Democrat candidate takes a page out of Inslee’s (false) ‘no-new-taxes’ playbook

The News Tribune took issue with a campaign flier created by a Republican group that is shining a light on the positions of Marisa Peloquin, a Democrat attempting to unseat GOP State Sen. Steve O’Ban. The flier — which was not paid for by O’Ban’s campaign — highlights that Peloquin supports a state income tax.

According to the paper, that’s not true. The News Tribune tested the claim by — surprise, surprise — asking Peloquin whether or not she supports a state income tax. She insisted that she did not.

The Good Government Leadership Council responsible for the flier based its claim off of Peloquin’s role as a leader and support of a 2015 Washington State Parent Teacher Alliance handout “outlining the organization’s legislative priorities”. The priorities, publicized when she served as a Pierce County regional director, included in “progressive funding strategies” to “raise significant revenue.”

Though a state income tax is not directly mentioned, given the fact that Washington Democrats often use the phrase “progressive funding strategies” as a code for a state income tax, the inference is reasonable.

The inference is also reasonable because:

1. Peloquin is a Democrat, and the Washington State Democrat Party — time and time again – has included a state income tax as its “guiding principle.”
2. Peloquin is a Democrat, and Democrats in Washington State have a rather long track record of claiming they do not support tax increases when campaigning, but then proposing/voting for tax increases once they get into office.

Finally, it’s interesting that the News Tribune failed to ask Peloquin whether or not she supported a state capital gains income tax before labeling the flier as “false.” Something tells us that Peloquin (like her fellow Democrats) supports the creation of a state capital gains income tax — a tax that, according to the IRS and the U.S. Supreme Court, is a form of an income tax.

If Peloquin supports a state capital gains income tax, the News Tribune’s classification of the ad as “false” would be — well — false.

It look’s like Peloquin took a play out of Jay Inslee’s ‘no-new-taxes’, broken promises campaign playbook, and the News Tribune swallowed it without question.