL NO WAY BE ABLE TO SPIN IT.
GO HENRY WAXMAN!!!!
@ 17:
Sure, go with LWB for ease, but I’ll continue to use the long version. That way we can easily document the date/time and occurence of said racial slur.
LWB/YOS @ 18:
Waxman is on a mission, no doubt about it and this has Karl’s fingerprints on it, too.
One scandal after another with these guys. Conservatives cry about wanting tax cuts, but don’t seem to understand that while they’re ripping us off to the tune of billions of dollars it just keeps raising the cost of government and our taxes.
How about those no bid contracts to Halliburtion? Ooooooops, I mean “Halliburton Dubai.” How about all those no bid contracts goint to Halliburtion Dubai?
Dolts.
Oh GBS… As I said before the close reference of the ACLU, the Harvard study, and the book answered my argument!
But if you like GBS-LWB would work!
Clueless – Still looking?
Puddybud wrote:
Now GBS: You just went overboard again. Lily white boy is used in today’s jargon. If it’s good for the ACLU, then it’s good enough for me.
You mean this ACLU reference that YOU posted: “Salt Lake City and the church have successfully weaseled themselves to a victory, but it doesn’t make it right,” he said. “I hope they enjoy their lily white, golly gee, clean, fun plaza.”
I don’t see any reference to “lily white boy.” Do you? Me either.
To take your logic to it’s ultimate conclusion, then because gansta rappers and Dave Chapelle say “nigga” repeatedly, it’s a part of today’s acceptable jargon? I’ll keep that in mind the next time we have lunch. I’m sure you won’t mind it I say “Whaaa’zzz up my nigga!” will you.
“FBI agent told to keep quiet over attorney firings
“By Thomas Ferraro
“Tue Mar 27, 5:08 PM ET
“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An FBI agent was warned to keep quiet about the dismissal of a U.S. attorney after he told a newspaper her firing would hurt the agency’s ongoing investigations and speculated politics was involved, a U.S. Senate panel heard on Tuesday. …
“Carol Lam, who helped win the 2005 political corruption conviction of then-U.S. Republican Rep. Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham of California, was among seven prosecutors fired on December 7.
“On January 13, the San Diego Union-Tribune quoted Dan Dzwilewski, head of FBI’s San Diego office, as saying Lam was crucial to ongoing investigations. ‘I guarantee politics is involved,’ he was quoted saying.
“Feinstein said her chief counsel had called the FBI’s San Diego office to verify the accuracy of the story. She said the office confirmed it was true ‘but they also said they’d been warned to say no more.'”
Quoted under Fair Use; for complete story and/or copyright info see http://tinyurl.com/2yy5sv
Roger Rabbit @ 23:
If that’s true, that an FBI agent was warned to “keep quiet” about the possibility of a crime, wouldn’t that be enough to exempt “executive privlage” status for Karl Rove?
I thoght that SCOTUS decsion in the Nixon White House tapes cleared the notion of executive privlage didn’t extend to impeding a criminal investigation?
Book ’em Dan-o!
@15 You want I should “hug” him in the breadbasket with my powerful hind feet equipped with razor-sharp claws?
All the tarbaby has to do is pick me up by my ears and he’ll find out how rabbits hug!
The 8th District’s do-nothing congressman Dave Reichert has been in office for over 2 years and still hasn’t hugged a rabbit! Roadkill McGavick didn’t hug a rabbit either, and look where it got him: http://www.jimmyshangout.com/images/roadkill.jpg
RR @ 24:
No violence, Roger Rabbit, just simply “hug the tar baby.”
I know Tony Snow won’t “hug that tar baby” but we should be big enough to “hug the tar baby.”
Would you rather be represented in Congress by this http://tinyurl.com/2d22rm or this http://tinyurl.com/opkdy? The choice is yours.
@28 Violence? What violence? All we’re talking about here is rabbit hugs and belly buttons. =:)
@ 29:
Well, the road kill with the yellow paint obviously gets more done than Reichert, so I’ll go with Representative Road Kill.
PUDDYBUD: I DENOUNCE ALL RACISM.
SHOW ME WHERE HL DIRECTLY ADDRESSED YOU WITH THE “N” WORD OR ANYTHING ELSE LIKE MTR DIRECTLY ADDRESSED SEATTLEJEW WITH THE “K” WORD AND “HYMIE CS’ER”.
HL SHOULDN’T HAVE ACTED OUT BUT MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE MADE RACE AN ISSUE WHERE IT DIDN’T BELONG. I DON’T KNOW ONE WAY OR THE OTHER – I STAYED FAR AWAY FROM THAT MOSH PIT.
@ 30:
Roger, I was born at night, but not last night. I know EXACTLY what you mean when you start talking about your “razor sharp” claws and peoples bellies. You’re talking about disembowelment.
@ 32:
Of course, I’m only joking like Ann Coulter. Obviously, you mean no harm to anyone. You’re just a cute, little, furry rabbit who lives in a hole, eats carrot and shits all over Stephan’s yard, riiiight?
Oh yeah, and you mulitply like a rabbit! Putting Mrs. Rabbit on O.T. tonight?
(Repeated from earlier thread)
Well, GBS, beating down racism whenever it rears its ugly head is hardly the same as ignoring it, and all too often, folks talking about “bringing it out into the light of day” use that as an excuse to continue it.
Only you know what your motives and reasons are, but the appearance is that you (and also Puddybud) are using race to define the argument and avoid discussion. Even if you really think Puddybud is racist, I’m not sure why you would want to follow suit.
I think you’d both be better off just going for a mutual apology and moving on, but that’s up to the two of you.
And while I do understand the origin and meaning of the saying “hug the tar baby“, I also know that it is offensive to many folks, and I choose not to needlessly or thoughtlessly offend people, so I don’t normally use that phrase. I can say the same thing in other ways.
Your call.
Oh, and Puddybud?
For reasons that you and I both know, you have an additional responsibility to try and put an end to this, regardless of anything GBS says or does.
Yes, I know that you get a lot of heat around here for your conservative views. That’s probably not going to stop any time soon.
No, I’m hardly perfect myself, but this argument is really getting out of hand.
Well. I don’t think I’ll hug anything. . .just observe that I pay little attention to the rambling incoherence of thumbsuckers who marry their mothers Darrell.
John,
I appreciate your comments, I really do. I know preciesly what I am doing and saying. Like most things in my life, I do them “on purpose” and not by accident. That’s just how I roll.
I’ll apologize to you for misunderstanding your comments/intentions about beating down racism. I assumed by beating down you meant acting like it doesn’t happen and/or exist. Apology extended.
You seem to forget Puddybud and I are friends. Polar opposites for sure. But we’re not in any sense of the word “foes.”
Puddybud also knows, or should know, what my motives are by pointing out the obvious, I caught him in a moment of frustration and I’m exploiting it to the Nth degree.
Look, I’ve met Puddybud and broken bread with him, PacMan too, I know he’s not racist. But, none the less, it needs to be exploited and the only way to resolve the issue of racism is to exploit it at every opportunity.
For instance, if Puddybud and I were butting heads and I say “Don’t talk me like that with your ignorant black ass” then I’d expect to be called out on the mat for it. And, rigthfully so.
I have no expectation that Puddybud will apologize, nor does he need to as far as I’m concerned, but he’ll know, I’ll know, you’ll know and so will everyone else know I spanked his black ass on this one until it turned lily white boy pink!
Ask him about the time I spanked him on black history! Black history, of all subjects to spank him on it was black history! Actually, it was white history and the application of geographic and political demography, but it effected black people negatively and therefore I say black history.
That’s why I like Carlos Mencia and Dave Chappele they make racism funny and by doing so they defuse it.
Me and Puddybud, we’ll go back to jawing at each other like we always do and I’ll probably change my screen name back to LWB/GBS, then back to GBS.
Don’t you worry though, I’ll find something else to piss everybody off about.
Puddybud,
What do you say, should we apologzie as John Barelli suggested.
Naaaagggghhhhhh, Hey a big ol’ “FUCK YOU TO YOU, TOO.”
That’ll have to be good enough. Talk to you later.
LWB/GBS
“I’ll apologize to you for misunderstanding your comments/intentions about beating down racism. I assumed by beating down you meant acting like it doesn’t happen and/or exist. Apology extended.”
Accepted gratefully. I’ll try to be clearer in the future.
“You seem to forget Puddybud and I are friends. Polar opposites for sure. But we’re not in any sense of the word “foes.””
Good point, and therefore it’s my turn to apologize. Racism is one of the few topics that I tend to get a bit “knee-jerk” about, and part of that “beating it down” is speaking up rather than remaining silent, even (especially?) when it’s with friends.
But putting the brain in gear first is even better. As my son says (and gets mad at me for saying) “my bad“.
ROGER WHY DONT YOU HUGH GBS DICK.I THINK YOU WOULD LIKE THAT.I HEAR THAT GBS USES POWERED SOAD BECAUSE WHEN HE DROPS IT IN THE SHOWER IT TAKES LONGER TO PICK UP.HEY GBS HOWS THAT JOB AT BURGER KING WORKING OUT FOR YOU, SINCE YOU GOT BOOTED OUT OF THE NAVY.EN-1 MY ASS TRY ENSR,LOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSER
DID ANYONE NOTICE THAT HENRY WAXMAN HAS A HEAD THAT LOOKS LIKE A BIG DICK.
@32 Only as a form of suicide … after all, every individual who picks up a rabbit by his ears has the choice to not pick up the rabbit by his ears … so, whatever happens is self inflicted. Besides, I’m just kidding! Ann Coulter humor, y’know?
In some cultures, ritual suicide by disembowlment is an honored tradition — hey, just kidding, Ann Coulter humor.
@33 “Putting Mrs. Rabbit on O.T. tonight?”
I don’t do anything to Mrs. Rabbit. It works the other way around. You can guess who wears the cottontail around here …
35, 36 I think everybody should hug the bunny (with an appropriate love-squeeze) and move on.
If you don’t know how to correctly hug a rabbit, simply follow these illustrated instructions: http://tinyurl.com/opkdy
(Boy, what I won’t do to get petted and scratched behind my ears … )
40, 41 “Yo” is a contraction of “yahoo” (as in “trailer park yahoo”) and is properly spelled “Y’o.” Like most wingnuts, Y’o can’t spell his own fucking name.
Did you mumble something, Y’o?
YO:
I knew you were stupid, as everyone else does by your posts, but now I know you’re a FUCKING liar, too.
You’re just like JCH; you claim to have military service, but you’re clearly lying about it. No lifer would make the simple mistake you did in your post at 41.
As always, the devil is in the details. You wrote: “EN-1 MY ASS TRY ENSR,” Everyone in the Navy knows an “EN” in the Navy is an “Engineman,” a “snipe” if you will. Snipes, regardless of their job ratings are known as “Fireman” not “Seaman.” The “SR” stands for Seamen Recruit.
If you were really in the Navy you would have written ENFR for Engineman, Fireman Recruit.
Next time you claim to have served in MY military, MY NAVY, you fucking JCH wannabe imposter, do your Google research a little more thoroughly!
I knew you were too fucking stupid to be a sailor. Fuckin’ A, I don’t even think you’re smart enough to be a God Damned Jarhead, even by today’s lowered recruitment standards.
You fucking Puddle Pirate.