Big Oil loves Tim Eyman. They love him so much they’re have given him $200,000 this year to protect their corporate profits and tax loopholes from the Washington State Legislature. They love it that he helped them two years ago prevent the Legislature from asking them to help clean up oil polluted stormwater in our state. They love it that voters said the Legislature needed a 2/3 vote to tax corporations and end profitable tax loopholes they have.
Eyman is busy carrying their water as he scurries to pay his minions to get signatures on I-1185 his “son” of 1053. I-1053 was passed by voters in 2010 and said the Legislature needed to get a 2/3 vote in both houses to raise new revenue or close any tax loopholes. For 2 years after an initiative passes it takes a 2/3 vote of the Legislature to amend an initiative. After that it takes a simple majority.
So Eyman is trying to put I-1185 before the voters to reset the clock for another 2 years.
The 2/3 vote requirement initially was in I-601 and then in I-960. Both these measures barely passed 51% to 49%. Two years ago in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression and with high unemployment the measure passed with a 64% vote after opponents waited until the last few weeks to try to oppose it but it was too late.
Now voters can see the consequences of a no new taxes proposal which is what I-1185 is and what I-1053 is. Austerity so to speak is another w0rd for protecting corporate profits while cutting services to the elderly, the sick and young kids. Corporate interests like BP and Conoco Phillips continue to rack up huge profits and contribute to the increased concentration of wealth in the hands of the few.
On April 4, 2012 BP Oil out of Chicago gave Eyman $100,000. Eyman immediately passed it on to his buddy Roy Ruffino at Citizen Solutions out of Olympia. Citizen Solutions is paying signature gatherers $1.00 per signature and pocketing a fee for itself of course.
BP last year reported a net profit of $23.9 billion. $ 100,000 is peanuts to BP.
On April 20, 2012 Conoco Phillips added another $100,000, Small peanuts to them also that they can write off as a business expense. After expenses Conoco Phillips reported a 1st quarter Jan – March 2012 profit of $2.94 billion.
Isn’t it great that if you are a big corporation and you can buy yourself a place on the ballot and you can have friends like Tim Eyman to help you fool the public into supporting your corporate profits at the expense of diminishing public services that benefit the public.
Don’t sign I-1185! Don’t support Big Oil’s power grab of the Washington State Legislature. Big Oil is not concerned about the well being of Washington State or its citizens. They are only concerned about increasing the bottom line of their business and their shareholders.
