News Reagan Hypocrisy Lives On
posted by May 17 at 16:08 PM
onRepublican King County Council Member Reagan Dunn (his mom Jennifer named him after then Gov. Ronald Reagan) has an editorial in today’s Seattle Times supporting his legislative proposal to require the County to mail out individualized breakdowns of how your property taxes are being spent.
You can already get the info several ways—calling the county, calling your mortgage broker etc.—but it’s a fine idea. I’m for it.
However, why doesn’t Council Member Dunn—who says of his proposal in today’s editorial, “The right of the people to be informed about where their tax dollars are going is fundamental to our democracy“— support another idea that’s fundamental to our democracy: Making it easier to vote.
Just like tracking your tax dollars on-line or by contacting the County or your mortgage broker is inconvenient, it’s also inconvenient to skip out of work early on Tuesdays and take the bus to your polling place. So, just like Dunn’s proposal makes it easier to track your tax dollars, the Democrats passed legislation making it easier to vote. The County mails your ballots to you.
So, he wants to make it easier for you to know where your tax dollars are going, but he doesn’t want to make it easier for you to vote on those tax measures.
Well played Reagan.
Comments
Um, voting by mail has always been an option -- anyone could sign up to do so. The measure that Dunn voted against made voting by mail mandatory.
Say what you will about the merits & drawbacks of all-mail elections, but don't be so disingenuous as to suggest that Dunn voted against making it easier to vote.
Republicans have nothing to gain from more people voting. Their ilk, to their credit, are pretty consistent compared to those who vote Dem... wasn't voting a "record turnout" during Clinton?
Sending ballots to residents is a great idea, I think. Can states and localities decide to do this for Presidential elections, or is that stuff controlled by the feds?
Mailing a property tax breakdown to homeowners seems kind of silly though. I'm all for making tax info public (which it is), but not only does this seem like a colossal waste of paper, the fact that he's incensed over PROPERTY TAX specifically smacks of "outraged Libertarian" bullshit.
Why do homeowners think they're the ONLY ones that pay property tax? I got news for you dickwads, not only do RENTERS pay the property owners tax, renters don't have the luxury of a deductable mortgage.
I think we both know the answer to your question, Josh. Dougsf certainly does.
What I want to know is, why is this small-government Reagan conservative calling for a big new government bureaucracy here? Those tax breakdowns aren't going to print and mail themselves.
I also wonder if it might backfire a little bit and blow a hole in your average blowhard's "damn welfare queens get 50% of my hard-earned tax money" argument.
Voting is not controlled by the Feds - by the states usually run by the counties.
Why would a mortgage broker know where the taxes are spent? They just pay it.
Now more interesting would be to force landlords to tell tenants what part of their rent goes to various taxes.
As Darryl pointed out on HorsesAss.org, anybody with access to the Web can make a couple of appropriate clicks on the King County site and find extensive reports on the County's annual revenues and expenditures.
Even Reagan Dunn.
Have to agree with joykiller that it seems that even a broken clock is right twice a day and you seem to have picked one that someone told him how to vote on correctly.
On the other hand, anyone named after Ronald Reagan is a dickless momma's boy, and this kid got where he is on nepotism (only in the OC of WA would that brainless see-you-next-tuesday engender goodwill). Another totally useless measure wasting money and time -just like the crap his namesake put through to benefit his cronies - another fiscal conservative at work.
If this dweeb is a leading light for WA Republicans, they're in deeeeeep doo doo.
Blah, blah, blah. So we'll get a letter in the mail showing how our property taxes are spent. The political outliers, such as myself, will open it up and read it, cluck our tongues a few times about too much/too little being spent on x or y, and still have Ron Sims as County Exec, predictable County Council members, and the same spending patterns we've had. Fine idea, but the people most likely to read it are the same ones who'll take the trouble of going to the county's website.
Disagree with #1: All-mail voting makes it easier to vote. Many poll voters don't actually vote because it's too cumbersome. They don't take the time to find the form, fill it out, and mail it back.
With all-mail voting, a ballot magically appears at your apartment, making it a hell of a lot easier to vote.
sure, all-mail voting means more people will vote, but has anyone studied what it means for low-income voters? i'm asking this sincerely, not rhetorically. my fear is that low-income voters, who often move, live with others, etc. might not get their ballots. (are there provisional ballots in this.) but then, it would be harder to do voter initimidation, too. i did some preliminary googling but didn't find much. anyone know anything about this?
Ignoratio elenchi (also known as irrelevant conclusion or irrelevant thesis) is the formal fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but which proves or supports a different proposition than the one it is purporting to prove or support. "Ignoratio elenchi" can be roughly translated by ignorance of refutation, that is, ignorance of what a refutation is; "elenchi" is from the Greek έλεγχος, meaning an argument of disproof or refutation.
@9: Seriously? I mean, most people already "magically" received their ballots in the mail. If voting at the polls (under the old system) wasn't convenient, well, you could always ask to "magically" receive your ballot by mail. I understand the logistical arguments behind mandatory VBM, but the convenience argument is trivial at best.
In any case, my point was that Dunn's opposition to mandatory VBM and his support for this new measure aren't inconsistent, and Josh's attempt to somehow link the two is embarassing.
#11 gets it, I think.
As anyone who's ever had the painful experience of hearing Reagan Dunn try to make a point can attest, the boy is NOT the brightest porch light on the block.
But his hair is fabulous.
All for a brerakdown of where our money goes. How about a breakdown that shows what money is going to politicians in form of retirement package. How much money and benefits does Mother (Sagging Vagina) Jenffier Dunn get. .Or another cunt Port Commisioner Pat Davis. . .
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