Last week, we reported on a sketchy poll commissioned by the Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI), which tries to justify liberals’ never-ending battle to make it as easy as possible to raise taxes.
The poll asked the question do you agree or disagree “with the following statement: all revenue bills and budgets in the Washington State Legislature should be decided by a simple fifty percent majority vote?” The poll of 679 likely voters allegedly found that 59% agree, 34% disagree, and 6% were not sure with that statement.
NPI’s poll question and its explanation appeared to be another case of liberals manufacturing surveys to produce the results they want. But, the motive behind the poll runs deeper than that. In fact, the poll is representative of a long pattern of Democrats blatantly ignoring voters’ will.
This Throw Back Thursday, we are looking into three times Democrats blatantly ignored voters’ will. Without further ado:
1. Democrats’ refusal to save voter-approved charter schools, in order to please the Washington Education Association (WEA) and keep campaign cash flowing their way.
The majority of Democrats in Olympia did everything in their power to prevent a bill that would save public charter schools from passing the Legislature this year. When faced with the bill, Jay Inslee refused to act – in a true profile of what he calls “courage”, he neither vetoed nor signed the bill.
Of course, the Democrats’ hostility toward voter-approved charter schools has a lot to do with their extreme desire to please the WEA, a multi-million dollar campaign donor to Inslee and other liberals. Presumably, Inslee’s lack of a backbone derived from his hesitancy over upsetting an electorate that supports public charter schools and his desire to continue pleasing the WEA in order to maintain campaign support.
Whatever their reasons, Democrats proved it’s not about improving education for children or voters’ will. For them, it’s about pleasing special interests.
2. Democrats’ persistent denial of the 2/3-vote restriction for new taxes — a law that voters approved six times.
Democrats consistently work to do away with the bi-partisan measure which has made it harder for them to raise taxes off-and-on for over 20 years. When they’ve had it, Democrats have used their complete control over state government to repeal the voter-approved law four times. Then, when that was no longer an option, thanks to voters giving Republicans control of the State Senate, liberal groups filed a lawsuit against the 2012 ballot measure and convinced the lefty activist justices on the state Supreme Court to overturn the measure.
No doubt, Democrats working to ensure that a 2/3rds rule never sees the light of day has a lot to do with the fact that the rule would make it difficult to increase taxes and make government even bigger to please their special interest donors. You see, Democrats introduce some sort of tax increase (including a state income tax) every single year.
3. Democrats’ determined support for a state income tax.
The latest version of the ultra-liberal State Democrat Party platform calls for multiple state income taxes. In other words, a state income tax continues to be one of the Democrats’ “guiding principles.”
Despite the fact that in 2010, Initiative1098—the latest statewide attempt to create a state income tax—was defeated by a 28% margin, Democrats do not seem capable of respecting voters’ will. Apparently, not even a 64-36% vote against a state income tax is enough to fend off Jay Inslee and the Democrats’ insatiable desire for higher taxes.
Each and every legislative session, Democrat lawmakers introduce state income tax bills. That isn’t likely to stop — no matter what the voters’ so clearly want.
Democrats’ response to voters’ will is the classic big government response to blatantly ignoring the people’s will and arrogantly believing government knows best.
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