The Cato Institute has issued fiscal report cards to the nation's governors. Mrs. Gregoire was included at the bottom of the list with an F. The narrative evaluation[p. 38]:
Christine Gregoire, one of the worst new governors [sic] in the nation, was elected [sic] in 2004 in one of the closest and most contentious elections in Washington history--a controversial Palm Beach-style recount made her the winner [sic] of the gubernatorial race by only 129 votes [sic]. Famous for being the lead negotiator in the $206 billion shakedown of cigarette companies known as the 1998 multistate tobacco settlement, Gregoire quickly took aim at state taxpayers upon entering office. She's raised multiple taxes already: the cigarette tax (by 42 percent), the gas tax (by 34 percent), the state's liquor tax (by $1.33 a gallon). And she resurrected the estate tax, too. Gregoire even helped the legislature overturn the law that required a supermajority to raise taxes in the future. All of this to fuel her spending binge, which expanded the general fund budget by more than 8 percent in fiscal 2006 alone. Tax activists have placed a repeal of the estate tax on the ballot in Washington, and Gregoire has already stated her opposition. In the meantime, she was quick to propose new ways to spend the $1.6 billion budget surplus this year. With a legislature controlled by her own party, perhaps the only check on Gregoire's big-government ambitions in years to come will be the usually feisty tax activists in the state.Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 19, 2006 04:41 PM | Email This
How does CATO rate the Congress and the Administration in terms of balancing the budget? Is it balanced? Where's the surplus?
Posted by: thor on October 19, 2006 05:23 PMShe is gone frequently traveling to foreign countries on tax payer funded boondoggles, while Gary Locke stated it was appropriate to take about 1 trip a year as he did on the taxpayer's tab.
If I recall correctly it was the GOP who halted the recount in King County only to have it fly in their faces later. Once they saw that they were loosing and their idiotic strategy failed, they started bitching. If they had just left King County alone the GOP would have more then their precious 129 votes and have won it all.
Words of Advice:
Don't ask for recounts in districts that favor your opponent.
that means you can re-take the test until you get it right. and an "f" in our state state can't be compared to other states' tests. how unfortunate. (how 'union')
and is that "f" gender- and diversity-adjusted for bigotry factors and institutional racism?
maybe it's REALLY an "A" but the vast right wing conspiracy is spinning the results to discount it...
Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on October 19, 2006 05:59 PMYou don't. Your description of the 2004 recounts is unlike anything that actually happened.
Posted by: ScottM on October 19, 2006 06:35 PMCato...grab another hit, will ya?
Posted by: Danny on October 19, 2006 07:50 PMThe scenario you described was only in your mind.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=webtimeline06&date=20050606&query=election+timeline
Posted by: Mike H on October 19, 2006 07:51 PMWith that said, even though our President is a Repubican, he deserves a D (up from an F last year) in fiscal responsibility. Show me anyone who deserves an A or B in fiscal responsibility - Repub. or Demon ? The quislings and slime of the MSM has prevented the good people from aspiring to higher office.
The politically correct secular progressives are driving the agenda in this state -so what in the h*ll do you expect ?
Posted by: KS on October 19, 2006 07:53 PMOf course, poor performance doesn't get these morons out of office. Rep Howard "I love fellow Communist Mandela" Wolpe (D-MI) was consistently voted one of the worst in the House of Representatives but the moonbats kept sending him back. The only reason he was finally voted out of office is that Michigan was finally able to redraw district lines that looked more like large blocks instead of squiggles on an etch-a-sketch.
Cato--why not try basing your statements on facts instead of what HA or moveon.communist tells you to think.
Posted by: Burdabee on October 19, 2006 09:21 PMBelow are the results of a three-day poll in the state of Washington. Results are based on telephone interviews with 800 likely voters in Washington, aged 18+, and conducted October 16-18, 2006. The margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.
1. Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Christine Gregoire's job performance?
Approve 43%
Disapprove 49%
Undecided 8%
9. If the Election for Governor in 2008 was between the Democrat Christine Gregoire and the Republican Dino Rossi, whom would you vote for?
Dino Rossi 51%
Christine Gregoire 43%
Undecided 6%
15. Do you think Washington is headed in the right direction or the wrong direction?
Right 35%
Wrong 60%
Undecided 5%
What's interesting (and a real blow to the illegitimate queen) is how badly Republicans fared in the rest of the poll :(
Posted by: Cheryl on October 19, 2006 09:39 PM
2008 could be very interesting with Hillary campaigning in Washington with Gregoire.
I wonder witch one will have the higher disapproval numbers?
Posted by: Brent in Ferndale on October 20, 2006 07:02 AMHopefully you can understand my mistake.
Posted by: Brent in Fernale on October 20, 2006 07:27 AMOr will Clinton tap Obama as VP (if he handles himself well in Obama's Pres. campaign) in order to court the midwest vote?
Posted by: swatter on October 20, 2006 08:48 AMBrad
Posted by: Brad on October 20, 2006 10:51 AMIf 920 and 933 pass- like support indicates from contested places in the rest of the country- Gregoire will not only lose, she will lose BADLY.
I really don't think she thought her opposition to those initiatives through. It's a 2 of 3 losing scenerio for her that will more than likely cost her mainstream support while satisfying only her nutroots base. A dumb move in any language.
Posted by: Andy on October 20, 2006 12:08 PMHow this correlates with Gregoire's reelection, I am not sure. She will have a better chance of losing ? OK. Her disapproval has dropped below 50%, so what's up with that ? Another factor is if the Republican Party of this state will start being proactive instead of reactive.
Posted by: KS on October 20, 2006 07:36 PMMy primary objection is that 933 allows the owner to seek relief regardless of when they purchased the land. If the law stated that it was rules applied since the land was purchased then I might feel differently. I also do not like the fact that 933 can apply to other personal property besides real estate and that there is no public nuisance exemption. Finally, I think this initiative is a boon to the legal industry, and it will cost taxpayers a fortune in legal fees.
Posted by: Palouse on October 23, 2006 08:17 AM