Follow the $$$$: WA Initiative Campaigns

StopGreed.org:

The following charts depict the major contributors to the five corporate initiatives appearing on Washington State’s general election ballot this November.

As the illustrations show, more than seventy five percent of the money behind each initiative came directly from a publicly traded or privately held corporation. Four out of the five of the initiatives are mostly funded by just one or two named entities.

The instruments of direct democracy — put into place a hundred years ago to give citizens a way to combat the influence of robber barons and wealthy tycoons — are now being ironically used by corporations to trick us into giving up our sovereignty and handing over our common wealth to them. It’s a sorry state of affairs, but not one we have to accept. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Take a look at the big money backers of I-1053 (Eyman), I-1082 (Worker's Comp), I-1107 (Beverages), I-1100 (Liquor), I-1105 (Liquor).

Burbank on WA taxes: "...middle class families pay quadruple the tax rate of the very wealthy.--- place an income tax on the wealthy"

John Burbank (Seattle Post Globe):

Can we put all these pieces together to create a common sense solution? The people behind Initiative 1077 [since refiled as I-1098], and I am one of them, think so. What does this initiative do? It cuts property taxes. In Snohomish County, that means on average a $127 cut in property taxes for families and a $445 cut in property taxes for businesses. The initiative also eliminates the business tax for the vast majority of businesses, leaving the current tax in place only for the top one-thirteenth of businesses.

It brings in $1 billion of new public revenue, dedicated to education, expansion of Basic Health, public health and long-term care for the disabled and elderly.

Where is the magic?

The magic is in the beginnings of a fair tax structure. Initiative 1077 puts in place an income tax on the wealthy, the top 3 percent of families in our state, those with incomes in excess of $400,000 a year. It is not a big tax. For a family making $500,000, it amounts to $4,382 in net taxes, or less than 1 percent of their income. For a family making $1 million, it amounts to less than 3 percent of income. Put all these contributions together from the wealthiest 3 percent of families, and we have enough for the property and business tax cuts and expansion of education and health care.(italics by Howie)

So this may be a good idea, but can it win? A poll by KING-TV showed 66 percent support for this approach. We’ll see how that holds up.

We can put on our ideological and no-can-do blinders and dismiss Initiative 1077, or we can engage in a vital discussion for our democracy. I am rooting for the latter.

Howie P.S.: Here's the whole op-ed.

Taxing high earners in WA: "I-1077: Where East Meets West"

David Goldstein:

I’m guessing there were an awful lot of folks who were awfully surprised by yesterday’s KING5/SurveyUSA poll that showed 66% of respondents supporting I-1077’s high earners income tax, and only 27% opposed. That’s a better than two-to-one margin, similar to the last time an income tax measure hit the ballot back in 1973… only in reverse.

Of course, I-1077’s backers wouldn’t have gone forward with the initiative if they didn’t have polling data suggesting it stood a reasonable chance of success, but no doubt even they were pleased by the SurveyUSA results. The poll shows I-1077 passing, not just by an overwhelming margin, but in every single demographic group. 63% of independents, 57% of Republicans… even self-identified conservatives approved by a 50%-45% margin.

Over at Publicola Josh is intrigued that the measure actually draws more support in Eastern Washington than in Western, 66% and 63% respectively. But assuming respondents understand the initiative and who it impacts, such a result makes quite a bit of sense.

After all, the Puget Sound region isn’t just the population center of the state, it is also home to a disproportionate number of Washington’s high earners, so I-1077 doesn’t just tax the rich, it also taxes Seattle. Think folks out in Eastern Washington won’t take a bit of pleasure in that? Well think again.

Yeah, sure, it would be more than a little cynical for I-1077 proponents to co-opt Eastern Washington’s “fuck Seattle” attitude in an effort to win votes from the other side of the Cascades. But hell… whatever works.

Howie P.S.: The poll numbers will certainly tighten after Big Money starts its Big Lie(s) ad campaign before November.