To the surprise of few, recently provided long-term budget estimates confirm that low and behold, years of overspending in Olympia mean big deficits coming down the pike...even before the budgetary complications of a slowing economy.
How does a $2.5 billion gap by 2013 sound?
Posted by Eric Earling at January 30, 2008 10:08 PM | Email ThisNah.
Posted by: Daniel K on January 31, 2008 12:25 AMUnder Gregoire, the budget has increased by one-third, from $54 billion to $71 billion. In just four years. $17 billion increase in spending.
And you really want to blame EYMAN for this?! As I have said lately to many Democrats on this site: who do you think you're fooling?
The old-timers (R and yes, D) understood the cyclical nature of the State's economy with the ups and down of Weyerhauser and Boeing and then just Boeing. They never got over exuberant like today's legislator.
Makes you wish the cost and time committment to get elected to the legislature were small enough to attract better legislators, instead of the egomaniacs like the Oemigs and G. Simpsons.
I also get the OFM budget projections. King of interesting that many of the bills are being passed out of committee without the impacts being available.
The budget projections also show a tremendous increase in State government to regulate, regulate and regulate more and more.
Posted by: swatter on January 31, 2008 06:55 AMOur State has historically lived and died by the sales tax.When you ask for too much up front you pile too much overhead on goods and services.The price of goods and services go up,sales go down,and sales taxes go down with it. In effect the D's with their social programs,and union payouts,and the R's with their moral,and police state themes have helped kill the golden goose before it had a chance to lay the golden egg.What bothers me is that the R's stopped standing up for the golden goose.
Homeland security,Military spending,criminal justice overload are creations of the R's.
The sales taxes are key.If you can lower the prices,and get the poor people to spend along with the rich people sales taxes trickle into olympia(Tefalon).
The only difference between Rs and Ds in government is:
D's tax and spend
R's borrow and spend
The key part...is both spend.
Posted by: Bill Anderson on January 31, 2008 08:07 AMThe bottom line is that Dino Rossi wouldn't have increased the size of our state government by 33% in a few short years. Because he's not beholden to every Democrat special interest that the supermajority legislature is. The coming deficits in this state will be the responsibility, SOLELY, of Demcrats in the legislature and governor's mansion.
Posted by: Palouse on January 31, 2008 08:24 AMDino could not get elected if he was to commit to reducing criminal justice over funding.
Unfortunately that is the biggest cause of over spending that we can obviously afford to cut. Dino could not have changed the equasion without criminal justice cuts,and that was not going to fly for a Republican..Dino would have needed to have non violent criminals tow the cart instead of being on it, and that is not something that makes the R's go Ahhh.
If that were true, then Republicans would have turned out to vote in 2006. They did not BECAUSE they Republicans in DC are failing to act like Republicans.
You are caught in a silly logical fallacy: that just because those Republicans -- which most other Republicans have rejected -- act a certain way, that all Republicans do.
Posted by: pudge on January 31, 2008 09:43 AMSounds like it's time to raise "Fee's" like Romney does in his home state. That way Gregiore can say she didn't raise taxes while screwing us over anyway.
14 - we aren't going to avoid the recession, so it was very poor planning and fiscal irresponsibility to be bloating the size of government like the Democrats did. Republicans at the time strongly warned against it, and it went unheeded. If they had just kept the size of government constant or with very modest increases, we would not be facing these deficits.
Posted by: Palouse on January 31, 2008 11:05 AM Where The D's have it wrong isn't education it is education unions.The D's pay out for jobs we really don't need.When someone becomes serious about education the money for them isn't there.
The school districts are a perfect example,all 246 of them. Both parties put too much on the cart when it is their turn in power.Funny things happen to the R's,and D's when they get a hold of the majority locknar.
You know the leftists infesting our state's government will just jack up taxes and fees to make up the difference.
Well, got to go. Got to drop off my $1800 odd dollar B&O tax check, forked over to a grateful government for no apparent, particular reason.
Posted by: Hinton on January 31, 2008 12:20 PMEyman's initiatives had nothing whatsoever to do with the problem.
He just put them in front of the citizens of this state, who then voted in favor of them.
Posted by: ewaggin on January 31, 2008 12:21 PMThe greenies think we can just twinkle our nose or click our heels and goods/services appear like majic.We have overloaded government roster spots,and neglected the transportation infrastructure in a major way. Some of these roads have not changed since my grandfather was alive driving the old Willis. Right now we are paying monitor watching flubber logic specialist to run a phoney computer program at ramp meters while they skirt two thirds of the traffic from the freeways so more freeways dont have to be built.What kind of cop out garbage is that.
The kind of cop out garbage that is brutal on godsand services and the collection of sales taxes.You are right David,Failing to trim uneeded government roster spots to build infrastructure is a favorite policy of the D's.They in fact managed not only to not build needed infrastructure they found a way to pay people to vuck it up so we stop using it so they dont have to build anymore.. It is a complete cop out.If I could gather all the truckers for one day and surround Tafalon(Olympia)I would,but most of the Independants are stuck with a truck payment running on a hamster wheel..or sitting still on it on I-90.
You're welcome!
Posted by: pudge on January 31, 2008 12:59 PMThis is win, win, Democrat style.
Posted by: Paddy on January 31, 2008 01:06 PMIn terms of the WEA running education, that's a nice boogeyman to put out there, but the reality is that we're hearing "No!" an awful lot this session, and last session we lost gainsharing.
Posted by: Ryan on January 31, 2008 04:07 PMI will go on record by saying that if the R's deliver in this election, the state will be better for it. If people do not get it, as the economic recession is setting in and taxes continue to rise without much to show for it in better services and infrastructure - that is just one more confirmation that we are living in the age of stupidity, with all due respect.
Posted by: KS on February 1, 2008 10:43 PM