WhackyNation

Washington State spending has increased 33 percent ($8.4 billion) in only four years.

Because of the fiscal irresponsibility of Governor $pendmore and her Democrat Legislature, the projected shortfall in revenue to fund all their new liberal programs is projected to be $2.4 billion for the 2009-11 state budget.

The Democrats are hoping to keep a lid on this until after the next election.  If they succeed, they will create a fiscal crisis …  and they are only one seat away in the senate from having a super majority that can pass major legislation including Constitutional amendments such as a state income tax to solve the “revenue crisis.”

Is anyone awake out here in the so-called objective media?  We don’t have a revenue problem.  We have a spending problem.  And the Democrats are out of control.

President Bush’s final budget calls forlarge cut in the funds set aside for the bloated Bureau of Indian Affairs in the 2009 fiscal year. And, as could have been expected, leaders of the Indian tribes across the nation are already moaning and groaning over the long-overdue chop in the B.I.A. budget.

The B.I.A. budget, which was originally drawn to extract $2.3 billion from American taxpayers, would be reduced by at least 4.5 percent in the bush budget. The cuts would come in reservation-road maintenance, tribal courts, home-improvement projects and tutoring for Indian children attending public schools away from reservations.

I was interested in remarks made by an Indian leader with the intriguing name of Doyle Pipe on Head, who was quoted by the Gannett News Service. In referring to the 16 percent cuts proposed in the tribes’ housing program, the chief with the strange name said the following:

“It seems like there’s never enough money to help Indian communities keep their housing stock in good shape. Let me put it this way: The last time we checked, there was an estimated housing shortage of 4,000 units, at least. It means that there’s a lot of households that end up having multiple families in a single unit.  We welcome every penny we get, and we try to get the most for our money.”

Doyle Pipe on Head is the assistant C.E.O. of the Oglala Sioux/Lakota Housing Authority on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Indian dwellers on the Pine Ridge Reservation are reported to be among the poorest groups in the nation’s Indian population.

I favor President Bush’s intention to wield the ax on the B.I.A. budget. It’s long overdue. But I wish the President had gone a big step further and adopted a plan I have been advocating since the days I worked as former Gov. Dixy Lee Ray’s liaison officer with the Indian tribes of Washington State.

That plan calls for the President and Congress to end all Indian treaties, to close all Indian reservations, and to begin a large-scale program to turn all Indian properties over to individual Indian families on a permanent basis. It would be a move to eliminate the dual-citizenship status of all Indians and bring them into mainstream America with all other citizens.

The plan would be a great benefit to all Indians. In fact, the state of New Hampshire has already taken the first step toward closing reservations and turning the properties over to Indian families. All other states should do likewise and also appeal to the President and Congress to close the reservations and toss the Indian treaties into the waste basket.

The present Indian reservations are like the ghettoes once foisted on Jewish populations in Germany. They should be abolished, and all Indians should be made first-class citizens, like the rest of us. For centuries, immigrants from foreign nations have been treated better than the original Americans.

As predicted by Republican legislators, the bow-wave effect of Democrat spending will put the state in deep doo-doo in a couple of years.

A new report for the State Senate Ways and Means Committee show the state will be nearly a $ billion short for the next biennium’s budget … and $2 1/2 billion short for the following biennium.  And those are the numbers before a new state revenue forecast is released in two weeks; … and it’s predicted to be gloomy.

Now enjoying themselves in the “I-told-you-so” position, can Dino Rossi and the House and Senate Caucuses communicate the problems wrought by Governor $pendmore and Speaker Chopp-Chopp?

State spending has increased by over 30 percent these past three years.

What are the chances the Seattle media will pick up on this?

The state is spending $8 billion more since Governor Christine Gregoire took office.

And has education improved?  Has traffic congestion improved?

What do we have to show for the $8 billion increase in the state budget?  Who is really happy except the labor unions?

These are good questions that the drive-by media is not asking.  And why not?

State spending has ramped up over 30 percent … and the state’s two most critical concerns are getting worse.  Doesn’t this sound like mis-guided priorities and bad management?

If the state’s political reporters ever wanted to do their jobs, they could begin by asking good questions.  But don’t hold your breath.  I doubt if these questions get asked by the current crop of lap-dog reporters.

No sooner did I criticize President Bush for changing positions and siding with the global warmers than he turned right around and made a decision that merits the applause of every American who dislikes having his or her tax bill increased by federal expenditures! So, it’s a “Bravo!” for the President.

The significant decision he made was to warn congressional lawmakers that, if they didn’t eliminate the billions in pork, which they now call “earmarks,” as if that lessens the load, he would refuse to approve them in the budget bill they sent him before leaving for the Christmas holiday.

As of this writing, he hasn’t yet made good on his threat. But he has until the end of the year to make good on his warning to the lawmakers. The President issued his warning in a message in which chided congressmen for failing to keep their word on the volatile issue of the pork they insist on calling earmarks now. Early in the session, they pledged to cut back on the earmarked billions. But they forgot their pledge.

At the same time, the President recited his victories in the most recent session of Congress. Those victories included winning the funds he needed to continue support of the Iraq war, which has now turned in his favor and is accomplishing what he promised to do there — namely to solidify Iraq’s newly won freedom and democratic government.

Now the question will be just how the President will go about eliminating much of the earmark money from the budget. Of course, he could do it by vetoing the entire budget bill, but that would make it necessary for him to call an emergency special session and bring the vacationing solons back to the capital to re-do the budget.

Another way — and perhaps the best and least expensive way — would be for the President to confront the many pork advocates in both houses of Congress by issuing an executive order that his associates say would cancel virtually all but the most essential earmarked projects.

Why not do so? He can’t be re-elected President again, because the Constitution forbids any President to have more than two terms in office. Undoubtedly, he would be the target of numerous barbs from the lawmakers for striking down the billions in special projects that are actually unnecessary for the feds to be considering.

The members of Congress would lambaste him for the executive order, but the American taxpayers would breathe a sigh of relief and thank him for being brave enough to get rid of the tremendously expensive pork that would put a huge dent in the pocketbooks of the citizens.

Want to know the enormity of the pork in the latest budget? The main organization fighting congressional pork, Taxpayers for Common Sense, reported that the budget sent to the White House contained 8,983 earmarked projects that would require the extra expenditure of $7.4 billion — excluding the extra projects included in Bush’s own budgetary needs to conduct the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And other budget critics say the pork total is even higher than that reported by the T.C.S. group. It’s time for a constitutional amendment requiring that each state pay for its own budgetary needs — and that the federal government should no longer be the patron saint of earmark extravagance!

While her Liberal friends in the news media and elsewhere are heaping praise on Governor Christine Gregoire for her latest budget proposal, Washington State taxpayers will be singing quite another tune when they finally realize that she is once again treading her spend-and-spend political track.

Will these Liberal politicos never learn? Apparently not. One of the major moves in her new budget is to seize a large chunk — $1.2 billion — of the taxpayers’ money and put it into what she calls “reserves for a potential economic downturn,” which is the latest label for the ill-considered “rainy day fund.”

Some of the media people are saying that she has borrowed a favorite Republican formula for running a government. That’s a lot of hooey. If there are any Republicans around who favor the “rainy-day fund” conundrum, they have been sadly misinformed and don’t follow Conservative thinking.

Consider the funding action the governor supports. She wants all that tax money set aside to enable the legislators, most notably those of her own Democratic Party, to dip into the reserves, or “rainy-day money,” whenever they spot a situation they say is an “emergency” or a “vital need.”

In other words, they want to fall back on that reserve fund to suit personal or political needs that you and I would not regard as emergencies. Talk about setting up a piggy bank for the politicians’ “pork” needs! As a longtime taxpayer, I protest, and I say such financial shenanigans should be outlawed.

The legislature meets regularly to determine the needs of the state and its citizens. If a real emergency exists, they can easily and quickly approve the financial help the state should apply. It doesn’t need the billion-and-a-half pork barrel to meet the imaginary emergencies.

It’s just another in the continuing list of gimmes Governor Gregoire and her Democratic friends rely upon to win political favor. For instance, she has said she favors spending $1.4 million to build an 8-foot fence along the two sides of Seattle’s Aurora Bridge to prevent suicides.

The few desperate people who choose to end their lives by jumping off a bridge undoubtedly would find other means to kill themselves if they can’t do it from the Aurora span. Maybe that sounds harsh, but wouldn’t that money be better spent with health services that might help save the lives of would-be suicides?

Also, it should be easy for the fence-builders in the Gregoire camp to realize that there are many other bridges in the area that could also serve the needs of the suicide-prone individuals. Is she also going to set aside a million and a half bucks to build fences on every one of those bridges, as well?

If all this sounds like a comedy routine, I’m sorry. I’m quite serious in my criticism of a governor who has little or no desire to cut down on the extravagances of Big Government and to put money back into the pockets of taxpayers who have been struggling to make ends meet these days.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton proposed PRIVATE SAVINGS ACCOUNTS today! You can read it at this link. After scorching the Bush Administraton a few years ago for suggesting the PARTIAL privatization of Social Security, Hillary goes and proposes essentially the same plan. But here is the kicker. Hillary would fund about half of it with taxpayer money.

So let me get this straight. As Americans, we should NOT be allowed to invest our own money in private accounts as President Bush suggested. But, we SHOULD be allowed to invest government money in private accounts. Liberals just kill me sometimes. According to Hillary, I can’t invest my money, but I can invest the money I TAKE from my fellow citizens. She should write this stuff up for Saturday Night Live. It’s that funny.

When President Bush tried to save Social Security, Democrats criticized the plan as too expensive. Now, Hillary wants to provide “matching funds” for every dollar you save. What happened to the idea that individuals should save money for retirement becuse it is a smart idea. Now we have to have the government bribe us to save for retirement? Why?

Secondly, why should someone ELSE pay from my retirement? At least with Social Security I get back the money I paid into it. With Bush’s plan, I got back the money I paid into the system (PLUS MY INTEREST). Now, Hillary’s plan suggests that I deserve someone else’s money in my retirement account. This plan is a glimpse into the mind (unused as it is) of a liberal. They feel they have a “right” to take anything they want. All they need is 51% and they can take, take, take.

As long as I have been teaching, I have never been able to teach a liberal that there is a difference between a “want” and a “right”. Looks like Hillary would have failed my class too.

A couple of days ago, KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson hit the nail on the head: he’s going to vote against the next tax measure to support King County’s Medic One.

I agree with him, and I urge you to consider jumping on the bandwagon.

Monson’s reasoning is that King County Executive Ron Sims and his Democrat cronies successfully spun the funding out of the overall King County budget as a separate tax measure six years ago when the county faced a financial “crisis.”  Now the county is not in crisis and Sims and the County Council want to keep Medic One out of the County budget so they are free to spend our property tax dollars to support programs of dubious worth.  They can do that because they have surplus dollars as long as Medic One is not included in their county budget.  They figure the public will vote yes on a tax measure to support the warm and fuzzy important work of Medic One.

By sending a message to once again include Medic One in the County Budget, Sim and his cronies will be forced to prioritize spending and chop spendy, liberal programs and activities.

This is not a vote against the good services of Medic One.  This is a vote against Sims and his bad management.  It’s a vote to lower property taxes.

Despite what the Times and P-I are reporting the Sonics Arena in Renton is not DOA.

My sources tell me that Ways and Means Chair Maurgita Prentice is playing fullcourt press court tonight.

The tradeoff may be an extra $100 million to fund bloated gain sharing pensions in the Senate to support the Sonics deal in the House.

Frank Chopp, in a rare situation, may be getting aced out of the deal making.  Meanime, Republicans are standing by powerless.

A number of us Rotarians were enjoying fellowship before the meeting Tuesday when the topic of the Bush tax cuts came up.  It being tax day the subject was dear to heart.

All of us bemoaned the great ignorance of Pelosi and Reid who are pushing for the greatest tax increase in US history - some $400 billion — and most of it from the wealthy.

We all agreed Pelosi and Reid are going to kill the greatest economic expansion this country has seen — even in the light of terrorist attacks and oil scarcities.

Each of us shared — one by one — how we bought and sold office buildings, stocks and other assets this year because we were prompted by a low capital gains rate.  We all agreed the lower rate encouraged us to make the transactions that higher rates would have encouraged us not to make.  The six of us had tax bills to the Treasury that collectively exceeded a million dollars.  Ouch.

So the six of us bought and sold millions of dollars of assets this year because of the Bush tax cuts.  Those transactions created commissions and employment as we fixed up properties and other assets … and that created more tax revenue.   Everyone we employed from construction workers, architects, interior designers, real estate agents, and all the people they spent their money with — they all generated more tax revenue into the system.  This is called “velocity of money” as it passes through a community.  And this was just six of us!  A fraction of one small club!  I guarantee you this conversation was replicated thoughout thousands of Rotary Clubs throughout the US.

Altogether more tax revenue is generated in a world of lower tax rates than in those of higher rates.  The economy grows faster.  More people have jobs.  JFK, Reagan and Bush have known this.

But, with the class warfare populism of the Democrats and the ignorance of the left in general, promoted by the liberal, drive-by media, the US may soon become like Western Europe and adopt higher tax rates and reaping its harvest of higher unemployment and a stagnated economy.

Washington State will be especially hard hit.  When the D’s in Washington throw the monkey wrench of higher taxation into the gears of our robust economy, the D’s in Olympia are going to be desperate in two years when state tax revenues decline and cannot come close to meeting the spending needs of all the new social welfare programs they created this session.

Frank Chopp won’t pay the price.  He has a safe seat.  The Socialistic Republic of Fremont will return him to office even if hell freezes over in these days of global warming.  Helen Sommers (Chair of House Appropriations) of Queen Anne is safe, too.  And so is Margarita Prentice (Chair of Senate Ways and Means) of Renton.

No, it’s Princess Gregoire who is toast.  When the state hits a budget crisis in two years, Gregoire will take the rap.  (She only won by — how many votes? — well, it depends on which count).  I can’t believe she can’t see it coming and isn’t doing anything now to protect her future. 

Frank is such a master.  Such a better chess player.  But, Frank, don’t you want a Democrat Governor to sign your future legislation?  It seems Frank is willing to risk the Governor’s race for the sake of pleasing his constituencies today.

I am posting an op-ed piece from Friday’s Wall Street Journal which presents a Republican view about the not-so-covered Democrat tax increase being muscled through Congress.  Folks, between Olympia and Washington, times are scary:

Back to the Future

JOHN BOEHNER
March 30, 2007; Page A14

The same folks who larded up the emergency war appropriations bill with billions of dollars in pork-barrel projects are at it again. Yesterday House Democrats voted to impose the largest tax hike in American history. Every spring Congress approves a budget blueprint that lays out its spending priorities and revenue assumptions for the next fiscal year and those that will follow. The budget approved by Democrats on Thursday reverses 12 years of Republican tax cuts and pro-growth policies. It lays the groundwork for increasing personal income tax rates on middle-income families, slashing the child tax credit, reinstating the marriage penalty and bringing back the death tax.

We’ve seen this play before. The last time Americans faced a massive tax hike was in 1993 — the last time Democrats were in the majority. President Clinton campaigned on middle class tax cuts only to turn around and sign what was then the largest tax hike in history. But Clinton’s tax hike pales before this one.

While Democratic friends may view them as just lines on a page, these impending tax hikes are real dollars and cents. Their budget would raise the tax bill for every working American — 115 million taxpayers will see their taxes go up by an average of $1,795. And if you’re married, have children, or own a small business, you’re in for extra punishment.

For example, 48 million married couples will face an average tax increase of $2,899. Seventeen million elderly individuals will pay an average tax increase of $2,270; 26 million small business owners will be hit by an average tax increase $3,960. More than five million individuals and families who would have seen their income tax liabilities completely eliminated will now have to pay taxes. And by failing to reform or eliminate the alternative minimum tax (AMT) that’s threatening to engulf more and more Americans, the Democrats’ budget imposes an immediate $50 billion tax hike on middle class families.

That isn’t all. By using a budget gimmick known as a “reserve fund,” Democrats propose additional spending for federal programs, promising to pay for it later. How? Given their track record, the most likely scenario is that Democrats would burden the middle class with an additional $115 billion in new taxes.

The president’s tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 are a principal reason the economy has enjoyed an uninterrupted string of monthly employment gains. Tax relief under the Republicans has fueled five straight years of overall growth and led to enormous capital investment. By coupling tax hikes with their insatiable appetite for political pork, the Democrats’ budget could bring economic growth to an abrupt end.

Yesterday’s budget resolution is not the first assault on taxpayers. On the first day of the 110th Congress, Democrats voted against a Republican proposal to ensure a two-thirds vote is necessary to raise the family tax burden. Once that was accomplished, the Democrats went on to impose more than $6.5 billion in new taxes on American energy producers, which will lead to higher gas prices and higher energy bills for consumers. They tied critical funding for America’s troops to billions in pork-spending — including $25 million for spinach farmers and $75 million for peanut storage. And they hid millions of dollars in earmarks in a giant spending bill.

While Democrats approved the raid on taxpayers’ wallets, House Republicans have suggested Washington tighten its belt. We put forward a bold budget proposal that balances the federal budget within five years without raising taxes. Drafted by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), our proposal includes critical protections for Social Security and significant reforms aimed at stemming the coming fiscal tsunami driven by explosive growth in entitlement spending — something Democrats completely ignore in their budget.

There is no question that we Republicans could have done a much better job while we were in the majority. But last year we made a concerted effort to recommit to fiscal discipline, approving lean spending bills and implementing important reforms aimed at reducing the number of pork-barrel projects. We clearly have more work to do. But the Democrats’ budget takes us two steps backward, and middle class families will be hardest hit.

To reach our goal of a balanced budget, we need to exercise fiscal restraint, keep taxes low and promote economic growth. We need to reduce earmarks, pass the line-item veto to crack down on worthless pork, and put an end to the excessive waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government. House Republicans have made this effort a top priority.

There are very real differences on Capitol Hill when it comes to fiscal responsibility. Democrats think we can spend our way out of every problem; Republicans will continue to work to help fiscal sanity triumph over fiscal recklessness.

Mr. Boehner is the Republican leader in the House of Representatives.

According to The Olympian’s Adam Wilson.

I’m not making this stuff up.  Wake up.

The Olympian’s Adam Wilson blogs about the floor debate before the house passed its budget today:

On the House floor, the Republicans went after Democrats for including a two-month delay in pay raises for nonunion workers, and ending the retirement benefit gain sharing.

“Why do we think it’s OK to give union employees their pay raises on July 1, and give nonunion employees their pay raises on Sept. 1?” asked Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee.

He also noted the $756 lump sum in the budget will only be given to each union worker, as a repayment for overpaid health insurance.

“The overpayments will only go back to union members. … A dual-class of state employees is what we’re setting up,” said Armstrong. “Our staff – they’re all nonunion. Think about our own staff, what we do to them with this budget.”

Of course, the Dems ignored Armstrong.  In this state you get the government the unions pay for.

The state house passed out its operating, capital and transportation budgets today; and I take note just how much Gregoire and the Democrats have increased spending and government.

In three Gregoire years the operating budget alone has grown by $8.2 billion dollars.  That’s up 33% to an astounding number of $33.4 billion.   The number of full time state employees has increased by 7,403.

Just thought I’d take note.  Property tax bills are due out in the weeks to come.

Legislative staffers were amused this morning that advocates for the libraries for the blind flooded House Republican offices with phone calls complaining that a $900,000 increase in braille books and audio tapes was cut from the House’s proposed budget.

“You’re calling the wrong person,” each staffer explained.  The Democrats cut the request.  And, by the way, the request for an increase in funding — the first since 1993 – was at the request of Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed.

As predicted here, Frank Chopp and Helen Sommers released a proposed budget this afternoon that not only spends every available cent of revenue but also sets up a financial train wreck for the next biennium.

And, the two socialists totally ignored the state’s $9 billion in unfunded liabilities for state employee pensions and retiree health benefits …  AND did not set aside monies for a rainy day fund that even Governor Gregoire wanted.

Chopp and Sommers kept their budget secret until this afternoon and have engineered a ram rod passage in the house in two days.  There is not enough time for anyone to analyze the nearly 500 page complex bill, HB 1158.  Most legislators will vote the most important legislation in two years not knowing what they’re voting for.  And Chopp and Sommers want it that way.

Democrats should be ashamed that their party leaders are avoiding sunshine principles and are just downright dishonest with the taxpayers of this state.

Said Rep. Gary Alexander (R-Lacey), ranking minority member of House Appropriations:

“The House Democrats will bring their budget to the House floor on Friday. We’ll be asked to vote on it before most members on either side of the aisle have time to read through the version that will be approved by the Appropriations committee tomorrow….

“On top of that we see no hint that the original Priorities of Government process was involved, nothing that resembles the Truth in Budgeting principles we proposed, and no serious effort to find any savings or efficiencies other than doing away with gain sharing.

“It amazes me that the smallest little bill can take weeks to reach the floor after coming out of committee, while the biggest bill of the session is rushed through like this budget will be. Most of the members of the House won’t see the actual budget bill as it comes out of committee until Friday morning, if not later, which will prevent them from casting a truly informed vote.

“If the Democrats really wanted to bring this bill into the light, they could delay the floor vote until Monday or Tuesday without interfering with the Senate’s plans or forcing an extension of the session. And it’s not credible to suggest that the recommendations of the two budget subcommittees – which were never binding – are a substitute for sunlight.”

The housing and construction sectors have been slowing in our state’s economy.  It is likely state revenues will suffer.

The new spending programs, including the first installments in socialist, state-run healthcare, will only increase while revenues decrease.

It’s a formula for disaster.

UPDATE 6:30

Frank Chopp this afternoon issued the edict: there will be no amendments to the budget when it goes to the floor.

Why do we go to the expense of sending 98 representatives to the house when only a few make the decisions?

David Postman wishes us all a Happy Sunshine Week which promotes open government.

Thanks for the well wishes, David, but maybe you ought to write about the secretive and ramrod tactics of House Appropriations Chair Helen Somners.

She’s planning to release her budget March 20^th, pass it out of Appropriations the next day and pass it on the floor two days later.

The Media and the Republicans get only three days to review her and Frank Chopp’s budget for the state.  There’s not much sunshine in that.

When Clyde Ballard was in power, the D’s got considerably more time with the Republican budget proposal.  But then again, Republicans are faithful to the process and respectful of differing opinions.

What’s Sommers got to hide?  Maybe the costs for the socialistic health care measures that are Chopp’s hot button this year.