Arrogant Democrats Decide Democracy Does Not Apply To Them 1/3/2010

On Wednesday, Olympia's Democrats introduced their long-anticipated, yet still maddening repeal-of-Initiative-960's-policies bill. The public hearing on it was scheduled less than 24 hours later, illustrating perfectly their lack of desire to hear from the people. What follows are excerpts from Tim Eyman's address to the Washington State Legislature.

"The taxpayers have to follow the law, but this bill exempts you from it. The people must abide by the Constitution, but this bill means you are above it.

"Voters have approved I-960's policies 3 times, in 1993, 1998, and 2007. Yet without hesitation, Olympia's Democrats are getting rid of them. Voters have made clear that if state government is going to raise taxes, it must be a last resort requiring either 2/3's of politicians or a majority vote of the people. But I-960 also required more public transparency and more public notice to deter you from sidestepping the rules -- but you're sidestepping them anyway.

"Democrats in Olympia are violating the law, sidestepping the Constitution, and eliminating the publics right to know what they're doing.

"What's particularly galling is to watch you take a hatchet to the sunshine provisions of this initiative. To make an argument that the voters don't have a right to know what you're doing, don't have a right to know what your voting records are, especially when you slap emergency clauses on bills to make them exempt from the citizens' right to referendum, is a belief that you are somehow above the law and that the people don't have a right to know what you're doing.

"When the voters elect you, they don't elect you to rule over them, only to represent them.

"And they asked you, told you, 3 times in a row that it ought to be tougher to raise taxes. Now for those who say 'we can't possibly live under these rules' well, you just have for the past two years. The system is working exactly the way the voters wanted it to be done. The voters are being told when you are introducing bills, finding out how much they cost, they're having an opportunity to interact with their elected officials. You don't like the reaction you're getting because all your bills are raising taxes and fees on 'em, but that's the kind of interaction the voters had in mind when they voted for it.

"But they also said if you can't get 2/3's of your colleagues to sign on to a tax-raising bill, put it before the voters. You're not even trying that, you're not even giving the facade that you're even trying to abide by the provisions of it. You're just chucking 'em because the 2 years is up, so now you don't have to the listen to the people anymore.

"I'll close with this Madam Chair because there are other people who want to testify....

"No citizen can do what the Legislature is doing now. Imagine an average citizen saying, well, you know what, I'm not going to pay my taxes, I'm going to wait 2 years and exempt myself from those rules. Or a trucker who says, you know what, I don't want to pay my rent, I'm going to wait 2 years and exempt myself from the requirement. You're abiding by rules that no citizen would ever be able to get away with. And everybody is wondering why are we doing an initiative that's restating a law (the 2/3's) that's already on the books.

"And it's because you guys are saying that 3 times from the voters isn't enough. And that apparently you need to hear 4 times from the voters before you actually start listening to them. I really encourage you to drop going after this stuff about the transparency provisions, getting rid of the 2/3's is bad enough.

"And for you to stick your finger in the eye of the voters and tell them they have no right to know what's going on, that is the height of arrogance."

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We must indict, convict, and punish the politicians who would overthrow our democracy.