Tomorrow is the annual Associated Press Legislative Preview Forum, where legislative leaders from both parties will provide insight into their priorities for the session which starts next Monday. And if the past is any guide, Democrat leaders will repeat one of their favorite lies from recent years – that the state doesn’t generate enough tax revenue to meet its public school funding obligations.
Liberal politicians from Jay Inslee to Frank Chopp to Sharon Nelson will complain that the state has to raise taxes because our sales-tax reliant system is not doing its job. They want to use this year to set the stage for raising those taxes in next year’s session, as Inslee did last month on TVW.
The truth is the victim of the elected officials on the Left, who need to seek tax increases to fund a bigger state government and keep the special interest groups which fund their campaigns happy. And the truth is that state tax revenue is up by $2.6 billion in the current two-year budget cycle, and expected to grow by $2 billion more.
What’s also true is that raising taxes is not needed to fund public education. If the Democrats who have controlled Olympia for the last generation were doing their constitutionally-mandated job, they would fund education with the first dollar in the budget. That would mean that once the tax money ran out, they would need to make the case that they needed to raise taxes for a somewhat lower priority than “the children” – like pay raises for state employees, or some other liberal priority which would be unlikely to cause taxpayers to voluntarily open their wallets.
And that’s why Democrat leaders from both houses of the legislature and the Governor’s mansion will use tomorrow’s AP forum to again spread the lie that we need higher taxes to pay for our schools – because they know the truth does not make their interest groups happy, and unhappy interest groups write smaller campaign contribution checks.
As long as the huge population of King county controls how the state spends its TAX money (by continuing to elect tax and spend liberals), the rest of us will be helpless to stop it. The bright side of the coin is that even humans learn their lesson, eventually. Though, I might not see it in my lifetime.
BTW…there is no such thing as “Government Funding”, since the only money the government has is that which it takes from the working citizenry.
“since the only money the government has is that which it takes from the working citizenry”
Now there’s another crock of libertarian hogwash.
Libertarianism makes you stupid.
Where does the money come from, then, justintime? Please explain.
As long as the huge population of King county controls how the state spends its TAX money (by continuing to elect tax and spend liberals), the rest of us will be helpless to stop it. The bright side of the coin is that even humans learn their lesson, eventually. Though, I might not see it in my lifetime.
BTW…there is no such thing as “Government Funding”, since the only money the government has is that which it takes from the working citizenry.
“since the only money the government has is that which it takes from the working citizenry”
Now there’s another crock of libertarian hogwash.
Libertarianism makes you stupid.
Where does the money come from, then, justintime? Please explain.
There is the rub. As long as they do not fund education with the first dollar, they are essentially holding the children hostage for the tax increases for other, non constitutionally mandated programs.
There is the rub. As long as they do not fund education with the first dollar, they are essentially holding the children hostage for the tax increases for other, non constitutionally mandated programs.
They do the same thing with police, fire and ambulances. They fund all their special projects (ie light rail, govt employee wages & benefits, etc) first, often with dedicated funds, then threaten taxpayers with cuts to essential services if they dont get the tax hikes they want. It is a dishonest abuse of power that should be outlawed.
They do the same thing with police, fire and ambulances. They fund all their special projects (ie light rail, govt employee wages & benefits, etc) first, often with dedicated funds, then threaten taxpayers with cuts to essential services if they dont get the tax hikes they want. It is a dishonest abuse of power that should be outlawed.