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News & ArtsThursday, January 17, 2013
Olympia What Sort of Governor Will Jay Inslee Be?
Posted by Dominic Holden on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 7:01 AM
Washington State swore in Jay Inslee as our 23rd governor yesterday amid a hail of talking points. We also bid adieu to Chris Gregoire, who was widely regarded as an apologist for compromises with a GOP minority, a pushover for Tim Eyman's anti-tax agenda, a coward when dealing with the federal government, and a generally absent leader. But hey, she wasn't Dino Rossi—and that can't be said enough. Will Inslee be a better leader, a leader who can campaign to build strong legislative majorities and hustle to pass progressive bills?
At his swearing in speech—which, oddly, did not include swearing—Inslee said some great stuff: like hoping to sign a reproductive parity act! He also said some squirrelly stuff: like parroting Republican talking points on education, saying that adequately funding our schools amounts to "gimmicks or blind allocation of money" that was less important than "innovation and reform." Ugh. And to make that worse, his staff said last week that Inslee would veto new taxes to pay for schools.
Which means Inslee's future performance is anybody's guess—so let's guess!
1
In his favor, he's a fella, so people are less likely to belittle whatever he does manage to accomplish.
2
squirrelly stuff = stuff voters support (like no new taxes, no new nanny state programs and yes charter schools).
Even when liberals win in WA state, they lose.
Even when liberals win in WA state, they lose.
3
Poppa Jay will follow Papa Bam as another tax lusting lib who immediately dropped his no tax pledge on getting into office.
4
dom,
inslee is being weird on education funding because dan (TESC) evans and bill and melinda (ALEC) gates both (collectively) support charter schools. its really extra ALEC weird down in oly right now. alot of bad shit being hidden. so long as dan evans and bill gates and melinda gates both have jay inslee's ear on this issue, education is in big trouble in this state under his term. they are going to try and privatize it.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fort…
(alot of rolls in that costco picture up there, besides all the alec)
"Bill Gates Sr., co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Jeff Raikes, CEO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Tony James, COO, Blackstone Group. Middle row, starting behind grill: Richard Galanti, CFO, Costco; Jim Sinegal, CEO, Costco; Rick Libenson, former COO, Price Co. Back row: Jeff Brotman, chairman, Costco; Dan Evans, former U.S. senator and governor.."
http://www.evergreen.edu/annualreport/20…
http://www.evergreen.edu/scholarships/sc…
inslee is being weird on education funding because dan (TESC) evans and bill and melinda (ALEC) gates both (collectively) support charter schools. its really extra ALEC weird down in oly right now. alot of bad shit being hidden. so long as dan evans and bill gates and melinda gates both have jay inslee's ear on this issue, education is in big trouble in this state under his term. they are going to try and privatize it.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fort…
(alot of rolls in that costco picture up there, besides all the alec)
"Bill Gates Sr., co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Jeff Raikes, CEO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Tony James, COO, Blackstone Group. Middle row, starting behind grill: Richard Galanti, CFO, Costco; Jim Sinegal, CEO, Costco; Rick Libenson, former COO, Price Co. Back row: Jeff Brotman, chairman, Costco; Dan Evans, former U.S. senator and governor.."
http://www.evergreen.edu/annualreport/20…
http://www.evergreen.edu/scholarships/sc…
6
Whenever I feel sad about state politics, I remind myself: hey, at least Rob McKenna isn't governor.
8
The problem in this state as everywhere continues to be the Republican Party and its enablers. If the Democrats had a supermajority then we could complain about their fecklessness. Well, the anti-tax attitude of voters that cuts across party identification is also a huge issue. People want a lot of services without paying for them.
And while the poster @ 4/5 comes off a bit like a conspiracy monger, he's right to put the blame on prominent education "reformers" like Bill Gates. Why we should take public education advice from someone who went to private school his whole life (until he dropped out of college) I have no idea. What we need is equitable and sufficient funding, which will require higher taxes. Gates (or his father, at least) has been good on pushing for more taxes, particularly on the wealthy, so his involvement is not all bad.
And while the poster @ 4/5 comes off a bit like a conspiracy monger, he's right to put the blame on prominent education "reformers" like Bill Gates. Why we should take public education advice from someone who went to private school his whole life (until he dropped out of college) I have no idea. What we need is equitable and sufficient funding, which will require higher taxes. Gates (or his father, at least) has been good on pushing for more taxes, particularly on the wealthy, so his involvement is not all bad.
9
@6, true that. It's sad that in Washington the governorship is only ever sought seriously by bad Republicans and middling Dems. So long as the GOP doesn't win it, things may not be as bad as they could be, but we'll always be glum they're not better, too.
10
I voted for option 5, because he has a secret strategy to wear kilts.
But good points about so-called Education Reformers who never participated in public schools at any point, and who actively import foreign degreed people to work for cheap instead of funding local educators.
But good points about so-called Education Reformers who never participated in public schools at any point, and who actively import foreign degreed people to work for cheap instead of funding local educators.
12
i ain't a conspiracy monger im just joking mostly, but the other ALEC stuff is in fact very true, weirdly enough. this is all just weird old boy chamber of commerce shit. i think its all gay myself, but who am i.
(i am not serious there, ok all yous)
http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/oct/1…
(i am not serious there, ok all yous)
http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/oct/1…
13
from the Seattle Weekly*
ok, here:
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweek…
Why'd they do it?
Bribery is one possible explanation. To get their victory, Republicans promised their Democratic allies the Senate's top jobs. Tom becomes the new majority leader, Sheldon the president pro tempore. Washington Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz holds a Machiavellian view. Speaking in particular of Tom, he says, "I think it's a power grab by an egotistical politician."
Yet it seems likely that something deeper was at work. Sheldon tells SW that, as a legislator from a rural district (comprised of parts of Mason, Thurston and Kitsap counties), he got tired of the Puget Sound-centrism evident among Democrats. If they remained in control this year, he says, the lion's share of Senate committee chairs would have gone to legislators from either Seattle or Tacoma. Last year, in what he sees as evidence of "insensitivity" to his part of the state, the Democrats proposed a budget that would have cut $1.2 million from the Mason County budget.
Tom tells SW that he still considers himself a "staunch Democrat," but also concedes that he's more fiscally conservative than many in his party. He says Democrats have a "we can't say no to anybody" approach, particularly when it comes to their favorite government-funded programs. "Their first option is just to raise revenue," he complains, adding that they intended to exercise that option this year.
ok, here:
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweek…
Why'd they do it?
Bribery is one possible explanation. To get their victory, Republicans promised their Democratic allies the Senate's top jobs. Tom becomes the new majority leader, Sheldon the president pro tempore. Washington Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz holds a Machiavellian view. Speaking in particular of Tom, he says, "I think it's a power grab by an egotistical politician."
Yet it seems likely that something deeper was at work. Sheldon tells SW that, as a legislator from a rural district (comprised of parts of Mason, Thurston and Kitsap counties), he got tired of the Puget Sound-centrism evident among Democrats. If they remained in control this year, he says, the lion's share of Senate committee chairs would have gone to legislators from either Seattle or Tacoma. Last year, in what he sees as evidence of "insensitivity" to his part of the state, the Democrats proposed a budget that would have cut $1.2 million from the Mason County budget.
Tom tells SW that he still considers himself a "staunch Democrat," but also concedes that he's more fiscally conservative than many in his party. He says Democrats have a "we can't say no to anybody" approach, particularly when it comes to their favorite government-funded programs. "Their first option is just to raise revenue," he complains, adding that they intended to exercise that option this year.
14
ALEC = DLC
same difference. the DLC came as a response to ALEC.
and they both are there exclusively to hide a free enterprise chamber of commerce agenda. the word "hide" is key here, "hiding" is what they do best. billions get spent "hiding" what is really going on here. and they get away with it 70% of the time, even here in progressive washington.
but they are definitely NOT in seattle, or olympia where i live either, or so i am told by everyone. ALEC is everywhere else in washington state but these 2 strategic locations. (see, this is how they pull this all off btw) we are all just dumb, they are smart.
same difference. the DLC came as a response to ALEC.
and they both are there exclusively to hide a free enterprise chamber of commerce agenda. the word "hide" is key here, "hiding" is what they do best. billions get spent "hiding" what is really going on here. and they get away with it 70% of the time, even here in progressive washington.
but they are definitely NOT in seattle, or olympia where i live either, or so i am told by everyone. ALEC is everywhere else in washington state but these 2 strategic locations. (see, this is how they pull this all off btw) we are all just dumb, they are smart.
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