Category Archives: Threat Analysis

May 2nd, 2011

When new is old: Eyman’s scheme to restrict tolls based off a recycled provision from failed I-985

Statements & AdvisoriesThreat Analysis

Yesterday, through the Associated Press, Tim Eyman announced that he intends to try to qualify an initiative for the 2011 November ballot, after initially planning to take a year off due to lack of access to a wealthy benefactor.

The scheme Eyman says he’s running with was filed back in January, and was assigned the number 1125 by the Secretary of State.

What Eyman neglected to mention in his announcement is that I-1125 is based on recycled provisions from Initiative 985, which voters overwhelmingly rejected more than two years ago.

The provisions in question sought to constrain the Legislature’s toll-setting authority in almost exactly the same ways: first, by trying to prevent the Legislature from delegating its toll-setting authority to the Transportation Commission, and second, to prevent toll money from being used for anything except projects concerning the facility where each dollar in toll revenue was originally collected.

In 2008, we argued that these and other provisions in Initiative 985 would lead to more traffic and less flexibility for planners working to alleviate our region’s traffic problems. Voters resoundingly agreed: 59% of those participating in the 2008 presidential election voted I-985 down.

“If Tim Eyman respected the will of the people, he wouldn’t be running Initiative 1125,” said NPI founder Andrew Villeneuve.

“The people have already decided this question. They said no to Initiative 985 in a landslide only two and a half years ago. They made it plainly clear they weren’t interested in Tim Eyman’s plot to hamstring the Legislature and WSDOT.”

“But Tim has shown that he only cares about the outcome of elections when voters make the mistake of agreeing with him. I-985’s failure is immaterial to him; as far as he’s concerned, I-985’s defeat never happened. I-985 never happened.”

“When Tim first began running initiatives over a decade ago, his target was our common wealth. Since the mid-2000s, he’s moved on to a bigger, more ambitious target: Representative democracy. Quite simply, Tim Eyman wants to undo the plan of government our founders gave us, because he doesn’t like how it works.”

“That’s why he keeps proposing initiatives designed to paralyze the Legislature. His mantra is that there should be a public vote on any decision of importance. How many times have we heard him say, ‘Let the voters decide’? But in a representative democracy, the voters do get to decide. They choose who represents them in the Legislature every two and every four years. Eyman just doesn’t like most of the representatives the people have chosen. So he’s responded by trying to subvert our Constitution and cripple the institutions it created.”

“If voters continue to go along with Eyman, which would be a tragedy, it wouldn’t be long before our Legislature was reduced to little more than a ceremonial body, unable to govern as our founders intended it to.”

“We cannot allow this to happen. Washington simply cannot afford any more undemocratic, ill-conceived Tim Eyman initiatives. Our economy can’t afford it, our common wealth can’t afford it, and our quality of life can’t afford it.”

The Tacoma News Tribune’s Jordan Schrader has astutely noted that the Supreme Court has previously ruled that the people “cannot, by initiative, prevent future legislatures from exercising their law-making power.” This ruling was referenced in an opinion released by Rob McKenna’s office in December, which concluded the Legislature is free to re-delegate its toll setting authority as it wishes.

While that may be the case, there are other provisions in I-1125 that may not be so easily reversed.

It remains to be seen whether Tim Eyman has a wealthy benefactor lined up to fund I-1125. He needs one, especially with only ten weeks to collect signatures. If he doesn’t have one, there’s no way I-1125 can get on the ballot.

If petitions become available for I-1125, we will strongly urge the people of Washington State to think before they ink and decline to sign this latest Eyman plot.

February 13th, 2011

Nine Years: Statement from the Founder

AnnouncementsThreat Analysis

Today and throughout this month, Permanent Defense celebrates its ninth anniversary, marking the conclusion of one hundred and eight months of continuous operation. PD now begins its tenth year of existence. Remarkably, in fifty-two weeks, it will reach the end of its first decade.

When Permanent Defense first went live on February 13th, 2002, it was devoted to a single purpose: defeating Tim Eyman’s Initiative 776, which sought to prevent Sound Transit from constructing Central Link by taking away one of ST’s two principal sources of revenue. Unfortunately, PD’s first mission was unsuccessful: Initiative 776 passed narrowly despite the best efforts of a well-organized opposition coalition.

But unlike the NO on I-776 campaign and other campaigns against Eyman initiatives from years past, PD did not go away, dissolve, or close its virtual doors after that disappointing election. Rather, it was strengthened by the loss. In the spirit of its name, it became a permanent campaign against right wing initiatives.

And it has made a difference. Prior to Permanent Defense’s formation, Eyman had gotten an initiative past voters for several years running. After Permanent Defense’s first year, Tim Eyman’s streak of consecutive victories ended. Since I-776, voters have approved just three Eyman initiatives: I-900, I-960, and I-1053.

Unfortunately, Eyman needs to be successful only occasionally to remain relevant, as the last election showed.

There’s no question this last year (PD’s ninth) ranks as the toughest in its history. We fought five right wing initiatives, and regrettably, two of them, including Eyman’s I-1053, got through… and by sickeningly large margins.

Eyman has already announced he intends to run I-1053 again in 2012. Thankfully, it appears that his initiative factory has run out of money for a spell, and consequently, he doesn’t have an initiative in the works for this year (2011). But that doesn’t mean Eyman won’t be trying to cause mischief.

And it doesn’t mean Permanent Defense can go on hiatus. There may be other right wing initiatives to fight, and we need to begin laying the groundwork to stop Eyman’s I-1053 clone in 2012. It will take a Herculean effort to show voters that nullifying majority rule goes against everything our country and our state’s founders believed in. They gave us a system of representative government which has endured for centuries. I-1053, like I-960 and I-601 before it, are purposely intended to wreck that system.

The campaign against I-1053 failed because it came together too late. Resources were not committed until the very end, and by that point, the battle had already been lost. We at Permanent Defense are committed to making sure this never happens again. We’ll be spending our tenth year in infrastructure-building mode, so we have greater resources to commit early and often against Eyman and his schemes.

We’re taking a critical step forward today by forming a Rapid Response team, which will respond and react to right-wing misinformation in the media through comments and letters to the editor on an ongoing basis. If you’d like to be part of the team, you can sign up on our volunteer page.

Although we endured some significant setbacks during the past twelve months, there were some bright spots. A few days after our last anniversary, we gave PD’s virtual home its biggest overhaul to date with Version 8, codenamed “Camano”, transforming it from a collection of static web pages to a powerful, database-driven site. PermanentDefense.org has never looked better, and it’s much simpler to implement changes, thanks to the ease of administration offered by WordPress.

We’re also proud of StopGreed.org, the combined campaign site we built to provide information about the corporate fronts behind each of the five right wing initiatives on the 2010 ballot. Three of them (I-1082, I-1100, I-1105) were overwhelmingly defeated by voters; the other two (I-1053, I-1107) passed, as mentioned previously. Some of the features and tools we built for StopGreed.org will probably be incorporated into Permanent Defense itself, to help activists, voters, and reporters better track and understand right wing initiatives.

Finally, we’re thankful that Tim Eyman was unsuccessful in his efforts to prevent records of who signed his initiatives from being turned over to interested citizens. Our state has a tradition of open government, and open government doesn’t just mean accountable elected leaders. People who sponsor and sign initiatives are not entitled to anonymity. The process of citizen lawmaking must be transparent, and we’re glad the courts have recognized that.

Significant obstacles lie ahead on the path towards a better quality of life for our state and our country. There really hasn’t been a better time to get involved. If you are not already, consider becoming a volunteer.

Your voice and your ideas are Permanent Defense’s greatest asset.

September 9th, 2010

Retired Sacramento Bee reporter Stephen Green explains how California’s version of 1053 has hurt Golden State

Rethinking and ReframingStatements & AdvisoriesThreat Analysis

This morning, the Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) Advocate published a special guest post by retired Sacramento Bee reporter Stephen Green, who covered California’s statehouse for many years. In the post, Green explains how California’s version of 1053 has hurt the Golden State, paralyzing its government and leaving California’s Legislature mired in gridlock.

Initiative 1053 does not require two-thirds votes to pass budgets like California, but requiring two-thirds for any legislation – particularly fiscal bills – is still a terrible idea, Green says. If legislators can’t democratically come to an agreement on how to fund our public services, then chaos ensues.

Even without the additional two-thirds requirement for passing budgets, the paralysis he describes will still happen to us if 1053 passes.

That’s because projected revenue continues to fall, leaving horrific cuts as the only option. Look at the most recent budget forecasts.

Furlough days are nothing compared to what’s coming if 1053 passes.

If our deficit grows and an extreme partisan minority prevents the state from raising revenue, public services will be eviscerated, because a few anti-government politicians will be in the driver’s seat, with unconstitutional, illegitimate veto power over the majority. The consequences would be dire.

Jobs would be lost. Hours would be reduced. Lines at state offices would get longer. Customer service would be degraded. Citizen complaints would fall by the wayside, and not be addressed.

1053 allows seventeen right wing senators, out of one hundred and forty seven lawmakers, to tyrannically block any revenue increase. I-1053 effectively puts the wrecking crew in charge of state government.

Is it any wonder that three incumbent Republican senators (Pam Roach, Janea Holmquist, Don Benton) are cosponsors of Tim Eyman and BP’s Initiative 1053?

Times are tough enough… I-1053 would make them worse. NPI and Permanent Defense join with the League of Women Voters, AARP Washington, the Washington Council of Fire Fighters, and hundreds of other organizations in urging voters to say NO to Initiative 1053 this autumn.

July 19th, 2010

Statement on Initiative 1053’s qualification for the ballot

Statements & AdvisoriesThreat Analysis

Earlier today, Secretary of State Sam Reed’s office announced that Initiative 1053 had passed a random sample check of its signatures, which means it will be on this November’s ballot. NPI and Permanent Defense are responding by kicking efforts to oppose Initiative 1053 into higher gear.

“Initiative 1053 may be sponsored by Tim Eyman, but it was bought and paid for by big oil companies and big banks that want to rewrite the rules of our democracy so they can keep our tax system unfair and regressive,” said NPI Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve. “It’s a shameless plot to wreck government and end our cherished tradition of majority rule.”

Analysis prepared by Permanent Defense not only lays out the case against I-1053’s constitutionality, but also explains that is undemocratic, unfair, and unsound as well.

“In the next few months, we will be doing everything we can to help voters understand that this initiative is really about sabotaging our democracy so that corporate lobbyists can strengthen their grip over state government,” Villeneuve said.

“NPI and Permanent Defense will work together with a broad coalition of organizations and individuals who care about our common wealth and our system of government to ensure that Initiative 1053 is defeated.”

July 14th, 2010

PDC reports for June 2010 show that Tim Eyman is rolling in corporate cash

Ballot WatchdoggingEye on Money: DevelopmentsThreat Analysis

This morning, Tim Eyman sent out another email to his supporters thanking them for their efforts getting Initiative 1053 on the ballot.

Eyman wrote: “When Olympia sidesteps a law like I-960 (which voters approved in 2007), they count on the citizens to not have the energy or enthusiasm to roll that boulder back up the mountain again.  They count on us to give up — to throw up our hands and say ‘you can’t beat city hall.'”

Reporters with sharp eyes might have noticed there was a typo in that paragraph: the word “citizens” should be “corporations”.

After all, corporations like BP (big profits… bad people… yes, that BP) are the only reason Initiative 1053 is on the ballot.

New PDC reports filed by Tim Eyman’s campaign committee for June 2010 reveal that a massive influx of corporate cash helped the Mukilteo profiteer buy the signatures he needed to get on the ballot during the final few weeks of initiative season.

Yesterday evening, the NPI Advocate broke the news that BP – the polluting oil giant responsible for the biggest environmental disaster in American history – is one of the top donors to I-1053. BP shelled out a combined $65,000 to two I-1053 political action committees in June… Voters Want More Choices and “Citizens for Responsible Spending”.

Other corporations that ponied up for I-1053 include Bank of America, USBank, Alaska Airlines, Sierra Pacific Industries, Green Diamond Resource Co., Tesoro, Equilon, Liberty Mutual, Plum Creek, Darigold, and ConocoPhillips. Several trade groups, including the Washington Oil Marketers Association, Washington Farm Bureau, Washington Restaurant Association, and Washington Bankers Association, are also principal donors to the campaign.

“It’s clear from these June reports that corporate lobbyists have taken over for Michael Dunmire as Tim Eyman’s sugar daddy,” said NPI Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve in a news release sent out to the traditional media.

“For years, Eyman has blasted ‘big business’ as an enemy of the people and an obstacle to his initiatives. Now, he’s rolling in their cash. How ironic.”

“And yet, it is fitting that Tim Eyman and many of America’s biggest and most irresponsible corporations are now joined at the hip,” Villeneuve observed. “They’re both united by a shared vice: Greed. At a time when we need to be pulling together and strengthening our common wealth to ensure our economy recovers, they are trying to put themselves ahead of everybody else.”

Oil companies already receive huge federal subsidies and banks have benefited from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, otherwise known as the bank bailout.

“The corporations that are backing Tim Eyman continue to take advantage of our federal common wealth whilst writing big checks to an initiative that would prevent our Legislature from acting to protect public services here in this Washington,” Villeneuve said. “They have a shameless double standard. They’ll take as much as they can for themselves, but they don’t want to pay their dues.”

NPI and Permanent Defense recently launched a new website to expose the corporations that are trying to make a quick buck by conning the people of Washington into voting for ill-conceived initiatives that would weaken or privatize public services.

This website, StopGreed.org, includes a Rogues’ Gallery profiling the corporations that have sunk the most money into five initiatives that will appear on this November’s ballot. The Gallery will be updated accordingly to reflect the latest PDC reports this week and in the weeks to come.

May 10th, 2010

Eyman loans I-1053 campaign committee $50,000, doesn’t tell supporters

Ballot WatchdoggingEye on Money: DevelopmentsThreat Analysis

As required by law, Tim Eyman’s treasurer is in the midst of uploading the April 2010 campaign finance reports for the latest incarnation of the Mukilteo profiteer’s campaign committee (Voters Want More Choices Save the Two Thirds for Tax Increases). Surprisingly, the reports show that Eyman’s wealthy benefactor Michael Dunmire — a cosponsor of Initiative 1053 — has still not written any checks to Eyman’s current initiative campaign (although that doesn’t mean he still won’t).

Consequently, Eyman’s fundraising has been so anemic that Eyman has once again been compelled to loan his initiative factory money. According to the April Schedule L, Eyman loaned Voters Want More Choices $30,000 on April 24th, 2010. Two days later (April 26th), he wrote a check to Citizen Solutions (who employ mercenary petitioners on Eyman’s behalf) for the exact same amount. Five days later, on April 29th, Eyman loaned Voters Want More Choices an additional $20,000. He wrote Citizen Solutions another check for $25,000 the following day (April 30th)..

Considering that Eyman still has loans outstanding from I-1033, it seems unlikely he could continue to self-fund his own signature drive.

Perhaps he’s decided to buy himself as many signatures as he can whilst hoping that Dunmire eventually comes through for him.

But if that’s his game plan, he hasn’t bothered to clue in his supporters.

April 13th, 2010

Eyman files symbolic initiatives to repeal new revenue in 2010 budget

Ballot WatchdoggingThreat Analysis

That didn’t take long.

The ink is still not dry on the 2010 supplemental budget – which has yet to be signed into law by Governor Gregoire – but already initiative profiteer Tim Eyman has filed a series of initiatives to wipe out the new revenue it contains.

Some news reports are lending the impression that Eyman intends to seriously qualify these initiatives, or a later initiative based on the eight he filed today. In reality, there is no evidence that these initiatives are anything other than symbolic. Eyman himself has admitted to his supporters that the signature drive for Initiative 1053, his preexisting scheme, is not moving at a pace that would ensure success. The real reason Eyman filed these initiatives is that he wants his face on the evening news and his name in the newspaper. It’s all about publicity.

Industry lobbyists have made noises about wanting to repeal some of the consumption taxes in the 2010 supplemental budget, but if they want to force public votes on parts of the budget, they don’t need Eyman’s help to do that.

April 9th, 2010

Eyman’s paid mercenaries are set to hit the streets with I-1053 petitions

Ballot WatchdoggingEye on Money: DevelopmentsThreat Analysis

Mercenary signature gatherers hawking petitions for Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1053 will be hitting the streets over the next few days, Permanent Defense has learned.

Individuals with knowledge of Eyman’s activities have confirmed to Permanent Defense that the Mukilteo profiteer is once again hiring his pals Roy Ruffino and Eddie Agrazarm, who run “Citizen Solutions”, to orchestrate the paid signature gathering drive for Initiative 1053. Coincidentally, Eyman has issued two appeals for money to his supporters this week. Eyman wrote today:

To be successful, we need everyone — from now until July 2nd — to focus and concentrate on ways to get signatures and raise funds. Everything else is a distant, distant second.

I’m calling and meeting with supporters every day and Jack & Mike are busting their butts processing petitions and checks and credit card donations. Raising funds for signature gathering is the most important. It’s the lifeblood of this effort.

Partially-filled and fully-filled petitions are arriving every day now in our post office box in Spokane but not at a pace to ensure success. We’ve got to pick up the pace on signatures and money.

Apparently, Eyman’s patron Michael Dunmire hasn’t written his annual check yet. Last year, Dunmire paid off the loans Eyman took out for Initiative 985 and then provided several hundred thousand dollars for Initiative 1033. So far, however, he has not refilled the coffers for Eyman’s “Voters Want More Choices” committee, even though he is a co-sponsor of I-1053.

February 13th, 2010

Eight Years: Statement from the Founder

AnnouncementsThreat Analysis

Today and throughout this month, Permanent Defense celebrates its eighth anniversary, marking the end of ninety six months of opposing harmful right wing initiatives, especially those sponsored by Tim Eyman. These last fifty two weeks – our eighth year – rank among the most difficult – but also the most rewarding – in our history. The following is a brief recap of our accomplishments:

  • Throughout our eighth year, we were part of the realization of one of Permanent Defense’s two original goals: the successful completion of Sound Transit’s Central Link light rail line. Staff were invited on several test runs of the line prior to its July 18th grand opening, and Permanent Defense’s parent organization, the Northwest Progressive Institute, provided extensive coverage of that event. We were again present for the December 19th opening of the Airport Link extension, which brought the line into the City of SeaTac.
  • We tirelessly worked as part of one of the biggest coalitions in Washington State history to defeat Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1033, the Mukilteo profiteer’s most destructive measure ever. After a frenzied October, which saw an unprecedented mobilization of clergy, municipal leaders, activists, community groups, and progressive organizations, we won a spectacular victory that spanned the Cascade Mountains. Our triumph marked Eyman’s second consecutive defeat at the ballot and his first in an odd-numbered year.
  • As part of the effort to defeat Initiative 1033, we built a grassroots campaign hub and organized opposition to the initiative through social networking. By Election Day, the NO on Initiative 1033 Facebook page co-maintained by Permanent Defense had surpassed thirteen thousand fans. We also worked to ensure that journalists heard about the consequences of I-1033 by regularly responding to Tim Eyman’s propaganda.
  • In the aftermath of the election, we began preparing to oppose Tim Eyman’s next measure, a do-over of Initiative 960 (2007) which the Legislature is poised to suspend. We provided an opposition presence at Eyman’s kickoff event in the Secretary of State’s office on January 11th.
  • Finally, we began work on a major overhaul of Permanent Defense’s website (Version 8, codenamed Camano) which will officially launch this week as part of our anniversary celebrations. Our new website runs on an incredibly powerful free software stack, and is ten times more robust than every prior incarnation.

We also continued to lobby the Legislature to reform the initiative process. The House and Senate are each considering bills we support that would make a difference. One would make it harder for Tim Eyman to go ballot title shopping, another would require mercenary petitioners to be more accountable.  We are hopeful that at least one of these bills will make it out of the statehouse this year.

We know that despite our successes, the underlying problems that allow Tim Eyman to exist – especially our regressive tax structure, but also a lack of political courage – remain unaddressed. These problems will not be solved by simply defeating forthcoming right wing ballot measures like Initiative 1053. Every time we defeat a Tim Eyman initiative, we are merely treating a symptom. Solving the underlying problems will take nothing less than a Herculean endeavor, and a strategic shift on the part of our movement. Permanent Defense’s parent organization, the Northwest Progressive Institute, was formed in August of 2003 to help make this strategic shift possible.

Although Permanent Defense’s narrowly focused work remains important, the larger work that NPI is undertaking has become even more critical and more important, because the clock is ticking. For too long, we have dithered and procrastinated, and allowed ourselves to be more concerned about winning elections than addressing the conditions that are precipitating the decline of our communities, our state, and our country. That must change. Our future depends on our ability to grow our common wealth, not just safeguard what we have.

Thanks for being a supporter and staying committed to the tough goal of neutralizing harmful right wing initiatives, year after year. Together, we will continue to provide a much needed first line of defense against new threats to our future.

January 26th, 2010

Eyman prints petitions for Initiative 1053

Ballot WatchdoggingThreat Analysis

Tim Eyman announced this morning in a message to his followers that he has begun printing up petitions for Initiative 1053, his do-over of Initiative 960 from 2007. Eyman also said several petitions have already been circulated at a Republican state committee meeting. Like I-960, I-1053 brazenly contradicts Article II, Section 22 of the Washington State Constitution, which says that each house of the Legislature shall operate on the principle of majority rule.

The Initiative 1053 petition contains the words “Tougher to Raise Taxes” at the top. It naturally fails to acknowledge that giving a minority of the Legislature veto power over the majority is undemocratic.

Activists who see right wing signature gatherers out collecting signatures for I-1053 are urged to report their experience to Permanent Defense so we can better track Eyman’s signature drive.

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Mobilizing for 2024 to counter new threats

Stop Greed: Vote no in 2024
Visit StopGreed.org to learn about four harmful right wing initiatives we're opposing that are on their way to the November general election ballot

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Permanent Defense works to protect Washington by building a first line of defense against threats to the common wealth and Constitution of the Evergreen State — like Tim Eyman's initiative factory. Learn more.

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