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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: longnshort who wrote (360235)	11/26/2007 12:52:05 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1576822

Tim Eyman is part of the anti Christ movement in this country. He is intent on enriching his own pockets while creating anarchy in state gov't. Supreme Court reversal plays into Eyman's hands In the initiative-writing industry, the only day almost as exhilarating as an Election Day when voters approve a measure is the day a court strikes it down. Especially if the initiative addresses a populist, everyman kind of topic such as tax-cutting. The tidal wave of indignation that follows is an amazingly powerful force. In the initiative business, one absolutely can win by losing! The surge of anger is so potent, politicians who may at one time have disliked a particular initiative begin calling special legislative sessions to announce they hear the will of the people. Gov. Christine Gregoire and House Speaker Frank Chopp — Democrats and usually no fans of initiative king Tim Eyman — are in a lather about holding a special session to reinstate the 1-percent property-tax limit imposed by his Initiative 747. It was struck down by the state Supreme Court. Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi had called relentlessly for just such a session. Gregoire resisted for a few days but now has called lawmakers back Nov. 29 to reinstate a cap. She also proposes a holiday goody: deferral of property taxes for families under the state's median-income level. In sports talk, Gregoire was chasing Republican challenger Rossi down the court when she effectively smacked the ball out of his hands. Rossi could have gained points if he had said something like "thanks," but after beating her up for not calling the session, he then turned around and said she was calling the session for the wrong reasons. Ouch. I vote no on most initiatives — those promoted by insurance companies, doctors, lawyers and Eyman. I vote this way because I believe in representative democracy. Initiatives are unwieldy and often illegal. More often than not, the political equation works too much in the initiative writer's favor. Instead of even odds of winning at the ballot box, two out of three possible scenarios work to the initiative proponent's advantage: Option 1: The initiative loses and that's the end of it. Option 2: The initiative wins and that's the end of it. Option 3: The initiative wins among voters and loses in court. That means in two of the three possibilities, the initiative proponent wins. "Ideally, you want it to hold up in court," said Todd Donovan, political-science professor at Western Washington University and an expert on citizen initiatives. "But it's almost as important to send a signal of, 'Here is what I can do and here is what the public thinks.' " Even if the courts toss out a measure for a casual attitude toward legality, that lobbyist remains ahead of other lobbyists — say, the cheese lobby or the education lobby, which in that go-round didn't bother to use this tool to get what it wants. (The education lobby is very fond of initiatives. I don't know much about the fromage lobby.) These days, initiatives don't rise up so much from the grass roots. They tend to be more from lobbyists and special interests tired of the slow tedium of tending to a Legislature that asks a lot of questions. When a popular idea is struck down, the outrage is so compelling it makes folks who normally don't buy conspiracy theories forget everything they learned — or forgot to learn — in civics class: The court is a separate branch of government; it has to rule within the confines of the law. I don't buy the conspiracy argument that there was some sort of group séance among the justices, lawmakers and others where they said, "Hey let's get together to thwart the will of the people." Initiatives, like legislation, have to be legal. Professor Donovan has studied a wave of English-only initiatives — initiatives that say the government has to deliver pertinent information in English only — and other property-tax-reduction measures in other states and found they may not be legal either, but often win big and send a powerful message. In our state, Eyman is getting better at what he does. But, voters ought to consider the fact that Eyman et al. often don't mind pushing the legal envelope. If the courts toss out an initiative, a reversal can be a beautiful thing. It promptly turns into next year's fundraising pitch or the next successful lobbying effort. Or a special session. Now that's knowing how the game is played. Joni Balter's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. Her e-mail address is jbalter@seattletimes.com" for a podcast Q&A with the author, go to Opinion at seattletimes.com Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company seattletimes.nwsource.com