From the P-I's story on the latest state budget projections:
...Democratic lawmakers are seriously considering drawing up a list of desirable programs that are on the chopping block and asking voters to approve new taxes to save them. [Senate Ways & Means Committee Chairwoman Margarita] Prentice said the Democratic governor, who has pledged not to increase taxes, doesn't like that idea, but the Legislature could put a tax referendum on the statewide ballot via a majority vote in both the House and Senate, without Gregoire's signature. [emphasis added]
That dynamic puts a real onus on Gregoire's creative use of the threat of the veto pen - publicly or privately - for other components of the budget in order to minimize such a tax increase...if she really wants to make a run at that.
Posted by Eric Earling at February 20, 2009 09:31 AM | Email This* Democrats have completely controlled both the Legislature and Executive Branch of Washington for 12 of the last 24 years, including the last 4 years since 2004.
* Republicans have not controlled both the Legislature and Executive Branch even once during this period, but you have to go back to 1982 for the last time Republicans had total control of Washington government and policy.
* Of the 12 years Democrats haven't controlled the entire government, they have controlled the Executive Branch all 12 years and either the House or the Senate 10 of the years. Three of those years the House was divided equally, where one more vote would have given the Democrats complete control of government.
* Republicans have controlled the Legislature for only one biennium in the last 24 years, while the smallest growth of state spending in the last decade occurred during the only time Republicans controlled the State Senate, where the Democrats still controlled the House and Governor's office.
I asked my friend to back-up his charge of Republican responsibility. I'm waiting.
Posted by: Reality on February 20, 2009 10:17 AMIt's the plan Gregoire had all along. Run on 'no new taxes'. Let the legislature put the things everyone wants in a new tax package on the ballot. Run again in 2012 and say she didn't raise taxes.
Posted by: Palouse on February 20, 2009 10:25 AMHere is a message for every Democrat in Olympia:
If you don't have the money, cut spending. That doesn't mean reduce the growth of spending, that means spend less than you spent last biennium. And don't start with the stuff this state demands, like education and law enforcement. Start with all that crap you're too ashamed to admit to be wasting our money on.
Don't punt this into another blackmailing of the voters in November for more money or threats of catastrophe. If you're worthy of leading, then lead! If you can't make tough decisions and say no to the addicts you've created who vote for you, then quit and let some real leaders fix this mess you've created.
Posted by: Reality on February 20, 2009 10:44 AMAin't gonna work in a deep recession.
The Battle-lines are drawn:
Hard-working, tax-paying responsible citizens VS.
Government Employees and Losers
Folks are sick of supporting bloated bureaucracies and over-reaching government. They are sick of paying for others laziness and irresponsibility.
This Tax Campaign will get real ugly, real fast.
And where is Gregoire (aka Deer in the Headlights) who made this worse with her rampant overspending and failure to make any meaningful cuts...even to this day! She should hold a press conference and say "Read my Lips, No New Taxes!"
Sound familiar??
Obviously this whole scheme is an orchestrated sham to insulate Gregoire from her campaign promises. If Gregoire was sincere, she would be out front saying NO NEW TAXES!! But she's not.
Spread the word--
VOTE HELL NO on all new taxes.
Ain't no one gonna die.
We need State Employees to take an immediate 20% cut in wages and benefits to mirror the impact on their "constituents" plus 10,000 lay-offs.
Would have been 2,000 had Gregoire not hired all those folks and given all those raises in the face of a recession.
This is the Civil War regarding the Role of Government in our lives.
We have the stick...it's called TAXES.
NO MORE!
Seriously though, why is America full of have-nots? And how do have-nots seem to afford cars, flat panel TVs, and cell phones? Why aren't all Americans being educated so they can get good jobs? Why does government extend the hand with other people's money making more and more Americans dependent on government?
The liberal idea of compassion is backwards. Coercing people into dependency is not compassion. It is breeding real pain and suffering. Real compassion is tough-love. It's loving your fellow man enough to say no to the addict and help them shed their dependency. But what the liberals are doing is the exact opposite.
Posted by: Reality on February 20, 2009 11:37 AMTake your collectivism and stick it.
Posted by: jimg on February 20, 2009 11:58 AMI prefer to help those less fortunate through charitable giving, not government, where it's wasted on fat pensions and bureaucracy.
Posted by: Palouse on February 20, 2009 12:14 PMI agree that there is a future where we might realize how much we need one another, but that future is one where we all live in shared misery because we let governments tell us how to live, destroyed productivity by punishing success, and turned us all into addicts of government hand-outs.
I'll tell you, you put 20 dogs in a pit and cut off their food supply and you'll see peace and tranquility. It will come after most have been killed by the others and the few remaining die of starvation. Yes, there will then be peace and tranquility.
Posted by: Reality on February 20, 2009 12:42 PMMost all of the "group-thinkers' I have met are Atheist Progressives. They worship themselves and their belief that they know what is best 100% of the time for the greater good. Are you an Atheist hb??
Bad try stoner==No Sale here.
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on February 20, 2009 02:13 PMIt's not the people that need to be defeated, but the destructive teachings being pumped into them.
Posted by: Reality on February 20, 2009 02:44 PM