March 16th, 2011

Voters Want More Choices begins 2011 with no wealthy benefactor in sight

Eye on Money: Developments

New reports filed with the Public Disclosure Commission last week indicate that Tim Eyman is still searching for a new benefactor to prop up his sputtering initiative factory, two months after the Mukilteo profiteer revealed he didn’t have the money lined up to buy his way onto the ballot this year.

Excluding a large money transfer from Help Us Help Taxpayers (another one of his PACs), Eyman’s reincarnated Voters Want More Choices committee has brought in just $15,200 so far this year. This sum, along with the aforementioned transfer, is being applied towards the loan Eyman took out against his house last year, leaving Voters Want More Choices with a deficit of $196,101.06.

Years ago, such a debt would have been insignificant, because Eyman’s wealthy benefactor would have taken care of it with a check or two. But so far in 2011, nobody with deep pockets has come to Eyman’s rescue.

If Eyman can’t find a benefactor, he will likely end the year still in debt. At present, Voters Want More Choices is taking in an average of only $7,600 a month. Even if Eyman managed to double his monthly average starting this month, he’d still finish 2011 with only $152,000 raised – not enough to cancel the debt.

Eyman won’t be able to use all of what he raises to pay off his loan, either, because he’ll presumably need to pay himself and his associates.

Eyman no doubt recognizes the predicament he’s in, which explains why he sounds so desperate in his recent letters and emails. Without money – lots of money – the gears of his initiative factory cannot turn.

That was quite evident two months ago when Eyman revealed that, for the first time since the new millennium began, he wouldn’t be doing a signature drive this spring. Instead, he used his annual press conference in the Secretary of State’s office to announce his plans for 2012. It was a telling moment.

Without his initiative factory, Eyman has no real power. He needs it to be in operation so he can enjoy the occasional success and remain relevant.

If history is any indication, Eyman will find a new wealthy benefactor. That’s why it’s important that we spend 2011 in infrastructure-building mode. We have to assume that an I-1053 clone will be on the ballot in 2012, and we have to be prepared to respond forcefully. Voters need to understand what measures like I-1053 are really designed to do: take away majority rule and sabotage representative democracy.

March 7th, 2011

The anger, spite, and negativity of Tim Eyman

Rethinking and Reframing

Well, that didn’t take long.

This morning, Tim Eyman sent out an email very similar to one he sent out a week ago, again making it look like an editorial board said something mean about him, when in fact it was simply the opinion of one person writing in:

RE: EVERETT HERALD: “Hopefully Eyman will lose his house. Maybe that will keep him quiet.”

Can’t you just feel the love:

RUN FOR OFFICE OR PIPE DOWN: I predict that in two years the Legislature will water down Initiative 1053 because there is simply no alternative. That is why I will vote against any Eyman initiative in the future no matter the merit. I-1053 is not about waste in government; it’s about greed. I’m sick and tired of Tim Eyman trying to be the dictator of Washington from his little watch shop in Mukilteo. If Eyman wants to run the state let him get some guts and run for office. But I don’t think he has any guts. The voters of this state should send Eyman a message by voting down every measure he proposes. Hopefully he will lose his house. Maybe that will keep him quiet.” Steven Bates, Everett

The subject line of Eyman’s email, which contains the last two sentences of Bates’ letter, do not identify Bates as the author. Instead, the comments are attributed to the Everett Herald. The Herald may have printed Bates’ comments, but no one working for The Herald wrote them. Eyman could have easily prefaced Bates’ comments with “LETTER TO THE EDITOR”, but he chose not to do so. He used “EVERETT HERALD” instead to convey the impression that he’s being picked on.

And he ended his email with this instruction (to his supporters):

Take his anger and spite and negativity and use it as fuel for something positive.

Negativity breeds negativity. Steven Bates is fed up with Tim Eyman’s constant attacks on our common wealth and on the very fabric of our representative democracy. That’s understandable. If love is what Eyman wants to feel, he should start treating the people he deals with more kindly.

What part of the idiom, Ye reap what ye sow, does Eyman not understand? His rudeness and hostility are legendary… so he shouldn’t be surprised that people have negative opinions of him. He can’t expect others to be polite and respectful towards him when he is unwilling to extend them the same courtesy.

The Golden Rule is pretty simple: Treat others the way you wish to be treated.

Eyman has repeatedly proved himself to be utterly incapable of adhering to the Golden Rule. In one breath, he plays the victim. In his next breath, he’s unapologetically trashing elected leaders and public workers.

Let’s take a look at the anger, spite, and negativity of Tim Eyman, shall we? The following are all snippets from some of the emails he has sent over the years.

From September 17th, 2009:

Congratulations to the Evergreen Freedom Foundation for making the crazies in Seattle even crazier by bringing FOX NEWS’ Glenn Beck to speak at Safeco Field on Saturday, September 26th. Bringing him into Jim McDermott’s district, the lion’s den of Seattle, to speak should make things especially interesting.

From January 14th, 2009:

Queen Christine, King Sims, and Knight Nickels are an embarrassment. None of them is showing any sympathy for the average taxpayer who is currently buried under our state’s enormous tax burden and tough economy. None of them has even an ounce of compassion for struggling working families and fixed-income senior citizens who simply can’t afford any more. Their reckless disregard for the additional tax burden this mega-uber-project will put on our state’s tapped-out citizenry is maddening.

From April 27th, 2010:

During this year’s legislative session, Democrat politicians in Olympia and the ‘Public Interest Groups’ (PIGS) that support them imposed $800 million in higher taxes — but that turned out to be just an ‘opening bid.’

From July 14th, 2007:

Justice occurred in King County today when Superior Court judge Catherine Shaffer, a Gary Locke appointee, rejected arguments by opponents of I-960 who sought to prohibit a vote of the people on the measure. Whacko lefty environmental group Futurewise (formerly 1000 Friends of Washington) and whacko lefty labor union SEIU argued that since they receive a lot of tax money from state government, they’d be harmed by I-960 because it may limit the flow of revenue to them.

We could go on.

Those four excerpts, by the way, don’t even come close to the meanest things Eyman has said. He questions motives and uses put-downs all the time. He regularly instructs his supporters to blast people who are in his way with harsh comments.

But occasionally, he goes even further. He’s accused opponents of criminal activity. He’s made private contact information public. We know because we’ve seen it happen. We’ve been monitoring Eyman for years.

Sometimes, we’ve been the target.

When NPI’s Steve Zemke interrupted one of Tim Eyman’s press conferences some years ago (because Eyman was blatantly lying about the state budget) Eyman’s response was to tell the Secretary of State’s staff to “get this guy out of here” even though he had chosen to hold his media event in a public building.

Through his conduct, Tim Eyman has pretty much turned his own name into a synonym for hypocrisy. And he has only himself to blame.

February 23rd, 2011

Willful deception: Eyman deliberately misattributes degroatory comment about himself to Seattle P-I

Rethinking and Reframing

As we have previously documented on numerous occasions – both here and at the NPI Advocate – Tim Eyman is no fan of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The publication, formerly Seattle’s oldest newspaper and now its most-visited online-only news source, has consistently opposed Eyman’s ill-conceived initiatives over the years, and it also exposed his illicit money transfers from his campaign committee to his own personal bank account in a stupendous article written by Neil Modie nine years ago this month.

No surprise, then, that Eyman rarely misses a chance to demean the P-I in some way. Today, he did so by misattributing something a P-I commenter said to the P-I itself.

Here’s the subject line of his email:

Subject: SEATTLE PI: “Yes, I think Eyman should be retired or taken out and shot.”
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:21:25 -0500

If you were looking at this subject line, you might be led to believe that a P-I columnist, or someone working for the P-I, had written those words. But if you open the email, you’ll notice a longer version of the quote is attributed to “Donald”:

“You have an article in the paper about Tim Eyman … It ended with, has he done enough for the state.  I think he’s done it to the state.  Yes, I think Eyman should be retired or taken out and shot.” – Donald

No citation was provided for the quote, which initially made us wonder if it ever existed at all. However, our team was able to track it down after just a little bit of searching; it’s from a P-I “Soundoff” from July 11th, 2003.

Obviously, Donald’s rhetoric does not represent what the Seattle Post-Intelligencer believes as an institution. Nor would most progressives consider shooting someone to be a remotely acceptable means to an end. True progressives are against violence, and don’t condone the extreme, un-American idea that “second amendment remedies” should be used to intimidate or eliminate political opponents.

Eyman himself uses the same kind of derogatory hyperbole when talking about people who stand in his way, whether they be elected leaders, public servants, or activists. Permanent Defense has an archive of Eyman emails going back many years, and we can readily produce venom-laden messages authored by Tim and sent to his supporters, reporters, and state lawmakers.

Before Eyman condemns a commenter for wishing that he be “taken out and shot”, he should look at his own past invective and tone down his language.

Hate speech is a precursor to violence. And more violence is the last thing our republic needs.

February 22nd, 2011

In fundraising letter, Eyman claims he has “whittled down” I-1053 debt to “below $200K”

Eye on Money: Developments

Since announcing to his followers that he was “hitting the big panic button” a few weeks ago, Tim Eyman has managed to shave $38,000 plus off the total amount of his outstanding debt from last year. Or so he claims in a fundraising appeal recently sent out via snail mail and forwarded to NPI’s Permanent Defense.

The letter doesn’t say how Eyman managed to “whittle” his I-1053 down to “under $200k”; nor does it disclose exactly how much of Eyman’s debt is still outstanding.

Given how anemic Eyman’s fundraising has been, we’re inclined to think at least a chunk of that money is from either wealthy conservatives (like Bellevue Square owner Kemper Freeman Jr., an Eyman fan) or from corporations (Association of Washington Business chieftain Don Brunell urged lobbyists last fall to help Eyman cover his debt).

Reports for contributions received in February are due March 10th, so at that time, we should be able to see just who has been funneling money into Eyman’s presently idle initiative factory… if Eyman’s treasurer files the reports on time.

February 13th, 2011

Nine Years: Statement from the Founder

AnnouncementsThreat Analysis

Today and throughout this month, Permanent Defense celebrates its ninth anniversary, marking the conclusion of one hundred and eight months of continuous operation. PD now begins its tenth year of existence. Remarkably, in fifty-two weeks, it will reach the end of its first decade.

When Permanent Defense first went live on February 13th, 2002, it was devoted to a single purpose: defeating Tim Eyman’s Initiative 776, which sought to prevent Sound Transit from constructing Central Link by taking away one of ST’s two principal sources of revenue. Unfortunately, PD’s first mission was unsuccessful: Initiative 776 passed narrowly despite the best efforts of a well-organized opposition coalition.

But unlike the NO on I-776 campaign and other campaigns against Eyman initiatives from years past, PD did not go away, dissolve, or close its virtual doors after that disappointing election. Rather, it was strengthened by the loss. In the spirit of its name, it became a permanent campaign against right wing initiatives.

And it has made a difference. Prior to Permanent Defense’s formation, Eyman had gotten an initiative past voters for several years running. After Permanent Defense’s first year, Tim Eyman’s streak of consecutive victories ended. Since I-776, voters have approved just three Eyman initiatives: I-900, I-960, and I-1053.

Unfortunately, Eyman needs to be successful only occasionally to remain relevant, as the last election showed.

There’s no question this last year (PD’s ninth) ranks as the toughest in its history. We fought five right wing initiatives, and regrettably, two of them, including Eyman’s I-1053, got through… and by sickeningly large margins.

Eyman has already announced he intends to run I-1053 again in 2012. Thankfully, it appears that his initiative factory has run out of money for a spell, and consequently, he doesn’t have an initiative in the works for this year (2011). But that doesn’t mean Eyman won’t be trying to cause mischief.

And it doesn’t mean Permanent Defense can go on hiatus. There may be other right wing initiatives to fight, and we need to begin laying the groundwork to stop Eyman’s I-1053 clone in 2012. It will take a Herculean effort to show voters that nullifying majority rule goes against everything our country and our state’s founders believed in. They gave us a system of representative government which has endured for centuries. I-1053, like I-960 and I-601 before it, are purposely intended to wreck that system.

The campaign against I-1053 failed because it came together too late. Resources were not committed until the very end, and by that point, the battle had already been lost. We at Permanent Defense are committed to making sure this never happens again. We’ll be spending our tenth year in infrastructure-building mode, so we have greater resources to commit early and often against Eyman and his schemes.

We’re taking a critical step forward today by forming a Rapid Response team, which will respond and react to right-wing misinformation in the media through comments and letters to the editor on an ongoing basis. If you’d like to be part of the team, you can sign up on our volunteer page.

Although we endured some significant setbacks during the past twelve months, there were some bright spots. A few days after our last anniversary, we gave PD’s virtual home its biggest overhaul to date with Version 8, codenamed “Camano”, transforming it from a collection of static web pages to a powerful, database-driven site. PermanentDefense.org has never looked better, and it’s much simpler to implement changes, thanks to the ease of administration offered by WordPress.

We’re also proud of StopGreed.org, the combined campaign site we built to provide information about the corporate fronts behind each of the five right wing initiatives on the 2010 ballot. Three of them (I-1082, I-1100, I-1105) were overwhelmingly defeated by voters; the other two (I-1053, I-1107) passed, as mentioned previously. Some of the features and tools we built for StopGreed.org will probably be incorporated into Permanent Defense itself, to help activists, voters, and reporters better track and understand right wing initiatives.

Finally, we’re thankful that Tim Eyman was unsuccessful in his efforts to prevent records of who signed his initiatives from being turned over to interested citizens. Our state has a tradition of open government, and open government doesn’t just mean accountable elected leaders. People who sponsor and sign initiatives are not entitled to anonymity. The process of citizen lawmaking must be transparent, and we’re glad the courts have recognized that.

Significant obstacles lie ahead on the path towards a better quality of life for our state and our country. There really hasn’t been a better time to get involved. If you are not already, consider becoming a volunteer.

Your voice and your ideas are Permanent Defense’s greatest asset.

February 2nd, 2011

Eyman says he’s “hitting the big panic button”

Eye on Money: Developments

Apparently unable to convince either corporate lobbyists or Michael Dunmire to pony up the cash needed to pay off the $250,000 loan he took out against his house to help finance I-1053, Tim Eyman is shaking his electronic tin cup harder than ever, pleading with his supporters to help pay off the debt so he can move forward with his next scheme. In a message sent out this morning, Eyman says:

I haven’t been showing it, but I’m seriously concerned. We are raising funds for the next 2/3’s initiative and to pay off my 2nd mortgage loan (when donations weren’t coming in fast enough to pay the bills for last year’s I-1053 signature drive, I loaned the campaign $250,000 that got I-1053 over the finish line). I said to myself “it’s either this or we fail” and decided that I-1053 was just too important to fall short. So I jumped off that steep cliff hoping and praying that our supporters — all of you — would catch me this year. We have spent the last month highlighting some bad anti-1053 bills, asking you to email legislators, and helping with some local initiatives. But thus far, we’ve not hit the big panic button on this top priority.

I’m doing so now: THIS IS ME HITTING THE BIG PANIC BUTTON.

Eyman claims he has only managed to pay off $12,000 of the $250,000 loan, leaving him with $238,000 in debt. “[I]magine how scary that is for the Eyman family,” he says later in the message.

Wait a second… Tim Eyman is asking for sympathy? Now that’s rich!

Considering the way he treats others (belittling elected leaders, demonizing public servants, and attempting to undermine the public’s trust in government), he’s the last person in the state who is deserving of anyone’s sympathy.

Eyman created his own financial crisis by using his house as collateral to secure funds for his 2010 initiative. He took a risk and now he’s going to have to deal with the consequences. Given how little money he raised independently last year (more than 80% of the money for I-1053 came from corporations) we’re guessing the loan won’t be paid off until Eyman hooks up with a new sugar daddy… or an old one.

January 26th, 2011

State Representative Marko Liias: Tim Eyman is an ignorant blowhard

Legislation & Testimony

State Representative Marko Liias, who has the unfortunate distinction of having Tim Eyman as a constituent, says he’s had it with the watch salesman-turned-initiative promoter after Eyman harshly berated Liias for introducing a bill allowing Western Washington transit agencies to raise revenue through vehicle fees.

Liias gave Eyman a piece of his mind in a Facebook note posted last night. It read, in part:

I have proposed a simple little bill to give local transit agencies one way to protect transit service and reduce congestion.  My bill would let local elected officials vote on a temporary charge of up to $30 to support local transit service.  That’s it.  I want to let local community leaders make a decision about local infrastructure.

And it’s no blank check, either.  They have to write a plan on how the new funds will help reduce congestion, and they have to report on their progress.  And did I mention that the new congestion reduction charge is temporary?  The bill expires at the end of 2013.

But, Tim Eyman sees this as an opportunity to grandstand and beat his chest about “his” initiative, and keep the press talking about him.  Well, Tim Eyman, I think you should read your own initiative. It applies to state decisions, not local ones. Unless you want to run for city council and then try and get on the Community Transit board of directors, you should leave these decisions to the folks that do care.

By “your own initiative”, Liias means Initiative 1053, Eyman’s most recent, which reimposed the unconstitutional “two-thirds” threshold for raising revenue that been established by I-960 and I-601 before it. None of the aforementioned initiatives prevents local governments from democratically voting to raise revenue, or prevents the Legislature from democratically voting to give local governments new revenue-raising authority – although Eyman has drafted a measure to impose a two-thirds threshold on cities, counties, and ports.

Liias is hardly the first legislator or elected leader to voice his frustration with Eyman’s confrontational rhetoric and tactics. He won’t be the last, either. But it’s good he’s standing his ground. The only response Eyman respects is a forceful one. If Democratic representatives reframed aggressively every time Eyman attacked them, Eyman would be on the defensive more often.

November 2nd, 2010

Two out of three corporate initiatives passing easily, including Tim Eyman’s I-1053

Election PostmortemRethinking and Reframing

As expected, the two corporate initiatives that public interest advocates failed to effectively organize and mobilize against – Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1053 and the American Beverage Association’s Initiative 1107 – are passing handily in the first returns to be reported.

The success of I-1053 and I-1107 deals Washington’s fragile common wealth a devastating blow at a time when many families are especially in need of vital public services, particularly the state’s safety net.

It’s clear from the big margins that both I-1053 and I-1107 are getting that voters didn’t comprehend the true consequences of either when filling out their ballots. They didn’t realize that I-1053 sabotages our cherished tradition of majority rule, and has caused legislative gridlock in states like California. They didn’t realize that I-1107 destroys revenue that has been helping to keep our safety net from being eviscerated. And no wonder: Few progressive organizations put any resources into telling the story of the harm 1053 and 1107 would — and now will — cause.

The word feeble doesn’t even begin to describe the efforts against 1053 and 1107, which were a failure in every respect. The consultants tasked with coming up with a plan for responding to the initiatives were resigned to what they felt was an inevitable defeat from the beginning. They created a self-fulfilling prophecy by opting against responding aggressively. The broad-based coalition against 1053 and 1107 thus existed in name only, and accomplished very little.

The lessons of the past were forgotten, opportunities to take action were squandered, and the decisions that did get made lacked input from the people actually in the trenches trying to defend our common wealth.

The result is a travesty. The Legislature’s efforts to responsibly close the most recent budget deficit have been undone, and worse, Article II, Section 22 of our Constitution has been sabotaged again, preventing the House and Senate from democratically acting to raise revenue to protect our common wealth in the future.

If we’ve learned one thing from this campaign, it’s that the state of paralysis and the mindset of resignation are our greatest enemies. Permanent Defense will work to overcome both in 2011 by attempting to build an unprecedented first line of defense against the next crop of right wing initiatives, including Tim Eyman’s next scheme to wreck government. We pledge to do our best to ensure that activists, citizens, and legislators who want to fight have the ability to do so, and are not marginalized by the indecision and defeatism of others.

October 29th, 2010

Eyman invites supporters to join him in crashing Dino Rossi and Dave Reichert’s Election Night party

Ballot WatchdoggingElection Postmortem

Unwilling to organize an Election Night party of his  own – either because almost nobody would come, or because he’s just too lazy to go to all the trouble of putting together an event – Tim Eyman has invited his supporters to join him in crashing Dino Rossi and Dave Reichert’s Election Night party at the Bellevue Hilton.

In an email, Eyman says:

Join us at the taxpayers’ victory celebration at the Bellevue Hilton (300 112th Ave SE) on election night (several other campaigns are going to be there too, making it much easier for all our supporters — having one big party is better than having lots of little ones). We’ll get there around 7:45 pm, polls close at 8:00 pm and our victory speech will be given at 8:05 pm.

In typical Eyman fashion, Tim makes it sound like he was responsible for creating a grand taxpayers’ victory celebration that other campaigns are participating in. The reality is, he’s crashing the biggest Republican Election Night party in King County, just as he has for the past several years.

What we want to know is, why didn’t he take advantage of  his friends at BP, Shell, Tesoro, ConocoPhillips, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and get them to pony up some moolah for a nice big party? What’s the use of having wealthy corporations as allies if they can’t at least underwrite a rockin’ party?

October 14th, 2010

BP again donates to 1053; JPMorgan Chase joins pantheon of greedy corporations trying to sabotage democracy

Ballot WatchdoggingEye on Money: Developments

As elections officials across Washington State prepare to put several million ballots in the mail to Washingtonians, skittish corporate operatives working for the Association of Washington Business are busily soliciting and accepting funds to prop up Tim Eyman’s scheme to sabotage our democracy, which they apparently fear isn’t going to sell itself despite Tim’s gift for media manipulation.

Days after the AWB itself loaned $60,000 to “Citizens for Responsible Spending” (which is not run by or for any “citizens”), a new onslaught of checks suddenly began arriving from wealthy corporations.

Since the beginning of the month, Tesoro and ConocoPhillips have each put up another $25,000, while BP contributed $35,000, bringing its aggregate total to $100,000 and making it the single largest corporate donor to Tim Eyman’s assault on our cherished tradition of majority rule.

Banking giant JPMorgan Chase, which acquired WaMu from the FDIC in a hastily-arranged fire sale only two years ago, sent in $30,000 at about the same time. Chase is the fourth Wall Street bank to contribute to I-1053 (the others are Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and USBank).

“It’s ironic that so many Wall Street banks, which nearly collapsed under the weight of all the bad bets they made, are trying to wreck our state government so it can’t work for us after being bailed out by the federal government,” said NPI Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve. “Their shamelessness knows no bounds. Let’s be clear: This is about wanton, unchecked greed. It’s as simple as that. ”

An updated analysis by NPI has found that a whopping ninety one percent of the money behind I-1053 came from a corporation. Only nine percent came from individuals, and some of the individual donors are affiliated with corporations that donated.

The analysis found that:

  • $315,000 came from big oil companies,
  • $305,589.89 came from corporate trade groups and lobbies like the Farm Bureau, Realtors, Bankers Association, and the Association of Washington Business,
  • $93,000 came from timber and pulp companies,
  • $57,500 came from Wall Street banks,
  • $65,000 came from real estate developers like Kemper Freeman Jr./Martin Selig,
  • $114,968.00 came from other companies large and small, including Alaska Airlines, Philip Morris USA, Schnitzer Steel, Liberty Mutual Group, and Simplot.
  • Only $91,123.40 came from individuals.

A breakdown is available at StopGreed.org.

“Were it not for the likes of BP, Bank of America, Tesoro, JPMorgan Chase, ConocoPhillips, and Simpson/Green Diamond Resource Co., we would not be voting on Initiative 1053. This is not a citizen’s initiative. It’s a cold, caclulated attempt to trick we the people of Washington into giving up our sovereignty,” Villeneuve said. “The corporate lobbyists behind 1053 want to tighten their grip on our Capitol. Under this measure, all they have to do is persuade seventeen of Washington’s forty nine senators to side with them and they can defeat any bill that would end their special tax breaks. That’s not democratic, fair, or constitutional.”

Learn more about why Initiative 1053 is a bad idea.

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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 Brian Heywood's initiative factory. Learn more.

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