I hear, “The revenue is falling! The revenue is falling!”

Only the revenue isn’t falling.

The $300 million “drop” we keep hearing about is a drop in the total expected increase, which was forecasted to be $1.9 billion before the Sept. 17 update.

What this means is that our state does not have a revenue problem. No, our state has a spending problem - spending is out-of-control.

The Democrats seem to have trouble with the concept of “spending within your means.” It’s a concept many private citizens around the state are becoming intimately acquainted with as they tighten their belts and send out resumes in hopes of replacing their lost jobs.

Irresponsible spending is the reason we’re facing a $2 billion deficit next biennium in spite of a $1.6 billion increase in collections. It’s the reason the governor and state lawmakers had to scramble to patch a $1.5 billion shortage in this biennium.

They used one-time revenue gimmicks to pay for new state programs. Even worse, they borrowed money from the tobacco settlement to collect a one-time windfall that will cost taxpayers $150 million every biennium from here to eternity.

They patched the hole — they didn’t stop the leak.

As spending continues at its current unsustainable rate, your tax problem gets bigger every single day.

Governor Locke stuck his head out of his foxhole to announce that he is going to give his 2.3 pay increase to charity from his $140,000 annual salary — then pulled his head back under cover.

Meanwhile, Washington has captured first place for the highest unemployment in the nation, and stole second place in the number of jobs lost since 9/11.

Joe Murray
Gig Harbor.