For the first time since 2006, HA namesake and shameless initiative profiteer Tim Eyman won’t have an initiative on the Washington State ballot.
“We worked really hard, but our signature drive for the 2/3-For-Taxes Constitutional Amendment fell short this year,” Eyman emailed supporters this morning. “We’re just gonna have to work even harder next time,” added Eyman. Also, next time, he might want to actually spend some money on signature gathering, instead of blowing the bulk of the $191,000 he raised through May on personal compensation and fundraising letters. (I’m not implying that the I-1325 campaign was a total scam. But, no, wait. I guess I am.)
Yawn.
Truth is, I don’t write much about Timmy these days because he’s ceased to be relevant. Without the late Michael Dunmire or the crazy Kemper Freeman or the money-grubbing oil industry bankrolling his campaigns, Eyman has long been a paper tiger. He has no organization, no grassroots base of support, and no fundraising list sufficient to raise the money necessary to buy enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. And so this year he didn’t.
It was other people’s money that made Eyman relevant. Without it, he’s nothing. And even with it, he’s not all that.
Over the past 15 years, Eyman has filed dozens of initiatives, qualifying 14 for the ballot. Eight Eyman initiatives have been approved by voters, but of these, all but two were ultimately ruled unconstitutional. Yes, the provisions at the heart of the unconstitutional I-695 and I-747 were reinstated by the legislature, but that’s a testament more to the political cowardice of state lawmakers than to the influence of Eyman.
Indeed, Eyman has been particularly irrelevant in recent years, since being abandoned by his sugar daddies. This is actually the second petition season in a row in which Eyman has failed to qualify an initiative. Last November’s losing I-517 was an initiative to the legislature that was submitted back in 2012. So it’s been a long time since Eyman has run a successful signature drive.
Good riddance.
How’s the watch selling business Timmy?
“… of blowing the bulk of the $191,000 he raised through May … ”
Nearly two hundred grand with no sugar daddy? While that’s not a Sarah Palin level of grifting the teabaggy crowd, it’s still pretty impressive.
Then again, if the intellectually and morally bankrupt Republican Party can still routinely get 40% of the vote statewide for their failed policies, why shouldn’t Timmy sell the unconstitutional 2/3 requirement many times over?
The link in the story no longer works.
@3 My bad. Reload the page and try again.
Timmy is just a middleman. Now you got Uber using its billions to write its own laws by filing three illegal initiatives and gathering the signatures: 119, 120, & 121.
http://www.seattle.gov/cityarc.....nitiatives
I’m confused by the teachers’ classroom-size initiative, which apparently did qualify for the ballot, but does nothing for education funding. Reducing classroom sizes is great for students, but we’ve been down this path before. What’s the point of mandating smaller class sizes without a means to pay for it? It seems to me that will only result in yet another unrealized mandate.
I really wish that these pieces would not focus on the name of Eyman but rather the money backing him. It’s obvious that the death of one of his major benefactors was a huge blow to the efforts and shouldn’t we be questioning why? If just one backer has the power to dictate legislation for years in this state what does that say about money in politics? Come on you guys, do some real journalism work and not just page view driven headlines that continue to perpetuate the face of corporate interests but not the people who fund it.
@7 Um, you mean like this? Or this?
Goldy, you gave only two examples; one from 2008 and one from 2010 respectively. Is that good enough to you? They should be household names, not Eyman. Don’t get me wrong, he is the mouthpiece, but we all know he’s not the money. Follow the money for us! The money is the power and putting a face to that money is more important than Eyman.
@9 No, I gave you search results for “Michael Dunmire” and “Kemper Freeman,” which bring up a bunch of posts I’ve written on the two. And that’s just here on HA. I was writing on Slog from 2011 through March of this year.
I’ve done plenty of post following Tim Eyman’s money (as best I can without a subpoena). You just need to look for them.
My point is I shouldn’t have to look for it, that those names should be constantly mentioned instead of Eyman. If you think you’ve done your job well then great…but I beg to differ. I wish you would try harder.
@11 I wish would pay me harder.
Ah, got it. So you don’t have a passion for the work you do or have a need to deliver quality news unless you are being paid well for it. I suppose that makes sense seeing as my original argument was that you’re just looking for page views. Good to know the philosophy of your work ethic. Not only that, but you’re kind of a jerk. It would have been really great to have an intelligent conversation with you over this legitimate concern but instead you just became defensive and combative. It’s a shame. I won’t be reading your work anymore.
@13 You come to my blog and chastise me for not working hard enough for free, and you call me a jerk? Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.