Those Wacky Northwesterners

The Northwest is a curious place. Both Oregon and Washington are notorious for electing fringe leftists to political office. Senator Patty Murray, Representative Jim McDermott along with former governor Mike Lowry all lean so far toward the left that they might have difficulty being elected from Massachusetts. Yet all managed to prosper in the Evergreen State. As for Baja Washington, outgoing Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber was an admirer of the radical and often violent environmental organization Earth First!
But although Northwesterners elect politicians who promise big-government liberalism, when given a chance to weigh the supposed benefits of liberalism with the costs associated with liberalism, the voters of both states vote big government down.
Once upon a time, a conservative was defined as a liberal who had just been mugged. These days, a conservative might be defined as a liberal in sticker shock.
For big government liberalism to flourish its costs have to be concealed. A few years ago, Washington’s voters repealed a universally hated motor vehicle excise tax. Much of the money raised by this tax was sent back to local governments. When the excise tax was replaced with a flat $30 per year registration fee, local governments were deprived of a revenue stream that floated their treasuries.
Previously, city and county governments were in the comfortable position of spending money that they did not have to bear the heat for collecting. This allowed local governments to cast themselves in a Santa Claus-like light as it permitted them to deliver services without having to directly ask the consumers of those services for the money. But since those state revenues dried up, city councils won’t even consider raising local taxes to make up for the lost income.
In the election just passed, Northwesterners declined several opportunities to inflict big government upon themselves. In Oregon, voters were asked to raise their own taxes to pay for a Hillary Clintonesque universal health care program. Unfortunately for its proponents, the costs were clearly outlined. It would have approximately doubled Oregon’s income tax – already the highest in the nation. Each voter would have had to cough up $5000 in new taxes every year to underwrite the “free” health care.
Oregonians voted it down 79%-21%.
Americans like the idea of “free” health care, until they learn just how much free health care actually costs.
The Earth Liberation Front types also took time out from their firebombing long enough to place one of their favorite causes before the Oregonian electorate. Measure 27 would have required labeling of all genetically modified foods, or GMO’s. This initially had appeal, but ultimately lost 71%-29% when Oregonians learned that labeling would add approximately $550 to each family’s annual grocery bill.
But, like all good liberals, Oregonians were perfectly happy to inflict big government on somebody else. Measure 25 raised the minimum wage won 51%-49%. There is nothing so appealing as forcing others to be generous.
In Washington, big government, in the form of Referendum 51 lost 62%-38%. Referendum 51 would have raised gasoline taxes by 9 cents for the purpose of repairing and upgrading Washington’s highways. This was actually a good idea, but Washingtonians have grown so distrustful of the liberal politicians they elect that they won’t trust them with more money.
What the politicians should have known is that Washingtonians can be easily humbugged. A couple of years ago, voters raised teachers’ pay and mandated a reduction in class size. There was no price tag, so Washingtonians could easily delude themselves into believing that it was free.
It’s too bad that Washington’s governor was in the pocket of the teachers’ union. Governor Jeb Bush in Florida turned the momentum of his own faltering reelection around by asking his opponent Bill McBride how he would pay the 12 billion dollar bill that a similar initiative in Florida would have sent the taxpayers.
Washington continues to elect legislators, governors, and congressmen who promise that government can do everything. But, at the same time, that same populace, by even greater majorities, limits the ability of those politicians to raise the money that would underwrite their schemes.
Such electoral schizophrenia proves that left-leaning voters are mostly interested in being generous with other people’s money, but are somewhat miserly with their own paychecks.