I’m beginning to think the State of Washington needs to change when it goes into Legislative session, because in my view it’s gotten so scary it should coincide with Halloween.
This year, in the governor’s proposed budget, according to several stories I read, calls for about a 22 percent increase in spending, the largest in 20 years. Part of his logic, if you want to call it that, is revealed in his press conference.
He said “… Like many things in the state, we slashed these budgets during the recession,” he said. “Mental health was slashed. Our childcare system didn’t keep pace with demand. We didn’t pay for basic education. This budget asks if we care enough about our children and education and clean water to make those investments.”
Ah, there it is … do we care enough?
But did we really cut anything during the recession? And didn’t we just increase school “investment” significantly last session? But I guess it just wasn’t enough.
We have a good economy now, at least in Seattle and the Puget Sound, and it’s projected to cover half of what he wants to “invest” in now, but what happens when the economy goes south again? And it will.
“Investments” and “invest” are words used in his drivel to describe this massive tax and spending plan and I’m just not sure why he just doesn’t say so. I’m tired of the “do I care enough” guilt trip spenders dump on me.
Of course I care but I also care that the state agencies “care enough” to spend it carefully and do what they say they are going to.
Even scarier though is the fact that for some of his usual supporters, like state employee unions, even this huge increase is not enough.
Voters in this state recently and by significant margin rejected the so-called carbon tax, but he apparently doesn’t care.
The proposed capital gains tax on the “rich” is really rich as well.
What is it about hard work and success that needs to be punished by even more taxes? And why is working hard, taking financial risk, building a business, employing people and paying taxes that entitles the state to 9 percent when you want to retire and sell it?
Perhaps if this governor, or any before him, had shown some skill dealing with Western State Hospital, I’d be encouraged about his skill spending the kind of money he’s talking about here. But his results on that alone are dismal, cost a fortune, and after repeated failures led to federal aid being cut off.
Western State is just an indicator of the state’s inability handle meaningful, and really solvable problems. But for 1.1 billion dollars to solve the Orca issue, exactly what return should we expect to see for that kind of “investment.”
That seems to me a much more challenging problem than Western State is.
State Rep. Bruce Chandler, the ranking Republican on the House budget committee said of Inslee’s budget: “If you’re an Orca, a criminal, or someone who voted for the failed carbon tax in November, you probably like this budget,” “If you’re a small business owner, a family concerned about public safety, or the average citizen trying to make ends meet, you probably don’t.”
So, if we give the governor every tax hike, I mean “investment” he asks for, what exactly should we expect? Not much if history is any indicator.
Except demanding even more spending on who know what but if only we “care enough”.
•••
John McCroskey was Lewis County sheriff from 1995 to 2005. He lives outside Chehalis, and can be contacted at musingsonthemiddlefork@yahoo.com.
