The public pulse on tax increases - Who do you trust?
Posted by Scott "The Piper" St. Clair - March 07, 2010"It appears voter mistrust of government is running high and elected leaders will likely feel the wrath of voters come November."
Sound familiar? Quotes like this are found all the time in conservative, libertarian, pro-
free-market and similar publications and Web sites, including LibertyLive.org. What makes this unique is that it comes from a report by public radio's Austin Jenkins (pictured, right).
free-market and similar publications and Web sites, including LibertyLive.org. What makes this unique is that it comes from a report by public radio's Austin Jenkins (pictured, right).Detailing results from a survey conducted by a collaboration of the Northwest Health Foundation, the polling firm Davis, Hibbitts and Midghall, and Northwest public radio stations, including KPLU, the news cannot be good for incumbents, Democrats generally and those who are pushing hard for increased taxes.
According to Jenkins' story, "a near two-thirds of respondents - 64-percent - do not agree with the decision by majority Democrats in Olympia to suspend the two-thirds obstacle to raising taxes."
These findings track closely with polling data from SurveyUSA commissioned by KING 5 TV and reported at LibertyLive.org late last month. Those numbers showed that 74 percent of Washingtonians supported requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature before any tax increase. They also showed that 68 percent of them thought it was the wrong thing to do for the Legislature and the governor to enact a bill suspending Initiative 960, which had the two-thirds requirement in it.
Yet if you follow reports on the Legislature on the social media site Twitter, you would think opposition to tax increases, and specifically an income tax, is a myth. There an article from something called the Olympia Newswire that allegedly "debunks" six so-called "myths" and offers the "truth" about an income tax in Washington state.
The six include whether an income tax is constitutional in Washington state, whether voters would support one, the impact on individuals and businesses and more.
If you read the Newswire story, you come away thinking there's no legal problem with it and that it would win in a slam-dunk. Then again you have to throw back the Newswire's curtain to discover who's pulling the levers for this Wizard of Oz.
The Olympia Newswire launched on January 11, 2010, the day the Legislature commenced its current session. On the Newswire home page is says, "The Newswire is a non-profit, independent news source on Washington state government and politics that operates with fiscal sponsorship from Real Change."
What is Real Change? It's a newspaper that advocates radical policies and programs to benefit Seattle's homeless population. The paper is sold on street corners and in parking lots by homeless people. According to its Web site, Real Change's Vendor of the Week is Dana Walker who testified in favor of implementing a soak-the-rich income tax proposal before the Senate Ways and Means Committee this past Thursday.
Who wrote the Olympia Newswire story? It was authored by Trevor Griffey, who also serves as the Newswire's publisher. According to the Web site, Griffey is a PhD candidate in history at the University of Washington. He's also been a contributing writer for Real Change.
Adam Hyla, who edits Real Change, is also a contributing writer for the Olympia Newswire. Another contributing writer is George Howland, formerly with The Stranger, Seattle's most edgy alternative newspaper. The list of contributing writers for the Olympia Newswire reads like a list of contributing writers for Real Change. Everything comes full circle.
From the looks of it, the entire crew at the Olympia Newswire has a vested interest in promoting increased taxes, including an income tax.
SurveyUSA/KING 5 and public radio can't be accused of a self-serving skew of data to feather their own nests - neither have ever been accused of being pawns of the right.
Who do you trust?
The Piper
Thoughts? Add Comment -
Trevor Griffey said on Mar 12 2010 at 11:33pm
Thanks for helping publicize the Olympia Newswire, "piper."
For the record here is a quote for your readers you seem to have forgotten to include in your story. I wrote that on the income tax question: "No one knows for sure how the Court would rule today."
As for SurveyUSA-- which you say "can't be accused of a self-serving skew of data to feather their own nests"-- if you're going to cite them in relation to the income tax, shouldn't you note that it found that 53 percent of Washington residents think an income tax on high earners is a "good idea"?
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=035489e7-9702-4fe2-8dcc-7134505e9e4b