TIMES/NEWS

A billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you're talking about real money.

Former Sen. Everett Dirksen

R-Illinois

Washington taxpayers can breathe easier now that the Legislature has gone home for the year. The damage, which is bad enough, could have been worse.

Even so, we are saddled with a two-year state operating budget that increases spending by 15 percent above this biennium.

The majority party's unrestrained spending targeted all sorts of feel-good programs, outpacing projected revenue between now and 2009 by $1.3 billion.

In a recent letter to the Times/News, Highline Rep. Zach Hudgins, D-Tukwila, declared, "Democrats are governing well, within our means, and focused on the right issues."

Perhaps his evaluation of this year's spending binge by lawmakers on the left side of the aisle is based on the same "new math" that bedevils students, whose problem-solving skills are found wanting by the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).

Spending by the Democrats also trumped Republican efforts to reduce the overall tax burden on Washington's families-the hard-working citizens who will be taxed even more to pay the tab unless revenue rises dramatically over the next two years.

Lost on them are the benefits of tax cuts by presidents George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and their own John F. Kennedy, which put more money in people's pockets, stimulated the economy and increased government revenue.

The fiscal practices of Democrats, who continue to make Washington a business-unfriendly state, stand in sharp contrast to their rhetoric about caring for the needs of ordinary people.

More than just bad, their lack of fiscal accountability is the absolute worst of the recently ended session.

Some good legislation did win approval. Amazingly, the best is a proposal to rein in spending.

Voters now will have the opportunity in November to approve a constitutional amendment that would create a protected rainy-day savings account and force fiscal discipline on the Legislature and governor.

And Gov. Chris Gregoire recently signed into law a bill that opens to the public meetings in which local governments may exercise their power of eminent domain.

Citizens whose property is threatened by the reach of eminent domain now must be given direct notification of meetings at which the fate of their land may be determined.

The lack of adequate notification was a primary complaint by the Strobel sisters in their unsuccessful fight against the city of Burien, which took their property-site of Meal Makers restaurant-for Town Square development.

Much of what happened in Olympia, however, was an ugly exercise in fuzzy thinking and misguided priorities.

Although a bill was passed to enhance services for felons so they can gain early release from prison, corrections officers were not given the tools to put these offenders back in jail if they commit new crimes.

A statewide curriculum for sex-education, championed by Rep. Shay Schual-Berke, D-Normandy Park, was approved, yet lawmakers failed to adopt a statewide curriculum for math.

These and other Democratic shortcomings present Republicans with a golden opportunity for 2008-if the minority party capitalizes on it.

OUR STATE Supreme Court's recent 9-0 ruling, which upheld the right of conservative talk show hosts John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur to air campaign commentary on KVI Radio, is a resounding affirmation of the freedom of political expression.

A misguided 2005 superior court ruling undermined this freedom, declaring that arguments by Mr. Carlson and Mr. Wilbur in support of Initiative 912 were campaign contributions. It ordered them to place a monetary value on these "contributions."

I-912, if approved, would have repealed the 9.5-cents-a-gallon increase in the state gasoline tax imposed by the Legislature.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal, John Fund noted that First Amendment scholars told him "if the Supreme Court had upheld [the lower court] ruling, it would have had a chilling effect on talk and news shows across America.

"And what would have been next?" Mr. Fund pondered, observing that a newspaper might have been ordered "to determine a monetary value for an editorial endorsement."

Ironically, some newspaper editorial writers in the state overlooked-or ignored-that point.

But this abridgement of First Amendment rights was too much even for the liberal-leaning Supreme Court, which reversed the attempt to use campaign finance laws to stifle free speech and a free press.

For that, liberals and conservatives alike have good cause to celebrate.

The views of Ralph Nichols are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Robinson Newspapers. He can be reached at ralphn@robinsonnews.com or 206-388-1857.