OFM confirms it: $1 billion in tax increases have already cut the deficit in half
Democrats and their special-interest-group-backers are whining about how Initiative 1185’s 2/3 vote requirement is preventing them from taking a “balanced approach” (code for raising taxes) to address their budget challenges (caused by 8 years of adopting totally unsustainable budgets). But the truth is higher taxes are already part of the equation: in 2010, after suspending I-960’s 2/3, Gregoire and the Democrats imposed $6.7 billion in higher taxes over the next 10 years.
How much tax revenue from those 2010 tax hikes will go toward the next budget (2013-2015)? $1.049 billion. That’s right, nearly a billion dollars.
There’s been alot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over the upcoming deficit. Some peg the projected deficit at $900 million, others at $2 billion. But regardless of the amount, it is $1 billion less than it otherwise would be if not for those 2010 tax increases.