Tag Archives: I-920

Eyman is wrong: Voters have repeatedly agreed with Gov. Chris Gregoire’s fiscal positions when it counts

Rethinking and Reframing

In his latest diatribe to supporters, journalists, and elected leaders, initiative profiteer Tim Eyman trumpets a new SurveyUSA poll that he says proves the governor is unpopular. Eyman’s subject line said it all: “RE:  Gregoire pushes for higher taxes — new poll shows voters HATE her now more than ever — coincidence?  No way!”

The problem with Eyman’s line of argument is that when election time has rolled around (which is when voters’ opinions actually count), the people have repeatedly sided with the governor, sensibly sanctioning her fiscal positions in statewide votes. Let’s review:

  • In 2005, KVI radio hosts John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur (who no longer have their own shows on KVI) spearheaded a right wing initiative to repeal the increase in the gas tax that Governor Gregoire had fought so hard for. They succeeded in getting Initiative 912 on the ballot. Many people, including Tim Eyman, confidently predicted I-912’s passage. But instead, voters defeated it.
  • In 2006, Dennis Falk sponsored another right wing initiative to wipe out the estate tax, which Governor Gregoire and the Legislature had courageously restored and dedicated to the Education Legacy Trust. Voters again said no to the right wing and turned Initiative 920 down in a landslide.
  • In 2008, the people of Washington reelected Governor Gregoire over Dino Rossi, and said no to Tim Eyman’s Initiative 985 by large margins. I-985, which Gregoire opposed, would have opened high occupancy vehicle lanes to everyone during rush hour, and would have redirected revenue to road expansion in the future.
  • And this year, voters resoundingly rejected Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1033, which Gregoire publicly opposed and spent a significant amount of time and energy fighting behind the scenes.

Polls are snapshots in time: an attempt to gauge public opinion. They give political insiders something to talk about, but are not conclusive.

The only polls that ultimately matter take place for a few weeks in the autumn every year. Considering that Governor Gregoire’s record in elections is better than Tim Eyman’s, he is not qualified to claim that he understands the pulse of the people of Washington better than she does.

Victory! Four for four against right wing initiatives in 2006

Election Postmortem

Yesterday, Permanent Defense won an astoundingly incredible victory that can hardly be described in words. It was historic, it was monumental, it was titanic in size and scope. It was in almost every respect a complete rout of the regressive right wing agenda and a victory for progressives and Democrats.

Anti-tax zealots are reeling after the massive rejection of Initiative 920 (which would have repealed millions of dollars for public schools) and the approval of additional revenue increases to pay for more bus service in King County and infrastructure improvements in Seattle.

And the right wing’s out-of-state funded Initiative 933 is, without a doubt, completely dead as well. Voters across Washington State said “no thanks” to jeopardizing land use protections that preserve the quality of life in our communities.

Meanwhile, Initiative 937, which will help secure our clean, green energy future, has passed. We swept the initiatives this year and gave the other guys a sound beating they won’t soon forget.

On the federal and state levels, Democrats swept to victory on a blue tidal wave that washed across America and splashed into every region in the country.

There are now more Democrats in both houses of our own state Legislature, which is very exciting news. In the upcoming legislative sessions we will be working closely with many of the newly elected legislators to fight for tax reform and a fairer tax structure.

These victories all come on top of Tim Eyman’s earlier failures to qualify Referendum 65 and Initiative 917 for the ballot. Eyman is mired in a losing streak which we have helped make possible. His losses this year top earlier defeats in previous years such as I-864, I-892, I-807, and I-267.

He is a powerless ideologue — and Washington State has had enough of him.

Eyman, who attended the Republicans’ election night party in Bellevue, was forced to concede that his ideology had suffered a major repudiation, calling the series of losses “brutal.”

Eyman today told his supporters they need to “fight back with an aggressive proposal” in 2007 and whined about Christine Gregoire and the Legislature’s revenue increases from recent legislative sessions. Of course, he failed to note that the taxes were sanctioned by voters with the rejection of I-912 (keep the gas tax) and I-920 (keep the estate tax).

Voters are not interested in gutting public services to reward wealthy Washingtonians with tax cuts.

We will continue to vigorously oppose Tim Eyman and defeat him, as we have this year and in the past. Our organization is stronger than it has ever been.

With your help and your support we will stand strong against right wing initiatives in 2007 and in the years beyond.

WSLC endorses NO on Initiative 917

Endorsements

Hundreds of union delegates from aross Washington gathered in SeaTac just last Saturday for the Washington State Labor Council’s (WSLC) 2006 Convention of the Committee on Political Education (COPE). Delegates voted to endorse NO on Initiative 917 and DECLINE TO SIGN on Referendum 65.

Delegates also endorsed NO on Initiative 933, the initiative that creates loopholes for wealthy developers, and Initiative 920, which would repeal the state income tax. It’s good to see the WSLC take an early position against this year’s crop of right wing initiatives.

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Visit StopGreed.org to learn about three harmful right wing initiatives we're opposing that are headed for the November general election ballot

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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 Tim Eyman's initiative factory. Learn more.

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