I Was Wrong!

I said I thought the projected budget deficit for Washington would soon be $3 billion. I was wrong. Now it's up to $3.2 billion.

Never fear, we have a rainy day fund, which will cover almost a quarter of that!

Let us remember what Governor Gregoire said in her 2006 State of the State address:

Our state budgeting has been a roller coaster. We spend when we have a surplus and we struggle to make painful cuts when the economy slumps. It is time to even out the ride. While the roller coaster is fun at the amusement park, it is no model for state budgeting.

By treating our budget like a Washington family budget -- we will ensure stability and avoid tax increases or Draconian cuts tomorrow.

And then in her 2008 State of the State, she said something similar:

For too long, state government spent in the good times, and then made painful cuts when the economy slowed. We are getting off that roller coaster, and we're making progress!

So in 2006, we were supposed to keep spending low so that when tough times came, we'd be able to weather them without tax increases or program cuts. In 2008, well, we want to make sure we don't have any program cuts. Notice in 2008, there's no mention of avoiding tax increases, because there's no plan to avoid tax increases.

We didn't keep spending low. We didn't "get off that roller coaster." We added 33 percent to the budget, and our revenues and savings couldn't come close to keeping up, and if Gregoire is re-elected, we will have massive tax increases.

Rossi has met this challenge before, and emerged victorious. Spending must be cut, without causing significant harm, and without raising taxes. Gregoire and the Democrats caused this problem, and they want to sink our economy even lower to try and tax and spend their way out of it.