Local gas tax insanity;

If someone had asked me before this past session, "Hey, you wanna bet that the GOP State Senate will slam us with a gas tax, allow the Lieutenant Governor to scam us on the GOP Super Majority rule, cave on promised reforms to get it, lie about Inslee's bogus carbon tax threats, slap a fake emergency clause on it and refuse to put a referendum clause in it?"

I'd have bet my house that they'd never do such a thing.

But that's exactly what happened.

Of the 4 local Republican Senators, 2 sold us out.

Sen. Curtis King (R-14) and Sen. Ann Rivers (R-18)

Vancouver's Hobbit, Sen. Annette Cleveland (D-49) naturally flipped when it mattered and provided a "yes" vote on this travesty as well.  After all, the 49th is getting most of the few crumbs in this rip off that Clark County is begging for ($98 million) to waste on a CRC intersection project that's a complete, unneeded waste of money... so why not?

Sen. Don Benton (R-17) and Sen. John Braun (R-20) were the GOP senators who, well, acted like GOP senators.

Meanwhile, the GOP Senate will now undoubtedly lose control of that body in 2016 because frankly, they've eliminated any reason to vote them.

I know I will not be voting for any Republican running for the state senate in the next election, incumbent or otherwise.

I will not reward the GOP Senate with my vote for this rape of the people.

And then, this insanity: One of the local paid liars, Mark Brown (Who makes major, 6-figure money to lie to support his causes representing local governments, including the Vancouver Soviet) tells us THIS whopper:

"This is a damn good package for Clark County," said Mark Brown, a lobbyist who represents the region in Olympia.

That's a crock, of course.  It's a lie based on a lie.

First, the promised reforms, getting rid of prevailing wage and ending the sales tax on these projects so that a huge percentage of these funds are not shifted from transportation to the general fund... are gone.

But then, you knew they would be.  And so, we get screwed out of billions right there, money wasted that will not make one inch of transportation improvements.

Second, Clark County stands to get right around $200 million of this package.

Out of a $15 BILLION pot.

That's right, gang, those voting for this crap pile sold us out for around 1.3%.

And Brown tells us this is a "damn good package for Clark County?"

Yeah.  And Rachel Dolezal is black.

Let's review the bidding to set the stage, shall we?

For months before session, Inslee babbled about... and everyone ran in horror from... his fake threat to implement a tax... unilaterally... without legislative approval... on carbon emissions.  That, of course, was the set up for everything that happened after; pure political cover for the GOP Scam.

The corruption on the part of the GOP Senate began implementation with the widely spread-by-the-media decision by Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen that the newly implemented GOP Senate Rule requiring a super majority to increase taxes or start new taxes was "Unconstitutional."

I said at the time that was a crock, that he had no such right to make such a ruling and that, unless a deal had been cut, the GOP Senate, who IMPLEMENTED THE RULE IN THE FIRST PLACE, would appeal the decision through a simple up or down vote to overturn that "ruling."

They, the GOP Senate, did nothing.  No effort was made to overturn the Owen ruling.

And that's when I knew it was over.  That this gas tax was GOING to happen because the GOP... The REPUBLICANS... WANTED IT TO HAPPEN.

And then I saw where those SAME REPUBLICANS, had SLAPPED AN EMERGENCY CLAUSE on this bill and had MADE NO EFFORT TO ALLOW US TO VOTE BY PUTTING A REFERENDUM CLAUSE IN IT.

And to JUSTIFY this "out-democrating the democrats" scam, we were lied to using the meme, previously set up with Inslee to provide the GOP with political cover... that Inslee was going to wave a wand and do something he had zero legal authority TO do: implement a huge (As much as $2.00 per gallon) carbon tax increase and that they HAD to jack our gas tax to keep that from happening.

What a fricking lie.

Here's the thing: there are a wide variety of ways to stop that from happening.

None of them need involve jacking up the gas tax.

But taking it a step further, what we were being told was that by screwing us for an almost 12 cent gas tax increase, that somehow would keep the governor from arbitrarily implementing a TWO DOLLAR GAS TAX, which would be the equivalent of pulling a political gun, sticking it next to the head of most every democrat in this state and then, pulling the trigger?

How does THAT work?

Yeah, yeah... I know all about the bogus, unconstitutional language in the bill: if Inslee does X, then Y will happen to the gas tax revenue... at least until the Court throws the bill language out since monies once bonded CANNOT be withheld.

And the LAST thing the Republicans could do was allow a mere pittance like the Will of the People to get in the way of all that... could they?

After all, what if we said "no?"

So, here's today's quiz, boys and girls.  Name the governors of this state who have EVER unilaterally, without legislative approval, implemented a tax or a fee.

Go on... I'll wait.

(Tick, tock.  Insert Final Jeopardy music theme here.)

Give up?

The answer is:  NONE.

It's NEVER happened.  The authority to unilaterally implement a tax or a fee without legislative approval DOES NOT EXIST.

Much like the ability of the Supreme Court to force the Legislature to go along with their idea of school funding: THAT AUTHORITY DOES NOT EXIST.

THEN, we fast forward to the general fund/operating budget.

And guess what?

That SAME Lieutenant Governor REVERSED HIMSELF, and the previously UNCONSTITUTIONAL Rule is suddenly and inexplicably, well, CONSTITUTIONAL again!

LEGISLATIVE MAGIC!

"There's no place like home, no place like home..."

You remember back when Owen killed the rule and how that got so much coverage by the local media?  Well, they didn't seem to have anything to say about Owen reversing himself for the General Fund Budget.

Wonder why?

Where have you heard about that... except here?  Why wasn't declaring the rule constitutional given as much coverage as declaring it UNconstitutional?

Aspiring gubernatorial candidate and GOP Chief Budget writer Sen.Andy Hill (R-45) was like a kid in a candy store as a result.

He could take all these leftist votes and make all these leftist amendments to the budget that he KNEW were not going to pass... even with 29 votes (30 were needed under the GOP Super Majority rule) and Hill was, frequently, the 29th vote.

And that garbage will look GREAT on a campaign flyer, won't it?

Now, the GOP Senate, having screwed us without even the benefit of lubrication, has provided all the cover local pols need to follow suit: watch now, as cities left and right jack the tab fee without asking and find various other insidious ways to hurt our wallets even more.

After all, they're only doing what the GOP Senate has done, so who can get mad?

THIS is the microcosm of why I am out of campaigns, permanently.

THIS is the kind of crap the left is known for.  The GOP is SUPPOSED to be BETTER than that.

And those I believed in... worked so hard to get elected... many of them have thrown it all away.

I am simply too old for this... and I'm done.  And when asked "why," this is what I am going to point to.  My personal betrayal and the betrayal of the people of this state by politicians who view their vision as supreme and who look down on us because they believe we simply can't understand, or they feel compelled to exhibit that nonsensical "leadership" word that's kicked around whenever they intend to bend us over.

The problem is that many of us DO "understand."

All too well.