Washington 2020: The Calm Before the Drizzle

[Meeker]

We could realistically lose the State Senate (the 10th and the 25th are in real danger and the only thing keeping us in the majority at that point would be Tim Sheldon).

Not that having Democratic control of the State Senate is really worth anything given what happened last session...

[bgwah]

Maybe, but who knows, we might win back 2010 losses, too. I know Jarrett's old seat is up again next year (last year was a special).

[CultureKing]

We could realistically lose the State Senate (the 10th and the 25th are in real danger and the only thing keeping us in the majority at that point would be Tim Sheldon).

Not that having Democratic control of the State Senate is really worth anything given what happened last session...

Tim Sheldon.....


I have voted against that man so many times and yet he still refuses to go away!

By the way what are the chances that I no longer am represented by Sheldon after redistricting? I live in the Western Thurston County section of his LD (the 35th).

[Meeker]

Tough to say. Fred Finn lives around there and they'll have to keep his home in the 35th. But the district is also going to have to shift towards the Aberdeen/Hoquiam area so it may lose parts of Thurston County to account for that.

[Seattle]

Not that having Democratic control of the State Senate is really worth anything given what happened last session...

Well, what else could they have done other than cut spending....? The public rejected any form of tax increase....

[Meeker]

Not that having Democratic control of the State Senate is really worth anything given what happened last session...

Well, what else could they have done other than cut spending....? The public rejected any form of tax increase....

The shredding of workers' comp was entirely unnecessary.

[bgwah]

I honestly haven't been paying a lot of attention to legislative redistricting. I'm thinking there's a good chance I'll be moved from 5 to 45, though.

[greenforest32]

Is Washington state going to have major budget fights in the legislature every year now like California because of that 2010 ballot measure that mandated a 2/3 supermajority for tax increases?

We don't really have major budget fights here in Oregon but we do have a 3/5 supermajority requirement for tax increases.

I really think raising taxes should only need a simple majority

[bgwah]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2015870631_kennewick_candidate_threatens.html

wtf

[Seattle]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2015870631_kennewick_candidate_threatens.html

wtf

Incredibly disturbing.... Does he value life that lowly....

[redcommander]

Washington has an illegal immigrant problem?

[Meeker]

We have illegal immigrants, yes, especially in the Yakima and Tri-Cities area. I wouldn't say that's a "problem" though. They keep the economy running out there.

[Meeker]

Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt is apparently thinking about running in the 3rd District, but he's not saying which party he'd run as because he's a moderate or something (I'm sure the Washington Democratic Party is going to be ready to jump right on board after starting out your campaign with a statement like that!) http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/aug/11/vancouver-mayor-weighing-congressional-race/

Setting aside the extreme difficulty he has now created for himself in winning over the Democratic base, Leavitt would also be a pretty awful candidate given his record. He beat a long-time incumbent in 2009 after running on an anti-toll platform for the Columbia River Crossing. He then completely reversed his position several months into office. I'd imagine his approval rating is pretty awful and the attack ads pretty much write themselves.

The article also mentions that Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart - a committed Democrat who is friends with State Senator Craig Pridemore - is mulling over the race. He'd be a much better candidate though I still suspect he'd end up coming up short.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

I hear Leavitt endorsed Dino Rossi last year, which I would think would eliminate any chance of him having support of the Democratic Party.

[bgwah]

Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt is apparently thinking about running in the 3rd District, but he's not saying which party he'd run as because he's a moderate or something (I'm sure the Washington Democratic Party is going to be ready to jump right on board after starting out your campaign with a statement like that!) http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/aug/11/vancouver-mayor-weighing-congressional-race/

Setting aside the extreme difficulty he has now created for himself in winning over the Democratic base, Leavitt would also be a pretty awful candidate given his record. He beat a long-time incumbent in 2009 after running on an anti-toll platform for the Columbia River Crossing. He then completely reversed his position several months into office. I'd imagine his approval rating is pretty awful and the attack ads pretty much write themselves.

The article also mentions that Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart - a committed Democrat who is friends with State Senator Craig Pridemore - is mulling over the race. He'd be a much better candidate though I still suspect he'd end up coming up short.

He'll probably wait for Jeanne Harris to give him orders before he makes his decision.

[Frodo]

Is Washington state going to have major budget fights in the legislature every year now like California because of that 2010 ballot measure that mandated a 2/3 supermajority for tax increases?

We don't really have major budget fights here in Oregon but we do have a 3/5 supermajority requirement for tax increases.

I really think raising taxes should only need a simple majority

If anti-tax conservatives demand supermajorities of two-thirds or three-fifths, is it so unreasonable to demand similar-sized majorities for cutting taxes and spending? 

[redcommander]

We have illegal immigrants, yes, especially in the Yakima and Tri-Cities area. I wouldn't say that's a "problem" though. They keep the economy running out there.

I meant on par with say California or other places in the Southwest, where there is a lot of pressure on public services because of it. I know the farming industry basically relies on them nowadays, so it doesn't surprise me too much that there are many in Yakima, but I never really hear anything in the news about a Washington state Jan Brewer like figure, so I haven't really associated illegal immigration as a major issue with Washingtonians.

[CultureKing]

We have illegal immigrants, yes, especially in the Yakima and Tri-Cities area. I wouldn't say that's a "problem" though. They keep the economy running out there.

I meant on par with say California or other places in the Southwest, where there is a lot of pressure on public services because of it. I know the farming industry basically relies on them nowadays, so it doesn't surprise me too much that there are many in Yakima, but I never really hear anything in the news about a Washington state Jan Brewer like figure, so I haven't really associated illegal immigration as a major issue with Washingtonians.

That's because we like to keep our crazy republicans as far away from the governorship as possible.

[Seattle]

We have illegal immigrants, yes, especially in the Yakima and Tri-Cities area. I wouldn't say that's a "problem" though. They keep the economy running out there.

I meant on par with say California or other places in the Southwest, where there is a lot of pressure on public services because of it. I know the farming industry basically relies on them nowadays, so it doesn't surprise me too much that there are many in Yakima, but I never really hear anything in the news about a Washington state Jan Brewer like figure, so I haven't really associated illegal immigration as a major issue with Washingtonians.

That's because we like to keep our crazy republicans as far away from the governorship as possible.

More like, the Washington state Republican party knows they won't have the slightest chance of ever catching the governorship if they ran a far right candidate.

[redcommander]

We have illegal immigrants, yes, especially in the Yakima and Tri-Cities area. I wouldn't say that's a "problem" though. They keep the economy running out there.

I meant on par with say California or other places in the Southwest, where there is a lot of pressure on public services because of it. I know the farming industry basically relies on them nowadays, so it doesn't surprise me too much that there are many in Yakima, but I never really hear anything in the news about a Washington state Jan Brewer like figure, so I haven't really associated illegal immigration as a major issue with Washingtonians.

That's because we like to keep our crazy republicans as far away from the governorship as possible.

More like, the Washington state Republican party knows they won't have the slightest chance of ever catching the governorship if they ran a far right candidate.

I'm not talking about Republicans, I'm just observing that since no one seems to mention the issue in the state, that it isn't much of a problem in Washington.

[CultureKing]

We have illegal immigrants, yes, especially in the Yakima and Tri-Cities area. I wouldn't say that's a "problem" though. They keep the economy running out there.

I meant on par with say California or other places in the Southwest, where there is a lot of pressure on public services because of it. I know the farming industry basically relies on them nowadays, so it doesn't surprise me too much that there are many in Yakima, but I never really hear anything in the news about a Washington state Jan Brewer like figure, so I haven't really associated illegal immigration as a major issue with Washingtonians.

That's because we like to keep our crazy republicans as far away from the governorship as possible.

More like, the Washington state Republican party knows they won't have the slightest chance of ever catching the governorship if they ran a far right candidate.

I'm not talking about Republicans, I'm just observing that since no one seems to mention the issue in the state, that it isn't much of a problem in Washington.

Oh there are republicans that talk about it constantly, they just don't really have the means of doing anything. Meanwhile the rest of the state seems to be rather fine with immigrants, although I would say that its more of an apathetic state-wide view rather than a pro-immigrants/immigration view.

On a side note there definitely are a relatively large number of immigrants in the state, so it's not that there simply "isn't an immigration 'problem'" but rather the difference in public perception compared to other states.

[CultureKing]

So by what margin is the tunnel authorization thing going to fail by today?

And more importantly: does it matter?

[Seattle]

So by what margin is the tunnel authorization thing going to fail by today?

And more importantly: does it matter?

Lol. I wish they'd just build something. I'm not fan of the tunnel, but honestly, were playing a very dangerous game.....

[bgwah]

Tunnel "wins" with 60%.

Hague only got 39% in her primary---definitely might see her go down in November. I hope so, at least. Mitchell is currently leading Creighton for 2nd place.

[CultureKing]

Tunnel "wins" with 60%.

Hague only got 39% in her primary---definitely might see her go down in November. I hope so, at least. Mitchell is currently leading Creighton for 2nd place.

Thank god. I think Seattle may have finally learned its lesson after the Monorail debacle (just think, I could be jetting around town in a freaking awesome monorail had voters not been nutzo)