No, that wouldn't be the budget that she won't even release updated projected deficit numbers for until after the election. That would be the massive, $3+ billion deficit everyone knows is looming for the Legislature to face next January when the next biennium budget is on the table - no matter what Gregoire says about the topic.
Consider:
1) Last week's $3.2 billion budget deficit projection from the Senate Ways & Means Committee does not include the potential impact of the contracts Christine Gregoire's office is negotiating with assorted collective bargaining units representing state employees (yes, that would be the same unions that are concurrently pouring money directly and indirectly into her re-election bid).
2) The Seattle Times editorial board today:
The governor blamed the shortfall on the disaster in Wall Street and, by implication, on the Bush administration. That was not altogether convincing. Whatever the cause of the Wall Street crisis -- and we think most of the blame is in the private sector -- some kind of economic downturn would have happened eventually, and Gregoire's budget was not ready for it. [emphasis added]
Whatever semantic games Gregoire and her allies want to play, the state faces a massive budget shortfall that Olympia will be forced to deal with in January. Past state budgets that earned Gregoire's signature contributed mightily to this problem, regardless of however they'd like to doge, duck, dip, dive...and dodge about the issue.
Posted by Eric Earling at September 22, 2008 07:47 AM | Email ThisWhat bothers me about Gregoire, was that she thought the hot economy would go forever and spent accordingly, including blowing the rainy day fund. I could possibly live with her winning an election (any election) if she had been frugal with the surplus, but she blew it.
Gregoire does not deserve to be governor pretend anymore.
Posted by: swatter on September 22, 2008 08:24 AM1. Immimgration to Seattle is nil.
2. Housing is stagnant.
3. Businesses are not competitive with the global economies.
The Go Go Nineties are Gone Gone, yet Nichols, Sims and Gregoire and the Democrats have been building things like Light Rail which are completely wrong for the region (Sims said so himself!)
This is a Go Slow time of retrenchment, not growth. We need to cut the fat, not eat more.
Posted by: John Bailo on September 22, 2008 08:28 AMGregoire has pure and simple been the Chief Engineer of a massive Budget Trainwreck. There are dead bodies and blown up buildings strewn alongside the tracks.
Gregoire has failed the citizens of Washington.
An even bigger problem is the fact that Gregoire doesn't even know she has failed. Talk about denial.
With 39 years of Government Bureaucrat on her resume, how in the world would any voter trust her to fix the mess SHE created??
Gregoire is a "process, bureaucratic wonk" who continually mistakes motion for action. She is a poor administrator and a zero as a leader. She blames everyone for this mess she created shouldering ZERO blame.
The buck stops with you Governor Excuse-Maker!
Start packin' yer bags.
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on September 22, 2008 09:05 AMYET THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT SHE DID!
Does Governor Excuse-Maker really think the majority of Washington voters are so stupid they will except her crazy excuse-making, blame everyone else style of politics???
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on September 22, 2008 09:09 AMYET THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT SHE DID!
Does Governor Excuse-Maker really think the majority of Washington voters are so stupid they will accept her crazy excuse-making, blame everyone else style of politics???
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on September 22, 2008 09:10 AMRichard Pope--
Your newly found Progressive Politics seems to be blind to the fact that O-blah-blah took 3-1/2 times more money from Lehman Bros. than McCain.
3-1/2 times more!!
Sounds to me that you are duped into believing that this is somehow just a Republican problem in the face of the facts that O-blah-blah has"
a) Taken more Wall Street money than McCain.
b) Has Fannie Mae pirates Jim Johnson and Frankie Raines on his advisory team...Johnson headed O-blah-blah's VP search team Richard.
c) Barney Frank(D) and Chris Dodd (D) blocked all meaningful Legislative efforts to reform.
Richard--
You openly criticized Gregoire when you ran against her for AG. Hell, you even sued her!
Now you are her cheerleader and spewing Fringe Lunatic Left talking points??
Are you ok?
Bush/Rossi, on the other hand, wants to spend a total of $1 trillion in the next few months to bail out his Republican donors who made bad business deals and bad investments. On a per capita basis, that is a little over $20 billion for Washington's population (a bit over 2% of the total USA population).
So the Bush/Rossi federal giveaway to big business would pay for over 12 years of Gregoire's projected budget shortfalls. This giveaway in the remaining four months of Bush's term would be equivalent to the shortfall that could result from re-electing Gregoire to three more four year terms (i.e. having Gregoire in Olympia until 2024!).
This is on top of the Bush/Rossi annual federal budget deficits of about half a trillion dollars a year. This $10 billion a year per capita for Washington, or six times the annual projected shortfall under the Gregoire budget.
Posted by: Richard Pope on September 22, 2008 09:21 AMCan't win the argument so change the topic.
The governor race is in play for voters in this state. Our presidential vote probably isn't. So, get the drift?
Posted by: swatter on September 22, 2008 09:24 AMI don't know about Lehman Bros. But the analysis for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was flawed.
If you look at people listed as EMPLOYEES of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, then Obama received nearly ten times as much money as McCain.
But when you look at DIRECTORS, OFFICERS and LOBBYISTS for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, then McCain received nearly ten times as much money as Obama.
Corporate directors usually serve on several boards, and rarely list their corporate directorships as their occupations on their FEC forms. Lobbyists are listed on FEC forms by their lobbyist company employer, not by the company who has them as clients.
P.S.
Yes I did criticize Gregoire for the job she did as state Attorney General. However, that job performance was a helluvalot better than Bush's performance as President. Given Rossi's lack of supervisory and management experience, we have to compare Gregoire and Bush in making a decision for Governor.
Posted by: Richard Pope on September 22, 2008 09:30 AMI got a nickel in my pocket, therefore I have a "rainy day fund". Never mind the fact my bills are over $10.00 .
I have a "Gregoire surplus".
Posted by: pbj on September 22, 2008 09:41 AMBetter a "Gregoire surplus" than a "Bush surplus".
Posted by: Richard Pope on September 22, 2008 09:52 AMThese two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis
-Barney Frank (D), in 2003
So you can save the bailout rhetoric Pope. It's empty. Gregoire created the fiscal mess in this state and the large deficit we now face, despite increased tax revenue.
Posted by: Palouse on September 22, 2008 09:53 AMThe topic of the post is the State of Washington budget deficit.
Thank you.
Posted by: jimg on September 22, 2008 10:02 AMOkay, you have a quote by Barney Frank in 2003. I am sure you could find similar optimistic quotes by Republican lawmakers about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae from 2003 as well.
So tell me exactly which "regulations" that George W. Bush wanted to impose on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that the Democrats in Congress somehow blocked three years ago?
Weren't the REPUBLICANS in the majority in both houses of Congress three years ago (2005) in any event?
And if you are talking about "regulations", those are adopted by the Executive Branch (i.e. Bush administration) under the Administrative Procedure Act, without any need for action by Congress. No ability to blame the Democrats for this one!
Congress passes "legislation". I seriously doubt that the Bush administration or the GOP Congress (for the period 2001-2006) proposed any legislation to tighten regulations on any corrupt businesses.
Posted by: Richard Pope on September 22, 2008 10:03 AM"The topic of the post is the State of Washington budget deficit"
And we don't have a "State of Washington budget deficit". We have never had one.
The media and politicians talk about a "state budget deficit" every single time the biennium budget comes up.
Back in 2003, Rossi claims to have eliminated a $2 billion budget deficit by rewriting the budget.
In 2005, Gregoire claims to have eliminated a $2 billion deficit inherited from Locke and Rossi by raising revenues.
Now, it is alleged that there will be a $3.2 billion deficit next year.
Every budget cycle, a DEFICIT is alleged. State spending is allegedly cut.
The same thing happens every year at King County government. Alleged deficits of up to $100 million. And alleged spending cuts to eliminate the deficit.
However, neither the State of Washington nor King County have ever run actual deficits in the adopted budgets. Nor have any of the adopted budgets actually cut spending from the previous year.
Posted by: Richard Pope on September 22, 2008 10:13 AMS. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005
Next assignment, familiarize yourself with cloture rules. And this bill was delayed through amendment, and it carried over to the next Congress, who did nothing with it.
Posted by: Palouse on September 22, 2008 10:29 AMGregoire caused the problems here not Bush. Bush didn't increase State spending, Bush didn't make our gas tax some of the highest in the country. And bush didn't waste millions doing nothing about the viaduct and traffic. Bush did't come to Wa and let out the sex offenders unsupervised. This is all about what GREGOIRE did or didn't do.
When will people start looking at what the person running has acomplished (good and bad) or believes rather than what party they profess. I could care less what party they are in but IMHO Gregoire really sucks so its time to try someone else. there should be a whole lot less partisanship and a whole lot more (Voting Out the Incumbent Partisan hack).... my version of VOIP
Posted by: trolllurker on September 22, 2008 10:34 AMThanks!!
Posted by: me on September 22, 2008 10:46 AMWhat we do have - and the subject you keep changing - is a $3.2 billion difference between projected revenue and the projected obligations during the next biennium.
Now, care to tell me how that bridge is going to be gapped? Or will you continue to run your mouth about the feds?
Posted by: jimg on September 22, 2008 11:15 AMThe current President has increased the national debt to $482 billion, brought Socialism to America courtesy of the Federal Govt. taking over of millions of homes across the US, started an unpopular war with flimsy and still unproven motives, expanded the Federal Govt. to it's largest size ever.
The Hypocrisy Parties willingness to ignore their own arguments when applied to a member of their own party amazes me to no end.
Posted by: Cato on September 22, 2008 11:35 AMYou attempt to paint a broadbrush across all Republican's for Bush's incompetence. Not very cerebral of you Richard. I'm a Conservative...not a Republican.
Richard, are you saying only Republicans can be fiscal mismanagers? Are you saying all Republican's are fiscal mismanagers?
Richard, you can do better than that...can't you?
You were right the 1st time...
Gregoire is an incompetent administrator and lacks leadership skills. Nothing has changed since you ripped her when running against her and when you sued her.
The only change seems to be you jumping to the Progressive Camp.
This storm is perfect because of the current economy, a governor who has nothing to lose (not seeking re-election), an overwhelming, Democratic majority in both houses (doesn't matter if we lose a few members next election due to electoral backlash, we will still have a majority)and they can likely muster up enough support (by scaring people) that they could get some public support.
The argument will be: "our state's revenue stream does not work in modern society. We need a more stable flow of income, that comes with an income tax, to pay for education, transit, health care and all our entitlement programs. Under the current system, we are unable to project revenues. Property values swing way too much, the sales tax is too dependent on people having enough disposable income to make large purchases, people are driving less, using transit more, which makes the gas tax revenues too low to support our infrastructure and, most importantly, the rich do not pay their "fair share" under our current system. This economy is a glaring example for tax reform in our state"
Posted by: Ron on September 22, 2008 11:55 AMAnd yet you're doing the exact same thing. Go figure.
Posted by: jimg on September 22, 2008 12:22 PMYour first comment was that Gregoire's $3.2 billion deficit pales in comparison to our national debt.
SO WHAT? We should CONGRATULATE her for steering us into this mess?
Leftists everywhere slam Bush for this debt, but you would give Queen Chrissy The Lying Tribal Shill a PASS for the SAME THING?
You're a REEKING hypocrite, Pope. To act as if Queen Chrissy The Liar is not responsible for the condition of this state's economy is to ignore all the times she took CREDIT for that economy when everything was going great.
She was warned, REPEATEDLY that this would happen, and ignored those warnings. And the best you can do is come back with some lame "Bush/Rossi" label?
Good God, I thought you were a loser when I met you back in 2000 in Tukwila, but I had no fricking idea.
Posted by: Hinton on September 22, 2008 12:48 PMIt's never ceases to amaze me you you loons do everything you can to avoid being held accountable for the results of your governance.
When your policies blow up in your face, it's ALWAYS someone else's (Bush's) fault.
Queen Chrissy, The Lying Tribal Biotch, has steered us into a $3.2 BILLION dollar deficit, which is a MASSIVE amount at the state level... and all you and your fellow morons can do is engage in comparing it to the National debt, where decisions to spend are completely controlled by a leftist congress that has accomplished absolutely NOTHING they promised you clowns that they would do?
In your Bizarro world, Queen Chrissy The Hypocrite is responsible for nothing. And I'm thinking, this time around, that position ain't gonna cut it.
Posted by: Hinton on September 22, 2008 01:05 PM_________________________________________
Re: Richard Pope on September 22, 2008 09:06 AM
I lived through the debates on the Community Reinvestment Act that partially underlies the mortgage mess. One of he major arguments was how to measure "red lining". Everyone in the business knows you do it by default rates. The Clinton administration insisted on measuring it by application rejection rates. The results were mortgages given out that were not justified.
Then Fanny and Freddy with Clinton
Administration connected leaders were buying the mortgages at face value which encouraged lenders to make money by writing bad loans and collecting the orgination fees without dealing with the non-performance rates. Since Fanny and Freddy were nominally backed by the Government, it amounted to free money for low income borrowers. Then people started using the system to buy and flip.
When Bush, McCain and yes Jim Leach called for reforms, the requests were rejected by mostly Democrats who collected campaign donations as well as kudos from the communities. Anyone could see the taxpayer was going to get stuck eventually; but Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and others persisted.
Maybe Bush could have done nationwide addresses on the issue of needed reform but putting all the Blame on Bush and Republicans is simply not fair. That's not a partisan postion, it is just simple truth.
Posted by: KW64 on September 22, 2008 01:11 PMGood Ol' Ron and his wacky conspiracy theories. No Democrat would be left in office if they added a Income Tax to this state.
It's never ceases to amaze me you you loons do everything you can to avoid being held accountable for the results of your governance.
I'm happy to hold the individuals responsible, but in this case I feel the alternatives are even worse. I personally think Gregiore will loose, nobody seems even mildly excited about her campaign.
I look forward to Rossi explaining where the heck he's going to get the money to fund his own version of the "Big Dig" to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. I'm guessing that's going to be the most expensive part of Rossi's unfunded roads mandate which will be paid for out of his magical money hat.
Only takes 51 votes to pass a bill in the Senate...the Dem's seem to have a hard time saying no to something Dubya really wants. He's only had to veto something like three bills during the last eight years. Only one vetoes of those was overridden. Clearly Dubya and his allies were not pushing hard enough.
Reforming Freddie and Fannie Mac does not excuse the reckless spending by the GOP from 2000 -> 2006 or the corporations who lobbied the GOP for deregulation (and got it courtesy the GOP controlled Congress) only to have their attempts at making a quick buck blow up in their face.
Meanwhile John McCain flip-flops almost daily on what the solution should be. First he's against the bailout, then he's for it...first he approved of the SEC Chairman Chris Cox, now he's against him, but wait he flip-flopped today and now he's for him saying he's a "good guy". Meanwhile Palin is absolutely clueless, the GOP should have stuck with Romeny. The old man is changing his slogan daily, looks like he's in deep trouble.
Posted by: Cato on September 22, 2008 02:20 PMYeah, if you can actually get it to a vote, which McCain was not able to do with the Fannie/Freddie reform he co-sponsored in 2005.
But again, this thread is not about the federal deficit or the bailout. It's about Gregoire's fiscal train wreck, which is 100% her and the state Democrats' fault. I suppose you and the Democrats have no argument here, so you have to talk about something else.
From my initial post, Gregoire does not deserve to be governor. Maybe president, though (wink, wink, Cato and Pope).
Posted by: swatter on September 22, 2008 03:20 PMCommittee heads are usually chaired by members of the majority party. The bills reach the Senate floor are controlled by the Senate Majority Leader. Dem's didn't come back into the majority till Nov. 2006. Sounds like the GOP under Bill Frist wasn't all interested in reform.
It's about Gregoire's fiscal train wreck, which is 100% her and the state Democrats' fault.
Very true, so if an irresponsible party in Washington D.C, causes a financial meltdown it's somehow the other parties fault when the economic repercussions are felt locally? LOL!!
Do tell how will Rossi balance the budget with his unfunded roads mandate and his proposed Big Dig in Seattle. Looks like he's going to boost the debt even more using the traditional GOP cut and spend model.
Dino Rossi - Impudent spending for the 21st Century.
Posted by: Cato on September 22, 2008 04:54 PMShe was right.
But she did it anyway.
There's no avoiding this fact. Yes, decreases in revenues are linked to the national economy, but a 33 percent budget increase was all Gregoire and the Democrats. There is simply no denying that Gregoire screwed up, because there is no denying that a 33 percent increase was irresponsibly inviting a deficit, as Gregoire herself said.
Posted by: pudge on September 22, 2008 11:51 PMWrong, again. The bill was delayed by amendment until the next Congress (controlled by Democrats), who then scrapped it because Dodd and Barney Frank were in the pocket of Fannie/Freddie. Frank did not believe these companies were in any kind of trouble years ago. McCain did.
so if an irresponsible party in Washington D.C, causes a financial meltdown it's somehow the other parties fault when the economic repercussions are felt locally?
The only "irresponsible party" who blocked reform of GSE's in Washington DC were Democrats. You (and Gregoire) were singing the praises of the state economy the last couple of years, but that was all her doing, right? Now that it's gone south, it's Bush's fault. Liberal logic at its finest. Here's a news flash, the state deficit exists despite increased tax revenues. That's because the Queen ramped up spending 33%.
Posted by: Palouse on September 23, 2008 07:49 AMDo tell how will Rossi balance the budget with his unfunded roads mandate and his proposed Big Dig in Seattle. Looks like he's going to boost the debt even more using the traditional GOP cut and spend model.
You do know that Rossi is using the DOT's own numbers? That he's using the estimates from the former attorney general for costs and expenses. And that Rossi does NOT have access to all the internal numbers - he has to rely upon the current State estimates.
So if you have a problem with the projected costs, then you need to first talk with Gregoire and the State departments because you have an issue with THEIR costs.
If you doubt Rossi's numbers, you must doubt Gregoire's operations even more...
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on September 23, 2008 08:13 AM