Sound Politics: Flashback: "The Obama era of cool government makes Tim Eyman irrelevant" (II)

March 06, 2010

Flashback: "The Obama era of cool government makes Tim Eyman irrelevant" (II)

Joni Balter, last January:

Eyman is yesterday, 1990s, early millennial with government as the boogeyman.

Tim Eyman, yesterday, 10:44am:"Democrats' State Income Tax Talk is Meant to Manipulate You. Don't Buy It"

Is this a serious effort to get [the tax]? Of course not--it's being pushed with only 7 days left in their regular session...[it takes] our eyes off what they're really pushing--which is billions of dollars in higher taxes and fees

Joni Balter, yesterday, 2:19pm:"The Tax Roar"

If Washington lawmakers were serious about imposing a state income tax, and really reducing the sales tax, they would not offer the idea in the final days of the legislative session...The income tax is enormously unpopular in Washington for a very simple reason: Few among us trust lawmakers to reduce taxes overall...Even an approach like raising the income tax on the wealthy while reducing the sales tax for everyone else is just a gimmick.

Welcome to "Voters Want More Choices", Joni!

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at March 06, 2010 01:37 PM | Email This

Comments

1. "The income tax is enormously unpopular in Washington for a very simple reason: Few among us trust lawmakers to reduce taxes overall...Even an approach like raising the income tax on the wealthy while reducing the sales tax for everyone else is just a gimmick."

Exactly correct! An income tax will simply be a tax in addition to what we have now. Folks, it is impossible to provide government with "enough" money. It will always want more, regardless of how it destroys lives and communities.

Posted by: Politically Incorrect on March 6, 2010 03:51 PM

2. Government has an insatiable appetite for money. I grew up in NY and have seen first hand the consequences of what endless government spending and subsequent tax increases do to the economic competitiveness of a state. NY has high income, sales and property taxes and a huge budget deficit. Upstate NY is basically an economic wasteland with very little upward mobility to offer anyone with talent and a strong work ethic. I know, I left. If Washington goes down the same path I'll leave here too.

Posted by: jimt on March 6, 2010 05:05 PM

3. How is raising the taxes on the wealthy a gimmick? That's the best sure-fire way to raise massive revenues to help out poor college-students. Why do Repukelicans hate the people?

Posted by: Crusader on March 6, 2010 05:12 PM

4. Why are Crusader Rabbits such morons?

The state constitution doesn't allow a tax limited to any one group. That minor detail aside, there's no need to give our "poor college students" any more then the billions they already suck(ed) out of our pockets. If it costs too much, well, they can always go somewhere else... right?

Why are democraps such blithering idiots?

Posted by: Hinton on March 6, 2010 05:38 PM

5. Why are Crusader Rabbits such morons?

Why are democraps such blithering idiots?

Posted by: Hinton on March 6, 2010 05:39 PM

6. I came from Calif, where they tax EVERYTHING. Don't buy into this game they will reduce other taxes.

They won't!

PS... they are broke too... remember that.

Posted by: Medic/Vet on March 6, 2010 05:56 PM

7. Stefan,

Great post, it's interesting to see Balter's comments from a year ago contrasted with her recent piece.

But I have a criticism, as always. Conservatives seem to fail to understand psychology in the same way that liberals fail to understand burueacracy.

Why can't you be a little more heartfelt in thanking Joni for taking this position? I couldn't tell if "Welcome to..." was a real thanks or a snarky comment.

Balter has made this important point--a key point for conservatives of the right and the 2 or 3 of us who are conservatives on the left--at some risk to herself. She deserves a heartfelt thank you.

new left conservative

Posted by: new left conservative on March 6, 2010 05:56 PM

8. Because, NLC, Joni's not supporting opposition of the income tax, she's decrying the fact that people oppose it.

Her column isn't supporting the anti-tax sentiment, she's cluck-clucking about how us ignorant people just cannot see the wisdom of the income tax, and that by gosh it seems to be a pretty widespread, if misplaced, position.

Posted by: Shanghai Dan on March 6, 2010 06:15 PM

9. "new left conservative's" comments are gentlemanly.

But what the heck is a "new left conservative"????

Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on March 6, 2010 06:58 PM

10. Ok, who slipped the tea in Joni's Koolaid?

The scary part is that this is the second time in as many weeks I have agreed with Joni. (The other was a pretty balanced "Dino is Running" piece.)

One might argue, therefore, that Joni is getting more conservative. You would be wrong. Very wrong.

What her editorial comments do suggest, however, is that the Olympia Democrat crowd has stumbled way to Joni's (Seattle's) left - as has the DC (Districtus Cesspoolus) Democrat crowd. And she is calling them on both their leftward lurch and steeply rising governmental incompetence.

That does not bode well for the current Democrat majorities in either place.

Posted by: Deryl McCarty on March 7, 2010 08:06 AM

11. It is tough to decipher the tea leaves with a Joni Balter. My guess would be that she is just not very bright. She once wrote an entire column about her concern that (Justice) Richard Sanders had worn a German army uniform to a Halloween party.

Posted by: travis t on March 8, 2010 02:34 AM