anti-roads repair I-912--grassroots or astroturf?

We were hoping someone would call the I-912 campaign on this travesty of democracy.

And by god, they have...

We speak of the amazing meat & potatoes promotion; the blatant smoke & mirrors misrepresentations; and the nuts & bolts campaign work done on talk radio to promote the anti-road repair initiative, I-912.

KVI drive time jocks, and Republican activists, Kirby Wilbur and John Carlson thought up this initiative, and have been shamelessly tub-thumping it on their popular right-wing talk shows.

Born of the rage over the failed Rossi for governor campaign which irresponsible R's dragged into court and decisively lost, this initiative is designed to be a stick in the eye for the Democratic Legislature and Governor Gregoire. It's tailored to usurp the power of a duly elected legislature, to which the Republicans could not get duly elected.

Sound suspicious? That's because these phony grassroots are actually AstroTurf manufactured by partisan Republicans.   

The massive bill was passed with help of some very brave Republicans--now being savaged daily on KVI.

KVI talkers not only advocate the hell out of their negative, obstructionist spoiler, but do all manner of organizing--like arranging for initiative drops, letting campaign workers network logistics on-air and generally broadcast as a clearing house for all things 9-12.

The opposition, Keep Washington Rolling under the auspices of San Juan County and the cities of Auburn, Kent and Seattle asked a judge Wednesday to stop gas tax increase foes from raising and spending money. Their suit alleges, among other things, that the hours of radio time given by Fisher Broadcasting to this campaign were in fact, unreported campaign contributions.

The suit also seeks a preliminary injunction and penalties to stop I-912 campaign organizers from spending money from unidentified sources. A hearing is set for July 1.

We're not sure if this is a legal or regulatory problem for them or not, the judge will decide. But we're sure that all this airtime being used for free for this Republican agenda item is, on the face of it, unfair. BlatherWatch doesn't advocate re-invoking the Fairness Doctrine, but this is the kind of political abuse on the public airwaves that it was written to prevent.
 
For us, this points up the need for local progressive talkers unafraid to talk in depth about local issues.

No opposition could afford to pay for the hours and hours of radio time to match those given to this campaign by Wilbur, Carlson and Fisher Broadcasting.

Carlson says this bill is vague, "I just want to know where my money is being spent." Duane, our regular reader and loyal opposition, listens to this crap and writes,: "I signed the anti-gas tax initiative today...tax me when you actually have some PLANS for the money you want to collect."

We suggest to Duane and everyone else who has made up their minds by listening to Carlson & Co., to click on this and actually read the very specific projects named in the roads repair bill.

The list is long with roads and bridges projects long overdue. Every county in the state is included...you don't think those Republicans (and Democrats) would take all this political risk if they weren't getting something very real for their districts?

By the way, the Keep Washington Rolling people, (who might be too little, too late) is a bipartisan collection of business, labor, environmentalists, Republican legislators and citizens like former Republican governor, Dan "Straight Arrow" Evans who are concerned that this good and brave legislative work will be undone by these negative anti-tax demagogues who truly offer no alternative.

Please, don't sign I-912.                                                                                                    NWPT54

Comments

[Mike]

Too late, already signed a petition and gathered 100 signatures.

[taxed2muchalready]

While the (R)'s and the (D)'s bicker and fight (except the elite R's and D's like Mary Matalin and James Carville) the real question is how much more money would states like Washington have for basic infrastructure if the Federal Government didn't blow upwards of $500 billion per YEAR on "defenses" that couldn't stop angry Arabs with boxcutters and couldn't shoot down an aircraft heading towards the building that houses the "defense" department, with a 45 minute warning.

As a Washington resident my property taxes have almost doubled in 5 short years.I haven't cost my county twice what I cost it 5 years ago. I'm told that many Fed monies that used to go to counties and states have been eliminated by the bush admin.

We serfs bicker and fight while the Federal Leviathon grows by leaps and bounds and the Citizens treasure is spent trying to install "democracies" (they don't want republics?) all over the world.

The Joke is on the citizens for allowing this insanity to continue. And what Washington DC fears most is that we citizens would drop the infighting, unite, and DEMAND that the whores in DC actually DO SOMETHING for us peons. But- the die is cast and the division seems too much to overcome, at least for now. Bigger government and more citizens being bled dry for basic needs.

Have a Luvox®- it's government approved, and Big Pharma will Luvox® you too