*** ORBUSMAX GUEST OP/ED ***

Expensive anti-taxpayer campaigns are AOK with the media - By Tim Eyman

July 14, 2004

The press whines about expensive campaigns that offer pro-taxpayer ideas, like Initiative 892 which lowers property taxes $400 million per year. But when anti-taxpayer initiatives like the $1-billion-per-year-sales-tax-increase Initiative 884 comes along, the press looks the other way, never offering a single word of criticism.

Case in point: a quick review of this month's campaign reports for I-884 shows that the entire signature gathering operation was funded by three billionaires and the teachers' union: Bill Gates ($150,000), Bill Gates Sr ($50,000), Nicolas J. Hanauer ($225,000), and the WEA ($25,000).

By the end of June, the $1-billion-per-year-sales-tax-increase Initiative 884 paid Blair Butterworth (Locke's lackey) $429,143.46 for paid petitioning out of their $783,721.18 war chest.

For "Just Treat Us The Same" Initiative 892, as of the end of June, paid petitioning cost $389,877.35 out of the $619,291 raised.

So when billionaires Bill Gates, Bill Gates Sr, Nicholas Hanauer, and the teachers' union "buy their way on the ballot" with anti-taxpayer Initiative 884, the press looks the other way. But when Washington-based businesses financially support pro-taxpayer I-892, the press throws a hypocritical hissyfit.

The press is simply upset that 274,293 citizens voluntarily signed on to Initiative 892 petitions.

The tribes are only now getting geared up but they've already raised nearly as much as I-892 has, $575,548.40, with $166,000 coming from the Tulalip Tribes' casino of Marysville, $100,000 from the Squaxin Island Gaming Enterprise of Shelton, and $94,000 from the Muckleshoots tribal casino of Auburn (there was a recent additional transfer of $500,000 to the NO on I-892 campaign). IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE TRIBES CAN USE THEIR ENTIRE WAR CHEST TO ATTACK I-892. IN CONTRAST, I-892 HAD TO SPEND ITS FUNDS TO QUALIFY FOR THE BALLOT. AS A RESULT, THE TRIBES WILL ALWAYS HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL, BUILT-IN FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE.

But in the privacy of the ballot booth, money doesn't matter; ideas do. Every tax initiative we've qualified for the ballot has been approved by voters despite being radically outspent by opponents each and every time. 2004 will be no different.

Remember, it will be regular taxpaying voters who will decide the fate of these initiatives, not three billionaires and the teachers' union.

But don't hold your breath for the press to tell you that.

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Tim Eyman, along with Jack and Mike Fagan, are directors of Voters Want More Choices, a grassroots taxpayer-protection organization with about 30,000 supporters throughout the state of Washington.

Information on I-892: http://www.JustTreatUsTheSame.com.