Why Eyman's Initiative 1033 Should Not Pass

Tim Eyman's latest foolishness is coming in the form of Initiative 1033, and is based on that completely discredited theory of trickle down economics.

The initiative will lock not only the state budget at its current level, but also the budget of all 39 counties in the state, as well as 281 municipalities. The last couple years, all levels of government in Washington have been forced to make dramatic cuts in services offered because tax revenues have decreased with the condition of the economy. The cuts made so far include natural resource programs by 25%, and $1.5 billion from school funding, and 1033 would essentially be making these cuts permanent while almost certainly forcing additional cuts in coming years.

At a city council meeting last week, Publicola reports that this chart was displayed:
If Eyman's initiative was implement in 2001 when the economy was in a similar state, by 2015, money collected for the general fund through property taxes WOULD BE $0. As Council Member Tim Burgess notes, “We would essentially be wiping out the [equivalent of the] police department."

Luckily, we're not exploring undiscovered territory here. Back in 1992, Colorado passed a very similar law to what Eyman is proposing and the effects were so disastrous that the voters suspended the law in 2005:



You can view the television ads the No on 1033 Campaign is running below, and you can also go to their website and pledge to vote no.

Susan Hutchison: Washington State's Sarah Palin

Last night, I caught the King County Executive debate on KOMO TV between candidates Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchison. Prior to the debate, I was very opposed to Hutchison, and there was nothing that occurred during last night's debate that would change my mind.

Previously, I wrote a bit about some of my objections to Susan Hutchison, and things haven't gotten any better.

In spite of her claims to be non-partisan, Susan Hutchison is a staunch Republican:

• She not only donated to George W. Bush and Dino Rossi, she donated to ultra-right wing presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Last night, she tried brushing aside questions about her donation by claiming it was early in the campaign when "no one had really heard much about him." But her donation doesn't seem to be a spontaneous decision at the urging of a friend, as she claimed. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer linked to this video today showing her singing Huckabee's praises and talking about how insightful he was at the previous dinner:

• The campaign consultant firm she has hired bills itself as "the go–to political consulting firm for Republican candidates, ballot initiatives, and major trade organizations."
• She served on the board of the conservative anti-science Discovery Institute that advocates Intelligent Design being taught in schools.
• Since 2003, she has donated $13,525 to Republican causes. $0 to Democratic candidates.

Conveniently, Hutchison herself played a key role in passing Initiative 26, which made the office of the King County Executive a non-partisan office. By donating heavily to the Citizens for Accountable Elections in 2007 and being one of the most vocal proponents of the switch, she paved the way for hiding her Republican affiliation in a clearly Democratic county. She's capitalizing off the lack of a party label, as she herself proudly boasts that "Our polls showed that 10 percent of the people responding thought I was extremely liberal." If she wins the election, it's going to be because she's done an excellent job of keeping the public uninformed about her stances.

Even The Huffington Post has chimed in on the absurdity of Susan Hutchison calling herself a non-partisan, and dubs her "Washington State's Sarah Palin."

For those interested, last night's entire hour long debate can be viewed here:

There's a Rep for That - Crazy Republicans Meet iPhone Commercials

"If you want to refute scientific research by quoting Biblical prophecy...There's a rep for that."

Maria Cantwell Blasts Derivatives Reform

This morning on MSNBC's Morning Meeting, my Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell went on blasting the House's attempt at achieving financial reform because they're adding loopholes instead of closing them:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Insurance Companies Can't Afford Health Care Costs

Rachel Maddows Takes on Tim Phillips

The Rachel Maddow Show tonight on MSNBC had a representative from the "grassroots" Americans for Prosperity group that is traveling around the country promoting the status quo for our health care system.

Rachel Maddow directly challenged Tim Phillips on their claim of being a grassroots organization, in spite of being staffed nearly entirely by Republican Party operatives.

While I don't normally like the back and forth of cable news shows, I feel like Rachel Maddow really keeps the conversation focused and reasonable, in spite of her belief that Phillips is a "parasite."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I'm With Dow!

Dow Constantine is definitely my pick for King County Executive!