The Washington Conservation Voters (WCV)—one of the extreme “green” organizations that California billionaire Tom Steyer has used to launder his millions of dollars of campaign contributions through in our state—is promoting the state House Democrats’ transportation package to its supporters. In its latest email, WCV extolled the “green” virtues of Democrats’ plan while condemning the Republican-controlled state Senate’s bipartisan proposal (which passed with the Senate with the support of seven Democrats). The email reads,
“I have good news to report: although not perfect, the House Transportation Committee just passed a sane, common-sense transportation proposal. The choice is clear: we must pass the House transportation plan.
“The ugly alternative is a Senate proposal from two weeks ago – the one that shortchanges Sound Transit and injects a “poison pill” in an effort to block requirements for lower carbon fuels.”
WCV goes on to list why its supporters should email their legislators and tell them to support the Democrats’ transportationplan – without ever mentioning that the Democrats won’t actually bring their bill up for a vote on the House floor because they seemingly do not have enough support to pass it. The reasons the WCV thinks make the House committee proposal worth supporting—other than the removal of the provision that would slow down Jay Inslee’s scheme to jam through his fuel mandate by executive order, rather than submitting it to the legislature for a vote—include that the House plan “grants Sound Transit its full ($15 billion dollar) local funding request to put a 3rd phase of light rail expansion on the ballot” and that it increases “direct state funding in transit to 7.6%.” Of course, the House package also removes the Senate’s plan to reform transportation funding by directing sales tax paid on transportation projects back into transportation, rather than continuing the Democrat tradition of siphoning it off into the state general fund.
In other words, the House’s transportation package removes all of the Senate’s bi-partisan compromise measures and gives the Seattle far-left supporters everything they have demanded. Yet, despite the obvious reality of which legislative chamber has the true bi-partisan plan, WCV has the audacity to claim that it is the House Democrats who compromised and the Senate Republicans who are playing a partisan game with our state’s transportation needs. WCV asserts, “Unlike their colleagues in the Senate, the House chose compromise over playing political games with our state’s transportation budget.”
No mention is made of the fact that the House’s transportation package does not include Jay Inslee’s cap-and-tax scheme, the centerpiece of his transportation proposal. As Shift reported, Inslee failed to even gather enough support to pass his scheme among members of his own party.
You can check out the email below.
Of course, the House package also removes the Senate’s plan to reform transportation funding by directing sales tax paid on transportation projects back into transportation, rather than siphoning it off into the state general fund.
An obvious shell game, which no one but the most pitiably gullible of rubes could possibly believe was a “reform”. Pulling money out of the general fund when we desperately need liquidity (e.g. McCleary) would be a terrible idea, even if it wasn’t horribly mislabeled as a “reform”.
Of course, Sen. Baumgartner’s huge slab of greasy pork, slathered and dripping in pig fat, with which he intends to ensure his re-election, was artlessly hacked from the transport budget, so we can understand his party’s need to replenish that squandered money from our general fund. That would be a great move for that party — for our state, not so much. We know which the Senate majority values more.
Da Comrade, Unconstitutionally diverting gas tax money into the general fund is an obvious shell game that’s gone on far too long. But you’re down with it because your boy Frank Chopp needs all the cash he can get to pay for the Friends and Family plan at PacMed.
Unconstitutionally …
Which court has ruled this to be “unconstitutional”? When did this court issue that ruling? What was the title of that court’s ruling?
Yes, buying stuff will cost less if you don’t have to pay taxes on it. While I’m sure you’re just totally gobsmacked by that brilliantly innovative idea, the entity here doing the buying is the state itself, so the net tax savings from this “reform” is a whopping $0. Please let us know when you’ve counted that high.
But you’re down with it because your boy Frank Chopp needs all the cash he can get to pay for the Friends and Family plan at PacMed.
At least I’m not gullible enough to fall for zero-savings “transport reform” proposed by the very same ‘legislators’ who themselves failed for years to legislate a transportation bill.
State law says gas tax money has to go to transportation, not Frank Chopp’s relatives. Due to your woeful ignorance of economics, you fail to grasp that eliminating the stupid liberal idea of charging sales tax road projects means more money to be spent on the actual project instead of Frank Chopp’s relatives. In King County that’s 9.5% more. Only in communist core math is 9.5% = 0
State law says gas tax money has to go to transportation,
Your claim about how it was unconstitutional promptly evaporated upon the first request for proof, so now you’re saying it’s merely “illegal”. While I doubt you’ll support that claim either, we should note that building a transportation project requires purchasing of a lot more than motor fuel. Sales taxes collected on those non-fuel purchases go into the general fund. Not collecting those taxes doesn’t save our state a dime; it merely moves money from the general fund to the transportation fund. Republicans need to do this because they squander our transportation money on pet projects which do not benefit our state, like pork-lord Baumgartner’s freeway for Spokane.
In King County that’s 9.5% more.
Which means 9.5% less for general-fund expenditures here in King County, for a net gain of zero.
One dollar does not magically become two, no matter what snake-oil claims of “reform” you’ve swallowed.
Look fool, everybody knows all you want is more, more, more government. You adamantly oppose any cost savings on road projects. No way! Road projects MUST be expensive! $15 not right NOW and not for everybody! Workers of the world, UNITE! Government must grow. A 15% increase is not enough. The state must control EVERYTHING. Any regulation, mandate, tax or law that grows big brother gets you moist. Siphoning off gas tax money to give to the Choppsters relatives? You go, Frankie! As long it’s more taxes to bloat the ruling class even further, you’re down with it. Anything that gets you closer to that new union, the soviet kind, is pure bliss.
You adamantly oppose any cost savings on road projects. No way! Road projects MUST be expensive!
Road projects tend to be expensive, and no accounting gimmick will change that.
Look fool, everybody knows all you want is more, more, more government.
I’ve already described how we could easily save 100% on an $821M project. If you can get any “small-government conservatives” from east of the Cascades to vote for this savings, please let us know.
Anything that gets you closer to that new union, the soviet kind, is pure bliss.
Your red-baiting continues to be the freshest and most original aspect of your comments.
“Road projects tend to be expensive, and no accounting gimmick will change that”
Road projects would less expensive if Frank Chopp wasn’t skimming 9.5% off the top to give to his family.
“I’ve already described how we could easily save 100% on an $821M project”
$821 million is pocket change compared to the $15 billion I could describe how to save by cancelling ST3. How about your bourgeois Tsarina talking the comrade talk and doing the exact opposite? Why haven’t you gone to defcon5 and rushed to defend her?
$821 million is pocket change compared to the $15 billion I could describe how to save by cancelling ST3.
The prospect of Puget Sound’s voters deciding how to spend our own tax money really rankles you, doesn’t it? You’d much prefer politicians in Olympia and Spokane to do it for us, eh?
The continuing dependence of Eastern Washington’s welfare queens on handouts from King County’s taxpayers is a truly tragic example of government welfare hurting those it is supposed to help. Yet, we here in Seattle can’t find any support from conservatives for ending this chronic welfare dependency. Why is that?
How about your bourgeois Tsarina…
Your grasp of Russian history continues to dwarf your knowledge of Seattle’s politics.
Your Tsarina hasn’t yet tried to defend herself on this glaring hypocrisy, she just continues to step deeper in the doo, garnering ethics complaints even from her fellow travelers. When will you condemn her for skirting the tax laws and the regulations you so dearly love? And keep sidestepping the Choppsters corruption, you’re good at fooling yourself.
One to many lies from the green’s has doomed their cause. they lost the taxpayers support by letting their overzealous ideology get the better of them & now support for more tax & spend is going nowhere.