I’ll save the venting for tomorrow night’s show when The Stranger’s Josh Feit will join me in studio to give his first-hand account of the proceedings at yesterday’s special session, and the inevitable fallout from the Dems’ boneheaded political blunder. But I just want to take time to thank those Democratic legislators who stood up to the political pressure, and voted against rashly reinstating I-747’s unsustainable and irresponsible one-percent cap on regular levy revenue growth.
Yesterday I wrote, “I’d be surprised if a majority of the Seattle delegation didn’t vote to approve the governor’s plan,” and, well… I was wrong. There are six legislative districts that represent Seattle, for a total of twelve representatives and six senators. Of those, only one senator and four representatives voted for the bill, with two representatives excused and not voting. A total of eleven Seattle legislators cast votes against the bill: Senators Ken Jacobsen, Adam Kline, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Joe McDermott and Ed Murray, along with Representatives Mary Lou Dickerson, Sharon Nelson, Jamie Pedersen, Eric Pettigrew, Sharon Tomiko Santos, and Helen Sommers. I was particularly proud that my entire 37th Legislative District Delegation — Kline, Pettigrew and Santos — voted against the bill.
Only a handful of non-Seattle legislators bucked the governor’s pressure to quickly pass dumb policy. In the House, special kudos go to Rep. Geoff Simpson of Covington, who voted his conscience despite the fact that his district overwhelmingly supported I-747, and despite the fact that he feared this vote could potentially end his political career.
“I’m not here to make decisions based on whether or not I’ll get re-elected,” he said. “I’m here to make decisions that are good public policy … 747 is not good public policy.”
Simpson said local government can’t be expected to provide high quality services when revenues are not keeping pace with the rate of inflation.
While he was aware of the risks, Simpson said he hoped voters in his district would consider the sum of his voting record, not just this one vote.
That’s what representative democracy is all about. In the Senate, Craig Pridemore of Vancouver made a similar principled stand, again, knowing the political risks coming from a district that overwhelmingly supported I-747:
“I’m a former county commissioner. I know the impacts this will have on local government, law enforcement abilities, and all of the other critical local services. I can’t vote yes for that,” he says.
No doubt Pridemore and Simpson’s opponents will attack them as arrogant and out of touch, but this is exactly the sort of principled leadership voters so often decry as missing in our elected officials. If we want our legislators to mimic the polls rather than make informed decisions, we might as well just eliminate the Legislature entirely.
Senator Brian Weinstein voted no. Right on, Brian!
When we can all vote by Internet, maybe we can eliminate the state legislature. Just have everyone submit their ideas for bills, and all the citizens of the state can vote them up or down.
Then, we can put everyone’s civil rights up for popular vote, too! See what a great idea that is?
You know, it’s really not all bad. Anyone who WANTS to send more property tax $$ into King County twice a year CAN! I encourage y’all to send an exra $1,000. No, $5,000 would be better. Point is, you can always send in more if you feel your tax bill was not high enough. Now, let’s please see a show of hands for how many here will do this?
Leadership is offering real proposals and building the support needed to pass them; not voting “no” or long rants on blogs/radio.
“In the House, special kudos go to Rep. Geoff Simpson of Covington, who voted his conscience despite the fact that his district overwhelmingly supported I-747,”
oh goldy, good grief! do you not understand that this guy wasn’t put in office to to what HE wanted but to do what the people wanted?
i think there is an eastern european country that is missing it’s commie village idiot. why don’t you move there? you know…where everyone sits freezing in their houses just like you do, only it’s because the government is still running everything.
but, keep talking my friend…you are doing a world of good.
apollo @3….it sure won’t be goldy! ha! that will be the day…he just wants to have his icy greedy little hand in your pocket….cause it sure beats working.
ghost @ 5: “oh goldy, good grief! do you not understand that this guy wasn’t put in office to to what HE wanted but to do what the people wanted?”
I am grateful on this Friday afternoon to get a dose of levity from you. I suppose you know what the people want, right? You have some special insight permitting you to divine the “will of the people” at any given time, on any given issue. Our elected officials need to vote their conscience and do what they think best serves the electorate. If the electorate doesn’t like what they’ve done, the electorate can vote them out. Did you ever take a civics course?
” … rashly reinstating I-747’s unsustainable and irresponsible one-percent cap …”
Unsustainable. That word is the fashionable green-Goldycrat substitute for thought. In the six to seven years of I-747’s emplacement, where and when was the leviathan state not sustained? Aside from a few desultory tweaks here and a few grudging nooges there, taxing (pun intended) districts just kept on keeping on.
Think about it.
Tell it to Christine Eyman Gregoire, #7. Representative democracy be screwed, she got a weatherman and quickly learned what way the will of the people was blowing. Or maybe, having a gift for divination, she took out her forked stick and found out that Eyman’s the main stream while you Fat Cat ‘Crats are trickle-down irrelevant elitists.
Property taxes are graduated taxes because a small percentage of people own most of the property. We should have graduated property taxes. That way, those who own more than they need would be forced to divest themselves of the property.
9
So, if the job of our elected officials is to act in accordance with their perception of the “will of the people,” why has your president not ended the Iraq War? Polls show a majority of Americans clearly want our troops withdrawn. Shouldn’t your president obey that will?
Didn’t you get the memo? When your Democrat(ick) Party took Congress one year ago, they ended the war, just as Kos and Soros ordered. You got just what you wanted.
(Heard from the usual unreliable sources that there’s been a recent “surge” of popular support for the war. Back up to almost 50%. Go, as they say, figure.)
I’ll be sending Geoff Simpson a congratulatory card for his vote and a contribution if he runs again. He was the same way when he was on the Covington City Council. The man has a great career outside the legislature and he cannot be intimidated, bought off, influenced unduly or cowed – even by Frank Chopp. He is a true citizen legislator and should be a model for anyone thinking about politics as a line of endeavor. He is the Dennis Kuncinich of Washington.
lefty@7….UMMMMMYEAH i can and do. it’s right here hon….can you read?
“despite the fact that his district overwhelmingly supported I-747,”
and this classic “You have some special insight permitting you to divine the “will of the people” at any given time,”
yup…i do.
it’s called “how they cast their votes”
but being the whiny commie you are you just know better than the people don’t you? you are into stealing elections, scaring people needlessly about things you know nothing about ad nauseum………
what don’t you get about that? the people’s will and all that? look, i realize that your peeps probably dropped here in america LONG after the revolutionary war and the signing of the constitution…but hey, i heard a rumor that seattle has a great big library you could go to for info.
tiny tim….goldycrat…now that’s a classic. at least goldy will be remembered for one thing at least………
headless lucy says:
Property taxes are graduated taxes because a small percentage of people own most of the property. We should have graduated property taxes. That way, those who own more than they need would be forced to divest themselves of the property.
11/30/2007 at 1:28 pm
Great Idea!!!! And the state can determine what we each need right? Great! Oh and don’t forget income, let’s make sure we don’t have anyone making ” more than they need” and let’s have the state determine what that level is….
Then we can give the property and income to those who don’t have it….everyone is the same….
Q. Shouldn’t we all wear the same clothes? I mean we wouldn’t want anyone to have more than anyone else….
Seriously scary HL, I mean are you a decendent of Lenin?
Goldy,
Pridemore is an awesome guy and The Sierra Club played a big role in getting him into office.
descendent
The vote by Democrats to implement a 1% property tax lid is the height of electoral pandering. Although it’s not clear to me who they were pandering to. Do they honestly think that the Tim Eyman crowd will suddenly embrace them and vote democratic next election. That seems highly unlikely. They certainly weren’t pandering to the progressive democratic constituency since they’re not threatening to oust Democrats because their property tax is too high. So who in the world were they trying to impress? Washington State has the most regressive tax system in the US bar none. Property taxes aren’t a very progressive tax, however it does collect more from those who live in higher value homes. Unless the legislature plans on cutting services each year by 3 or 4%, the difference between inflation and the 1% cap, they will have to raise taxes somewhere else. Since a progressive income tax isn’t on the table, that means sales tax and use fees will likely rise. Putting an even heavier burden on the low income residents of our state.
Even in the majority, our Democratic “leaders” seem incapable of leading, only reacting to the threats of blowhards like Tim Eyman and Dino Rossi.
ghost @ 14
How did you ever get so full of yourself? Your comments reflect mere reactionary dribble rather than any sort of original thinking. You even raise issues about my presumed ancestry. Wow, talk about arrogance on your part. When you know what the will of the people is, perhaps you should get yourself named Empress. Until then, you are best-advised to keep your mouth shut as expressing yourself makes you look silly. As they say in Mexico, “en la boca cerrada, no entran las moscas.”
“Simpson said local government can’t be expected to provide high quality services when revenues are not keeping pace with the rate of inflation.”
While I agree with Simpson, as far as it goes, this is only half the story. The REST OF THE STORY, as Paul Harvey would say, is that household incomes aren’t keeping pace with the rate of inflation, either.
It’s time to recognize the fact that the impetus behind tax-limiting measures (and Tim Eyman’s prominence) is the mis-distribution of the tax burden. The solution is a more progressive tax system. People whose incomes are falling ever farther behind the cost of living simply can’t keep paying ever-higher property taxes, sales taxes, etc. We’ve got to get the money for necessary services from the affluent segment of the population that has been skating and freeloading up to now.
We need to replace our jury-rigged, regressive, state and local tax structure with a state income tax. Period. Nothing else is possible until that gets done.
So … “representative democracy” is when your rep votes the way you want, and some other rep in some other district votes against what his constituents want?
I’m not sure this is the example you were looking for.
And would you still run against that evil Adam Kline character if the price was right?
Or is he back on the side of the angels?
The FMW of my burrow has approximately doubled in the 20 years I’ve been down here under this tree root, and the property taxes have more than tripled over the same time span, so I don’t feel I’m shortchanging the government of their fair share.
Somehow the average joe always ends up with the short straw in these deals.
FMV
News update — all the hostages at the Clinton campaign office have now been released, but the guy with the bomb strapped to his body is still in there, demanding to speak with the candidate.
Speaking of reporters, the NY Times is calling bullshit on a GOP frontrunner (why are we surprised?):
“In almost every appearance as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination, Rudolph W. Giuliani cites a fusillade of statistics and facts to make his arguments about his successes in running New York City and the merits of his views.
“Discussing his crime-fighting success as mayor, Mr. Giuliani told a television interviewer that New York was ‘the only city in America that has reduced crime every single year since 1994.’ In New Hampshire this week, he told a public forum that when he became mayor in 1994, New York ‘had been averaging like 1,800, 1,900 murders for almost 30 years.’ When a recent Republican debate turned to the question of fiscal responsibility, he boasted that ‘under me, spending went down by 7 percent.’
“All of these statements are incomplete, exaggerated or just plain wrong.”
Quoted under fair use; for complete story and/or copyright info see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22034699/
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Well, at least he’s not threatening to blow himself up unless he gets face time with Senator Clinton. As far as I know.
Waytago Wingfucks!!!
“Emergency responders face deep aid cuts
“AP IMPACT: President Bush seeks dramatic cuts in state and local Homeland Security grants
“By EILEEN SULLIVAN and DEVLIN BARRETT Associated Press Writers | AP
“Nov 30, 2007
“The Bush administration intends to slash counterterrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year, according to budget documents obtained by The Associated Press. …
“The plan calls outright elimination of programs for port security, transit security, and local emergency management operations in the next budget year.”
Quoted under fair use; for complete story and/or copyright info see http://www.newsweek.com/id/73115
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Why do the GOPers even bother with the pretense of protecting the country? I get the feeling Bush does things like this simply because he enjoys fucking with people. Like when he tortured frogs as a kid.
Of course, this isn’t surprising, given that Bush and the Republican congress opposed virtually all homeland security spending after 9/11:
“Nov. 14, 2001: Senate Democrats propose $15 billion for homeland security; the White House warns against “permanent spending on other projects that have nothing to do with stimulus and that will only expand the size of government.”
“Dec. 4, 2001: Senate Appropriations Committee votes 29-0 in favor of $13.1 billion for homeland security; the next day, Bush threatens to veto it.
“Dec. 6, 2001: Senate Republicans reduce homeland security funding by $4.6 billion.
“Dec. 19, 2001: Under pressure from White House, House-Senate conferees eliminate another $200 million of funding for airport security, port security, nuclear facility security, and postal security.
“June 7, 2002: Senate votes 71-22 for $8.3 billion of homeland security funding; the next day, Bush’s advisors recommend a veto.
“July 19, 2002: Under White House pressure, homeland security funding is further reduced by cutting money for food security, cyber security, nuclear security, airport security, port security, drinking water security, coordination of police and fire radios, and lab testing to detect chem-bio weapons.
“Aug. 13, 2002: Bush decides not to spend $2.5 billion appropriated for homeland security on the grounds of “fiscal responsibility.”
“Jan. 16, 2003: White House reacts to Democratic efforts to increase homeland security funding by stating, “The Administration strongly opposes amendments to add new extraneous spending.” Later that day, Senate Republicans vote against funds for smallpox vaccine.
“Jan. 23, 2003: Senate Republicans cut security funding for the FBI, FEMA, INS, TSA, Coast Guard, and National Nuclear Security Administration.
“Feb. 3, 2003: Bush submits a 2004 budget cutting homeland security funding by nearly 2 percent.
“Feb. 14, 2003: Senate Democrats request money for smallpox vaccine, police and fire radios, and public transportation security; no Republicans support it.
“March 21-25, 2003: Republicans defeat 7 amendments to bolster homeland security.
“April 2, 2003: Senate Republicans reject Democratic amendment to provide $1 billion for port security.
“April 3, 2003: Republicans reject protection of commercial airliners from shoulder-fired missiles and four other pro-homeland security amendments.
“June 2003: House Republicans reject Democratic proposal to raise $1 billion for homeland security by reducing tax cuts for 200,000 millionaires by an average of $5,000 each (from $88,000 to $83,000).”
Source: James Carville, “Had Enough?” (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003), pp. 41-43.
Homeland security is a joke. Airport screening and terrorism watch lists are totally ineffective. Their only purpose is to harass ordinary citizens. There’s virtually nothing to keep terrorists from sneaking a nuclear bomb into our country in one of the 99% of cargo containers that go uninspected because of the Bush administration’s virulent refusal to secure our ports. I get the feeling Republicans would contract out port security to Osama bin Laden — if they could find him. The illegal wiretapping, the snooping in your medical and library records, the cops pepper spraying anti-war demonstrators — all of this serves only one purpose, and that is, it conveys to the populace that we’d better kowtow to America’s aristocracy and kiss their asses because they can push us around at will. Fuck ’em. To the barricades! It’s time to make them eat dog food.
Quoted under fair use. “”It would be premature to speculate on any details that will or will not be a part of the next fiscal year budget,” OMB spokesman Sean Kevelighan said, because negotiations between the White House and the Cabinet departments over the budget are not finished.”
For those that don’t hate this country and read beyond paragraph one.
RS commentary – No attacks in the US since 2001.
According to Newsweek, there’s still “no one in the U.S. government who has overall charge of … trying to keep nuclear bombs out of terrorist hands.”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/72956
If an American city disappears under a mushroom cloud, it will be Bush’s fault.
@28 “RS commentary – No attacks in the US since 2001.”
Wrong. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....ents#2000s
Pelletizer @30
Like Bush doesn’t have to fight tooth and nail while living under the 24-7 microscope of negative main stream media to insure this DOESN’T happen.
Thank you Democrats and your yellow dog media cohorts
Roger Rabbit says:
If an American city disappears under a mushroom cloud, it will be Bush’s fault
Of Course that is all you care about……..
let’s put that another way. “If a city disappears under a mushroom cloud, it will be an American tragedy.”
If that awful scenario were to unfold, at a time when we all should unite to help our fellow American and look to smash those who would carry out such a terrible attack, there are fools like you, who would be ranting about fault and pointing the finger….
RightStuph™: Before Nelson Rockefeller died, he displayed his art collection for a short time to the general public. I was one lucky kid to see that exhibition!
One of my favorite paintings was a surrealist painting by Salvador Dali of a camel easily leaping through the eye of a super-jumbo sewing needle.
I have a feeling you would have liked that painting, too.
#3 You’re an ass. If government could run on donations, it would. But it won’t–because asses like you would be more than happy to benefit from voluntary payments from people like me.
You see, I understand the value of government services. I value schools, even though I don’t have kids. I value senior health services, although I’m young (at least, relatively) and healthy. I value libraries, although I personally never use them. I value police and fire and parks and on and on…because I have enough imagination to have a good idea of what our society would look like without them.
And a political opportunist like Tim Eyman, who prefers to write laws that resemble doing surgery with a chainsaw, will keep getting support from asses like yourself, who resent paying what is really a small price for the privilege of living in this country, and who are always looking for ways to avoid paying your fair share for services we all benefit from–either directly or indirectly.
So, no, I’m not going to volunteer more than what I owe. At the same time, I’m more than happy to pay my tax bill. On top of that, I have no qualms about voting for additional taxes, because, as a grown-up I understand that roads don’t get built by the road fairy. I also understand that setting arbitrary limits on taxation is a back-asswards way of setting budgets and running government.
#28
Why stop there? The earth hasn’t been destroyed by a giant meteor since 2001; California hasn’t yet fallen into the ocean (although, to be fair, that’s probably DESPITE Bush’s best efforts); we haven’t been attacked by aliens; robots haven’t taken over; France hasn’t conquered us; and on and on.
Bush deserves precisely as much credit for avoiding these catastrophes as he does for protecting us from attacks since 2001.
#35: You don’t really say WHY you won’t pay more than you actually owe in prop taxes. You just seem to want to. Ergo, you are a perfect candidate to pay more. In fact, I’m betting my family pays WAY more in county and state taxes than yours. Way more. So instead of criticizing those who are financially holding this state up as we are, maybe you should reach down and at least try to equal what we are paying each year. Then you might earn the right to complain. In the meantime, I’d really like to hear what you are sending in prop and other taxes each year.
justdrivingby @ 35
Eloquence, man, pure eloquence. I wish I’d said what you did. The righties always want someone else to pay, then claim lefties don’t want accountability. Kudos.
#38. We ARE paying most of the freight. Maybe if you were paying what we were then you might earn the right to complain. As it is, those of us who are holding this state up financially are done with those who complain and aren’t paying as much.
So will Governor Gregoire appoint Teresa Kulik to fill Bobbe Bridge’s soon-to-be-vacant seat on the Washington Supreme Court? Kulik was a long-time (25 years) top assistant AG, who served for many years under Gregoire when she was AG, and was recently appointed to the Court of Appeals (Division III in eastern Washington). Kulik was also a pro-tem Supreme Court justice who joined the three-member “majority” in striking down I-747.
Logically, Gregoire would be inclined to appoint a woman, since there are five men and four women on the high court right now, and replacing Bridge with a woman will keep four women on the court. And no one from eastern Washington has served for MANY years — in spite of being 22% of the state’s population. An eastern Washington appointee would help Gregoire with this area, where she has been politically very weak.
Out of eastern Washington attorneys and jurists, Kulik would be at the top of Gregoire’s list. The first woman to ever serve on the Court of Appeals from eastern Washington, not to mention 25 years in the AG’s office — and working as one of Gregoire’s top aides. Plus Kulik would seem ideologically compatible, given her I-747 decision and other indications of her judicial philosophy.
But a Kulik appointment could backfire. Kulik was arrested for drunk driving on November 15, 2003, Chelan County District Court No. C-14440-CHS-CT. The well-connected Kulik was able to get her friends in the Chelan County Prosecuting Attorney’s office to immediately dismiss the charges. The prosecutor falsely told the judge that they were going to re-file the charges, but never did. This dismissal was highly unusual, since it was done immediately after the deputy sheriff filed the ticket with the court. Kulik was arrested on a Saturday. Two days later, on Monday morning at 9:30 a.m., Kulik didn’t even have to appear for arraignment — apparently being informed in advance that the charges would be dismissed.
Now, it is possible that the charges against Kulik were completely bogus, and that dismissal was appropriate. However, I imagine that the news media (and Republicans) might look into this matter, if Gregoire (as expected) appoints Kulik to the high court. Certainly, police reports exists, breath test results exist, and other records about the facts of Kulik’s arrest exist.
If it turns out that Kulik was probably guilty of drunk driving from these public records, and that she was unfairly not prosecuted at all for this alleged crime, then this will sink Kulik if she runs (as expected) against strong opponents like John Groen for a full term in November 2008. It will also severely weaken Gregoire, whether or not Gregoire ever had any personal knowledge of Kulik’s drunk driving arrest prior to making this appointment.
Of course, even if Gregoire doesn’t appoint Kulik to the high court, she still appointed Kulik to the Court of Appeals in early 2006. While Republicans are probably hoping that Gregoire will appoint Kulik to the Supreme Court for maximum political damage, you can surely expect them to make strong political attacks against Gregoire simply because of the arguably flawed Court of Appeals appointment which has already taken place. Especially given Kulik’s vote to strike down I-747.
Several years ago I was active with the Municipal League and their nonpartisan candidate evaluation program. I remember when Geoff Simpson had his first interview as a candidate for Covington City Council — he was incredibly impressive then and has only continued to grow as a public servant of enormous integrity and decency.
Public officials are not elected to be a muppet. In the best case they are elected to use their intelligence, wisdom and understanding to promote the greater good. Sometimes that means going against the wishes of the individuals who voted for them — whatever the personal cost might be. This takes true character. This is when a politician becomes a statesman. This is what Geoff Simpson and his colleagues who opposed the pandering efforts of the governor and their legislative leadership became today — statesmen and stateswomen. I hope they all get re-elected. If not, then we deserve what we get.
What we sent out to everyone on Thursday night:
What an exciting, invigorating, adrenaline-rush day. You should all be extremely proud of yourselves. The only reason Gregoire and the Legislature did what they did was because of all of you. The greatest reason for this special session to impose property tax limits was because of the voters’ approval of Initiative 960 on November 6th. If that hadn’t happened, politicians would have said ‘the voters have spoken, they love higher taxes’ and would have used that as an excuse to let the supreme court rejection of I-747 stand.
Your phone calls and letters and emails to legislators brought about this special session. And your phone calls and letters and emails reminded legislators the people were watching. They knew any shenanigans and chicanery would be exposed.
And it worked out beautifully. Even if for only a day, the people pushed and Olympia responded.
Is it what the voters want? No, the voters want a real 1% cap on property tax increases. Gregoire’s bill promises a 1% cap but it doesn’t fulfill that promise. But hey, we’re dealing with Gregoire and the Democrats — they’re amateurs when it comes to tax relief — it is not in their nature — so we’ll take what we can get, even a bill with a huge loophole in it. We’re glass-is-half-full kind of guys. We can’t help but be ecstatic by the results of this special session and you should be too.
There’s something especially delicious about this: I-747 received 58% voter support. But in the special session, it received 91% support from politicians in the state house. It received 81% support from politicians in the state senate. So on this day, politicians supported it by a much higher rate than the voters did. And it was signed into law by a tax-hiking Democrat Governor. What’s not to love about that?
All credit for what happened in Olympia yesterday goes to the citizens.
Voter pressure put on legislators over the past three weeks (and frankly over the past 10 years) made the difference. Nothing like having 5 state supreme justices calling the people stupid to motivate and galvinize the support of the 58% of the people who approved I-747 (and a whole lot of the 42% who voted no but who have come to rely on its taxpayer protections). It was a huge 200,000 vote margin. Under the court’s theory, then, 100,000 voters voted yes, but ‘mistakenly’ voted yes (because of some magical hypnotism or voodoo, i suppose) when they would have voted no if only they had known ‘the truth’. Unbelievably absurd.
As for Adam Kline, he is fantastic. The media loves conflict and he and I provide lots of it. But the reality is that when he looks at me, he gets angry because he sees himself. Same aggressiveness, bombacity, and media whorishness. Different political philosophy, sure (he wants government to have 100% of taxpayers’ paychecks), but the tactics are identical. No, don’t think for a second that I don’t like and appreciate him and accept him as he is. What’s not to admire about his aggressiveness and yes, rudeness — civility is overrated. He believes in what he’s doing and he’s working the press to get his message to the people. It’s the challenge we all face when dealing with a manytimes lazy press.
The problem is that his philosophy didn’t have the support of the people (58%), his colleagues in the state house (91%) nor his colleagues in the senate (81%). Every Republican and probably 80% of elected Democrats, including tax-hiking Democrat Gregoire, voted against his philosophy.
I didn’t call the special session, Democrat Governor Gregoire did. I didn’t write the bill, his Democrat colleagues did. I didn’t vote for their bill, his Democrat colleagues did. He called me names, but the reality is he really wanted to call Gregoire and his Democrat colleagues those names but that’d hurt his own party so he does some gratuitous Eyman-bashing to try to keep the D’s base energized. Not a bad strategy if you think your base is stupid and won’t recognize the hollowness of his tactic. But again, he’s playing with the cards he’s been dealt and making the best of it.
@32, 33 … If you guys care a whit about that scenario NOT happening, how about calling your congressman and telling him to ask Chimpface for funding for 100% inspection of cargo containers? If Chimpface objects to the cost, well, it’s a lot cheaper than replacing a city.
It’s pretty clear from the GOP’s record of consistently voting against funding for port inspections, first responder communications gear, etc., that Republicans don’t take terrorism seriously. For them, it’s just a talking point to get people to vote for them so they can proceed with their looting spree.
Timmy @42:”And it was signed into law by a tax-hiking Democrat Governor. What’s not to love about that?”
Timmy, m’lad, why do you attack Democrats? You won this round. Adam Kline, of course, made you look like the fool that you are. You are a profiteer, kind of like a pirate. You steal from the state of Washington, while claiming to help the average taxpayer. Timmy, hypocrisy is, of course, human. But, Lord, when you claimed that Adam Kline was a media whore? Spare me, my friend, you define media whore.
@37 Of course a household making $200,000 and paying 4% of it in state/local taxes is “paying way more” than a household making $15,000 and paying 17% of it to the state/county/city.
($8,000 > $2,550)
But that doesn’t mean the guy paying 4% is paying his fair share.
@39 Okay, I’ll go halfway with you on this. If you’ll support a state income, I’ll agree to a flat-rate state income tax, and the state sales tax and B & O tax get eliminated. Deal?
@42, 43 If you really cared about the citizens of Washington you would sponsor an initiative to replace the state sales tax and B & O tax with a revenue-neutral flat-rate income tax.
The sales tax is one of the fairest taxes out there because everybody pays it and it’s the same rate. It should stay. The b&o is evil because it treats everyone different and our family pays the highest possible rate to the tune of thousands a year. We are likely paying more to the state than anyone on this board who’s complaining about “republicans just want everyone else to pay.” The truth is, a lot of us are paying way more than you all ever will, but you seem to think that you should criticize US. Makes no sense. Try matching what we send and then I’ll listen. A lot of use are holding up this state financially and not the least deserving at all of the criticism. You should be thanking us.
Roger Rabbit says:
@37 Of course a household making $200,000 and paying 4% of it in state/local taxes is “paying way more” than a household making $15,000 and paying 17% of it to the state/county/city. ($8,000 > $2,550)
But that doesn’t mean the guy paying 4% is paying his fair share.”
Roger, you fail to acknowledge that each & every citizen is in essence purchasing “government services”.
Why should I pay more just because I earn more.
That doesn’t make sense.
Each of us should get a bill for our % of the services we utilize.
What could be fairer than that?
And if some of the poorer citizens cannot afford the government services, rather than give them to them for FREE, lets set up a Mrs. Gregoire “loanshark” Program where a judgment is entered for there unpaid portion.
I’ll bet poor folks would better scrutinize the cost of government if they had to actually pay for it, huh?
Hell, they would probably vote for Rossi.
12 Mistress Pelosi
there’s been a recent “surge” of popular support for the war. Back up to almost 50%.
Nope. http:///www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey conducted by Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas. Nov. 20-26, 2007.
“Do you think the U.S. should keep military troops in Iraq until the situation has stabilized, or do you think the U.S. should bring its troops home as soon as possible?”
Bring Home As Soon as Possible 54%
NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Bill McInturff (R). Nov. 1-5, 2007.
“Do you think the U.S. goal of achieving victory in Iraq is still possible, or not?”
Is Not Still Possible 54%
“When it comes to the war in Iraq, which of the following statements comes closer to your point of view? The most responsible thing we can do is find a way to withdraw most of our troops from Iraq by the beginning of 2009. The most responsible thing we can do is to remain in Iraq until the situation in the country is stable.”
Withdraw Most Troops By 2009 55%
I’ll just throw this one in for you too…
ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Oct. 29-Nov. 1, 2007. N=1,131 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3. Fieldwork by TNS.
“Which political party — the Democrats or the Republicans — do you trust to do a better job handling the situation in Iraq?” Options rotated
Democrats 50%
Republicans 34%
Hmmmm…how come we’re not hearing Republicans whining and crying this time around about how terrible it is for the legislature to pass “emergency” legislation?
Answer: They don’t really care, they’d pass so-called “emergency” legislation themselves all the time if they thought it would benefit them.
Republicans = whiney little titty babies with no principles, only a pose of possessing them.
33 Right Stuff
Yes, we all know very well how long it would take Republicans to blame Democrats in the tragic case of another terrorist attack. Care to guess?
15 Right Stuff
Great Idea!!!! And the state can determine what we each need right? Great! Oh and don’t forget income, let’s make sure we don’t have anyone making ” more than they need” and let’s have the state determine what that level is….
It’s called “the political process” as practiced by “our elected representatives.” What part of representative democracy are you having a hard time understanding?