Gregoire goes dictator

Last year, in May, Governor Christine Gregoire issued Executive Order 09-05. Ostensibly, the subject of the order was to care for the environment. In fact the order allowed the governor to regulate and tax industry in the state by personal fiat. This is an intolerable abuse of power.

The legislature had already considered and rejected Gregoire's proposed extension of gubernatorial power. The fact is the Washington State Constitution prohibits the governor from sole determination of taxation and spending. The legislature determined they would not authorize the governor to have this power, so Gregoire just took it.

Wait a second.... "Democratic" governor Gregoire overturned the decision of the democratically elected legislature to suit her own personal whim. That's insurrection, isn't it? Don't we hang traitors anymore?

Not this chicken legislature. The "Democratic" Party controlled legislature could not muster enough courage to repudiate what the governor did. So its up to us, the people. I hope we can do this with ballots rather than force.

Evergreen Freedom Foundation finished drafting their lawsuit against this governor and announced filing the lawsuit July 21, 2010. Given Gregoire's indifference to the legislature and the state's Constitution, she may deem to ignore a court decision too. If Gregoire does, there is no alternative but criminal process; she would need to be tried and punished.

You can donate to support freedom in Washington State at the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's donation page. No taxation without representation!

Restore Rule by the People in Washington State!

The People's Initiatives – Summary

Washington State's Constitution explicitly states, “SECTION 4 RIGHT OF PETITION AND ASSEMBLAGE. The right of petition and of the people peaceably to assemble for the common good shall never be abridged.”

Several petitions appear headed for the ballot this autumn.

I-1053 would reinstate a requirement for two-thirds majorities in the Legislature to approve any tax increase. (The Legislature modified the similar requirement in the I-960 so the 2/3rds rule could be suspended when convenient for the legislature, i.e. permanently.) We the People must enact I-1053 or we are lost to big government. A vote for I-1053 is a vote for better government.

I-1082 would let private insurance companies sell workers’ compensation insurance, which at present is a state-run system. (Private insurance companies typically offer lower cost for the same coverage. Matching coverage is required from the private sector by the petition's language.)

I-1098 would create an income tax – individuals making more than $200,000 or couples making more than $400,000 – while cutting property taxes 20% and business and occupation taxes by varying amounts. (The initiative's language requires wage income be defined as not property, but as a taxable sale. Under the State Constitution, the only property tax and excise tax are permissible taxes.) Despite what the initiatives backers say about their tax increase being "more fair," the initiative sets a dangerous precedent in defining wages as not the wage earner's property (Who owns the income if the wage earner does not?).

I-1100 would eliminate the State Liquor Control Board and allow retailers to bypass them and buy directly from the manufacturers. The initiative establishes a uniform, free-market for retail sale of distilled spirits. State monopoly power would be eliminated, but state taxes on liquor would continue.

I-1105 would eliminate the State Liquor Control Board retail function, but does not eliminate state regulatory functions. There would be a major role for liquor distributors, who would be closely regulated. State monopoly power and taxes would continue.

I-1107 would roll back taxes the Legislature approved this year on soda pop, bottled water, food processing businesses, candy and gum. Candies which contain flour were not affected by the legislature's weird tax increase and would remain untaxed. Before the legislature's tax action this year, foodstuffs had not been taxed in Washington since the 1970's.

Abortion, Rossi and Murray

Washington Life Coalition is being disingenuous in their Little Emily video. The pure emotion appeal plays right into the Leftists' hands.

They present their complaint about Republican Dino Rossi, with no comparison to Democrat Patty Murray's staunchly pro-abortion stance. Ms. Murray's appalling indifference to the life of the unborn is certainly anathema to the pro life position.

According to dontknowdino.com, Mr Rossi "wants to take away a woman's right to choose...."

So the Leftists would have Mr Rossi twist in the wind, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Ms Murray gets a pass because she is a Democrat.

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Does Mr Rossi have a perfectly pro-life position? That is, would Mr Rossi absolutely defend the right of the unborn to life. I doubt it. But he is a vast improvement over Ms Murray's murderous ways. In this world, it is not sound strategy to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

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Every life is sacred, by authorization of the Almighty.

In 1973, abortion became legal in Washington State by Initiative 120. The legislature has cheerfully overturned one after another of the petitions of the people when it suited them. For some reason, this same delight in anti-democratic legislation has not extended to an initiative which kills the people.

Pause and reflect on this for a moment: Persons who were not born as a result of the enactment of I-120 would now be as old as 36 years.

Harder Times in Washington State.

Taxes went up this morning in Washington State. Did you feel it? Thanks, Olympia Democrats.

Not all increases were exactly a tax, but an increase in fees. Either way, the government is still fishing around in your pocket.

2 liters of of your favorite carbonated beverage went up 6¢. Safeway didn't raise the price, Gregoire did.

Sales of bottled water are subject to the retail sales tax. Seems bottles bug the Democrats in Olympia.

Candy and gum sales tax exemption is repealed. To make matters more complicated, the legislature made a distinction between certain types of candies.

Olympia's new definition of candy:

Candy is a preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners combined with chocolate, fruits, nuts, or other ingredients or flavorings and formed into bars, drops, or pieces. Candy does not require refrigeration. Candy does not include any preparation containing flour.

Flour is made from grain such as wheat, rice, corn, rye, oats, and barley. Flour does not include flour substitutes, such as starch. Any product that lists flour as an ingredient on the nutritional facts label is not taxable as candy.

Whew.

If a city located within an Regional Transportation Authority (tax district) annexes unincorporated territory, the annexed territory is simultaneously included within the RTA and subject to all RTA taxes, liabilities, and obligations applicable to the city.

Natural gas sold by a brokered agreement is subject to a use tax in effect where the gas is burned or stored. Storage of a consumable is treated as the end use of the consumable. It makes no sense at all.

Food production will be taxed. The following use of sales taxes are imposed for materials used in dairy production.

• licensed dairies with a certified dairy nutrient plan,
• animal feeding operations that have a waste disposal permit issued under RCW 90.48, and
• animal feeding operations that have a nutrient management plan approved by a conservation district meeting certain requirements.

This is an indirect tax on food. I have yet to sort out what the increase will mean to food prices, but they will go up.

The Legislature holds the chief executive and the chief financial officer strictly liable for collected but unremitted sales tax regardless of fault or whether those individuals were aware of the unpaid tax liability (2ESSB 6143 Section 801). I work with a store whose trusted employee took all the money in the sales tax payment account. The first the rest of us found out about it was when the state finally notified us our account was delinquent. Under the new law, the store owner would be held accountable despite the fact he was a victim of the crime. That's wrong.

The bad debt credit or deduction is limited to the original retail seller. That ought to kill the loan market.

Businesses with reportable Business and Occupancy income of over $50,000 per year will see increases of B&O tax 0.3 % bringing the rate up to as much as 1.93 %

A business "nexus" tax imposed. If you do any business in Washington State, you will be taxed for it. The laws here are very murky, but seem to be pointed at Boeing and similar businesses.

Direct sellers B&O tax exemption is repealed.
Property management salary B&O tax exemption repealed. That ought to catch a bunch of old folks by surprise.

High risk mortgage deductions for banks are now limited. This will hit the loan market for first time home buyers.

Compensation paid to members of corporate boards of directors is taxed as a service.

Private purchasers of privately owned timber must report the purchase to the Revenue Department, presumably for taxation.

For you tobacco users:

• The cigarette tax increased $1.00 to $3.025 on a package of 20 cigarettes.
• The tax on Other Tobacco Products (except little cigars and moist snuff) increases from 75 to 95 percent of taxable sales price (equivalent to a 95% tax rate), with the cap per cigar increasing from 50 to 65 cents.
• Little cigars become a separate category of OTP, taxed at the same rate as cigarettes.
• Moist snuff also becomes a separate category of OTP but continues to be taxed at 75 percent until October 1,2010, when it will be taxed at the greater of $2.526 or 83.5 percent of the cigarette tax on each single unit of 1.2 ounces or less and proportionately on larger units.

RCW Ch 82.02 to allow local government to impose impact fees for high density urban development.
VOiP is taxed under the Enhanced 911 tax. 25¢ per line (per month).

Increased the tax on beer.

A tax increase on beer! Olympia is getting greedy.

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This information is abstracted from http://dor.wa.gov/Docs/Reports/2010/Summary_2010_Tax_Leg/2010LegSummary.pdf

Have You Joined The Fight Yet?

by Dino Rossi

27,000.

Incredibly, in just the few short weeks since announcing my candidacy for U.S. Senate, that’s the number of people on Facebook who have joined our fight to change direction in Washington, DC and change America for the better.

Have you joined the fight? If you’ve already sent a contribution to Rossi for Senate, we thank you. If not, I need your help and contribution right now to defeat Patty Murray. She’s well-funded and has been running for re-election for years. She’s already proven she will do whatever it takes to hold onto her job.

But, this isn’t her Senate seat – it’s yours!

Do you think we are headed in the right direction? Are you angry about the trillion dollar budget deficit, the wasteful stimulus packages, and the bailouts for Wall Street? Are you frustrated with skyrocketing unemployment, massive new deficits and debt for as far as the eye can see? Are you worried that our children won’t have the same opportunities we had because our government seems completely out of touch with what it should do to help our economy grow and create jobs?

The political establishment in Washington, DC is out of touch with just how serious our problems really are! Patty Murray has been one of the U.S. Senate’s leading advocates for: increasing the size of government, growing our debt to staggering proportions, and seizing more government control over things the government has no business controlling.

We must rise to the challenge of our time – or our nation will head off the edge of the fiscal cliff. Join the fight by June 30th – our first deadline for filing our list of public support – so our amplified voice for a new direction can be heard all the way from Washington State back to Washington, DC.

I am certain we can solve our problems with common sense, bold leadership, the right vision and values, and most importantly -- the ability to say NO to the Washington, DC establishment and the liberal special interests.

Join me today as we fight to bring common sense, a new direction and new leadership to our nation’s Capitol.

Dino Rossi

http://www.dinorossi.com/

High-income Elitists Relieve Their Guilt With Your Money

Talk show host Dave Ross used to be somewhat independent - then he ran for Congress as a Democrat. Tim Eyman was a guest on his Seattle radio show on KIRO last week. They talked about Bill Gates' income hyper-tax initiative. This is a partial transcript of that interview.

Tim Eyman: "The Pandora's Box isn't just this proposal. It's a message from the voters, by voting for something like this, we're saying "You guys don't have a spending problem, you have a revenue problem, here's a bunch more money." And they're going to interpret that as "now we don't have to reform ourselves, we don't have to prioritize." I think Bill Gates Sr. is being extremely selfish ... he can afford any tax system. But what about those people on the bubble who are going to end of being jacked up with higher taxes (because of his initiative). He's only thinking of himself ... what we're going to end up getting in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years is higher taxes on everybody, people who can't afford the higher tax burden. Liberalism is a fantastic program if you can afford it. But there's normal people who can't afford all the things you guys wanna have."

Dave Ross: "The thing I noticed yesterday is that the liberals that would be affected by it were for it. ... I do feel a kind of liberal guilt for them to get the chance."

Eyman: "Don't feel guilty ... you're probably spending your money, giving a bunch of your money back to the economy. You have no reason to feel guilty. Chances are Libby (his producer) wouldn't have a job unless you have a job. I mean there are a lot of people who are benefiting from you making money. And I don't think you should feel guilty for it. If you want to give the government more money, feel free. You can give 'em extra money and I'm sure they'd be happy to take it. But when you start imposing taxes on everybody else to relieve your guilt, I think you're only thinking of yourself and you're not thinking of everyone else."

Ross: "That's true and I do feel better now. So you'd be OK if we cut my income taxes and institute a flat tax and got rid of progressive taxation altogether?"

Eyman: "I think that a flat tax would be better than the current federal system we have now. But once again, you always have to look at combined local, state, federal: we're all getting the crap kicked out of us when it comes to taxes. I don't think they should be raising taxes in the middle of a recession. I don't want it on the working class, I don't want it on high earners. I think they shouldn't be raising taxes right now."

During this year's legislative session, Democratic Party politicians in Olympia and the 'Public Interest Groups' (PIGs) that support them imposed $800 million in higher taxes. That turned out to be just an 'opening bid.' Now they're pushing for a billion dollars more with this income tax initiative.

They claim property taxes will be offset by 20%, but 1. This doesn't add up, and 2. Olympia has never willingly lowered taxes. A billion more won't be enough. No matter how much we give them, they always want more. Our tax initiatives are the only thing that have effectively restrained their insatiable appetite for higher taxes.

I-960's required 2/3's of the legislature vote in order to raise taxes. The I-960 law completely protected us from tax hikes for 2 years. There wasn't a single tax increase in 2008 and 2009 despite $9 billion in attempted deficits. Frustrated, the Democratic Party politicians in Olympia overthrew the will of the people and eliminated I-960.

I-1053 will restore this same complete protection for taxpayers in 2011 and 2012. Click to Voters Want More Choices

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According to Article VII, Section 1 of Washington’s Constitution “all taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax and shall be levied and collected for public purposes only.” Tax on income is illegal in Washington State. A 1933 State Supreme Court case also struck down the idea of creating an income tax.

But what if your income is not your property? The Democratic Party is trying to establish the dangerous precedent that your money is not yours. Gates insists the tax would be on income before an individual collects the income; the income is not in your immediate possession, therefore the income is not personal property. This notion only works if you do not own the income you make. Clearly, the Democratic Party scoundrels are trying to lay the axe to the root of the tree.

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Part of this item is from a press release by Voters Want More Choices

In Comes Income Taxes

This week, Bill Gates, Sr. kicked off his version of fair taxes for Washington with his income tax initiative I-1077. Gates was not happy that Olympia raised taxes by 14% this year. Gates seems to think taxes are not high enough. Bill Gates, Sr. is stooge for every big government abuse out there.

Gate's initiative 1077 makes clear the need for initiative 1053. No matter how much Olympia takes from the taxpayers, they always want more. Olympia jacked up taxes $800 million this session [$5.7 billion over the next 10 years].

Instead of the big government types saying 'thanks, that's enough,' they follow up with a $1 billion per year income tax initiative. [And a $90 million water rights tax only yesterday] You can be sure, even that won't be enough. It's like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom -- it's never enough.

The initiative kick-off event was held in Seattle. The media (!) highlighted I-1077's fundamental flaw:

Bryan Johnson of KOMO TV asked: "Does anyone have to fear soon this (income tax threshold) will creep to above $150,000, and then above $100,000, and then everybody pays?"

Bill Gates Sr. responded: "Uhh, the, the initiative provides that the rates and levels cannot be changed without a vote of the people. So there is that protection built in."

Essex Porter of KIRO TV followed up: "But could you expand on that, because initiatives can usually be changed after two years. And Initiative 960 was changed after two years and there was a vote of the people then."

Gates responded: "Uh, that's right, that's a very astute question. And I don't know that anybody knows completely the answer for that. But for myself, I would be astonished if, given that specific provision in this specific tax statute, that the Legislature would undertake to make a change in it without complying with the language of the initiative and going to the people to get their permission."

Gates clearly lives in a bubble.

First we need to get Olympia on a diet we can pay for before we let them add even more taxes to our burden. The best way to do this is by requiring law makers have a 2/3rds majority every time they raise taxes. Responsible government is everybody's business.

http://www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com

(part of this column is from a report by Tim Eyman)

Gregoire's $8 billion lie - field report.

"Gregoire promised that if she was reelected as Governor that she wouldn't raise taxes. The following year, facing a $9 billion deficit, Initiative 960's 2/3's vote requirement stopped her from jacking up taxes. But this year, she and the Democrats suspended I-960 and jacked up taxes $8 billion over the next 10 years, $800 million per year (she'll claim that some of the tax increases are 'temporary' -- but as everyone knows in Olympia, temporary taxes are always made permanent). [ Note - Mr Eyman was prescient. See the Olympia Policy Watch article Did we say "temporary" tax? ]

"So she promised 'no tax hikes' and yet she imposed $8 billion in higher taxes. That's Gregoire's $8 billion lie."
-- From Tim Eyman, http://www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com

The only thing that restrains Olympia is the citizens saying No New Taxes! The most effective way to say "no" is with the 2/3's legislative vote requirement. That's what Initiative 1053 will do. It makes raising taxes an absolute last resort....

That is until the big government politicians overthrow the will of the people again. The hyper-taxing, big-government, lying politicians must go too.

WA Tax Update - from the front lines

"Looks like an increase in the sales tax (2% to 3%), for now, is not being considered to balance the budget. There is a possible add in a sales tax on beer.

"Possible increases could be on B&O for services business from 1.5% to 1.8% or more. The Governor is threatening a 20% cut in the state budget if no agreement is reached.

"There is still a proposal for “on-site property managers” [an indirect rent tax for apartment dwellers], plus raising apartment house Business & Occupancy tax.

"Lawmakers will be coming to Olympia tomorrow and may work through the weekend."

Mark Gjurasic
Public Affairs of Washington, LLC

Washington State's Knee-jerk Tax Increase

from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation newsletter

"As time runs out on the special session—scheduled to end April 13—lawmakers continue to struggle on finalizing the state budget. The big holdup is over a disagreement between Democrats in the House and Senate on the tax package.

"Both chambers have approved tax proposals that raise $800 million to close the budget gap, but the content of the proposals are different. All the hand-wringing has come down to about $100 million worth of disagreements over which taxes to raise.

"Meanwhile, the Legislature did manage to pass a few taxpayer-unfriendly proposals. Last week legislators passed a tax increase to pay for an enhanced 911 system that is expected to collect nearly $79 million over the next 10 years. Legislators seemed impervious to the argument that core functions of government, like public safety, should be funded first and within existing resources. This tax hike is in addition to the $800 million package (nearly $3 billion over 3 years) legislators expect to pass to balance the budget.

"Imagine the progress we could have made if legislators had dedicated even a tenth of the time spent haggling over taxes to considering real reforms needed to balance the budget over the long haul! Some of the reforms we’ve suggested include paring down state employee benefits, privatizing the liquor system, and allowing private companies to get taxpayers a better deal by competing with each other to provide vital government services.

"Ironically, Sen. Ed Murray said, in defending the Senate’s recent tax proposal, “There are no real good choices when you’re raising taxes.” We agree! And if that’s true, why is that the only thing Democrats in the Legislature are considering? We have proposed many common-sense solutions to our budget problems. You can read many of them on our website at www.effwa.org.

"We need to send a loud and clear message to lawmakers that they need to work to save money and make government more efficient, not raise taxes! That’s one of the reasons we are co-sponsoring a “Tea for Two” Tax Day Rally next week on April 15. Several staff members will also be speaking at Tax Day Tea Party Rallies in other locations.

"Please join us as we rally for common-sense solutions. Both “Tea for Two” rallies are packed with an assortment of dynamic speakers, live music, and family-friendly entertainment, while at the same time giving you the chance to make your voice heard on issues like health care, taxation, and out-of-control government."

Amber Gunn, Evergreen Freedom Foundation

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Tea Party Rallies on April 15, 2010
Tea for Two Part 1: Olympia Rally – Capitol Campus from Noon-3:00 p.m.
Event link

Tea for Two Part 2: Seattle Rally – Westlake Park from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Event link

Whidbey Island Tea Party Rally in Oak Harbor – Windjammer Park Gazebo from 4-6 p.m.
Event link

Information about other rallies in Spokane, Tri-Cities, Bellingham, and others:
Event link

After Tax Day Rally on April 17, 2010
Vancouver “We the People” Rally – Esther Short Park from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Event link