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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Stranger Election Control Board SECB Endorsement: No on I-1053

Posted by Stranger Election Control Board on Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 8:37 AM

Initiative zombie Tim Eyman is behind this thing—reason enough to vote no. But if you want policy reasons, here they are: Initiative 1053 would require a two-thirds majority to pass any tax increase in the state legislature. Sound familiar? That's because Eyman got voters to pass essentially this same stupid initiative in 2007. (Realistically, there's no way the legislature can get a two-thirds vote on a tax measure when it takes a mere 17 Teabagging Republicans in the state senate to block any tax—even a tax that makes sense.) Thankfully, after the requisite two-year waiting period, Democrats suspended the two-thirds majority requirement this year and then raised a handful of taxes to maintain the most basic state services (like health care for the poorest kids in the state) during the worst recession in state history. Has that worst recession in state history ended? No, but Eyman thinks that putting the legislature in a straitjacket by conning voters into passing I-1053 is a great way to cure what ails us. Want proof that he's full of shit? See California, which is a bankrupt, cracked-out, never-ending clusterfuck thanks to its two-thirds majority requirement. Vote no.

Check out all of our endorsements and jump into the discussion over here.

(Don't like to read? Skim the SECB CHEAT SHEET!!!!)