Tim Eyman has apparently taken the loss of I-1033 without batting an eye. He announced yesterday that his next attempt to fuck over the state budget will be to preserve the two-thirds majority required by the legislature to raise taxes:

That rule is already in state law because of earlier initiatives. But the Legislature can amend them with a simple majority vote after they're two years old.

That expiration date runs out at the end of this year. And top Democrats say it's virtually certain they'll suspend the two-thirds requirement to help fill the growing state budget deficit.

The two-thirds rule was one of Eyman's earlier projects, the Washington Taxpayer Protection Initiative (I-960), passed when we weren't in quite the same gigantic hole we're in now. It pretty much terrified lawmakers from proposing sensible legislation then, in the good old days without the $2.6 billion deficit. Now were looking at "streamlining" natural resources programs and... four-minute Keno (?).

This is where Eyman stops being a politician (was he one ever?) and starts more resembling a high school kid running for student body president promising extended recess and five-day weekends to reduce teacher salaries. These tax-limiting initiatives were impractical, and wielded a lot of destructive power, in better times for the state budget (everyone still remembers the $30 car tabs fiasco, right?)—so we dodged a very large bullet with I-1033. If this one passes, our options become even more limited than they currently are, and, looking at how big if a hit we're taking right now, we need to leave as many options open as possible.