Some Food For Thought

A friend sent this to me. I think it's worth sharing. Lee Iacocca has been a personal hero of mine, and this pretty much sums up how I feel...

Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from it's death throes? He has a new book and here are some excerpts.

Lee Iacocca Says: "Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff; we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car! But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."

Stay the course? !? You've got to be kidding!! This is America, not the damned "Titanic." I'll give you a sound bite: "Throw all the bums out!" You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the "America" my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The Biggest "C" is Crisis !

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A Hell of a mess. So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership. But when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense?

I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when "The Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?

Had Enough?

Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: the "Great Depression," "World War II," the "Korean War," the "Kennedy Assassination," the "Vietnam War," the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: "You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action.

Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to "Action" for people who, like me, believe in America. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had "enough."

Excerpted from "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" Copyright (c) 2007 by Lee Iacocca. All rights reserved

Why Kriedler Needs To Go

As if he hasn’t already done enough damage abusing his office and betraying the public trust, State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is back requesting legislation to restore his ability to regulate individual health insurance rates.

In exchange for a pledge from the four carriers left doing business here to stay in this market, Kriedler’s authority over individual health plans was jerked away by the Legislature in 2000 in a deal meant to salvage the state’s individual health insurance market.

Yet astonishingly, Kriedler recently had the cojones to say, “Eight years have passed since this law took effect. Meanwhile, the carriers are making record profits, and consumers have seen their rates jump an average of 16 percent per year.”

And the point is? Had Kriedler not literally regulated insurers right out of the state, we’d have more competition — which always means lower rates.

Kriedler’s proud of being blatantly anti-business. Endorsing R-67, and acting as its public mouthpiece, supporting a measure with a definite financial impact on the companies he is elected to regulate, wasn’t just a major ethical conflict of interest — it was flat out wrong.

Another example of his so called “leadership:” Title insurance companies can no longer donate to non-profit community organizations without risking a minimum $10,000 fine. Kriedler went as far as fining one title insurance company for sending flowers to the funeral of one of its clients who passed away. Did he think the client would be unduly influenced to send future business their way from the great beyond, or what?

And let’s not forget the KPS giveaway. Kriedler “sold” KPS — which was profitable and well on the road to full financial recovery — to his former employer, Group Health in a slight-of-hand deal where no real money actually changed hands. Not much of a conflict of interest there, is there?

Kriedler is also real big on abusing the power of his office via the press release process to further inflate his ego. We must receive at least two press releases a week extolling Kriedler's political position on various matters. This was especially blatant during the R-67 campaign.

The bottom line is that its time for a new Insurance Commissioner — one with ethics — and certainly one who understands Economics 101.

Why Rossi Can Win

Republican candidate for governor Dino Rossi spent this past Thursday visiting Kitsap. It was an interesting day to say the least. A high-powered local fundraising committee was established — which includes some local Democrats, or as he calls them, "Dinocrats." A series of subsequent meetings with rank and file voters also had them whipping out their checkbooks.

In the interest of full disclosure, before going any further, let me say that Rossi and I are personal friends, and that I serve of the board of the pro-business organization he founded, the Forward Washington Foundation. But that aside, in my mind, he has a real chance to win. Here's why I think so:

• Polls show him in a statistical dead-heat with incumbent governor Christine Gregoire. In head-to-head (2004 and now) polling, she has never polled 50 percent against Rossi — no matter who conducted the poll — independent polling organizations, Republicans or Democrats. This is a clear sign of danger for Gregoire, whose popularity numbers haven't reached 50 percent at any time while she has been governor either. Here are samples of some of the polling:
Question: Who would you support for governor?
The Washington Poll (Nov. 2007) Gregoire 46% Rossi 42%
Strategic Vision (Oct. 2007) Gregoire 47% Rossi 45%
Moore Information (July 2007) Gregoire 47% Rossi 43%
The margin of error in any poll depends upon the number of people contacted To be considered credible, the number sampled must be large enough for the margin of error to fall somewhere between 3 and 6 points. So you can see how close this truly is — with 10 months still to go.

• The political climate is such that a Republican can win the Governor’s race in heavily Democratic Washington State. In 2006, a horrible election year for Republicans nationwide, voters elected Republican Governors in six states that have as much or more of a partisan Democrat electorate than Washington. Those are:
Connecticut 2006 Rell (R) 63% DeStefano (D) 35%
Minnesota 2006 Pawlenty (R) 46.7% Hatch (D) 45.7%
Rhode Island 2006 Carcieri (R) 51% Fogarty (D) 49%
Vermont 2006 Douglas (R) 57% Parker (D) 41%
Hawaii 2006 Lingle (R) 62% Iwase (D) 35%
California 2006 Schwarzenegger (R) 56% Angelides (D) 39%

These examples demonstrate that voters view their governors differently, as well as establish a more personal relationship with them as opposed to their federal legislators.

• Money is always a major determining factor. Rossi's financial support is already far exceeding that of the 2004 race. Rossi announced his candidacy on October 25 and had raised more than $1.7 million by December 31. By comparison, in the 2004 campaign it was mid-April before he reached that figure. But here is an alarming statistic if you're Christine Gregoire — of the over 12,000 donors that had given money as of December 31, almost none are Olympia lobbyists, and more than 40 percent who have donated, are NEW contributors.

• Gregoire is also prohibited from fundraising during the legislative session. This means given the rate contributions are flowing in, and the ongoing organization of new fundraising sources such as the local committee just established, Rossi could conceivably catch — or surpass — her in cash on hand by the end of the session. When that happens, look for the lobbyists to begin opening their checkbooks as well. Gregoire is also spending her cash at a much faster rate than Rossi.

• TV will be a major factor. Let's face it, looks count — especially on TV. And look for a LOT of money to be spent in this campaign on TV advertising. Rossi has a distinct advantage in that he is a physically handsome man, with a easy, soft-spoken manner that comes across extremely well on TV. He's one of those people who is genuinely warm and friendly, and it shows on TV almost as well as in person. Gregoire on the other hand, appears cold, distant and confrontational — both in person as well as on TV. Her physical appearance in front of the TV camera emphasizes her hard-edged negatives — especially when she tries to smile, which usually appears less than genuine.

• Rossi's message detailing Gregoire's failures, as well as her tax and spend record, will be relentless. Gregoire has brought us the highest tax increase in state history after promising no new taxes. She waffled on restoring the one percent cap on property taxes, and could opt to raise them in the 2009 legislature if re-elected. She's also blown through the largest surplus the state has ever had — over $1.4 billion — and we could be running a $1 billion plus budget deficit by 2009 (Gregoire's own figures even predict $600+ million). Her failures to deliver on congestion relief, education reform (our children have actually gone backwards) and the fact we have the highest small business failure rate in the nation, are all well-documented facts. Rossi's message about these issues is already resonating well with voters — Republican and Democrat alike. Look for the Rossi campaign to drive these issues home at every opportunity.

• And then there is the voter's sense of fair play — and what happened in 2004. The Secretary of State didn't have a comprehensive statewide voter database in 2004, but does now. Over 176,000 felons, aliens, dead people, and other illegally registered "voters" have been purged from the rolls. This coupled with resolving the ACORN voter fraud situation means the election should be a LOT cleaner than in 2004. And like Rossi himself is fond of saying, "Everyone knows 129 people."

So can Dino Rossi win? Absolutely.

Angel Announces for State Representative in 26th.

Kitsap County Commissioner Jan Angel, a long time district resident, former commercial banker, Realtor and business owner, has announced her candidacy for state representative in the 26th legislative district, position 1. That seat is now held by Democrat legislator Pat Lantz.

Angel will focus on education, public safety and controlling property taxes as her top priorities when elected to the legislature.

“We have an achievement gap in our current education system, public safety is at risk with offenders being released early into our communities and people are being taxed out of their homes. This is simply unacceptable,” stated Angel. “We need people in Olympia who understand the issues and can offer positive solutions, not business as usual. My experience on the county commission and in the private sector prepared me well for this next step. I look forward to serving the people of the 26th District in the legislature.”

Angel served on the Executive Board of the regional Economic Development District, participated in a Friendship Delegation to China with Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, is a founding member of the Kitsap International Trade Council, serves on the board of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance, the board of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and is past president of the Western District of the Washington State Association of Counties. She also serves on, and is past chair of the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council, the CENCOM 911 Policy Board, the County Emergency Management Board, Kitsap County Health District Board (2007 chair), Kitsap Transit, and will be serving as the 2008 chair of the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority.

She has lived in South Kitsap for 25 years. She is married to Lynn Williams, has two adult daughters who are partners in local businesses, and is a grandmother of five. Angel attended Colorado State University and the University of Alaska, majoring in business administration. She received her Certified Public Official designation in 2003 and also is a 2003 graduate of the County Leadership Institute, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University Wagner. In addition, she is a Paul Harris Rotarian and is a member of the State of Washington Farm Bureau, the Kitsap/Mason County Farm Bureau, the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition and the Kitsap Audubon Society.

For more information, visit www.janangel.com

Does PSRC membership make sense for Kitsap?

I attended the recent Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) public hearing held in the Commissioner’s Chambers, and have been following the editorial commentary on the local blogs and in Letters to the Editor since then.

The job of the PSRC is to do regional planning for King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties. It has crafted a plan called “Vision 2040,” that supposedly is our road map for land use and transportation planning, between now until then. And for those who aren’t up on such things, the PSRC is also in charge of allocating and handing out state transportation money to its four member counties.

It’s interesting to note the diametrically — or perhaps I should say ideologically — opposed editorial coverage of the public hearing by the Kitsap Sun and the Port Orchard Independent.

As reported by both papers, the Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners (KAPO) turned out in force to register its displeasure with Vision 2040 — and pointedly, the PSRC’s land use intentions for Kitsap. It’s members repeatedly told PSRC representatives in no uncertain terms the group wasn’t welcome here, and publicly called on our county commissioners to pull out of the organization.

However, depending on which paper you read, you may or may not know KAPO members weren’t the only people there expressing that opinion. Of the 80 or so people who attended the meeting and testified, only a handful were actually KAPO members. The rest were ordinary citizens concerned with what could happen to them if they didn’t register their objections. There were only three people testifying that membership in PSRC was actually a good idea for us.

Before saying anything more, in the interest of full disclosure, let me state for the record that I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of KAPO.

In fact, considering my personal views on some issues near and dear to its membership, I’m not all that certain I’d even be welcome as a member.

That aside, it’s no secret KAPO is a tightly organized, militantly activist, local property rights organization that’s pretty well-informed on issues, and well-funded by its fairly conservative membership. For years, it has been an ongoing — and painful — thorn in the side of certain county commissioners. Yet it’s almost always portrayed in at least one local media as a group of anti-environment, right-wing nut jobs. In any organization, there’s always at least a few members out of touch with the mainstream. However most KAPO members I’ve met have a pretty solid grip on reality.

Although KAPO suffers from a lack of public credibility because of that media portrayal, its left-wing counterpart, the environmental extremist Kitsap Citizens for Responsible Planning (KCRP), is almost always treated with deference. As near as I can figure, KCRP has about 20 members — and that may be a generous assessment. Meanwhile, KAPO has quietly amassed several hundred members, begging the question, which group actually represents the local majority opinion? Is it 20 or so people continually working the GMA legal process to roadblock growth at the expense of the taxpayers, or the hundreds of residents willing to back up their beliefs with their checkbooks?

Ironically, it was only because of continual agitation by KAPO, that the PSRC public hearing was even held here at all — much less held in the evening. Originally it was scheduled for 7 p.m. on a weekday — in Edmonds.

What I also found interesting was that only one county commissioner — Jan Angel — even bothered to attend that public hearing. Angel makes no bones about the fact she doesn’t support PSRC’s ultra-liberal, socialist approach to land use.

But the issues about KAPO, KCRP and local media bias all aside, the simple question is, does getting out of the PSRC make good sense for Kitsap or not? Some elected officials privately agree it does, and will give you a laundry list of reasons why. But Jan Angel has been the only one with the political courage to step up and say so out loud.

Openly agreeing with KAPO on this in the press also resulted in the usual suspects attempting to discredit her character on the local blogs — something I’m certain she’s probably become quite used to by now.

In my view, the PSRC amounts to a monolithic, unelected government that’s accountable to no one, and dominated by ultra-liberal interests from the Interstate 5-centric side of Puget Sound. It can, and will, hold whatever transportation dollars it decides we deserve, hostage, unless we march to whatever land use tune it whistles. In my view, membership makes no sense because we’ll essentially castrate all our local land use decision-making authority from now until 2040 — and beyond.

We have extremely little in common economically or environmentally with King, Pierce or Snohomish counties. Common sense planning, coupled with retaining what local land use planning and decision making power we still have left, dictates we should either manage our rightful share of that transportation money ourselves through an organization like the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council (KRCC), or align with counties we do have things in common with.

Liberal Thurston County is a perfect example of making this work. It’s about the same size as Kitsap, but isn’t a member of PSRC. Thurston manages its own state transportation dollars, and in case you haven’t been there lately, it has some of the best roads and freeways in the state.

Kitsap County has documented that it will need well over $20 million in the next 20 years to meet just our most pressing and immediate transportation needs. We have 3.08 percent of the total population of the four PSRC counties and a little over six percent of its board’s voting power. King County has 52 percent. King County’s transportation problems are well-documented — the Viaduct, massive cost overruns at Sound Transit, coupled with its grandiose, PSRC-backed expansion plans, the 520 Bridge, etc. How much impact can any thinking person believe Kitsap County actually has on PSRC’s transportation funding decisions? Membership means we’re forced to give up local land use decision-making power and live by what PSRC and King County decide for us.

Considering PSRC’s arrogant dismissal of the views expressed at the public hearing as a “minority opinion,” the real question isn’t, “Does PSRC membership make sense for Kitsap?” The question is, “WHY does it?”

Eyman Back At Work

According to story in the Seattle P.I. , Initiative King Tim Eyman — the guy many people love to hate — has what might actually be a common sense idea for taking money being collected from certain traffic fines and using it to help alleviate traffic congestion.

Eyman's proposed initiative would require local governments to spend the money it collects from red-light violation cameras on local projects specifically aimed at eliminating traffic congestion.

The local link here is that Bremerton has already approved installation of red-light cameras and is in the process of selecting the intersections where they'll be installed. The rub here is that the money the cameras will generate is supposed to pay for hiring new police officers.

While Eyman's proposed new initiative does have some merit and seems well-intentioned, I'm not too sure I'm comfortable with the idea of the state dictating how local government will spend its money — any more than it already does. Can you say "Unfunded Mandate?

The Gratitude Campaign

Someone recently sent these to me, and I want to share them with all of you. Just click on the links in the explanation.

If you appreciate our men and women in the service, but either don't know how, or feel awkward about expressing your feelings of appreciation for what they do, this is for you. It's called The Gratitude Campaign — and believe it or not, it started in Seattle.

The second is a short, 5-minute film from Tony Robbins called "The 12 Tenets." As you start to think about what you want to accomplish in 2008, it's important to embrace why you're doing it. This short, but interesting movie may serve as food for thought.

Here's wishing all of you a Happy New Year. May all your hopes and dreams come true.

Observations From The Heartland

Greetings from Foley, Alabama... Huh? Where? Alabama — you mean you actually went there on purpose? Well, yes...

Foley is a little town adjacent to Gulf Shores, a major resort area on what's come to be known as the "Redneck Riviera." That's the beachfront strip along the Gulf of Mexico that runs from about Panama City, Florida, to somewhere near Biloxi, Mississippi. It's actually quite nice here.

Dee, Bryce and I are visiting some family and taking some well-deserved R&R after the election, and right on its heels, publication of the December issue of the KItsap Peninsula Business Journal and the Winter issue of WestSound Home & Garden. It seems we escaped just in time to miss all the bad weather, snow, flooding, etc. I'll be going from here to Scottsdale, Arizona where we have a condo, and attending two automotive test drive events.

I'll be doing an intro event for the restyled 2009 Nissan Murano on Wednesday and Thursday, and going from the resort where we'll be staying, to the condo for four days, and then off to another resort for Mitsubishi's Introduction of the 2009 Lancer Evo, which we'll driving on the road race course at Phoenix Firebird Raceway. Yeah, I know this is tough duty, but someone has to do this. Might as well be me :)

Some observations on the difference between attitudes here, and at home...

It began on the airplane, before we left Seattle. We were flying on Delta Airlines, which is based in Atlanta. The flight attendant, before doing the inane demonstration of how to buckle your seat belt, made an announcement saying, "We want to thank all of the members of the United State's military that we have on board today for your service to our country. We sincerely appreciate all you do, and we are honored to have you as our guests."

That announcement was met with a hearty round of applause that went on for well over a minute. That same announcement took place on the connecting flight to Pensacola, and received the same kind of response. I was also on a Delta Flight to Memphis and back just recently, via Atlanta, and the same thing took place. On flights on other airlines, such as Alaska and Northwest, I've not witnessed anything like that. But it made me smile and be proud I had a small part in saying "Thank You" to the men and women of our military.

When we arrived in both Atlanta and Pensacola, the first thing we noticed were Christmas Trees — not "Holiday Trees." The words "Merry Christmas" appear everywhere — in the airports, in stores, on TV, billboards and readerboards. No one is afraid to say "Merry Christmas."

There are American flags everywhere. On our way from the airport, we came into a town called Robertsdale. Lining the streets for literally miles, were what seemed to be a couple thousand people. We stopped to ask them what was going on, and someone answered, "The Big Christmas Parade." I couldn't help but notice it wasn't the "Holiday Parade."

On the lighter side, we went to dinner at a local seafood house, and on the tables, were stand-up cards saying "We proudly fry with Crisco Professional." I defy you to find something that anywhere in the politically correct Northwest. Also, one of the local papers, which is the equivalent of the Seattle Weekly or The Stranger, is called the Mullet Wrapper.

And of course no visit to the south would be complete without visiting that renowned fine dining establishment, The Waffle House. If you've ever been to one, you know exactly what I mean. And as usual, the show was every bit as good as the food, but that's another story for another time...

Mike Kriedler and R-67

Am I the only one who believes it was totally and completely unethical for Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kriedler to not only come out and publicly endorse R-67, but to be the public spokesman for it as well?

What brings this up is the fact I received an invitation to the Washington State Democratic Party's annual "Holiday Party," so I could join in and honor Kriedler, "For the outstanding leadership he demonstrated on behalf of consumers during the R-67 campaign."

Yeah, right...

The fact that R-67 should have been named the Trial Lawyers Full Employment Act aside, in my view, Kriedler abused his office and betrayed the public trust by endorsing a measure that would have a definite financial impact on the companies he is elected to regulate. No matter how you felt about R-67, for Kriedler to be the mouthpiece for this initiative was not only a major conflict of interest, it was just flat out wrong. To honor him for blatantly betraying the public trust is like rewarding a terrorist for saving lives because his suicide bomb failed to detonate.

Kriedler's policies as Insurance Commissioner are the main reason we only have a handful of health insurance providers left doing business in this state, and have directly resulted in the enormous healthcare cost burden we all face.

He's blatantly anti-business. Don't think so? Here's an example of his "leadership." Title insurance companies can no longer donate to non-profit community organizations — or anything else for that matter — without risking a minimum $10,000 fine. Kriedler even went as far as fining one title insurance company for sending flowers to the funeral of one of its clients who passed away. Did he think that client was going to be unduly influenced to send future business their way, or what?

And let's not forget the KPS giveaway. Kriedler "sold" KPS — which was profitable and well on the road to full financial recovery, to his former employer Group Health. What essentially happened, was Group Health took $19 million dollars out of one pocket, put it in another marked "KPS," and took ownership of the company. In reality, KPS didn't cost Group Health one red cent. It acquired all of its assets — including the money it had in the bank, all its reserves for paying claims (which could be deducted from the $19 million total it used to "buy" KPS), all its policyholder business, and the headquarters building at 400 Warren Avenue in Bremerton. Talk about a sweetheart deal...

Its time for a new Insurance Commissioner — one with ethics — and certainly one who understands Economics 101.

Gregoire And The One Percent Limit

The Washington State Supreme Court has once again demonstrated its elitist contempt for the voters of this state by insulting our intelligence and overturning Tim Eyman’s I-747. Its rationale was that we voters are too stupid to understand what we passed by a landslide back in 2001 — in spite of the fact it more than likely kept a much stronger tax revolt at bay as property values soared in recent years.

That certainly created a serious election-year dilemma for our esteemed Governor, Christine Gregoire — who has never seen a tax she didn’t support — and said previously she’d like to increase the one percent limit imposed by we voters.

The ink wasn’t even dry on the Supreme Court ruling before her 2008 Republican opponent, former State Senator Dino Rossi, immediately called upon the governor to convene a special one-day session of the legislature to reinstate the one percent lid — much the way former Governor Gary Locke did in 2000, instituting $30 car tabs after the court handed down its decision invalidating I-695. But Gregoire stonewalled Rossi’s call for almost three weeks, leaving taxpayers at risk for big local increases. “The incumbent is not leading, she is reacting — and slowly,” Rossi chided.

Right after the Supreme Court ruling, Gregoire minimized the situation, saying she would work with lawmakers to re-impose a limit, without giving a specific number, and creating the impression she was open to something more than one, but less than six percent.

As late as June of last year, Gregoire pushed a compromise increase, stating six percent begins taxing people out of their homes (conveniently neglecting to mention it also doubles the amount of taxation every 12 years), but insisting that in spite of continually escalating property values, one percent forces cutbacks on local services.

The political reality is any compromise on the percentage is a no-win for Gregoire, who barely beat Rossi in 2004 — and as we all know, under highly questionable circumstances. If Gregoire and the Democrats passed even a two percent cap they’ll be crucified in the court of public opinion for doubling property taxes.

The Friday after Election Day, Rossi and the Republicans were spinning themselves as champions of the taxpayers. Tim Eyman, fresh from his I-960 victory, was bombastically crowing, “People are in no mood to compromise. They’re ready to rip politicians’ lungs out.” So Gregoire issued a four-sentence e-mail saying — for the very first time — she supported a one percent cap.

“The voters approved Initiative 747, it has been in place for five years and I think we need to leave it in place,” she said. She reportedly later told the AP — with a straight face — that’s been her position for the past year. Perhaps she should have gone public much sooner, because that’s the very first time anyone ever heard her say that.

What provoked Gregoire into action, was the fact the old six percent law went back into effect. Numerous local taxing districts had “banked” unused taxing authority, and several King County taxing districts quickly moved to use it, ignoring Gregoire’s lame request not to.

Kitsap County Commissioner Chair Josh Brown also floated a trial balloon hinting Kitsap might look at increasing property taxes as well, but cooler, more experienced heads, prevailed.

In spite of the myriad of special interest Democratic constituencies pressuring the governor for an increase while the door was open, Gregoire was between the proverbial rock and a hard place. While Democrats detested Rossi and Eyman dictating Olympia’s agenda and its timing, they couldn’t risk their supermajorities in both houses next fall either. Openly challenging the clear will of the voters was simply an unacceptable risk.

Crediting voters with a gullibility factor between 7 and 8 on a scale of 10, Democrats cranked up their spin machine to put the best PR face on the situation. The KPBJ received identically-worded press releases from every Democratic House member in the 23rd, 26th and 35th Districts telling us how they were listening to the voters and supported Gregoire’s efforts. Only the names were changed. It deserves to be noted that 26th District Senator Derek Kilmer (D-Gig Harbor) came out for restoring the one percent cap almost as soon as the Supreme Court decision was announced.

Republicans running for election in 2008 will leverage the very real fear of even higher taxes. If Gregoire does prevail next November — which polling indicates is far from certain right now — in spite of re-imposing the cap, there’s nothing except an unlikely Gregoire veto preventing a Democratic-controlled 2009 legislature from increasing it.

But just once, wouldn’t you love to see a political leader step up and do what’s right — without political considerations — for NO other reason than because it IS the right thing to do? In my view, that’s what true leadership is all about.