Donna Simmons from Hoodsport, WA joins protesters last week.
from Publicola: Attorney General Rob McKenna sent out an email today to his supporters that I have to take issue with. The email criticizes the “far-left protesters” and “far-left extremists” who showed up in Olympia last week to protest the current budget proposals—which cut education, health care, and social services—and call for the legislature to look at repealing corporate tax breaks as well.
McKenna accuses the protesters of ignoring last year’s election results—where tax increases on candy, soda, and bottled water were rejected and Tim Eyman’s two-thirds rule to raise taxes won big. That’s fair enough (however, recent polling has shown that voters would prefer a budget that combines tax cuts with repealing loopholes.)
The part about McKenna’s email that’s simply bad manners is when he accuses last week’s busloads of protesters of (I guess) being privileged enough to take the day off for a day trip to Olympia.
He writes:
Unfortunately, average taxpayers don’t necessarily have the time to drive down to Olympia and encourage legislators to hold the line on taxes. They have families to raise, jobs to do and businesses to keep afloat.
The image of snooty protesters rolling down to Oly for a protest is far off the mark. I covered the protests and interviewed lots of protesters, including nurses such as Zandi Hardison and a wife of a longtime utility worker, Donna Simmons, who felt average workers were getting a bad deal.
McKenna goes on to inexplicably argue that Bellevue is closer for folks than Olympia (closer for whom, I wonder?), hyping an 11:00 AM anti-tax rally that he’s speaking at.
So, I do want you to know about one opportunity, perhaps a little closer to your home, where you can make your voice heard. Tomorrow, April 15, I’ll be speaking at Bellevue City Hall to the Tax Day Rally 2011 at 11:00 a.m. It will be a great event where we celebrate our state and stand up for the majority of people who DO care what happened in the last election.