The PI blows it: Gas-tax Repeal - Time to speak up

So, the neo-communists of the PI are demanding Republican leadership on the gas tax. HHhhmmmm…. Didn’t the state committee SHOW leadership when they endorsed I-912?

Oh yeah… I forgot. It’s only “leadership” when you do it the way the leftists want.

It never ceases to amaze me how they're so cute with their labels.

To the left, anyone on the right who does something or assumes a political position THEY want shows “leadership.”

SCREW what the people want. FORGET the Washington State Constitution.

In this case, they’re sniveling about the fact that Republicans who voted for this abortion are remaining silent on the initiative.

How very easy it is for the PI to make those demands. The PI is, of course, all about King County, which stands to realize BILLIONS of dollars from the gas tax. Naturally, they WANT unnecessary expenditures on art; prevailing wage, county and city pay-offs and the sales tax shuffle to the general fund… hundreds of millions of dollars that will be spent on anything BUT concrete and the like. They are TOTALLY unconcerned about the objections to this tax; COMPLETELY on board with the waste of this tax and the idea of adding yet MORE tax to the highest gas prices we’ve ever known doesn’t faze them.

Some Republicans voted for this gas tax. I disagree with them, though I’m familiar with the democrat strong-arm tactics that came into play. Unfortunately for those who voted for this, as well as for the PI, the arguments in favor of increasing THIS tax, under THESE circumstances, pail in comparison to the reasons to get rid of it.

This was poor legislation at best. The failure to address the obvious problems, combined with the apply-anywhere bogus “emergency clause” rightfully doomed this thing to failure. The responsibility rests entirely on the governor, who campaigned on a platform of NOT implementing a tax increase without a vote; Speaker Frank Chopp, Rep. Ed Murray, House Transportation Chair; Majority Leader Sen. Lisa Brown and Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, Senate Transportation Chair.

The time to look for “leadership” was when this tax was in front of them. Now… no amount of “leadership” (defined as “doing whatever the left wants”) will put the lipstick on this pig.

And, did the PI file this as an "in-kind" contribution?



Sunday, October 9, 2005
Gas-tax Repeal: Time to speak up
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

For members of the state's political class, the effort to repeal the four-year 9.5-cent gas tax increase is all about politics. Initiative 912 is variously described as a referendum on the liberal politics of Olympia or a revote of the governor's race.

To regular folks, however, the issue is mobility and safety -- 274 new highway projects, including helping to replace the crumbling Alaskan Way Viaduct.

To the state's business community, it's about getting employees to work and products to market.

According to Washington Roundtable President Steve Mullin, failing to fund transportation infrastructure in the state by repealing the gas tax increase, "says that we are not prepared to compete....We're not Iowa."

But if politics must trump safety and economic security, let's hear from the politicians -- especially Republican politicians.

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