Thread by @nwprogressive

A #waleg thread

Early this morning, the @seattletimes published a piece by Jason Mercier of the right wing Washington Policy Center. That's not unusual. What is noteworthy is that they gave it top billing... it got put above the digital fold, as you can see from this screenshot:

@seattletimes Typically, stories written by the Times' journalists (or its columnists, like Danny Westneat) get these spots. Not "op-eds." But @seatimesopinion really, really wanted eyeballs for Mercier's piece, so the Times did Mercier a favor and made his submission as prominent as possible.

@seattletimes @SeaTimesOpinion Presently, as of this thread, the piece still has the top spot under Opinion, above a Horsey cartoon and an editorial from the Times' own staff, as you can see from this second screenshot:

Why - at a time when #SCOTUS is handing down a ton of decisions imperiling America's future - is @seattletimes prioritizing space for Mercier in the newspaper? Because ownership and management (the Blethen Family) doesn't like what #waleg has been doing to balance our tax code.

@seattletimes Some history. At the end of the 1990s - a decade that saw both chambers of the Legislature flip between Democrats and Republicans - Tim Eyman began a multiyear effort to wreck public services in Washington State by defunding them with a series of right wing initiatives, like 695.

@seattletimes I-695 (implemented by Governor Locke and the Legislature) was followed by I-722 (not implemented), I-747 (implemented, struck down in 2007, and immediately implemented again), and I-776 (partially implemented). These schemes had an incredibly destructive effect on WA's finances.

@seattletimes From 1999 through 2019, about twenty-year period, #waleg struggled to respond to Eyman and his initiative factory. Washington has long needed progressive tax reform and the Legislature has not delivered it. Partly, that was due to Republicans. R's held the Senate from 2012-2017.

@seattletimes But, in 2017, Democrats flipped the Senate with Manka Dhingra (@Dhingrama). In 2018, they held the Senate and added several more seats. That set the stage for the 2019 legislative session. Taking place about 20 years after the I-695 signature drive, the 2019 session was historic.

@seattletimes @Dhingrama With the leadership of House Finance Chair @GaelTarleton, an NPI alum, #waleg in 2019 **finally** began taking steps to balance our tax code. Specifically, #waleg got rid of a big tax loophole that Wall Street banks had enjoyed and enacted a progressive real estate excise tax.

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton In 2021, another watershed session for tax reform, #waleg followed that up by *finally* enacting a capital gains tax on the wealthy and *finally* funding the Working Families Tax Credit. Collectively, these moves strengthened the state's common wealth at a crucial time.

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton That brings us to today. Washington has gotten stronger financially because of #waleg's efforts to balance our tax code. There are now more resources to invest in the essential services Washingtonians need to live safely and prosperously. Like education, childcare, or transit.

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton Right wingers are upset that after all these years, #waleg is finally implementing progressive tax reform. They've filed lawsuits. Their challenge to the repeal of the big banks' tax loophole failed - even #SCOTUS didn't go for it. They have a suit pending against capital gains.

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton What's particularly alarming to Mercier and other right wing Republicans is that our movement is not resting. We're working on even more policies to balance our tax code. They don't like that at all. They're on defense, and they know it. That's what this piece today is all about.

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton "Awash in cash," the piece's headline reads, "state leaders owe Washingtonians tax relief."

"Tax relief" is code for "get to work defunding the Washington State treasury so that the people's common wealth cannot be used to deliver the essential services the people need."

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton Recent state revenue collections are as strong as they are in part because of the tax reforms the Legislature passed. Particularly the progressive real estate excise tax and the repeal of the loophole the big banks were enjoying. Those policies are working as intended. #waleg

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton Mercier gripes in this piece about the cost of living and rising prices, grumbling that #waleg @GovInslee do not care about what people are facing. Actually, they do. It's why a gas tax increase wasn't put into #MoveAheadWA and it's why the Working Families Tax Credit was funded.

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton @GovInslee Remember: No matter what the season, no matter what the economy is like, and no matter what state revenue is, right wingers *always* call for tax cuts. If revenue collections are healthy, they call for tax cuts. If they're not, they still call for tax cuts. #waleg

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton @GovInslee The Washington Policy Center and other right wing groups have a vested interest in stopping progressive tax reform. Above all, they want to keep Washington a tax haven for their super wealthy, extremely rich funders. Mercier is on their payroll. He's paid to create this content.

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton @GovInslee Right wing Republican groups also want to keep the tax code upside down and regressive so that it can be a perennial campaign issue. If people are upset about taxes being unfair, then that's something they can run on and exploit without *ever* doing anything to fix it! #waleg

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton @GovInslee Next week is the deadline to submit signatures for initiatives to the November 2022 ballot. Tim Eyman won't have anything to turn in because his initiative factory is idle. He hasn't done a signature drive for 4 consecutive springs (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). That's unprecedented.

@seattletimes @Dhingrama @GaelTarleton @GovInslee Meanwhile, an effort to repeal ESSB 5096 (that's the law that levied a capital gains tax on the wealthy) collapsed after donors balked at giving operatives J. Vander Stoep and Mark Funk a massive pile of money for an initiative that polled poorly.

npi.li/3la

So, that leaves us with no right wing initiatives on this year's ballot. Unless the Washington State Supreme Court (which is not stacked with right wingers, unlike #SCOTUS) hands Rob McKenna a victory, the capital gains tax on the wealthy will stand. #waleg

And the work to balance our tax code will continue. If that work interests you, we recommend following @BalanceTaxCode - that's the coalition that NPI belongs to that works on these issues, which is a great group of people and organizations that want to build an inclusive future.

@BalanceTaxCode You can also follow our friends at @eoionline and @budget_policy and @Sightline. Like us, they have a research focus. Each of our organizations works in the public interest, unlike our opposite numbers on the right wing, who lobby for austerity and disenfranchisement.

@BalanceTaxCode @eoionline @budget_policy @Sightline The current ownership of @seattletimes is sadly not supportive of our agenda. But perhaps that will change in the future. After all, there was a time when management editorialized in favor of an income tax. No really - it's true! Read about it here:

npi.li/flashback1098

@BalanceTaxCode @eoionline @budget_policy @Sightline @seattletimes "Fiscally, the state is drifting toward shoals; time is running out for it to continue to fund basic responsibilities in public services with its jerry-built tax structure," the Times editorialized in the 1970s.

That was also true for many years in *this* century. #waleg

@BalanceTaxCode @eoionline @budget_policy @Sightline @seattletimes Now, thanks to #waleg's tax balancing work, Washington is more fiscally stable than it has been in the past. Instead of applauding that, Mercier complains the Legislature isn't cutting taxes enough.

Naturally, the Working Families Tax Credit went unmentioned in his piece.

@BalanceTaxCode @eoionline @budget_policy @Sightline @seattletimes There is more we can do to balance our tax code and provide help to people who need it. There are many good ideas under consideration that could advance in #waleg when it reconvenes, if voters choose to elect progressive majorities again this autumn.

@BalanceTaxCode @eoionline @budget_policy @Sightline @seattletimes #waleg could, for example, enact a package that levies a wealth tax and lowers the sales tax. Another idea: #waleg could overhaul property taxes to create a homestead exemption for low and middle income homeowners along with rent protection and automatic rebates for tenants.

@BalanceTaxCode @eoionline @budget_policy @Sightline @seattletimes These are the ideas that should be getting discussed in the pages of @seattletimes. Right wing policies don't help people. They cause ruin and devastation. We can see what I-695's implementation did to Washington State Ferries, for example. Let's not repeat those mistakes again.

@BalanceTaxCode @eoionline @budget_policy @Sightline @seattletimes That'll do it for this thread. Thank you to everyone who engaged! Let's keep working together for fair revenue and a better future for Washington State, and look forward to the day when @seattletimes' ownership decides that's once again something worth supporting.

@BalanceTaxCode @eoionline @budget_policy @Sightline @seattletimes @threadreaderapp Unroll, please, for those who'd like to read the complete thread more easily.