It’s becoming more and more clear that Washington's state Legislature continues to spend like crazy.
And while the blame is placed on the eternal boogyman, President Trump, that doesn’t explain the problem we are in.
In fact, former Gov. Christine Gregoire recently wrote Gov. Bob Ferguson and his party have been overspending for years and that we’re in trouble.
Gregoire said, "Washington's luck has run out,” which doesn’t sound good at all.
Ferguson has promised he won’t raise taxes, but he’s said that before and lied, doing just that when it was convenient. Of course, he could mean he won’t propose new taxes, but that doesn’t mean he won’t sign new taxes.
I’m not sure who the author is, but something I read recently is worth repeating: “Free does not mean free … someone is paying for it. You are not entitled to someone's hard-earned money. You cannot tax a nation (or state) into prosperity. The rich are not responsible for your financial situation— you are. More government always means less freedom.”
These truths are ignored by many on the left, and they have been for years.
So after taking pension funds, raising taxes on almost everything in sight, losing businesses to overtaxation and regulations, here we are again — only a few months after the last session of the Legislature — going broke again.
It’s not like they weren’t warned their spending habits were unsustainable. They have been told by Republicans for years.
They just don’t care.
Here’s what I predict, because it's what these guys do — pretend serious budget cuts have happened, move money and numbers around like a shell game, and if there are any cuts, only make them apply to popular programs — to make sure we feel the hurt and dissuade continued calls for budgetary intelligence.
The climate nonsense, that even Bill Gates has admitted is not as dire as once claimed, costs us at the pump every time we fill up.
That is supposed to be the fix for a problem many don’t believe exists? It has done nothing for the cause it was supposed to fix.
“Fix” isn’t really the right word because governments really just cause problems and fix nothing.
Plus, whatever they touch is wildly more expensive than they tell us. But wait, there’s more.
Another headline from The Seattle Times read "Washington's insurance fund hits $1.7 billion in the red as lawsuits pile up.”
How can that be?
Our state is the epitome of responsible stewardship of social programs and taxpayer money. Not quite.
The article said “Ballooning legal payouts — largely due to cases of alleged abuse and neglect in the child-welfare system — have pushed the state’s self-insurance fund to $1.7 billion in the red.”
And this as well: “Over the past three fiscal years, the state paid out more than $1 billion in judgments and settlements of tort claims and lawsuits, according to the state risk management office.”
That’s a lot of cash.
But have no fear. The democrats in Olympia are on it.
“State Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, called the situation unsustainable.”
No kidding.
“She suggested a bill to require arbitration before people can sue the state. But it was shot down by trial lawyers and victims advocates. “
I thought it made sense, but I guess the big donor lawyers lobby did not. Instead, the Legislature agreed to spend $50,000 to create a 14-member task force to study the liability problem. Fourteen members? That’s crazy.
How about this: stop doing stupid things. It seems a lot of the lawsuits are generated by the same agency that oversees Green Hill, which is such a surprise, because we know that place is run well.
Some opinion pieces I’ve read say that the state made conscious and discretionary decisions to use money for benefits for illegal immigrants and to maintain its status as a sanctuary state. I am pretty sure that’s part of the spending problem, but I just don’t know how much.
What I do know is the gas tax goes up in a few days, and the state just can’t be trusted with other people's money.
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John McCroskey was Lewis County sheriff from 1995 to 2005. He lives outside Chehalis and can be contacted at musingsonthemiddlefork@gmail.com.
