Emboldened
by the COSTCO-bought passage of Initiative 1183 to privatize state
liquor sales, politicians on both sides of the aisle and their
supporters in Big Media have wasted no time once again blaming public
servants for our economic mess as a smokescreen to protect corporations
from paying their fair share.
But they might want to look for lessons from as far away as Ohio and as close to home as Snohomish County.
And we’ve saved the best for last: 27 ways to save public safety, public services and higher education by cutting tax breaks.
But first….
An
editorial in today’s The Olympian blamed the Federation-led Health Care
Coalition -- who rejected Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire’s request to
re-open health care negotiations so you’ll pay more while corporations
sacrifice nothing.
The
Olympian, echoing the governor’s office, said state employees who have
sacrificed more than 10 percent of their pay – including successive
rounds of furloughs, a 3 percent pay cut and health premium costs that
increased at least 25 percent – should give even more, while
corporations sit on billions in unpaid taxes—otherwise known as “tax
breaks.”
The politicians, the corporations and Big Media have their talking points down. Wrote The Olympian:
“Union leaders have left open the possibility that lawmakers will order
additional cuts in staffing and/or pay cuts for all state workers.”
Translation: Blame public servants. Protect corporate greed.
Now
it isn’t just the current Democratic governor who’s trotting out these
talking points. Republican state Attorney General Rob McKenna used
Tuesday’s Election Day to kick off his bid to be the next governor at a
posh Bellevue reception hall. As the Seattle Times reports, McKenna and
Gregoire are on the same page. “McKenna also said he’d try to force
state workers to pay a higher share of health-care costs, something
Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire has already pursued,” the Times reported
today (Nov. 9).
Translation: Blame public servants. Protect corporate greed.
And
it appears the Republican minority in the Legislature also has their
“blame public servants” talking points down, too. They tipped their hand
when Rep. Charles Ross of the 14th District appeared on KIT radio in
Yakima Friday morning (Nov. 4). Our Community Corrections officers and
the police chief came to talk about the harmful impact of the governor’s
potential proposal to end community supervision of offenders released
from prison. But Ross came armed with charts and graphs and a book of
talking points.
Summary: Attack collective bargaining and contract rights.
He said we ought to do in Washington what governors have tried in Wisconsin, Ohio and elsewhere.
“When
you look across the nation right now, there are states that are
realizing and going back and saying, ‘Hold on a second, that choice to
create collectively bargained contracts with one person – the governor –
is not working,’” Ross said.
Later,
he said, “You have contracts that are in place that we cannot stop, you
cannot adjust for a situation like this, to the point where I can
review lawsuits where we’ve tried to make adjustments to people’s pay
and benefits that now we get sued….”
Without
the rollback of collective bargaining and “contract law,” he said, “the
only solution is layoffs and that’s the worst solution.”
Still
later, said Ross, the state needs to “re-prioritize….And a lot has been
done through the whole process of two things, contract law and also
entitlement programming to where the courts come back because we’re
being sued on that very issue that it we decline those people the
benefits, they’re going to come back and enjoin us.”
Still
later, he said, “And it’s not just on the poor folks – I want to make
sure that’s clear – it’s on pension benefits on auto-pilot, it’s many
other facets of we spend the tax dollar that’s truly not in our
control.”
And
referring to the expected passage of the liquor privatization
initiative, Ross said: “I’m telling you anytime the state has an
opportunity to remove itself from a function of business it should.
We’ve tried that in the DSHS world, in social services, we’ve been sued
for sending work out to the private sector. We’ve been sued. It’s been
prevented.”
The
reference to DSHS was apparently to the union’s victory in court this
past May when a judge issued an injunction against the fast-track
contracting out of Child Welfare services. He may have also referred to
the union’s recent court action on pensions and health insurance.
So
Ross, a legislator we deeply respect, was just doing his loyal duty to
his party by trotting out the talking points inspired by the Unholy
Trinity of the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Koch Brothers
and Grover Norquist.
Translation: Blame public servants. Protect corporate greed.
But, as the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”
So Gregoire, McKenna, Ross, ALEC, the Kochs, Norquist, Big Media can’t change the facts:
FACT 1: OHIO
Last
night, voters in Ohio rejected their governor’s attempt to strip away
public employee collective bargaining rights. It wasn’t close – a nearly
2-1 margin to retain workers’ rights. Ross may use Ohio as a model for
rolling back collective bargaining here, but voters saw through the
smokescreen there. They’d do it here, too.
FACT 2: WISCONSIN
After
Gov. Scott Walker’s bill stripping public employees of their collective
bargaining rights, two of his supporters were recalled, giving the
Democrats working control of Wisconsin’s state Senate. Walker and
several other senators can’t be recalled until they’ve been in office
for a year. But those recall efforts are coming – while the FBI probe of
Walker’s campaign and former county executive office continues.
FACT 3: SNOHOMISH COUNTY
Democratic
Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon was considered a goner. He
faced a nasty campaign, including a last-minute criminal investigation
sparked by an anonymous – and suspicious source. Reardon won in a
landslide and in doing so sent a message to other timid Democrats. “I’m
not your typical liberal Democrat,” Reardon told KING TV. “If you hit
me, I’m going to hit back. I’m a working-class kid from Everett. I think
Democrats lose when they sit on their hands. I don’t sit on my hands.”
FACT 4: PREPARE FOR WEEK OF ACTION NOV. 28-DEC. 2
We
believe the special legislative session that starts Nov. 28 will last
nearly until Christmas and then they’ll resume when the regular session
starts Jan. 9.
The
Federation and a broad-based coalition of labor, churches, community
groups and others are joining for a week of action Nov. 28-Dec. 2.
FACT 5: CUTTING CORPORATE GREED IS POSSIBLE
Guess
why the corporate forces and their supporters continue to blame you?
They know with the Occupy Movement there’s a movement to force
corporations to pay their fair share.
Everyone
cites the billions in tax breaks. But no one’s really toted up the
various possibilities of which could be closed to help tackle the newest
$2 billion deficit.
Until now.
We’ve
gathered 27 ideas put forward by just six groups that could roll back
more than $2.3 billion in tax breaks that largely benefit corporations.
The groups range from the Federation and its 3 percent corporate tax
break furlough proposal (to raise $450 million) to the Citizen
Commission on Performance Measurement of Tax Preferences, which proposes
ending $44 million in specific tax breaks.
We’ll have this list in a pdf form you can download from our website at www.wfse.org. It’s printed below, too.
Some
of these ideas may overlap and all members may not support some. But
our purpose in compiling this list is to show that many groups of
thoughtful citizens are proposing creative ideas to save our state
without devastating cuts.
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