A video from the WSRP:
this:
http://www.dis.wa.gov/wheelerSM.htm
and this:
http://ga.wa.gov/EOP/index.html
and this:
http://www.del.wa.gov/
and this:
http://www.fpc.wa.gov/Home.html
Heck, just go here for yourself and pick 20 of your favorites, there are PLENTY TO CHOOSE FROM.
PLEASE DINO CUT AT LEAST 20 when we re-elect you!!!
http://access.wa.gov/agency/agency.aspx#E
Posted by: SP Fan on February 15, 2008 06:25 PMIt is more true than you know!!!
Posted by: SP Fan on February 15, 2008 06:27 PMThis state is headed for the sewer. Hang on! is right.
Posted by: Jeff B. on February 15, 2008 07:26 PMThe numbers are tight. The Queen can't win by herself on "change", so she is aligning the Obama camp to catch some of his "freshness".
WSRP CAN win on a change campaign, but they will need to get centrists away from Gregoire. Tired slogans won't do the trick.
The "tax and spend" mantra does not attract folks from the middle - which is what will make the difference. That doesn't mean that the WSRP should not concentrate on the truth.
All I am saying is the "Old" slogans will not get "New" supporters.
Posted by: deadwood on February 15, 2008 07:32 PMI know this. I am not disputing the numbers. I am saying old hack phrases won't do anything.
Posted by: deadwood on February 15, 2008 07:35 PMFirst of all, it's too long.
The one slide that could have pulled folks to Rossi's side was on the income tax. I hate the income tax idea, but that was buried at the end of the ad, and I was almost asleep by that point.
Why not make income taxes the sole issue of the ad? Get a clip of Gov. Gregiore advocating for the income tax, and do the whole ad on that one point and make a clear distinction.
And I hope Rossi can go beyond taxes. After all, our governor did convene a special session of the legislature to keep the 1% lid in place on cities. She'll have a darn good defense if attacked on taxes.
Rossi has a lot of good points to make on his web site, but Gov Gregiore has good points too. He needs to find another issue if wants to be governor.
Just my advice
Just my advice,
The repetition I am guessing is unintentional. SOund POlitics seems to take forever to post things so people hit send thinking it did not go through. That is my biggest complaint with this blog.
Smokie:
I have been to his website. Not in a month or so but when I was there it did not list any specifics on what he would cut. I am guessing that is because he does not plan on cutting anythin. Hence my lack of enthusiasm for Dino. How am I to get excited for the status quo?
Posted by: Lysander on February 15, 2008 09:19 PMOne mistake is acceptable - three is excessive.
Posted by: deadwood on February 15, 2008 09:23 PMKeeping in mind that Gregoire took an 18% raise over two years, which means a 9% raise in pay PER YEAR!
So let's all start this conversation with listing the pay raises we all got this year compared to the queen of spending!
I'll start, and I'll even say I recieved an "Excellent" evaluation this year
I recieved a 1.9% pay raise this year
Posted by: GS on February 15, 2008 09:57 PMThe issue isn't the raise GS, its the number of new gov't clerks the Queen hired.
Posted by: deadwood on February 15, 2008 10:04 PMOh really? she lept the lid on a 1 % increase on property taxes? Oh really?
While leaving the "Banked capacity in place" I just have to laugh out loud at that one after hearing from people who are seeing 8% to 70% hikes this year alone.
Posted by: GS on February 15, 2008 10:26 PM
In fact, MY budget plan, which would literally cut the budget in half overnight, would be to allow each and every budget writer to PERSONALLY KEEP 10% of EVERYTHING THEY CUT.
Our state's budget would collapse into itself like a falling collapsing star. And with democrats in charge, you'd just KNOW that no budget writer would EVER suggest a cut, even one that he or she would personally benefit from, that would EVER hurt anyone.... right?
Start a program like that, and see how fast and far the budget would shrink.
Posted by: Hinton on February 15, 2008 11:56 PMDamn, but wouldn't that be something! They could all buy new Priuses!
Posted by: deadwood on February 16, 2008 01:05 AMTHAT is the real problem here. At the first slowdown -- which could be coming in the form of a recession this year or next -- we WILL be in the red, and we WILL need to cut MAJOR parts of the budget, and it is because Gregoire did precisely what she said we shouldn't do.
Posted by: pudge on February 16, 2008 01:28 AMDid my salary go up 33%?
How come I have to live within my means?
Why doesn't the government focus on what it's supposed to focus on, like TRANSPORTATION?
No, instead we get continual sucking of money by the government. And now we need a state income tax? Why? Because the government ALREADY CAN'T live within its means.
Let's give a bottle of Thunderbird to that alcoholic.
Yeah, that's the ticket.
Posted by: steve miller on February 16, 2008 07:24 AMI am not being naive. I am sure tons could be saved by 'better management'. I am not denying that.
However I am being realistic and recognizing that the nature of the beast seems to prevent better management. If it really could be managed effienctly like a business we conservatives would not have as much of a problem with a large government. History has shown however that any organization that gets its money by force rather than persuasion ends up not being very effiecent.
This is why I beleive the only way we will see less government (and consequently get more votes than gregoire) is to propse cutting programs, not suggesting that it can be better managed.
Posted by: Lysander on February 16, 2008 08:05 AMIf you read these comments, you really should take into account the feedback on the ad. The Ad is a great initial concept. Shorten it up so that it shows the coaster going up towards its peak with the clicking, and then the screams beginning as the coaster starts down. Use higher quality title text and transition effects. And make a single reference to where we are in this state under Gregoire, her tax increases, her massive budget increases, etc.
Leave it to the viewers to connect the dots that we are peaking and now starting down into a horrifying descent.
Make it 30 seconds, and much tighter for TV, and you have a great ad.
Go do it now. The WSRP needs to get aggressive. Progressives in this region are already aggressive and will trample their way to socialism. If you are serious about changing the tide, then get on it.
Video fades in with roller coaster clicking and clacking it's way up.
Change to a set of blank screens with the following text in a modern, appealing font, whilst the audible clicking continues in the background, the text is read by an authoritative, yet appealing female voice:
"For the past three years, Democrats in Olympia with the aid of Governor Christine Gregoire have increased the WA state budget by a huge 33%!"
"That's over $5.7 Million in new spending every day."
Clicking continues in the background.
"If you prefer a more balanced fiscal policy that focuses your hard earned tax dollars on real WA problems, and is friendly to small business..."
"The join us in voting for Republicans this Novemeber."
"Otherwise, HANG ON!"
Screen cuts back to roller coaster peaking, clicking stops, screams begin as the roller coaster starts down. Fade to black.
"Paid for by the WSRP."
I think of Rossi as a liberal spender because he seems content to spend what we are spending now. I have not seen him in his past campaign or this campaign suggest one department or agency that the state should cut. He just thinks he can manage our liberal spending a little better.
If you care to point out some departments he is proposing we cut then perhaps my mind will change.
As long as the WSRP keeps putting out people that do not propose cuts, people will just think of them as just like democrats only for the war. And there are not many people in WA that want that.
Posted by: Lysander on February 16, 2008 10:39 AMI hope Luke and his folks are paying attention. Your copy is much better than theirs - and doesn't waste our time with old rhetoric.
Posted by: deadwood on February 16, 2008 11:33 AMI agree. However the problem is not finding programs to cut, it is finding politicians to support the cutting. If they are out their, the GOP in this state does not seem to support them.
Has anyone been able to find a program Rossi has cut or is proposing to cut yet?
Posted by: Lysander on February 16, 2008 02:20 PMBesides, why give the Democrats ammo, while the Governor is hiding behind "Not wanting to be political" during the session. If Dino tells them anything, she will simply have her surrogates slam him. Let's wait until she has to stand on the stage and defend the actions of her administration personally.
Posted by: Smokie on February 16, 2008 03:02 PMI don't think threatening to punish the innocent is good strategy. Although the in-state tuition waiver stick in my craw, I do not believe it is wrong - just bad policy (many of these students are on work/study or scholarships anyway).
The state might not be helping the problem of illegal immigration, but they are not the cause. That blame goes to the Federal Gov't.
One area where it makes more sense to cut state entitlements is the money paid to environmental front organizations. These folks are usually hired as consultants - sometimes paid through county programs funded by the state.
Also spending can be reduced by as much as 1/3 by streamlining environmental regulation. Note, I do not say elimination - that would lose more votes than it would gain.
Posted by: deadwood on February 16, 2008 03:28 PMHas anyone been able to find a program Rossi has cut or is proposing to cut yet?"
The problem Lysander is that if you're a Republican that advocates cutting anything you might not have a chance to be elected to your local water district board, much less Governor.
This is the game liberals play. The Bush Administration is blamed for not controlling spending. Imagine the outcry if Bush had cut funding for any of the government programs liberals love. They'd have screamed and yelled that the evil Republicans were against kids, seniors, cats, and dogs.
Yes, I'm saying we're up against a bunch that doesn't play fair. They are socialists after all.
The minute Rossi proposes cutting anything, you can stick a fork in him.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 16, 2008 03:37 PMIf you want to see who is writing the latest round of Environmental Legislation for the State of Washington just look and see who tesitfied "for" SB 6580 and HB 2797. I noticed their latest trick to getting around I-960 is to change the scope of the new regulations and start them off as "pilot programs". If you go to the fiscal notes on the Bill's go to page 11 of 11 and read the summary of the "NEW GMA GOAL" established by these new regulations on Climate change. It is all smoke and mirrors, this is going to cost everyone in the state a huge amount of money.
Posted by: Smokie on February 16, 2008 03:58 PMIf Dino were elected I doubt he would have held the line. Just like I doubted Bush when he said he would not grow the federal government. Anytime they say they will reduce spending by being better managers the result is always more spending and a ton of excuses.
If Dino needs to be in office and have proper accounting before he can say whether he would cut any departments then he does not share my views on the proper role of government. The state government does plenty of things it should not do. It does not matter what the accoutnants say, it should be cut.
As for waiting because Gregoire will slam him... What is there to slam? He should propose cutting state spending and show what departments he would cut. If she wants to provide additional coverage of his plan by 'slamming him' that is great! What the GOP does not seem to understand is that people want less government, they just need to propose it.
Posted by: Lysander on February 16, 2008 04:10 PMYou are suggesting that Rossi really will cut programs, but he has to pretend he won't until he is elected. Yet at the same time you remind us that President Bush has increased spending like a drunken sailor.
So are we to beleive that Rossi is unlike Bush and will really cut spending once in office? How do we know he is different? We don't. In fact I suspect he is more of the same.
You also suggest that if he proposes to cut anything he will lose all chances of being elected. That sounds very pessimistic to me. I think the reason the GOP has had such dismal results in this state is precisely because they never propose to cut anything.
Lets suppose that we could divide voters into two blocks... Voters that want less government and voters that want more. Right now our choices are more government (gregoire/democrats) or slightly less government but still more than we have now (Rossi/GOP). Now the more government voters have an easy choice... Gregoire. Now some more government voters maybe do not want as much as gregoire is proposing or maybe thinks she is a bad manager and rossi would manage the state better, or maybe they are a smoker and do not like the work she did as AG, but for the most part the more government voters choose Gregoire.
And the less government voters? Well they have no candidates that support their views. They want less government but the two candidates put on their balot will both increase government. What can they do? Well a few will go ahead and plug their nose and vote for rossi because it is not as bad as gregoire. A few will vote for a third party. But most will not bother voting.
Now if the GOP actually gave voters a choice by giving us a smaller government candidate all those third party voters would vote for the GOP candidate. All those non voters would come out of the woodwork and vote for the GOP candidate. All the people holdign their nose would be able to let go of their nose and vote for the better GOP candidate. In fact those nose holders would actually get excited about their candidate and donate more time and money which would probably end up winning over some of the more government voters to the less government side.
My point is the GOP needs to stop the defeatist attitude that 'less government' is a losing message. Less government is a winning message that Americans have gravitated torwards since the days of King George. So long as they hide from that message voters will not bother voting for them.
Posted by: Lysander on February 16, 2008 04:21 PMUsing the POG model I would want an honest accounting of program performance before cutting it. The problem is that with one party in control for 24 years objectivity went out the window a long time ago.
Posted by: Smokie on February 16, 2008 04:30 PMHere is even worse news....
Nearly 50% of the assets in the State Retirement Fund are in Foreign & Domestic EQUITIES...stocks.
Since the date of this statement, the Dow/S&P/NASDAQ have DROPPED nearly 10%. Some foreign equities have dropped more than that. Generously calling it a 10% LOSS in principal value, this equates to another $3.7 BILLION in underfunding on top of the 6/30/07 $5 BILLION or a total of $8.7 BILLION!!
This should be Rossi's #1 issue.
Gregoire has failed to fund existing liabilities which are skyrocketing passing this obligation on to future generations while making it worse by new programs and additional hiring of State Workers and labor concessions.
WE ARE IN DEEPER SH*T THAN MOST OF YOU REALIZE.
Dino, start pounding on this FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY.
Many independents and Democrats realize 28 years of 1 party rule in the Governor's mansion ultimately leads to the current bureaucratic tub of goo we have. Ineptness like DSHS and the Department of Transportation. The list goes on & on.
Rossi can win if he makes a contract with the citizens of Washington to cut out the fat by required resignations & bureaucratic reorganization, emphasize the disasterous financial obligation of the underfunded & growing State Pension Fund and the inevitable inefficiencies of 28 years of the same old entrenched bureaucrats.
Do it.
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on February 16, 2008 04:44 PMI don't disagree with his less government message. I do disagree with his strategy. You don't win elections in a state that has become as blue as Washington by talking about cutting government.
I think you win by showing that Democrats run government irresponsibly.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 16, 2008 05:55 PMStrangely, I find the Old Cities that were known for corruption have gotten better. When I visited New York City there seemed to be a lighter spirit, maybe borne of 911, roads were working, trains were built and running...no more stagnation.
Likewise, I was just reading about London and the plans there to built 12 bicycle "Superhighways". These are the kind of exciting, good government things that the People need. Not expensive, never ending money holes, but plans that really recognize that a new way of thinking is needed.
"A bicycle "superhighway" from Balham to Victoria and bike-priority streets in Croydon and Richmond are among the £500million transport plan released by London Mayor Ken Livingstone today.
The proposals would also see more than 6,000 hire bicycles placed throughout the city in a bid to convince Londoners to make one in every 10 of their trips by bicycle, cutting 1.6million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
"The aim of this programme is nothing short of a cycling and walking transformation in London," Mr Livingstone said."
Posted by: John Bailo on February 16, 2008 08:36 PMI think you win by showing the people they will get more by asking for less.
The R's can't let go of any of the moral positive crusades,therefore they cut where it hurts so the people go for the handouts because it is easier.
How to win:
Cut criminal justice funding,release/stop arresting non violent criminals,get them towing the cart rather than being on it..(R's cant do it)
Restore small business profitability,(R's wont make it happen)
Revive the sales tax golden goose,(R's can't stop the moral crusades)
Stop mass illegal immigration,let non violent criminals back into the work force.(R's want illegal immigration for corporations,fewer votes but more money).
That is how to win.
Don't see the R's letting go of the moral crusades for corporate gain in my lifetime.
The R's are history here.
Who wants a war on cave dwellers and a corporate gouge.I don't know I give up who.
Not many in Washington state
Posted by: Publicbulldog on February 16, 2008 10:27 PMWhat programs did Rossi cut and why is he not telling us what he would cut if elected?
Posted by: Lysander on February 16, 2008 11:04 PMTolling for General funds and CO2 taxes. That more than a few billion. But don't hold your breath (pun intended) the Global Warming wave is much larger than these two bills.
Posted by: Snuffy on February 17, 2008 08:01 AM