Democratic leaders caught on video with Tim Eyman

Everyone should know by now that Republicans serve the 1%.

But one weekend in Olympia I caught on video Democratic leaders doing something inappropriate with Tim Eyman.

(From the left to the right in the video:  Larry Springer, Jim Kastama, Tim Eyman, Christine Gregoire, Frank Chopp, Steve Hobbs, Brian Hatfield)

As reported here, the Road Kill Caucus of centrist (i.e., conservative) Democrats are demanding further spending cuts before they’ll agree to consider raising revenue. Over the years, the Road Killers have played a big role in thwarting progressive budget proposals and in aiding the Republicans and Tim Eyman in their Norquistian scheme to defund government and serve the 1%.

But Governor Gregoire and the Democratic leadership haven’t done much to fight back; they’ve proposed raising the regressive sales tax, instead of eliminating some of the billions of dollars in tax exemptions that benefit wealthy corporations.   This despite the fact that Washington State has one of the most regressive tax structures in the nation, and despite the fact that raising the sales tax, as well as eliminating exemptions, would require  (in accordance with I-1053) submitting the proposal to the voters.

The situation got even worse in 2010, when Koch brothers funding allowed Republicans to narrowly defeat progressive state senators Randy Gordon and Eric Oemig. We need to elect more progressive Dems to the state legislature.  We need to hold our legislators accountable to the people.

And most of all we need to educate the public about how they repeatedly vote against their own self-interests when they vote for Tim Eyman initiatives.
(For related articles see Fight Like Crazy: Response to State Representative Mary Lou Dickerson’s plea for fiscal sanity and Dems Introduce Capital Gains Tax Bill in Olympia .)