Should we Democrats stay silent as our house burns down?

Friends and fellow Democrats,

Our house is on fire. The fate of one million children is in that burning house. Our public schools are on in danger of collapse.  In 2008, we were 47^th in the nation in school funding. Since then, billions more have been cut. The fire is growing worse every day and every year. Yet even though it is the Paramount Duty of our State legislature to provide a fire truck to put out this fire, and even though the Democratic Party has clear majorities in both the House and the Senate, last week Ross Hunter proposed a budget slashing billions more from our public schools – including suspending a monthly Basic Education payment – something which has never been done before in the history of our State. This week, Ed Murray proposed a budget which would slash school funding even more than Ross Hunter’s draconian budget! In fact, Ed would slash Basic Education funding by hundreds of millions of dollars more. Ross and Ed tell us they can not use the Fire Truck to put out the fire – because it might upset Tim Eyman.   

Resolutions have been passed unanimously by the 45^th LD Democrats and the 32^nd LD Democrats and some County Democratic organizations demanding that our Democratic Leaders use the fire truck to put out the fire. All of these Resolutions point to the Paramount Duty in our State Constitution – a Constitution which our Democratic Leaders have sworn an oath to uphold. 

We are now told we should not pass these Resolutions. Our Coalition Partners want us to think small and go slow and remain silent and trust our leaders – the same leaders who got us into this mess in the first place. Despite being faced with BILLIONS in budget cuts, we are told we should support House Bill 2078 which would shave a mere $44 million per year from tax exemptions our State hands to Wall Street Bankers. What we are not told is that on page 2, line 20 of this bill, it states: “the total amount each person may deduct under this section for any calendar year may not exceed one hundreds million dollars.”  So every Wall Street banker still gets $100 million in corporate welfare??? For reference, one hundred million dollars would pay for at least one thousand teachers. Instead of corporate welfare for the 10 major banks – each of which is making billions in record profits – we could save the jobs of 10,000 teachers and save the future of one million school children. 

The $44 million proposed cut in corporate welfare represents less than a 5% of the total we give away every year to these Wall Street Bankers – the very bankers who brought down our economy. According the Bureau of Economic Analysis, these same banks handed out a record $50 billion in bonuses to their top executives in 2010. http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm 

This is our elected Democratic Leaders’ idea of a solution to our multi-billion dollar fire? $44 million represents less than 1% of the billons being cut from our public schools. For that matter, $44 million represents less than 1% of bank bonuses in 2010! Shockingly, the DOR has stated that no other State even offers this exemption! Yet we are asked to remain silent as our house burns down and be happy House Democrats have offered us this squirt gun of a solution. 

This week Ed Murray offers us another even smaller squirt gun. Senate Bill 5944 would not provide a single dollar to help put out the fire. Instead, it enshrines the Unconstitutional Two Thirds Tim Eyman rule for nearly every source of revenue except tax exemptions. When union leaders complained that this bill would not come close to putting out the Fire which is destroying our Schools and our State, and may make the fire worse, Ed told them to stay silent because he had 20 years worth of experience and he knows better than the rest of us what is best for our State. This is the same Ed Murray who in 2003 voted for the Boeing Blackmail bill which started the fire of corporate tax breaks in the first place. The same Ed Murray who earlier this week proposed cutting Basic Education funding by hundreds of millions of dollars. Ed Murray needs to spend less time writing bills which only add fuel to the fire – and more time reading our State Constitution, 

The question now is whether we as loyal Democrats will heed the call of our Coalition Partners to remain silent as our house burns down? Or will we instead pass Resolutions demanding that our elected leaders honor our State Constitution and their Paramount Duty to put out the fire by suspending BILLIONS in tax exemptions to the wealthiest most profitable corporations in the history of our planet?  

It is never too late to change course, It is never too late to speak truth to injustice. It is never too late to demand that our elected officials uphold their oath of office to honor our State Constitution. Please go to our website, realwashingtonstatebudget.info and read more about what is really happening in Olympia . Urge your friends and neighbors to sign our Petition. It is never too late to at least try to put out the fire.

Regards, David Spring springforschools@aol.com.