Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, May 24, 2011
Olympia A Vow to Fight Budget Cuts at the Ballot Box
Posted by Eli Sanders on Tue, May 24, 2011 at 3:53 PM
Calling today's budget agreement a "serious setback for the elderly and people with disabilities," the Service Employees International Union announced it will go to the ballot this fall to fight cuts in home health care hours and decreased training for home health care workers.
“The legislature has decided to balance the budget on the backs of low-wage home care workers, ignoring the will of the voters in the process," said Adam Glickman, vice-president of SEIU Healthcare 775NW, in a statement to reporters. "They should be ashamed of themselves."
Glickman's group did not specify exactly what type of ballot measure it might push for—an initiative to restore just home health care funding? a broader initiative?—but SEIU made clear it wants to have something before voters in November.
Meanwhile, the Washington State Budget & Policy Center points out that this new budget is 90 percent cuts—on top of plenty of cuts that have already been instituted in recent years.
"Since the recession began," the center notes, "lawmakers have made approximately $5.5 billion in cuts. In the next 24 hours they plan to make an additional $4.5 billion in reductions which will impact children, seniors, students, and people with disabilities."
And, the center reminds: "An all-cuts budget was not the only approach that could have been taken."
1
" ignoring the will of the voters in the process"
That's funny, I thought the 'will of the voters' was loud and clear. No new taxes, as willed by 2/3s of WA State voters. How much more 'will' would he like to see?
"did not specify exactly what type of ballot measure it might push for"
There's a sure sign any new measure will be successful. I'm shakin' in my boots!
Speaking of cuts, how does a 5.95% budget increase over the next 2 years equal a cut, when inflation is at historic lows (deflation?) and immigration to WA state has slowed to less than 1% a year?
WA State budget increases 5.95%:
2009-11 Total Spending: $30.39B
2011-13 Total Spending: $32.20B
That's funny, I thought the 'will of the voters' was loud and clear. No new taxes, as willed by 2/3s of WA State voters. How much more 'will' would he like to see?
"did not specify exactly what type of ballot measure it might push for"
There's a sure sign any new measure will be successful. I'm shakin' in my boots!
Speaking of cuts, how does a 5.95% budget increase over the next 2 years equal a cut, when inflation is at historic lows (deflation?) and immigration to WA state has slowed to less than 1% a year?
WA State budget increases 5.95%:
2009-11 Total Spending: $30.39B
2011-13 Total Spending: $32.20B
6
@5
You're confused. Or I'll be charitable and assume confusion, since stupidity is the only other logical explanation.
Bill Boeing built a company which made products people want. Other than allowing unionization, he made good decisions. The end result is that hundreds of thousands of people work, pay their bills, marry and have kids, vacation and retire, all because one person who understood that others don't owe him a living built a company.
Bill Gates may be a ruthless businessman, but like Boeing his decisions and planning enable an awful lot of people to live good lives with reaonable economic security.
All liberals know is theft and jealousy of competent men and women. They invent stupid notions like the 'right' to health care, or food or housing or child care. The 'right' to these things is obtained by working and paying for them, not by any other process.
The current state budget simply is beginning to realize that any state which believes otherwise is bound for bankruptcy.
You're confused. Or I'll be charitable and assume confusion, since stupidity is the only other logical explanation.
Bill Boeing built a company which made products people want. Other than allowing unionization, he made good decisions. The end result is that hundreds of thousands of people work, pay their bills, marry and have kids, vacation and retire, all because one person who understood that others don't owe him a living built a company.
Bill Gates may be a ruthless businessman, but like Boeing his decisions and planning enable an awful lot of people to live good lives with reaonable economic security.
All liberals know is theft and jealousy of competent men and women. They invent stupid notions like the 'right' to health care, or food or housing or child care. The 'right' to these things is obtained by working and paying for them, not by any other process.
The current state budget simply is beginning to realize that any state which believes otherwise is bound for bankruptcy.
7
its very simple. the economy has grown over the years and the relative sizes of economic activity within different spheres has also changed. and those who have gained the most through those changes have effectively lobbied (or purchased) the government to not tax those growing spheres of economic activity. the result has been a dramatic shrinking of the size of government as a percentage of the economy. however, they've used the money not only to buy access & favorable taxation for themselves, but to convince the voting poplulation that taxes are too high & should be lowered. the bait & switch is that the taxes they propose lowering benefit them & not the population. especially when you consider that the revenue burden gets pushed down from the state to localities which then raise taxes & fees on the general population. so, by voting for lowering taxes, the population actually only lowers taxes on the rich & on corporations while they actually increase their own tax & fee burden. then the people making out like bandits from all of it continue to capitalize by pointing out that the population is paying too much in taxes, which then initiates another round of tax cuts (for the rich) and tax & fee hikes for the population. rinse & repeat until we end up in a place where the richest nation in the world supposedly can't afford healthcare for its citizens. the money is there, its just buying stock in 3rd world nations (whose economies are growing close to an order of magnitude faster than our own), instead of being invested in making our country a better place to be a citizen. and hey, if you are an ayn rand devotee & the strength of your nation isn't a concern, and all you care about is acting out a lunatic fringe right-wing ideology... then you can be happy, because you've got the government you want. the rest of us get to suffer (most not understanding how or why).
More...
9
@7 hit it out of the park.
Here's a nice slide show from Dimitri Orlov on the need to flip this process and get our economy serving everyone's needs rather than serving the excesses of the few.
Here's a nice slide show from Dimitri Orlov on the need to flip this process and get our economy serving everyone's needs rather than serving the excesses of the few.
10
"the economy has grown over the years and the relative sizes of economic activity within different spheres has also changed."
Definitely spoken like a philosophy school dropout; maybe you should have stayed in college and studied something useful. You know, something that would let you get a decent job.
No wonder you want someone else to pay your bills.
Definitely spoken like a philosophy school dropout; maybe you should have stayed in college and studied something useful. You know, something that would let you get a decent job.
No wonder you want someone else to pay your bills.
11
Way to go, SEIU out-of-touch union leadership! Make working people, such as your own members, pay for the budget crisis instead of making corporations! Is that the standard, tow-the-line Democratic Party response? Republicans say "Fuck you all! Drop dead! We work for the corporations!" The Democrats can't say the truth so they remain silent but their idiotic supporters say "NO, NO, NO... WE'LL pay to make up the difference if corporations won't!"
there's plenty of money to end the crisis and fully fund everything we need. But the Democrats refuse. And only the stupid vote for Democrats hoping that they'll be something they aren't: progressive and on the side of the people.
Voting for Democrats and expecting them NOT to be corporate whores is like voting for Republicans and expecting them not to be corporate whores. Either way, you're just fucking stupid for voting for Democrats and Republicans.
Want to end budget cuts? End the wars. Stop the bailouts. Tax the rich. Stop military aid to dicatorships. None of which are part of the Democratic Party platform.
there's plenty of money to end the crisis and fully fund everything we need. But the Democrats refuse. And only the stupid vote for Democrats hoping that they'll be something they aren't: progressive and on the side of the people.
Voting for Democrats and expecting them NOT to be corporate whores is like voting for Republicans and expecting them not to be corporate whores. Either way, you're just fucking stupid for voting for Democrats and Republicans.
Want to end budget cuts? End the wars. Stop the bailouts. Tax the rich. Stop military aid to dicatorships. None of which are part of the Democratic Party platform.
12
@11: You're right. History has shown that change must occur through a three-step process:
Step 1: Refuse to vote or participate in the sham of democratic elections.
Step 2: Loudly advocate a revolution that will make things all better, using the medium of blog comments.
Step 3: Utopia!
Step 1: Refuse to vote or participate in the sham of democratic elections.
Step 2: Loudly advocate a revolution that will make things all better, using the medium of blog comments.
Step 3: Utopia!
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