URGENT: Send email to arrogant Democrat Senators who defied their constituents
Yesterday’s email update (reprinted below) spurred a huge response. We were flooded with requests for email addresses for the Senate Democrats who defied their constituents on Friday.
URGENT: Send an email to senators right away. Write something like this (feel free to add more, tell ’em how you feel):
“Shame on you Democrats! How dare you defy your constituents on such a crucial issue! Why couldn’t just one of you vote to respect your constituents who overwhelmingly support the 2/3? After 6 public votes, isn’t it clear the people want the chance to vote on SJR 8211? As for the Senate Republicans and Democrat Senator Tim Sheldon, great job! You’re doing exactly what you were elected to do: listen to the people. But that one legislative vote on Friday isn’t enough. Bring this up again and again and again. Voters have 6 times voted for this — show us that you are equally persistent and committed.”
Here are the 44 STATE SENATORS — Republicans and Democrats — from outside Seattle (cut and paste these into the “To” line of your email):
jan.angel@leg.wa.gov; Barbara.bailey@leg.wa.gov; Michael.baumgartner@leg.wa.gov
It’s important for all of these Senators to hear from you. For more background, (re)read the email update below. It’ll get your blood boiling for sure.
Monday, February 15th, 2016
To: Our thousands of supporters throughout the state (cc’d to the media, house & senate members, and Governor)
From: Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, & Mike Fagan, Fighting for Taxpayers for 16 years, 425-493-9127, tim_eyman@comcast.net, www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com
RE: Report on Friday’s Senate floor vote on Sen. Roach’s 2/3 constitutional amendment
Last Monday (one week ago today), Senator Pam Roach pulled out of Rules committee SJR 8211. I very subtly showed her my appreciation for her efforts:
Just to be clear, I was on my hands and knees chasing after her so I could kiss her feet. She didn’t go for that, so I settled for kissing her ring.
Thanks to her efforts, SJR 8211 was put on the Senate floor for a vote on Friday. The debate over it lasted for 2 hours.
For those interested, you can watch it here:
http://www.tvw.org/watch/?
53:45 – 1:34:00: they debate Democrat amendments
1:34:00 – 1:41:47: Senator Pam Roach opens debate on SJR 8211
1:41:47 – 2:50:25: speeches by senators
2:50:25 – 2:52:41 Sen. Roach closes debate
After the two-hour debate, all 26 members of the Republican controlled Majority Coalition Caucus voted to let the people vote. When it came to the 18 Democrats elected in districts where voters overwhelmingly support the 2/3: NOT ONE OF THOSE 18 DEMOCRATS VOTED THEIR DISTRICT — EVERY ONE OF THEM REFUSED TO LET THE PEOPLE VOTE.
Here are the 18 swing-district (from outside Seattle) Democrat senators who blocked the vote on SJR 8211 on Friday:
#1: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Dean Takko (Democrat-Longview)
70% of voters in 19th district support the 2/3
#2: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Steve Hobbs (Democrat-Lake Stevens)
69% of voters in 44th district support the 2/3
#3: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Mark Mullet (Democrat-Issaquah)
68% of voters in 5th district support the 2/3
#4: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Steve Conway (Democrat-Tacoma)
68% of voters in 29th district support the 2/3
#5: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator John McCoy (Democrat-Tulalip)
67% of voters in 38th district support the 2/3
#6: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Annette Cleveland (Democrat-Vancouver)
67% of voters in 49th district support the 2/3
#7: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Jim Hargrove (Democrat-Hoquiam)
66% of voters in 24th district support the 2/3
#8: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Andy Billig (Democrat-Spokane)
66% of voters in 3rd district support the 2/3
#9: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Karen Keiser (Democrat-Kent)
64% of voters in 33rd district support the 2/3
#10: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Rosemary McAuliffe (Democrat-Bothell)
64% of voters in 1st district support the 2/3
#11: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Marko Liias (Democrat-Mukilteo)
63% of voters in 21st district support the 2/3
#12: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Bob Hasegawa (Democrat-Renton)
62% of voters in 11th district support the 2/3
#13: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Maralyn Chase (Democrat-Shoreline)
61% of voters in 32nd district support the 2/3
#14: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Christine Rolfes (Democrat-Bainbridge)
60% of voters in 23rd district support the 2/3
#15: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Cyrus Habib (Democrat-Kirkland)
60% of voters in 48th district support the 2/3
#16: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Jeannie Darneille (Democrat-Tacoma)
60% of voters in 27th district support the 2/3
#17: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Kevin Ranker (Democrat-Orcas Island)
59% of voters in 40th district support the 2/3
#18: http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/
Senator Karen Fraser (Democrat-Olympia)
54% of voters in 22nd district support the 2/3
Among the Republican floor speeches, there was one that really made these 18 Democrats squirm — here’s an excerpt from that exceptional speech:
“The vote today really isn’t whether or not you agree with 44 of 49 legislative districts that voted for this. The vote today isn’t whether or not you agree with 39 of 39 counties that have voted for this. That’s not the point. The point today is simply this: do you or do you not trust the citizens of this state and the citizens of your district to make the right choice. Do you trust your citizens, your neighbors, to amend their own constitution. That’s the vote that’s taking place here today. Not whether or not you agree with whether it should take 2/3 or not. The vote today is the same argument that was used on this floor when simple majority for school levies came up. It’s not about whether or not you agree with the underlying issue. What it’s about is whether or not you trust the citizens of your district to amend their own constitution. When the constitution is very clear that the people of this state have reserved the first power of legislation to themselves.
“Think of the arrogance it would take to deny the citizens the right to make that decision. I trust the citizens of my district and I trust the citizens of this state. And I plead with all of my colleagues here to trust your citizens. Give them a chance to make their own decision as to whether or not they want to amend their constitution. Do the right thing. Give the citizens a chance to vote.” — Senator Don Benton
Last month, there was a House floor vote on Rep. Ed Orcutt’s 2/3-for-taxes constitutional amendment. All 48 Republicans voted yes, not a single one of the 50 Democrats joined them.
So that means that every single Democrat in the House and Senate is a Seattle Democrat. It means that there’s no such thing as a swing-district Democrat or a conservative Democrat or a moderate Democrat or a roadkill Democrat. Every single Democrat elected to the Legislature is representing the people of Seattle. Not a single Democrat could bring themselves to tell his or her colleagues: “On this issue, I need to represent my district, not my caucus.” Not one.
Not a single independent thinker is allowed within the Democrat ranks. No one can deviate from Seattle orthodoxy. A singular focus is ever-present among the Democrats: taking as much money as possible from the taxpayers without any restraint without any hesitation. The sky’s the limit.
We have our back-up initiative ready to go if the Democrats continue to block the people from voting on a 2/3-for-taxes constitutional amendment. But with the supreme court hearing on I-1366 on March 15th, we will going to continue to keep the pressure on until then.