People of Washington: WAKE UP!

Dori writes…

When will the people of our state get a grasp on how bad Christine Gregoire’s and the democratic legislature’s budget deficit is?

For the sake of comparison, almost everyone recognizes how dire things are in California. That state has a $42-billion deficit. Their Governor Schwartzeneggar, like Gov. Gregoire, promised “no new taxes”. How well has that worked out?

Well, the California legislature is announcing that 12 cents per gallon will be added to the gas tax. Yearly car registration fees are doubling. And income taxes are going up 2 1/2 percent. It is a shocking tax increase in the middle of a recession. But, you may be thinking, “California’s deficit is $42-billion – that’s far worse than what we’re facing here in Washington”.

Is it?

California has a population of 33,871,648. Divided into $42-billion and you get a California per-capita debt of $1,240.

Here in Washington, it is projected that our state deficit will be about $8-billion. Our state’s population is 6,395,798. That works out to a debt of $1,250 per person. More than to the “shocking” California number.

I’m not hearing nearly enough from this legislative session about cutting spending to the extent that is needed to deal with this gigantic problem. My family of five’s share of the state debt is about $5,500. Add that to the trillions that your and my kids will be on the hook for the federal pork package and soon you’re looking at some real money.

Everyone recognizes that California is in crisis. When are the people of Washington going to wake up to the same realization? Taxing porn isn’t going to get us out of this hole.