Their Lips are Moving!
Published Sun, Nov 12 2006 11:02 AM
Technorati Tags: News and Politics
OLYMPIA — Washington's top Democrats, from the governor to the speaker of the House, are rushing to reassure voters they won't use their new mega-majorities in the Legislature to launch expensive programs and raise taxes to pay for them.
But interest groups that helped sweep Democrats into office say they want bold moves from those politicians, starting when the Legislature convenes in January.
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The party has emerged from Tuesday's elections with its strongest legislative majorities in decades. Ballots are still being counted, but Democrats expect at least a 31-18 seat majority in the state Senate and a 62-36 split in the House.
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Democratic leaders say their party will act on top issues, including education and health care, but in measured steps. Tax increases, they say, aren't very realistic in a time of budget surpluses.
Plus there's the danger of going too far, said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam. She was around for the 1994 election when Democrats lost 28 seats in the House and had two members switch parties. A $1 billion tax increase passed by Democrats to fix a big budget shortfall was largely blamed for the upheaval.
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For Gregoire, there's an added incentive to rein in her party — she'll be up for re-election in 2008 and faces a possible rematch against Republican Dino Rossi, the man she beat by just 129 votes two years ago.
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All the Democratic leaders have the same message: They plan to make progress on multiple fronts and do it without dramatic increases in spending.
Read the whole article in the Seattle Times.
I'll believe it when I see it. While she was campaigning for the 2004 election, Gov. Gregoire beat the anti-tax drum. Once the recounts were over, she pushed through the legislature a massive tax increase, including an unpopular gas tax that she specifically said she didn't support.
One of the "top issues" for Democrats this next legislative session is to push a Constitutional Amendment to eliminate the supermajority requirement for school levies. That sounds an awful lot like they want to raise taxes more easily.
The special interests that financed their campaigns are already putting pressure on the Democrats to advance an expensive agenda. That, coupled with their natural proclivity to grow government and I expect taxes to raise fairly quickly, once they've settled in and the election is a few months in the past.
Even without raising taxes, there are some pretty business unfriendly things on their agenda. You can bet that the attacks on Wal-Mart will continue, with a new bill to require large companies to spend a larger percentage of their payroll on healthcare benefits.
Add to that the requirement for paid family leave for childcare or sick family members and it's going to be more expensive for employers to keep people on the payroll. Somehow I don't see that as giving small businesses, or even larger businesses for that matter, much incentive to hire people and keep them on payroll. Expect unemployment in Washington to rise after that.
I don't trust politicians, especially politicians with power. They say they'll exercise restraint, but the Democrat's big-brother agenda is coming, and it's going to cost the people of Washington in higher taxes, fees, and unemployment.
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