Washington State's Fiscal Policy is Whacked

Hit the title link for a story about the Initiative system and the sales tax system in this state is idiotic.

First, the sales tax system. It is terribly unfair, as it taxes the middle/lower classes more than the upper classes of income. Second, it is very defeatable in such a global marketplace where you buy things that don't have sales tax attached to them from out of state.

Then you have the Initiative system. For those who don't know, this basically where citizens can write their own legislation, get it on the ballot, and get it made into law, subject to various restrictions and rules. The problem, of course, is that the vast majority of people are either idiots or don't care. They vote against education bonds because they raise their property tax a bit, but then wonder why public schools suck so much. They reject car tab taxes/fees and then wonder why their commute sucks so much.

Fucking DUH! Plus, because the population is centered around Seattle, it means they can dictate policy that SUCKS for the rest of the state.

We have legislators because we don't have the time to deal with legislation. It is a complicated process. If you want specific legislation passed, get your represenative/senator to sponsor it, and then get it passed through the houses so the entire impact is understood.

This business about "not trusting the hacks in Olympia" is bullshit. A few bad eggs, but most politicians are good people. Or at least they'll listen to the voters, because otherwise they lose their jobs.

And people say the East Coast is fucked up. At least I don't have to worry about some tool like Tim Eyman trying to make my commute worse because he and his cronies don't want to pay for their car tabs. Morons.