Few things in life are guaranteed we all know that. Amongst those few would be Democrats and their love of raising taxes on citizens. They have yet to learn that Robin Hood was but a mythological person with his taking from the wealthy to give to the poor.
With Democrats it seems they love poor people so much they create as many as they can whenever they hold governmental majorities.
Many of us were surprised last year when Governor Gregoire took on a ‘no tax raise’ pledge in facing the burgeoning deficit Washington State faces.
Last December she said, “There is no way to tax your way out of this problem. We have to live within our means.”
Fellow Democrats groaned while Republicans applauded her words.
She proposed cuts that mirrored some recommended by Republican challenger Dino Rossi. She made cuts that were painful. In fact, she vetoed spending bills prior to the election that “miffed” some Clark County Democrat lawmakers, says the Columbian’s Kathie Durbin.
Sure to delight Democrats, especially 49th Legislative District Representative Jim Moeller, who went as far as writing a letter to the editor asking for citizen input in finding new sources of revenue last December, Gov. Gregoire announced just this morning “that she is not as hostile to tax hikes as she was a year ago. And she will entertain proposals if lawmakers or interest groups bring them to her.”
Just today, September 29, The Olympian ran an article announcing Gregoire’s “change of heart.”
The quote our governor saying, “I didn’t want revenue last year because I couldn’t figure out how you could do a revenue package that wouldn’t hurt the economy, either individuals or businesses. We’re still stuck in that rut but I’ve told the leadership, ‘Come make your case. My door’s open, you can make your case.’ But I don’t want to do anything that adversely impacts our economic recovery.”
And, if I may ask of the governor and Democrat leadership, what has changed other than the economy has gotten worse, unemployment has sharply increased, wages have been cut and businesses have failed and closed their doors.
Raising taxes at this time can only make matters worse as so many are struggling and cannot afford to pay more.
Companies too are struggling and raising their costs can only “adversely impact economic recovery,” the very thing Gregoire says she wish’s to avoid.
I am constantly amazed at the notion of “cuts are either social services, corrections, health care or education.”
I’m even more amazed that she says, “you take too big a toll on higher ed[ucation] and it won’t recover any time soon. … You can give it more money but once you’ve lost those Nobel Prize educators you don’t get them back.”
What about jobs, governor? What about small businesses that create the bulk of our jobs? How many of them have we lost that we won’t get back?
With all due respect, “Nobel Prize educators” do not create jobs. Yes, they are impressive, I suppose, in their intelligence and knowledge, but do they also engage in social engineering in their classrooms instead of just imparting their knowledge upon students?
I don’t see them signing and handing out paychecks, do you?
Why do we continue to pay for ILLEGAL immigrants, who send much of their sub-par wages back to their native country instead of circulating it in our economy?
Why are we looking at an overly costly Light Rail in Clark County that voters have rejected?
I’m sure our Democrat elected officials will be delighted in hearing the governor is receptive to raising taxes how and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see another attempt at an income tax.
They just don’t get it that in order to see state revenues stop their decline; citizens must be working in decent jobs, not ILLEGAL immigrants.
Businesses need a fair environment to compete with a reasonable level of taxes.
The governor says, “At some point the people, I assume, don’t want us to take any more cuts.”
With all due respect, Governor, at some point the people do not want their paychecks cut any more.
Clark County Conservative 