Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right. ~H.L. Mencken, 1956
Posted by Acid Brain at November 4, 2009 12:04 AMI am disappointed in the local media at utterly ignoring the campaign-spending angle of 1033. When 45 percent of the voters are on one side, and 99 percent of the money is on the other, clearly something is wrong.
Why is local media so afraid to explore the mechanics of that? I look for explanations, and the only reasonable one I see is that reporters these days are all looking to land that media spokesperson job, and they know it is likely to come from one of the donors of the $3.5 million to 'No on 1033.'
Tim: It's not all about you. It's okay to give up. Thanks for 695, we'll always be grateful. But time has passed....
Posted by AD at November 4, 2009 03:36 AMIt would be very interesting to see how much Eyman netted from his latest debacle. I'm betting it was well into six figures.
Pbj @6:
Since when has this initiative ever been about the little guy? This initiative was all about lining the pockets of Tim and the big guys.
The reason one side had all the money is because that same side had all the good arguments. I-1033 was an incredibly dumb idea.
Walters @7:
I couldn't agree with you more. They continue to sign petitions, donate money, and then vote for half-baked initiatives, put forth by a deadbeat watch salesman who steals money from his own campaign.
Duffy @8:
See above, despite your optimism, I've no doubt they will do it again.
Posted by Rush Limbaugh Fan at November 4, 2009 05:32 AMInsanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. This state has reaffirmed time and again for the last 30 years that it is politically insane.
Posted by Rick D. at November 4, 2009 05:49 AMThe reason one side had all the money is because that same side had all the good arguments. I-1033 was an incredibly dumb idea."
That begs the question. You need to offer a theory as to why 'no on 1033' outraised 'yes' by 5 to 1, when the voting was only 55-45 or 1.2 to 1.
The obvious answer is that the interests who combined to raised the $3.4 million profit from taxes/spending, in fact probably it is their livelihood.
Poor REBEL. He sits at home and imagines that someone, somewhere is stealing all of his money to get rich while he toils away, saving up to own a home.
He somehow believes that Tim Eyman, a man who admitted stealing money from his contributors, is going to deliver him from this and make it better. And he thinks all those public services just ARE, and don't need to be funded.
He's angry right now, very angry. He's angry because a bubble headed newscaster didn't get elected King County Executive. He angry because Tim's latest, and most absurd tax initiative got trounced. He's angry because the fags look like they are going to get some validation. And he's angry because there is a liberal black man in the White House.
A man can just take so much before he has to lash out and start calling people names, like (gasp) "unconscionable swine."
Are you referring to Kemper Freeman who's real estate holdings have been vastly increased in value by the freeways and roads built on the public dime?
Perhaps you mean Rush Limbaugh, my hero, who uses the public airwaves everyday to put forth a screed so hateful and racially biased that he's been precluded from owning a sports franchise.
Or maybe you mean Eric Prince, the CEO of Blackwater, who has milked the war in Iraq for billions.
Are those the millionaires you were referring to?
Who are the thieves?
Where is the waste?
Why are my points in #15 laughable?
If those aren't the millionaires you referred to, who are?
You say you are a homeowner, is your home in a Fire District?
Is it in a school district?
Does it have roads that enable you to get to it?
Does someone answer when you dial 911?
So you have a job?
Do you drive on a road to get to it?
Do you eat?
Do you drive to the store to buy food?
Does someone else use the roads to get the food to the store so you can buy it?
How do you think all this stuff happens?
Who should pay for it?
Why do you think YOU are paying too much?
Thank you and the Fagans for representing us, the taxpayers. No one down in Olympia does. You gave us the chance to vote. You have done more for us over the last decade than ALL the politicians in Olympia combined.
We are very grateful.
Posted by RushIsGreat at November 4, 2009 08:35 AMYes, yes. The ignorance and insanity (and cost) of constantly having to deal with this never ending string of asinine initiatives promulgated by a man who has admitted to stealing from his own campaign contributors.
Why, oh why would anyone take this fool seriously; much less give him more money.
The gods themselves must weep.
Not millionaire, BILLIONAIR - Paul Allen. He got his Eastlake Choo Choo and oh by the way he just bankrupted a company too. Do you think Paul Allen will be on the street begging for his meals?
Posted by Marxism Fan at November 4, 2009 09:30 AMPeople tend to want more government services...but don't want to pay for them.
In some communities, which vote for inflated School Levies, Library Levies and other heartstringtugging issues, the day of reckoning is when they get the tax bill for 2010 tax payments. There is no free ride.
The question is, where is the tipping point??
Obviously we haven't reached it yet.
The point where no matter how many folks will starve & die as opponents claim....it doesn't matter. Taxpayers are tapped out.
Perhaps 2010 is the year.
I have repeatedly suggested someone publish a list of ALL government workers, their salaries, benefits (31%) and Paid time-off (18%)....that number is called TOTAL COMPENSATION.
Unions hate discussing it. They focus solely on salaries which is only 2/3 of the TOTAL COMPENSATION.
I really think getting an updated Bloom list of salaries and adding the 31% Benefits and 18% Paid Time-off and showing TOTAL COMPENSATION would seriously turn some folks around.
Is that too personal??
Heck, I pay taxes. When I write that check, it's personal. Why shouldn't Public Servants have their names and TOTAL COMPENSATION made clearly & easily available to the Tax-Paying Public??
This must be done Tim.
If you can get the Salaries (that's easy)...adding the Benefits and a factor for Paid Time-off (Vacation, Sick Leave, Holidays, Personal Days etc @ 18%) can't be that difficult.
No one wants to do it...or feels it is that important. They are wrong.
Posted by Mr. Cynical at November 4, 2009 09:36 AMYou have always been a supporter of letting citizens have their say.
They have spoken VERY LOUDLY.
No more Eyman initiatives! Please find a different way to earn a living...that's what the citizens want.
Posted by Listen to the Voters at November 4, 2009 09:37 AMEveryone better grab their ankles, as the Marxist government establishment has now been given a green light to tax us to oblivion. Thanks RLF, Todd, MikeBS and 'Shiftless mike'.
Posted by yaddacubed at November 4, 2009 09:45 AMMy porcine snout is in the trough of private enterprise. I work for a large corporation and draw a salary. Unlike my hero Rush, I have never been on the dole.
However I do use the roadways, appreciate the security our local constabulary provides, and enjoy reduced homeowners insurance rates due to our local and very effective fire district.
My children attended excellent public schools and now attend even more excellent public universities. My boss, fellow employees, clients, and the economy in general also reap the benefits of universal public education.
So I guess you could say I'm doing well off of all of the other taxpayers. Not as well as Kemper Freeman, or Bill Gates, or a whole lot of other folks here in the great Northwest. But compared to the most of the planet's population, I'm doing fabulous.
In short, I'm a pretty happy camper who just can't believe his good luck, being born here in this time and place. So to me, the taxes I pay are no big deal.
How about you, you doin' OK?
It's defeat speaks more to our collective aversion to self control than anything else.
Posted by mark at November 4, 2009 01:25 PMI asked Rebel earlier to tell me where the waste was. So far, no attempt to answer.
Maybe you can fill me in.
While you are at it, tell me what are the burdens on your small business? Do you mean taxes? Is your small business somehow taxed differently than your competitors? Or are there other burdens?
I would be interested to hear more about this and even learn something.
You're right, I work for a large corporation. How do I feel about the "czar" controlling salaries? He doesn't have anything to say about my company, we're not a financial institution taking money from the govt.
How would I feel about it if they did? My theory is that the shareholders should ultimately control salaries. If the govt is a shareholder, then I've no problem with their exerting their control.
Not sure where you got the idea I was pissed. I'm not. I'm certainly astonished at the gullibility of folks who continue to give money to someone like Tim Eyman, but hey, those same folks give money to their churches every year and get about the same thing Eyman delivers; nothing but false hope.
Anyway, glad I could make you smile.
I must respectfully disagree.
These folks regard liberals as "the enemy of the nation", right up there, if not more dangerous than Islamic Fundamentalists.
I've actually heard Rush Limbaugh say all liberals should be eliminated, save maybe one or two for a museum somewhere so they can be regarded with the opprobrium we save for say, the perpetrators of the holocaust.
So yes, they need to be teased, mocked, and subject to the ridicule they have so richly earned. They should be held up to the polity for all to see in the harshest light we can shine on them. Let the American people decide if they want this group taking us "forward" into the 21st century.
Rebel and Bob took up the torch and responded. Good for them. But they stopped way short of discussing the issues and lapsed into name calling.
Bob implies he is a small business owner, burdened by onerous and pointless government regulation; which limits his business' productivity and competitiveness.
OK, I'm all ears. What is the burden? How does it reduce your ability to compete?
No response.
Rebel says:
"Rush Limbaugh Fan, Todd Reeves, Quincy:; Three friends of millionaires who make their money off of other peoples taxes and are not ashamed to soak them for more and give them less. Three suckers who continue to reward mediocrity and incompitence in government. Three people who no doubt somehow have ill-gained at the average taxpayers expense. Three people who help evict grandma from her home. Three people who make it near impossible for a young person to own their own home. Three people who are unconscionable swine."
Yet when I ask to name the millionaires, thieves, and waste, he too becomes strangely silent.
So yes, they need to be teased, mocked, and subject to the ridicule they have so richly earned. They should be held up to the polity for all to see in the harshest light we can shine on them. Let the American people decide if they want this group taking us "forward" into the 21st century.
I vote not.
Your thoughts?
And, of course, Eyman now promises to fine tune this proposed legislation and try again. Why shouldn't he? He has a mortgage to pay, like most of the rest of us.
Could it not be any clearer, with this result, that the emperor has no clothes? Time for a new emperor. One with clothes.
