June 29, 2005
Pro-Gas Tax Hysteria

The hysterical forces who are determined to keep the gas tax barrel filled to the brim with pork are handing out scaremongering flyers to frighten us regular folks out of signing the No New Gas Tax petition. Here are three anti-No New Gas Tax flyers. Two are real. One is a parody. See if you can tell which is the parody and which are self-parody:

1) "Don’t let I-912 sink the ferries! Don’t sign their petitions!"

2) "Bad for our families! Killer highways remain unsafe! Bad for our economy! Average of 8,800 jobs lost annually over the next decade!"

3) "You will die. Your children will die. Oh, and did we mention you’ll lose your job, too?"

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at June 29, 2005 03:02 PM | Email This
Comments
1. I think the second one is made up. How can 8,800 jobs that don't even exist yet be lost?

Posted by: Kim S on June 29, 2005 03:12 PM
2. I'm hoping the third one is the fake, but I just can't be sure.

Posted by: Steve B on June 29, 2005 03:14 PM
3. It has got to be the third one - it doesn't have the organization name on it and their logo. Beyond that it is hard to tell they are all equally sane!

Posted by: fred on June 29, 2005 03:17 PM
4. Tis #3.

Isn't the 23 cents a gallon going to "making the highways safer"? If not, why not?

Posted by: SouthernRoots on June 29, 2005 03:21 PM
5. They are hoping that the rest of WA residents are as manipulatable as they are, they did the same thing with Eyeman's $35 tabs.

Posted by: Adriel on June 29, 2005 03:26 PM
6. On the keepwashingtonrolling.com, they have a very nice graphic showing that it will only cost the average moterist 41 cents per week.
As far as I can calculate, that is based only on the first installment of 3 cents a gallon, not the total rise of 9 and a half cents that will be fazed in. Nothing like a little dishonesty (or atthe least, misleading information) to try to support their argument, I guess.

Posted by: Ausiie Rob on June 29, 2005 03:26 PM
7. Aren't these the same supporters who also favor less highway spending, getting us all out of automobiles and into mass transit, and removal of roads from sensitive areas? Why are they so charged up emotionally over this? Shouldn't someone point out their inconsistency on this issue?

Posted by: Elvis is the King County on June 29, 2005 03:31 PM
8. They are really getting desperate.

It was really a pleasure collecting those signatures.

Posted by: Andy on June 29, 2005 03:32 PM
9. also am I the only one getting a browser hijack at nonewgastax.com?

Even after a total spyware cleansing- I'm still getting redirected over to a porn site.

Posted by: Andy on June 29, 2005 03:40 PM
10. I remember when I-395 the $30 car tab passed. His Highness Ron "Tax to the Max" Sims called a press conference and solomenly pronoucned: The poeple have voted for les fire and police protection. (paraphrased)

Now we have the same sky is falling line of male bovine scat coming from the same usual suspect and useful idiots as every other time a tax control, tax relief measure comes up.

This this years budget in WA had a increase in revenue, yet the spending increases outstriped the increase.

We absolutely have to reign in this peddlers of political pronography.

I think I will email a copy of the Stamp Act
http://ahp.gatech.edu/stamp_act_bp_1765.html
to my legislators and remind them the Revolution was over pennies.

Posted by: JCM on June 29, 2005 03:49 PM
11. The third one is particularly LAME. These won't work. They just insult the intelligence of the one reading it.

Oh, and they forgot to mention that YOUR DOG WILL DIE if you sign I-912.....

Posted by: Michele on June 29, 2005 03:50 PM
12. Potholes? Who's afraid of a few stinkin' potholes when you've got a fine Humvee urban assault vehicle more than capable of navigating neglected Washington State roads!

These anti-912 campaigns are hilarious. You'd think that everything will fall apart without this gas tax. If this tax was so critical to meeting state objectives, then maybe after it is shot down by the voters Christine may have a mandate to institute an emergency 10% reduction in state employees to cover the costs!

Posted by: Elvis is the King County on June 29, 2005 03:58 PM
13. I didn't actually read them, but the third one is the fake.

(It would make it less obvious if you used one of those Javascript thingies to conceal the URLs.)

Posted by: ScottM on June 29, 2005 04:00 PM
14. They all look like parodies.

Posted by: swassociates on June 29, 2005 04:18 PM
15. The first one has to be fake. Afterall, the ferries are close to having 100% of their costs recovered at the fare box, so there should be NO taxes, gas or otherwise needed to keep them afloat.

Either that, or the libs are so insidious as to make us west sounders pay entirely for the ferries and then justify even HIGHER fares to subsidize King County projects or else they will "sink" the ferries.

Posted by: Eyago on June 29, 2005 04:58 PM
16. Good afternoon guys

Listen I just talked to the powers that
be and the no new tax initiative numbers
look real good.All I can say is keep it
going. We can make this happen.

Posted by: phil spackman on June 29, 2005 05:07 PM
17. Fred: "It has got to be the third one - it doesn't have the organization name on it and their logo."

Note that the "logo" is actually the Printers Union label. Don't ever run for local office and dare to get your campaign signs printed without that label on it - take my word for it, I learned the hard way!

Posted by: Patrick on June 29, 2005 05:10 PM
18. Andy,

My computer's clean and I'm not getting redirected. Try both Adware and Spybot Search and Destroy.

Posted by: VaCSProf on June 29, 2005 05:32 PM
19. This is rich!! Do these elite idiots really think the we are stupid enough to belive them!!

Posted by: Laurie on June 29, 2005 07:24 PM
20. Expect to hear even better when the initiative is on the ballot...

1. We'll have to fire all the teachers!

2. We'll have to close all the battered womens' shelters!

3. There will be no money for Fire/Police emergency response!

4. It will kill all the salmon!

5. It will shut down all of our hospitals!

Posted by: Shaun on June 29, 2005 08:09 PM
21. I'm guessing #3.

All three are equally shameless.

Posted by: cc on June 29, 2005 08:10 PM
22. Can you get Chlamydia from signing petitions?

Posted by: Liberal on June 29, 2005 08:50 PM
23. When I lived in Massachusetts, we tried to get rid of vehicle excise taxes, which existed to fund a road that was already paid for, through the initiative process. The liberal forces said we would have to fire teachers and have no textbooks if it passed.

Although, they didn't say we would die, so, in retrospect, it wasn't that bad.

Posted by: pudge on June 29, 2005 08:54 PM
24. Yesterday, King County hearing examiner Stafford Smith blasted King County DOT for multiple instances of "arbitrary and capricious" actions in their tireless work to help Quadrant Homes (Weyerhaeuser) build an 800-home project east of Redmond. Quadrant is the state's largest homebuilder and one of the biggest players in this state's politics, where they and their allies control large segments of both major parties.

In addition to revoking Quadrant's 3 year-old traffic concurrency certificate, Smith has recommended denial of largest King County project to ever get such a ruling.

What everyone needs to understand is that these arbitrary and capricious actions (fraud if connected to intent) were used by KCDOT to help this project, and are from the DOT manual for helping developers avoid the billions and billions that have left state and local road projects without funding. Similar acts discovered after approval of Redmond Ridge and Trilogy 8 years ago have resulted in liability to the taxpayers in the hundreds of millions of dollars category. Gregoire stepping in to begin the bailout of the building industry with the gas tax was just her first attempt to buy support from the non-partisan builders that will back whoever throws the most taxpayer money their way in subsidies.

At a time when Gas Tax opponents are making arguments why taxpayers should object to throwing more money down DOT ratholes without honest analysis, accountability, or even public support, how would the masses feel if they learned that King County DOT had worked for years to shift road costs from massive developers like Quadrant, to the unsuspecting taxpayers?

I know that I will never support any revenue plan until government stops giving my money to the growth industry elite (who's opposing I-912?) to subsidize their profits.

Look to the Times for additional coverage on this breaking story soon.

Posted by: Mike on June 29, 2005 08:58 PM
25. Andy,
I'll bet that your browser has been replaced by a fake I.E. It happened to me. The porn was more than this grammy could stand. Luckily, my son scrubbed my computer for me, then he installed Firefox. End of problem.

Posted by: lksimstrailgrammy on June 29, 2005 10:47 PM
26. Wonder if Ron Sims may be able to shed some light on how Quadrant got intially favorable treatment?

Posted by: Michele on June 29, 2005 10:51 PM
27. Shaun--
Stop scaring me. It's like a campfire story. I'm looking over my shoulder, and just burned my marshmallow in a pathetic fireball.

If they threaten to cut the Tent Cities, I will snap & rise up in anger like a French Revolutionary. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Greg-war-ie!

Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on June 29, 2005 11:30 PM
28. Yo Jimmie,

Sorry about the marshmallow. But I forgot to mention the worst of all...

6. No more clowns at childrens' birthday parties!

Posted by: Shaun on June 30, 2005 07:59 AM
29. The point of ads like that is to muddy the waters, confuse, and re-direct people's attention from real problems to non-existent problems. It's typical democrat propaganda. So let's count them up:
We have the Quadrant scandal.
We have the Monorail scandal.
We have the Viaduct (2 billion to get started, not to finish it) scandal.
We have the Sound Transit ridership (cheaper to take a helicoptor) scandal.
We have the King County elections scandal.
And NOBODY has been fired (re-assignments don't count) for any of it!

At some point don't we have to just consider the possibility that Washingtonians are idiots? Not all, but a majority. By the time sensible people get a chance to straighten this mess out, it will most likely be a financially irretrievable situation with monorail towers with no rail, and transit train tunnels to nowhere.
Sorry, but I'm not sure being a conservative in WA is something anyone should spend their time and money on. It may be better to take the advice of our democrat friends, and MOVE AWAY to a state that has some common sense and political balance. We can watch from a safe distance while Washington implodes from it's runaway debt, lack of ethical leadership, and absence of political diversity.

Posted by: Scott C on June 30, 2005 09:09 AM
30. Shaun--
Thanks. However the clown thing was unknowingly poignant and introspective. I lived (just after event) about 2 blocks away from Mr. Gacy, the clown in IL with 15+ bodies of boys in his basement. (May he continue to burn in hell!) Very eerie to walk by that lot later with a new house built there. Not to give him time, but it struck a moment.

That moment is one of silent appreciation for all I have. In a moment, a monster or terrorist can take it away. We can blog & bitch, but we have to come back to the essential things--families, communities and good bloggers who give a darn about their governments running well and SERVING the people who trusted them with the powers to do so. Let's keep the heat on to acheive that!

Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on June 30, 2005 02:08 PM
31. I knew there was a reason I signed 912!It is clear the otherside is getting desparate they deciced to sue 912 initiave leaders & to threaten Fisher broadcasting!wrong people to attack!!

Posted by: Laurie on June 30, 2005 05:15 PM
32. on the prn redirect- I'm getting to be 80% sure there is a script in either the nonewgastax.com counter or one of their rotating do-dads that has been hacked- and my version of ie/xp is vulnerable.

spyware would be hijacking me on lots of pages-

Posted by: Andy on July 1, 2005 09:21 AM
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