Senator Dino Rossi and Governor Christine Gregoire face off in a live, one-hour Washington State Gubernatorial Debate on KOMO Channel 4 (and on komonews.com) Saturday, September 20, at 9 p.m. It's sponsored by Fisher Communications, the League of Women Voters, and the Seattle P-I.
There's a college football game on right before the debate, and I don't know what the plans are, but if you're setting your TiVo, then make sure you set it to record an hour longer or so, just in case.
It'll be interesting to see how Gregoire tries to explain away the new revenue shortfall forecast.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
Posted by pudge at September 19, 2008 10:46 AM | Email ThisAny bets?
Posted by: Marmstro on September 19, 2008 11:20 AMWe now know exactly how bad of an idea laissez faire is, but the "conservatives" are too ignorant, or stubborn to admit it.
Phil Graham (McCain's best buddy) should be hung. We are paying 1.6 BILLION DOLLARS A DAY in interest on the money Reagan, Bush1, and Bush2 borrowed.
You keep complaining about Christine, and ignoring the maggots in D.C. robbing us blind.
Blame Dems. How pathetic.
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on September 19, 2008 11:33 AMQueen Chrissy The Lying Hypocrite Tribal Whore gets all the credit when it's going good... she's gonna get ALL the credit for allowing a $3.2 billion deficit WHEN SHE AND HER FELLOW LEFTISTS WERE WARNED, REPEATEDLY,M THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN.
And the fact the tribes bought her like a two-bit whore ain't gonna help any.
That total waste of skin and the rest of that moronic gang YOU supported did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to keep any of this from happening.
If you want "pathetic," look into a mirror, sleaze ball.
Posted by: Hinton on September 19, 2008 11:42 AMBack to Sound Politics, if Gregoire has to respond like the last time they debated four years ago, he will look dumbfounded and do the Bamastutter.
Posted by: swatter on September 19, 2008 11:42 AMHe sure know's how to spew the BS.
Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on September 19, 2008 11:53 AMhttp://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2007/05/25/the-yacht-shortage/
But who is the Wall Street Journal.
I tell you what wingnuts. When I claim something, just assume it is true. Because it ALWAYS is.
All Facts Support My Positions.
It's great not living in a fantasy world. Ignorance is strength, Slavery is Freedom, etc....
Tommy. Do you know what a foreclosure is?
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on September 19, 2008 12:06 PMAnd if you believe the lies Rossie is spewing your tin foil hat would have to be a mile thick.
By the way, even the Attorney General agreed with what Gregoire did according to the tribes, regardless if he is waffling now.
You cons got nuthin'.
Then prove the truth of the statement that we can "easily deal with" our $3.2 billion shortfall caused by the high spending of Christine Gregoire and the Democrats.
Please. I beg you. Because anything you say will either be a lie, nonsense, or, hopefully, very revealing about the fact that Gregoire and the Democrats will drastically raise taxes, given the chance to do so.
Where did the money go Pudge? Did you examine the budget?
The red ink here in WA bothers me a little. The red ink in DC is destroying our country. You agree?
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on September 19, 2008 12:20 PMThen answer it.
Yes it's what's happening to about 1% of homeowners TODAY because of lax lending practices to benefit non-qualified buyers implemented by Carter nad expanded by Clinton.
FYI, in 1932, foreclosures were at about 30%.
Don't let a fact bite you in the ass.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on September 19, 2008 12:28 PM"It's not a budget deficit. "It's a "revenue shortfall"."
So ,,,, we've spent more (and are spending more) than we are taking in. Deficit. Gregoire didn't have a plan for the current situation and is now scrambling to try to appear that she is on top of it (failing).
Factless:
Answer: Education and Healthcare. But. BUT based on what Nader and Buffet at least foresaw Gregoire and our Democrat leaders in WA didn't plan to cut spending anyplace else. So even though housing had leveled off and started to look shaky they implemented huge spending increases with no offset by decreasing someplace else. Not very smart. Without any opposition why wouldn't they though right?
My high school coach had a term for the futile efforts exhibited by folks like AFSMP, demo kid, Acid Brain, Cato, and the others.
Something about a primate attempting procreation with a football.
Yes, those yachts and fat-cat CEOs! We should take them down... Franklin Raines, Jim Johnson, Jamie Gorelick... Those are the ones you are, of course, referring to?
You're an intellectually bankrupt partisan hack, willing to ignore the baby murdering, class and race warfare Marxist you are pimping so you can keep that welfare check rolling in. People like you are the reason the US is having problems. Take take take, then take some more.
Tell you what - when your own VP Candidate donates less than 0.1% of his income to charity, that says a LOT about the morality of your Slavery Party!
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on September 19, 2008 01:01 PMWhat a fool, the more you spout, the more you look like a bigger fool.
Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on September 19, 2008 01:06 PM1. Education - how about competition? We spend over $10,000 per K-12 student, and results are measurably worse. How about vouchers, putting some pressure on the current establishment to see if we can get a better return on our investment?
2. Health insurance - back in 1990 we had 200 health insurance companies in Washington. Now there are less than 2 dozen. Why? Regulation. It's way overblown, and the state REQUIRES all policies to be "full boat/cover everything" policies. Meaning only the most expensive policies are available. How about pulling the mandates off and letting more affordable healthcare plans enter the State?
The issue is you SLAVERS want to micromanage everyone's lives. You want to take complete control of everything and try to run it. Guess what - that is completely contrary to not just the letter, but the spirit of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
We're guaranteed the right to the pursuit of happiness; we're not guaranteed happiness. There is a VERY large gulf, and you SLAVERY PARTY HACKS refuse to acknowledge it.
Marxism and fascism is all you stand for, and the reason for the budget meltdown is the failed policies and visions of your SLAVERY PARTY who has had a lock on this State for 20 years.
You can't lay this at the foot of anyone other than your own pitiful plans.
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on September 19, 2008 01:09 PMWhen, I go to the Insurance commissioner site, click on Health Carrier Information Comparison link (under Online services), then select 2007, then click the search box to return all companies, the list provides 57 carriers.
The on-line tool has no way to go back to 1990 to view a comparsion.
Just curious.
Posted by: Anon on September 19, 2008 01:39 PMNo one has mentioned the Catholic vote yet.
I've read FOUR articles just today and they do not bode well for the bho/joe ticket.
Nancy and Joe brought this issue to the forefront with their big mouths and distict lack of knowledge about their pwn professe religion. Thanks SanFranGranNan and joe!
Joe Biden loses Barack Obama the Catholic vote
Churchgoing Catholics returning to GOP fold
This could have serious implications down ticket for the chrissy queen too... especially if we could get Archbishop-Finger-in-the-wind to take a PUBLIC stand. But whether he does or not Rossi needs to capitalize on the opportunity the Catholic vote affords him.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on September 19, 2008 02:23 PMMultiple companies with different divisions or subsidiaries. For example, how many Regence companies are listed? In reality, there are probably 34-36 real carriers in Washington. Back when I was doing IT in the insurance industry in 1990 the brokerage I worked for represented over 200. And their list was far from exhaustive.
Talk to your local health insurance agent about the number of providers available today versus 15 years ago when the State started mandating lots of extra coverage and limiting premiums...
Pudge,
To expect an answer really pushes the boundaries of common sense! :)
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on September 19, 2008 02:24 PMWhen he speaks of health insurance in our state, he refers to Major Medical coverage as opposed to Long Term Care, Disability Income and a variety of other health related coverages that require health insurance licensing by the various carriers.
Do a little reasearch on the number of insurance companies that offer major medical policies to individuals and families at the present time as opposed to the number that did so in 1990. SD hit the nail on the head! You missed by a mile.
Posted by: cmohr on September 19, 2008 02:48 PMMaybe she should start new negotiations with the Indian Casinos's all through this state.
Rossi Will!
Posted by: gs on September 19, 2008 04:52 PMHow much of this budget short fall is attrributed to the Liberal dream of emulating Europe with the light rail?
Keith
West of the sound info: www.LessEmotion.con
http://LessEmotion.com/blog
How much of this budget short fall is attrributed to the Liberal dream of emulating Europe with the light rail?
Keith
West of the sound info: www.LessEmotion.con
http://LessEmotion.com/blog
Ahmmmm Per Gregoire
There are two reasons we have a deficit today
1. Rossi worked to balance the budget with Gary Locke and oh my it tossed thousands of children into poverty
2. George Bush's tax cuts
When in fact it was
Hiring 8100 new state employees
Giving the Indians a free ride
Binge spending
Why should he? So that Gregoire can use it as campaign fodder to say "he's turned his back on [insert group here]" And what has she proposed we cut to balance the budget? Oh that's right, nothing. Up until this week, she denied the deficit even existed. She's a fiscal train wreck.
Rossi has balanced the budget before without raising taxes. She hasn't. He is absolutely correct not to say a word about it yet.
Posted by: Palouse on September 20, 2008 10:19 AMFor cryin out loud, do you ever watch the news and see what is happening across America? Can anyone spout off a state that is currently not in a budget crunch?
Why would we be any different? I don't understand the comments on where has the gas tax money gone to. I cannnot drive without running into a state highway project. Maybe Dino Rossi can wave some sort of magic wand and overnight we will see an additional travel lane on the freeway or some sort of mass transit system ready for us to take to work tomorrow morning. Does anyone really know that there are only so many companies in Washington state that employ our neighbors that are big enough to accomplish these projects?
Wait, maybe we can put that unfair and stupid vehicle excise tax back in place so that guy who drives 250 miles per day on our roads in his 1969 pinto can get away with $50 a year tabs and Grampa can pay $900 a year for his Caddy that sits in his parking spot at the Old Age home! That will really fairly solve the transportation issue.
Oh and I forgot. I am sure that Dino will finally put back some taxes on businesses, like Boeing, that don't pay a cent in sales tax on airplane sales to our state. Why isn't that ever brought up on who agreed to that corruption? That way, the residential taxpayer can pay less real estate taxes so we follow the 1% max increase that the idiot Tim Eyeman snuck past our greedy hands.
I fully agree that the Compact with the Indians was stupid and contributes to division between United States Citizens. When will the former Mexicans, Italians, Jewish, Germans, Canadians, and lets not forget, the Seattlites, get to sign their own agreements with the state and with the US government of which WE ARE ALL citizens (or want to be)of?
Posted by: Mike on September 20, 2008 02:58 PMI don't think you're getting the point. No one that I've seen is blaming Gregoire for a decrease in revenue.
The problem is that Gregoire had been saying, correctly, that it was poor policy to drastically increase spending during good times and then face massive cuts or tax increases during bad times. But that is exactly what she did, increasing our budget by 33 percent in her four years in office. Meanwhile, even before the downturn, revenue has only increased 15 percent.
This budget crunch could have been avoided simply by not drastically outpacing revenue with spending. We might still be facing a deficit, but it would be much, much smaller, on the order of a few hundred thousand.
In fact, my personal belief -- one I doubt too many people across the state would say is unreasonable or unlikely -- is that the Democrats did this intentionally to justify an income tax.
Uncontroverted facts have established Gregoire's mis/mal/nonfeasance is ruining the state. Dino should demand she immediately resign for the good of the people. Dino should strongly assert our state's corruption reflects the federal corruption, and our state's survival reform simply cannot happen with the partisan, corrupting Gregoire in office.
She must resign and spare the state the unneeded expense of an opposed election. Let her then try to justify fixing her problems by enslaving us with more taxes, which is the left's new tool of revolution -- skip the war and proceed directly to the loot and pillage phase. Obama the Sith uses the same presumptive sale technique.
The left long ago concluded that political and economic freedoms are inextricably intertwined; if we lose one we automatically lose the other. Gregoire is a shameless political concubine of Obama the Sith, and, like him, she is incompetent, untrustworthy, and immoral. She has fallen on her sword. Now Dino must put her head on a pike, and get on with salvaging our state.
Friends, it's time to step-up our rhetoric. Many of you have, but a few are lagging behind -- so turn to! We are at war, whether we like it or not.
Posted by: The Pirate on September 20, 2008 04:48 PMOf course gregoire has not made any announcements either. She does not have my vote either. THey both think that they can manage my money better than their opponent. I am looking for someone that thinks they can not manage my money better than me.
Posted by: lysander on September 20, 2008 07:43 PMBTW, is "All Facts Support My Positions" Geoff Simpson-DV Covington?
Posted by: chardonnay on September 21, 2008 09:16 PMI really do not believe Rossi would not raise taxes. Nor am I looking for someone who thinks taxes at the current level are okay. I am looking for someone who would propose radical tax cuts. Rossi is not that man.
Posted by: Lysander on September 21, 2008 10:08 PM