Category Archives: Announcements

February 13th, 2010

Eight Years: Statement from the Founder

AnnouncementsThreat Analysis

Today and throughout this month, Permanent Defense celebrates its eighth anniversary, marking the end of ninety six months of opposing harmful right wing initiatives, especially those sponsored by Tim Eyman. These last fifty two weeks – our eighth year – rank among the most difficult – but also the most rewarding – in our history. The following is a brief recap of our accomplishments:

  • Throughout our eighth year, we were part of the realization of one of Permanent Defense’s two original goals: the successful completion of Sound Transit’s Central Link light rail line. Staff were invited on several test runs of the line prior to its July 18th grand opening, and Permanent Defense’s parent organization, the Northwest Progressive Institute, provided extensive coverage of that event. We were again present for the December 19th opening of the Airport Link extension, which brought the line into the City of SeaTac.
  • We tirelessly worked as part of one of the biggest coalitions in Washington State history to defeat Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1033, the Mukilteo profiteer’s most destructive measure ever. After a frenzied October, which saw an unprecedented mobilization of clergy, municipal leaders, activists, community groups, and progressive organizations, we won a spectacular victory that spanned the Cascade Mountains. Our triumph marked Eyman’s second consecutive defeat at the ballot and his first in an odd-numbered year.
  • As part of the effort to defeat Initiative 1033, we built a grassroots campaign hub and organized opposition to the initiative through social networking. By Election Day, the NO on Initiative 1033 Facebook page co-maintained by Permanent Defense had surpassed thirteen thousand fans. We also worked to ensure that journalists heard about the consequences of I-1033 by regularly responding to Tim Eyman’s propaganda.
  • In the aftermath of the election, we began preparing to oppose Tim Eyman’s next measure, a do-over of Initiative 960 (2007) which the Legislature is poised to suspend. We provided an opposition presence at Eyman’s kickoff event in the Secretary of State’s office on January 11th.
  • Finally, we began work on a major overhaul of Permanent Defense’s website (Version 8, codenamed Camano) which will officially launch this week as part of our anniversary celebrations. Our new website runs on an incredibly powerful free software stack, and is ten times more robust than every prior incarnation.

We also continued to lobby the Legislature to reform the initiative process. The House and Senate are each considering bills we support that would make a difference. One would make it harder for Tim Eyman to go ballot title shopping, another would require mercenary petitioners to be more accountable.  We are hopeful that at least one of these bills will make it out of the statehouse this year.

We know that despite our successes, the underlying problems that allow Tim Eyman to exist – especially our regressive tax structure, but also a lack of political courage – remain unaddressed. These problems will not be solved by simply defeating forthcoming right wing ballot measures like Initiative 1053. Every time we defeat a Tim Eyman initiative, we are merely treating a symptom. Solving the underlying problems will take nothing less than a Herculean endeavor, and a strategic shift on the part of our movement. Permanent Defense’s parent organization, the Northwest Progressive Institute, was formed in August of 2003 to help make this strategic shift possible.

Although Permanent Defense’s narrowly focused work remains important, the larger work that NPI is undertaking has become even more critical and more important, because the clock is ticking. For too long, we have dithered and procrastinated, and allowed ourselves to be more concerned about winning elections than addressing the conditions that are precipitating the decline of our communities, our state, and our country. That must change. Our future depends on our ability to grow our common wealth, not just safeguard what we have.

Thanks for being a supporter and staying committed to the tough goal of neutralizing harmful right wing initiatives, year after year. Together, we will continue to provide a much needed first line of defense against new threats to our future.

July 23rd, 2008

Welcome

Announcements

Welcome to the NO on I-985 Coalition blog. Here, you can find the latest news from the campaign and commentary on recent news articles.

The Coalition is a diverse group of Washingtonians fighting to preserve and enhance our collective quality of life.

We oppose Initiative 985 because it would further cripple our already dysfunctional transportation system, moving us backwards instead of forwards.

Traffic congestion already costs our economy, our environment, and our families. We simply can’t afford to make it worse by approving an ill-conceived initiative that will bring us bigger traffic headaches.

June 19th, 2007

Decline to Sign Referendum 67

AnnouncementsThreat Analysis

Our parent organization’s blog has a post about a message sent out by Representative Steve Kirby earlier today concerning insurance industry trickery. Insurers, using a shell PAC called “Consumers Against Higher Insurance Rates” are attempting to collect signatures to force a vote on a consumer protection act that the industry wants repealed.

Referendum 67 is not about screening you from higher insurance rates, it’s about rolling back safeguards that defend your family. If you are approached by a petitioner to sign Referendum 67, decline and immediately report your encounter to Permanent Defense so we can track and respond to their activities.

May 31st, 2007

May Campaign Update debuts

Announcements

The Journal is back after a long hiatus, newly integrated into the latest and greatest version of Permanent Defense’s online home (Version 7, the May Campaign Update, codename Whidbey). We have worked hard to improve the user experience. Here’s a summary of the major changes we’ve made.

New slogan/motto. We recently restyled Permanent Defense’s tagline to emphasize its broader mission of fighting against bad libertarian ideas (Opposing Right Wing Initiatives and Fighting Tim Eyman). This change is permanent as of this update.

Page Background Adjusted for Easier Reading. A number of visitors have long complained that Permanent Defense’s stucco background, which has been used on the site since its inception in February of 2002, makes reading text too difficult. So we’ve refitted the stucco pattern to appear on the screen where there isn’t page content. (Where there is, you’ll see a white backdrop).

Improved accessibility. Almost every image on the site uses an alternate tag now

Faster loading. The site now uses more optimized graphics (especially for navigation) and a leaner, better codebase, which means it will load more quickly in your browser.

Darker red theme. We used a softer, darker hue of red for text and buttons in this version to reduce the amount of glare or annoyance caused by the previously brighter color used throughout our site.

New address for the archives. The Permanent Defense Archives, which are being restored, reorganized, and expanded, will in the future be accessible at archives (dot) permanentdefense (dot) org. We hope to complete our work on the archive as part of this summer’s July Relaunch.

Reshaped Navigation. Old sections of our site that have outlived their usefulness have been removed (such as the Press Box, which is now integrated with the Release Center). The Permanent Defense Journal is now incorporated into the left navigation menu. And there is a major distinction between the two types of buttons in the menu – red ones take you to sections inside of Permanent Defense’s site, blue ones take you to other parts of the Northwest Progressive Institute’s network.

Front Page Changes. We’ve refreshed the appearance of the menu centers on the front page (Breaking News, Releases, and the Journal) which help you find important information about our latest activities. The front page sports a new NO on I-960 banner and a frequently asked questions (or FAQ) about Initiative 960.

A more useful Release Center. We’ve retooled the Release Center/Newsroom to help you easily browse official statements, special reports, our document library, tax references, and press coverage of right wing initiatives. The Release Center has incorporated the now retired Press Box as mentioned above.

Updates for all permanent sections. We’ve carefully and thoroughly revised all the major sections of our website, including our about and contact pages, Links & Resources, Dangerous Initiatives, and the Action Center. Essays: Our Arguments includes a new exposition on I-960 and Reasons presents the case against Tim Eyman’s undemocratic idea.

New materials available. Handouts are available for download to help educate the public about the harmful consequences of Initiative 960. They can be downloaded from either the Action Center or the Release Center.

February 13th, 2007

Five Years: Statement from the Founder

Announcements

Today and throughout this month, Permanent Defense proudly celebrates five years, or sixty months, of political activism in Washington State, fighting Tim Eyman’s senseless initiatives, working to reform the state’s tax structure, and promoting the value of public services. Launched in early February of 2002, Permanent Defense has remained in continuous operation for half a decade. It became a project of the Northwest Progressive Institute in 2003.

The last twelve months, our fifth year, presented many challenges, but was arguably our most successful ever. The following is a brief recap of our amazing accomplishments:

  • Throughout the spring of 2006, we monitored right wing signature drives, allowing citizens to report on their experiences with petitioners – many of whom lied or fabricated information in order to get a signature.
  • We worked with our allies at Washington Won’t Discriminate to fight Referendum 65, a right wing effort to legalize discrimination masterminded by Tim Eyman. We won a huge victory in June of 2006 – it never made the ballot, and the amended civil rights law remains in place.
  • We organized and mobilized to fight Initiative 917, Tim Eyman’s attempt to repeal sorely needed transportation funding enacted in 2005 by the state Legislature. When I-917 failed a random sample check of signatures at the end July, we sent representatives to Olympia to observe the full signature check. I-917 ultimately failed to make the ballot a month later and we won another huge victory.
  • We teamed with broad based coalitions to beat two other right wing initiatives that did make the ballot – Initiatives 920 (repealing education funding) and 933 (pay or waive: land use mayhem). We were victorious again in November of 2006 as both were overwhelmingly defeated.
  • We renewed our efforts to urge the Legislature to enact initiative process reform in early 2007.

We also witnessed two courts issue rulings which we support – in June of 2006, Initiative 747 was ruled unconstitutional, and in December of 2006, the state Supreme Court ruled Sound Transit may continue to collect its motor vehicle excise tax so it can repay critical bonds.

We met all of our goals and responded to all the challenges laid before us in this last year – successfully. 2006 was nothing short of remarkable.

Despite our victories last year, Tim Eyman isn’t going away. We will continue our opposition to his senseless onslaughts on our government, our communities, and our quality of life. We will fight against his “Minority Rules” initiative to cripple representative democracy until it is defeated.

As we pledged last year, we will continue our work to map out a long term plan for fixing Washington’s tax structure, including the development of a property tax homestead exemption as well as alternatives to the state sales tax and the obnoxious “business & occupation tax”.

In the coming months, we’ll be rolling out numerous improvements and additions to our website, as we have in years past.

After our successes last year, we are confident we can overcome any challenges in our path and make Washington State a better place to live, work, and visit.

Thanks for your involvement during the past 365 days – here’s to another year of triumphs and successes!

June 5th, 2006

Eyman dresses up as Darth Vader for ridiculous stunt

Announcements

Permanent Defense’s parent organization, NPI, has a report on its Official Blog about Tim Eyman’s latest and most deceptive trickery to date: lying to the media about turning in petitions for Referendum 65.

Eyman recently told the media by email that he was to coming to the Secrretary of State’s office this morning to turn in petitions, but he ended up turning in absolutely nothing.

Read the full report here.

February 13th, 2006

Four Years: Statement from the Founder

AnnouncementsThreat Analysis

Today and throughout this month, Permanent Defense proudly celebrates four years of political activism in Washington State, fighting Tim Eyman’s senseless initiatives, working to reform the state’s tax structure, and promoting the value of public services.

The arrival of February 2006 marks the end of our fourth year of operation and the beginning of our fifth year.

Our fourth year was very eventful. We faced significant obstacles but we were successful in accomplishing many important goals. Here’s a review of what we achieved this past year:

  • In late February 2005, Permanent Defense’s founder, along with David Goldstein of TaxSanity and Steve Zemke of Taxpayers for Washington’s Future, testified before the House Finance Committee in favor of House Bill 1744 (the homestead exemption proposal) to create a fairer property tax structure.
  • Throughout the spring of 2005, Permanent Defense organized to fight Initiative 900, Tim Eyman’s overload of performance audits. Upon the filing of Initiative 912, the leadership of Permanent Defense decided to set up a sister organization, Washington Defense, to oppose the repeal of the 2005 Transportation Package while Permanent Defense fought I-900.
  • In the summer, following the end of the signature drives, Permanent Defense’s website was retooled through the annual July Relaunch and readied to oppose Initiative 900. Washington Defense’s website was readied to oppose Initiative 912.
  • Throughout the summer of 2005 Permanent Defense’s founder spoke before numerous organizations, including the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Municipal League, to urge an endorsement against Initiative 900.
  • In August Washington Defense PAC was launched to raise money to fight a grassroots campaign against Initiative 912.
  • During the fall Permanent Defense supporters worked extremely hard to fight against Initiative 912, and, when time allowed, oppose Initiative 900 as well. A strong emphasis was placed on defeating I-912 due to the fact that it would have repealed some $5 billion in needed transportation funding, whereas I-900, though poorly drafted and unnecessary, would not have gutted state revenues.

Ultimately, Initiative 912 failed in a significant defeat for Tim Eyman and his fellow anti-tax zealots. Eyman had predicted its passage and even attempted to latch onto the effort to wipe out the gas tax increase. Though Initiative 900 passed, the real Eyman initiative was destroyed in a huge, landmark victory.

Despite the failure of I-912, Eyman has decided to press ahead with his plans to mount an assault on the other revenue sources for the 2005 Transportation Package. In 2006, Permanent Defense will work to protect over $2.6 billion in transportation funding from being wiped out by Eyman’s initiative.

Permanent Defense will also vigorously oppose Eyman’s outrageous attack on Washington State’s newly amended anti-discrimination law, which now prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Not only will we fight these senseless onslaughts on our quality of life, but we’ll continue our work to map out a long term plan for fixing Washington’s tax structure, including alternatives to the state sales tax and the obnoxious “business & occupation tax”.

As in past years, we’ll be rolling out numerous improvements and additions to our website during the next twelve months.

Great challenges lie ahead, but we can overcome them and make Washington State a better place to live, work, and visit.

Thanks for your involvement during the past 365 days. Here’s to another successful year!

December 16th, 2005

Gearing Up for 2006

Announcements

The Permanent Defense team has been working hard getting ready for the road in front of us in 2006. Though we’ve had many significant accomplishments in almost four years of operation, stopping Eyman in 2006 will be one of our biggest challenges. That’s why we’re getting ready. Content from 2005 and the campaign against I-900 is now being archived, and PD is transitioning into fighting mode to defend the 2005 Transportation Package. Stand with us!

November 8th, 2005

Time to Vote….Today is Election Day

Announcements

If you’re a registered voter and you haven’t yet voted, please do so, whether you go to the polls or receive your ballot in the mail. Remember to vote NO on Initiatives 900, 912, and 330. Vote YES on Initiatives 901 and 336. Also remember to vote for Ron Sims if you live in King County.

Sims is a major advocate for our platform of tax reform and we need to keep him in office. For more NPI/Permanent Defense endorsements, see the NPI Official Blog.

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Mobilizing for 2024 to counter new threats

Stop Greed: Vote no in 2024
Visit StopGreed.org to learn about three harmful right wing initiatives we're opposing that are headed for the November general election ballot

What we do

Permanent Defense works to protect Washington by building a first line of defense against threats to the common wealth and Constitution of the Evergreen State — like Tim Eyman's initiative factory. Learn more.

Protecting Washington Since 2002

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