Fringe Democrats, The League of Education Voters and the Washington Education Association have won the first round in the battle to overturn the clearly stated will of the people in Washington State by ruling today that I-1053, the fourth time the people of our state have voted in the 2/3 majority requirement for the legislature to increases taxes as “unconstitutional.”
Our state constitution, Article 1, Section 1 says, “All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.”
Note, it says “ALL,” not some or only part, but “ALL political power is inherent in the people.”
The government receives power from us, not the other way around.
I-1053 passed easily statewide by a 64% vote. In our county, it passed by an even larger margin, slightly over 71%. Even a liberal newspaper as the Seattle Times editorialized, State’s two-thirds rule on taxes should be retained as did our own Columbian with, Two-thirds approval for tax increases is necessary for low-performing Legislature.
Clearly, the people spoke loud and clear on this desire in 1993, 1998, 2007 and 2010.
But, public unions and fringe Democrats like 49th legislative district rep. Jim Moeller, who readily joined the lawsuit to thwart the will of voters, both in the state and his district, have taken it upon themselves to give us the middle finger.
In his ruling King County Superior Court Judge Bruce Heller said I-1053 is a “clear restriction on the Legislature’s power and violates a provision in the state Constitution that outlines whether a law needs a simple majority or a supermajority to pass.”
Hello, that is exactly what the people have been demanding 4 times now! We want restrictions on the legislature, clear and simple.
But those like Jim Moeller don’t seem to care what “the voice of the people” is, unless it is supportive of his view.
Article II, Section 1 of our constitution also states, “The legislative authority of the state of Washington shall be vested in the legislature, consisting of a senate and house of representatives, which shall be called the legislature of the state of Washington, but the people reserve to themselves the power to propose bills, laws, and to enact or reject the same at the polls, independent of the legislature, and also reserve power, at their own option, to approve or reject at the polls any act, item, section, or part of any bill, act, or law passed by the legislature.”
Again, note the use of the word “ANY.” Not some, not partly, not partial, but “ANY.”
The constitution goes on to say the initiative process is “The first power reserved by the people,.”
But public unions rely on fringe activists like Democrat Jim Moeller to ignore that and argue that only they can write law, thereby silencing the clearly stated voice of the people time and time again, based upon Article II, section 22, “No bill shall become a law unless on its final passage the vote be taken by yeas and nays, the names of the members voting for and against the same be entered on the journal of each house, and a majority of the members elected to each house be recorded thereon as voting in its favor.”
Reliance upon this small section eliminates the clearly stated “ANY” and “ALL” in the earlier sections, as far as Moeller and the public unions are concerned, unless of course, it suits their agenda.
Moeller is up for reelection again this year. He has clearly shown his interest is not in representing the people, but doing his own will, the hell with us.
Carolyn Crain is challenging him this election and has stated that when it comes to the will of the people, that is what she will follow. Asked specifically about the lawsuit to overturn the voice of the people on I-1053, Ms. Crain answered,
“I think the people need to express their voice in order for those who are elected to serve them to really know what the people want. If limitations should be placed on any part of the process then it should be at the legislative level. If the people vote for something with an initiative then I think it should be honored, period!”
Moeller, on the other hand, thumbs his nose at us, even those who voted for him in this matter.
I would be derelict to not also point out that the main union responsible for thwarting the will of the people again is the Washington Education Association, the same Washington Education Association promoting and supporting Annette Cleveland, Democrat running to replace the seat being vacated by Craig Pridemore.
As I recently pointed out here, the support relies on “Annette Cleveland will work for tax reform and to preserve state employee pensions.”
That means higher taxes and most likely more legislative support to impose an income tax on us, whether we want it or not.
You can also bank on she would support efforts to thwart the voice of the people in Democrats desire to tax us to death and give what they can to the public unions.
Here again, we have a very experienced candidate running who places the voice of the people above her own, Eileen Qutub.
If you are as tired as I am with our will and voices being cast into a trash can and are ready to restore “All political power is inherent in the people,” we need to elect both Carolyn Crain and Eileen Qutub this election.
Remember who has shown our voices don’t matter; Jim Moeller and Annette Cleveland who says the agenda will be to preserve public union benefits & pensions.
Efforts are already underway to fast track this ruling to the State Supreme Court, so even though those who continue to ignore our voices won this battle, the war is far from over.
A big part of that will be putting Democrats like Jim Moeller out of the legislature.
