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Washington State Anti-Tax Initiatives and the Shrinking of Public Services

Conservative anti-tax proponents pushing initiatives like I-1053 and I-1107 on this year's Washington State ballot are pushing lies about our ever-expanding state government.  The fact is that the percentage of our state's resources (as measured by collective personal income) devoted to public services like education and health care for seniors and children continues to decline.

The following is taken from a post by the Washington State Budget and Policy Center and deserves wide distribution to help educate the public:

Despite the claims being made by Initiative 1107 and Initiative 1053’s proponents, Washington actually devotes a smaller share of its resources to public services like education and health care than a decade ago. And given the magnitude of the recession, the state will likely continue to devote a smaller share of its economy to public services than before.

Typically, economists measure changes in government spending over time by analyzing how much of a state’s total personal income – or the sum of its collective resources – goes for public services. But as the graph below shows:

•The share of our resources that are spent on education, health care, public safety, and other important services has actually dropped since the late-1990s;

•As of June 2010, state spending in the current 2009-11 biennium is projected to fall to about 5.4 percent of total personal income in Washington – lower than the 6 percent share that went for public priorities the late-1990s.

This percentage will decline even further due to the recently-announced, 6.3 percent across-the-board budget cuts.

In other words, a smaller share of our collective resources is going to public priorities like educating our kids or providing health care than before.

And it is declining.

The post adds a link to get more detailed information. See the full report by Andy Nichols entitled Budget Claims Lack Context, Belie Deep and Painful Cuts. 

I urge Washington Voters to vote No on Tim Eyman and Oil Industry giant BP's Initiative 1053 - which would give 17 out of 147 Washington State Legislators veto power over our state budget. Vote No on I-1107 which would repeal a short term tax on bottled water and soda. The American Beverage Industry is bankrolling this effort.
For more information on the initiatives on the November ballot go to http://www.protectwashington.org/ and http://www.stopgreed.org/.

Approve Referendum 52 and Save Tax Dollars

Education is a major component of tax dollars spent in Washington's economy.  Referendum 52 on the Nov 2, 2010 ballot in Washington State is a cost effective way to reduce energy costs at our public schools, create new jobs and at the same time create a healthier environment for our kids to learn.

Watch this video on YouTube on Referendum 52:


Here's a brief synopsis of what Referendum 52 does taken from a recent e-mail by the prime sponsor of this referendum, Representative Hans Dunshee:

"It pays for itself, the conservation work will pay off the bonds and the loans the districts take out. People get this and do it in their homes.

It will create 30,000 jobs.

Total state debt is going down. We were able to borrow 500 million less last budget and we will drop another 650 million this coming budget. Repeat, our total debt is going down. The debt limit on the Legislature is dropping. Even with R-52 passing total general fund state debt will go down, not up as the GOP claims.

The construction work puts $93 million in sales tax into the general fund in the first 4 years, when we need it most. That’s not even counting the buying power of the construction workers adding to sales when they spend their paycheck.

Hans adds some editorial comment on the Democratic Party which stongly supports Referendum 52.

"Now the fun stuff. The attached link is to the TV spot, watch it and pass it on, put it out to your lists, and on your facebook pages. We do, or want to do this job, to do good things in the world. We ARE the party of hope, solutions, and optimism. We believe in a better world and work to achieve it. The party of no would have us stuck in the stone age breaking rocks as high technology. Fight on. It’s the right thing to do."

Thank you Hans for your  hard work pushing for this common sense measure. Vote to approve Referendum 52.

AARP Opposes Initiatives 1053 and 1107.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is opposing Tim Eyman and British Petroleum's Initiative 1053 and the American Beverage Industry's Initiative 1107. Both measures are based on greed, namely that large corporations are unwilling to help Washington citizens fund basic public services but are instead intent on increasing corporate profit. And they hope that the public is gullible enough to believe it is about reducing taxes for the average taxpayer. It's not.

As AARP notes:

Out-of-state special interests are at it again. This November, Washington voters will be asked to vote on two initiatives that if passed, would lead to deep cuts to important services like health and long-term care for low income seniors and a quality education for our children and grandchildren.

Initiative 1107, funded by the American Beverage Association, and Initiative 1053, funded largely by out-of-state businesses like BP and big Wall Street banks, will threaten our state budget, cripple state government, and make it harder than ever to recover from the recession.

Times are tough enough already. In response to one of the worst economies in decades, we’ve already cut more than $4.4 billion from the state budget. As a result, 2,600 education jobs were eliminated, 44,000 people lost Basic Health Plan coverage, class sizes are soaring and college tuition has skyrocketed by nearly 30 percent.

Initiatives 1107 and 1053 would only make things worse. Further cuts will seriously harm the things that we value – more cuts in health care means more expensive emergency room use, and more cuts in education hurts our kids for generations to come.

Initiative 1053 is an attempt by large corporations to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. They want to bank their profits and have the rest of us taxpayers pay for their cost of doing business in our state.

The Big Oil Companies like BP and Tesoro and Conoco Phillips paid for getting signatures to put I-1053 on the ballot. They did not do so to lower costs to average middle class taxpayers. They did so to try to make it impossible to allow Legislators to require them to help pay for cleaning up stormwater runoff polluted with the oil products they sell. They want you to believe I-1053 will lower your taxes, really all it will do is shift the tax burden and environmental health costs onto the citizens of Washington while Big Oil laughs all the way to the bank.

Vote NO on 1053 and make the Big Oil Companies pay the cost of cleaning up their waste before they bank their corporate profits taken out of our pocketbooks. Vote No on 1107.

 Both measures are on the Nov 2, 2010 General Election Ballot in Washington State.

for additional information see:

http://www.stopgreed.org/

http://www.protectwashington.org/

http://www.voteno1053.com/

http://www.voteno1107.com/

Metropolitan Democratic Club Endorsements for November 2, 2010 Election

The Metropolitan Democratic Club of Seattle has been around now for over 50 years. They have been undergoing a rejuvenation in recent years building membership and being more visible. They have been holding for a long times public forums with a variety of issues and speakers. They meet in downtown Seattle over lunchtime. You can follow their activities on their website and they also have a Facebook page that has a good number of followers.

Their revamped website notes that

The Metropolitan Democratic Club of Seattle was established in 1956 to promote new ideas and growth for the Democratic Party and to provide a more progressive alternative to the mainstream Party apparatus. Its founding members were committed to reforming and building the Party by reaching out to independent voters, activating citizen interest and participation in politics, examining issues and supporting measures for the public good, and encouraging and aiding qualified younger candidates in running for public office.

Following is a list of their endorsements of candidates and issues for the November 2, 2010 General Election ballot:


Federal

US Senate, Patty Murray

US Rep CD 1, Jay Inslee

US Rep CD 2, Rick Larsen

US Rep CD 7, Jim McDermott

US Rep CD 8, Suzan DelBene

US Rep CD 9, Adam Smith

State Legislative

Rep 1st LD Pos 1, Derek Stanford

Rep 1st LD Pos 2, Luis Moscoso

Rep 5th LD Pos 1, Greg Hoover

Rep 11th LD Pos 1, Zack Hudgins

Rep 11th LD Pos 2, Bob Hasegawa

Sen 30th LD, Tracey Eide

Rep 30th LD Pos 1, Mark Miloscia

Rep 30th LD Pos 2, Carol Gregory

Sen 32nd LD, Maralyn Chase

Rep 32nd LD, Cindy Ryu

Rep 32nd LD Pos 2, Ruth Kagi

Sen 33rd LD, Karen Keiser

Rep 33rd LD Pos 1, Tina Orwall

Rep 33rd LD Pos 2, Dave Upthegrove

Sen 34th LD, Sharon Nelson

Rep 34th LD Pos 1, Eileen Cody

Rep 34th LD, Pos 2, Michael Heavey

Sen 36th LD, Jeanne Kohl-Welles

Rep 36th LD Pos 1, Reuven Carlyle

Rep 36th LD Pos 2, Mary Lou Dickerson

Sen 37th LD, Adam Kline

Rep 37th LD Pos 1, Sharon Tomiko Santos

Rep 37th LD Pos 2, Eric Pettigrew

Sen 41st LD, Randy Gordon

Rep 41st LD Pos 1, Marcie Maxwell

Rep 41st LD Pos 2, Judy Clibborn

Sen 43rd LD, Ed Murray

Rep 43rd LD Pos 1, Jamie Pedersen

Rep 43rd LD Pos 2, Frank Chopp

Sen 45th LD, Eric Oemig

Rep 45th LD Pos 1, Roger Goodman

Rep 45th LD Pos 2, Larry Springer

Sen 46th LD, Scott White

Rep 46th LD Pos 1, David Frockt

Rep 46th LD Pos 2, Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney

Sen 47th LD, Claudia Kauffman

Rep 47th LD Pos 1, Geoffrey Simpson

Rep 47th LD Pos 2, Pat Sullivan

Sen 48th LD, Rodney Tom

Rep 48th LD Pos 1, Ross Hunter

Rep 48th LD Pos 2, Deborah Eddy

King County

Council Dist 8, Joe McDermott

State Judicial

Supreme Court Pos 6, Charlie Wiggins

Court of Appeals Dist 1 Div 1, Michael Spearman

Dist Court, SE Electoral Dist Pos 6, Matt Williams

Seattle Judicial

Municipal Court Pos 1, Ed McKenna

Municipal Court Pos 3, Steve Rosen

Municipal Court Pos 5, Willie Gregory

Municipal Court Pos 6, Karen Donohue

State Ballot Measures

I-1053 NO

I-1100 NO

I-1105 NO

I-1107 NO

I-1082 NO

I-1098 YES

Ref Bill 52 YES

SJR 8225 YES

King County Ballot Measures

Proposition 1 YES

Charter Amendment 1 YES

Charter Amendment 2 YES

Charter Amendment 3 YES

Seattle Public Schools Levy YES

King County Democrats Nov 2, 2010 General Election Endorsements

The King County Democrats at their monthly meeting in September finalized their endorsements for the Nov. 2, 2010 General Election ballot.  King County will be an all mail in election so ballots need to be postmarked by Nov 2, 2010 at the latest.

You can see the King County ballot pamphlet here and can taylor it to your specific Legislative District.


KING COUNTY DEMOCRATS NOV. 2, 2010 GENERAL ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS:

Position Candidate

United States Senator - Patty Murray

United States Representatives:

District 1 - Jay Inslee

District 2 - Rick Larsen

District 7 - Jim McDermott

District 8 - Suzan DelBene

District 9 - Adam Smith

Washington State:

Legislative District 1, Position 1 - Derek Stanford

Legislative District 1, Position 2 - Luis Moscoso

Legislative District 5, Position 1 - Gregory Scott Hoover

Legislative District 11, Position 1 - Zack Hudgins

Legislative District 11, Position 2 - Bob Hasegawa

Legislative District 30, Senator - Tracey Eide

Legislative District 30, Position 1 - Mark Miloscia

Legislative District 30, Position 2 - Carol Gregory

Legislative District 32, Senator - Maralyn Chase

Legislative District 32, Position 1 - Cindy Ryu

Legislative District 32, Position 2 - Ruth Kagi

Legislative District 33, Senator - Karen Keiser

Legislative District 33, Position 1 - Tina Orwall

Legislative District 33, Position 2 - Dave Upthegrove

Legislative District 34, Senator - Sharon Nelson

Legislative District 34, Position 1 - Eileen Cody

Legislative District 34, Position 2 - Joe Fitzgibbon

Legislative District 36, Senator - Jeanne Kohl-Welles

Legislative District 36, Position 1 - Reuven Carlyle

Legislative District 36, Position 2 - Mary Lou Dickerson

Legislative District 37, Senator - Adam Kline

Legislative District 37, Position 1 - Sharon Tomiko Santos

Legislative District 37, Position 2 - Eric Pettigrew

Legislative District 39, Position 1 - Eleanor Walters

Legislative District 41, Senator - Randy Gordon

Legislative District 41, Position 1 - Marcie Maxwell

Legislative District 41, Position 2 - Judy Clibborn

Legislative District 43, Senator - Ed Murray

Legislative District 43, Position 1 - Jamie Pedersen

Legislative District 43, Position 2 - Frank Chopp

Legislative District 45, Senator - Eric Oemig

Legislative District 45, Position 1 - Roger Goodman

Legislative District 45. Position 2 - Larry Springer

Legislative District 46, Senator - Scott White

Legislative District 46, Position 1 - David Frockt

Legislative District 46, Position 2 - Phyllis G. Kenney

Legislative District 47, Senator - Claudia Kauffman

Legislative District 47, Position 1 - Geoff Simpson

Legislative District 47, Position 2 - Pat Sullivan

Legislative District 48, Senator - Rodney Tom

Legislative District 48, Position 1 - Ross Hunter

Legislative District 48, Position 2 - Deb Eddy

King County County Council District 8 - Joe McDermott

JUDICIAL -

Washington State Supreme Court:

Justice Position 5 - Barbara Madsen

Justice Position 6 - Charlie Wiggins

Court of Appeals, Div 1, District 1 - Michael Spearman

King County District Court

Northeast District, Position 6 - Michael Finkle

Northeast District, Position 7

- Donna Tucker Dual Endorsement

- Larry Mitchell Dual Endorsement

Shoreline District, Position 2 - Marcine Anderson

Southeast District, Position 2

 - Darrell Phillipson Dual Endorsement

- David Meyer Dual Endorsement

Southeast District, Position 6

- Matt Williams Dual Endorsement

- David Tracy Dual Endorsement

Southwest District, Position 2 - Susan Mahoney

West District, Position 5 - Anne Harper

City of Seattle - Municipal Court

Position 1 - Ed McKenna

Position 3 - Steve Rosen

Position 5 - Willie Gregory

Position 6 - Karen Donohue
 
Initiative 1053 - NO
 
Initiative 1082 - NO
 
Initiative 1098 - YES
 
Initiative 1100 - NO
 
Initiative 1105 - NO
 
Initiative 1107 - NO
 
Referendum 52 -YES
 
HJR 4220 - YES
 
SJR 8225 _ NO
 
King County
 
Charter Amendment 1 -YES
 
Charter Amendment 2 -YES
 
Charter Amendment 3 - NO
 
Proposition 1 - YES
 
Seattle School District
 
Proposition 1 - YES
 
for more information on the initiatives and propositions go to the endorsements page.
 
You can get more information on the King County Democrats by going to their website.