Ok, I've been mulling some stuff over in my head, based on the way I understand economics to work. I wanna bounce some stuff off of people, see if I'm thinking straight. I have come to the conclusion that the Washington State government is in a downward spiral, and with it, it's ability to support public works (I.E. Roads, mental health, education, etc.) projects. Here's what I've observed:

- I601, passed several years back, prevents the legislature from increasing budgetary spending over a certain amount based on the previous year's budget without a 2/3 vote of the legislature and the declaration of a fiscal emergency.

- This allowed a large budget surplus to build up during fiscal good times. The original intent of I601 was for that surplus to be held as a "rainy day" fund for when times got rough.

- Several people noticed that the fund was getting fat, complained our taxes were too high, and gutted the car tax. This is a vast oversimplification, but what it came down to was that a yearly license fee for a car was changed from one roughly based on the valuation of the car to a flat $30 a year, which had pretty much been the minimum previously. This was during fiscal good times for the state economy.

- Our transportation network has pretty much been shot to shit. No major improvements have been done to the puget sound transportation network in something like 20 years. Some projects had been lined up, but they got slashed when the car license fees were slashed.

- Despite whining from owners, overall property taxes don't raise more than a small amount each year - but people who's land gains value see their property taxes rise at the same time, so they freak about excessive taxation. So far, no attempt to limit the raise of individual property taxes has suceeded - mainly because any attempt to do so is considered discriminatory against those who's land valuations are low, who would have to pick up the balance for those who's land values soared.

- Then the economy went sour. Our state had three major tax revenue sources: Sales tax, Car licensing, and Property taxes. Car tabs went away. Due to a combination of slow sales and people buying outside the state to dodge the sales tax (illegal, you're still supposed to pay it, but nobody does) the revenue for sales tax has seen a serious slide. Never mind that Boeing does all it's transactions in international waters to avoid state sales taxes (7x7 plane takes off with Boeing crew+execs, Airline crew+execs, with Boeing crew piloting, flies out over the pacific ocean, execs sign contract, and the airline crew takes over piloting, flies back into Washington airspace, all done. :P

- So, the state is left with a crappy transportation system, poor tax revenues, no industry base (Boeing is all but gone, and probably will be gone soon, Microsoft is pretty much the only company left around here that is actually hiring.) and stuck in a major recession. Oh, and all the aluminum companies have pretty much shut down now as well, killing the last of our major manufacturing.

- Well, why doesn't the legislature try to institute a more stable (and equitable, as well as federal tax deductible!) tax structure, such as an income tax? Because an income tax is a third rail here in Washington state. Go figure.

- In addition, due to the structure of laws on the books, if state spending dips, it can't be raised again without a "Emergency decree" from the state legislature.

Here's the cycle I see:

1. State hits economic good times, builds surplus.

2. Voters see surplus, think they're overtaxed, use initiative system to reduce taxes.

3. State hits rough times, surplus is gone, spending gets cut big time.

4. State takes longer than usual to come out of recession due to decaying public infrastructure.

5. When state comes out, size of government is significantly reduced, then goto step #1.

Yeah, I know, government isn't the answer to all problems, but hell, some government is needed for essentials, unless you're a libertarian kook. Unless something changes, it looks to me like Wash. State is on it's way to Hell in a handbasket. What do I want from you?

Look over what I wrote.
See if I made any major errors.
If anything isn't clear, ask me questions.
If it's all clear, and I'm right, tell me so.

If enough people tell me I'm right, I'm moving to Washington D.C., with my wife. Seriously.

Moved a couple things around in order for them to make more sense as I reply to them.

One thing you cite is an example of Washington getting it "right" and getting taken advantage of by neighboring states. I prefer sales taxes to income taxes as a primary income source. If neighboring states did the same thing, that would avoid one dodge.

Basically, if all states had more-similar tax structures there would be no incentive to pull stunts like this.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this. While I do think that states should have relatively similar tax structures to avoid these dodges, I don't agree that a VAT tax is the ultimate tax solution.

5. When state comes out, size of government is significantly reduced, then goto step #1.

BTW I'm finding it real hard to be upset about that one.
I can't be a Democrat because I like to spend the money I make.
I can't be a Republican because I like to spend the money I make on drugs and whores.

ROTFLMAO!

Okay, now that I'm done LMAO, I just want to make sure you understand the vicious cycle - it's not just a temporary reduction in the size of state government - due to initiative 601, it ends up being a permanant reduction in the size of state government. Each time the cycle repeats.

I can't be a libertarian because I don't make enough money to hire a bodyguard to protect my money. :)

The trick of flying out over the Pacific to sign the contract ... that's so patently deceitful I can't believe it's allowed to go on. As you said, you're supposed to pay the state sales tax anyway. What does the state gain by not cracking down on this practice?

Well, they used to gain all the jobs that Boeing brought to the region. Boeing had, and still has a lot of political clout in the state. They used that clout to make things favorable for themselves, basically screwing over a lot of projects in the process. Things they ended up complaining about, such as traffic congestion, were directly the result of their attempts to block a bunch of packages in the legislature, because the taxes would cost them money. Basically, it's like the story of the 22 year old supermodel who moves in with the millionare, then dumps him three years later when the money runs out.

A definite warning to the state that took them in...

Quality of life has gone all to shit:

- Increased commute time due to combination of gridlock/californian immigration/totally unaffordable housing in urban areas.

- No jobs.

- No jobs at reasonable salaries. Somebody wanted me to take a PC support job at $7.00/hour part time, no benefits. I'm making more on unemployment!

- Economic downswing.

My dad moved out to D.C. a few years back, and he's convinced it's raining soup there. My wife and I have both checked out the want ads, salaries are massively higher (like 2x what I USED to make here for the same work I was doing here) and the rent really isn't all that different than here.

Can't complain...

...tell me what you think of Fredricksburg.

We're looking at an apartment complex there, but know nothing about the town.

...but I can't let that slide, and you know it. :)

Actually, I wasn't bashing Californians - it's basically what happened. The formula goes something like this:

LA Smog+massive traffic jams+magazines proclaiming Washington "Best Quality Of Life" = Mass immigration from California to Washington.

IIRC, wasn't California the prior "best quality of life" state that got a lot of publicity? Makes sense - you advertise a good quality of life, and suddenly everybody wants to live there, turning it into a living hell. :P

...everybody stood around while I broke up the fight. :P