Will Gregoire Admit The Truth?
Or Will She Continue To Play “Let’s Pretend”

 For Immediate Release                                          Contact: Luke Esser
August 29, 2008                                                        425-460-0570

Bellevue , WA …In support of Senator John McCain’s announcement of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, State GOP Chairman Luke Esser issued the following statement:

“As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.  Taking as his running mate the Governor from our great northern neighbor was an excellent decision by Sen. McCain.

“In Alaska, Gov. Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. Unlike some Governors who have let spending get out control, Governor Palin has actually used her veto pen and cut budgetary spending.  And she has fought hard against wasteful spending, helping to thwart senseless government projects.  Sarah Palin is a governor with a record of achieving results for Alaska.

“While the Obama-Biden ticket is big on talk, the McCain-Palin ticket is big on results. To truly change Washington, it's going to take a team who has a record of accomplishment in shaking up the status quo.  Gov. Palin’s experience in doing that for her own state is exactly what is needed in Washington, D.C., and it’s the same kind of change we need in Olympia this year.”

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Bellevue, WA – Washington scored a mediocre 30^th place in Chief Executive magazine’s ranking of the best and worst states to do business.

The magazine, which serves the nation’s Chief Executive Officers, surveyed 605 CEOs on how their states stacked up. They were asked to assess the following:

“[P]roximity to resources, regulation, tax policies, education, quality of living and infrastructure.  Providing additional insight to the evaluations, CEOs were also asked to grade each state based on the following criteria: 1) Taxation & Regulation, 2) Workforce Quality, and 3) Living Environment.”

Christine Gregoire is fond of touting Forbes magazine’s third-place ranking of Washington as a place to do business, but Washington State Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser said the Chief Executive survey offers a meaningful counter-point to assessments of Washington’s business climate.

“The low Chief Executive ranking confirms that our state’s business community is hurting because of the failed leadership of Christine Gregoire,” said Esser. “This poor rating is based on the experience of business leaders on the ground here in Washington state. These are the people from companies who make decisions everyday on where they are able to be competitive and create jobs. It shows what Gov. Gregoire doesn’t want to admit – that we have a long way to go to make Washington a better place to do business.

“Washington is currently ranked 30^th in the nation as a place to do business and 31^st in the nation for unemployment – does Gov. Gregoire still believe we are the envy of every state?”

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For Immediate Release                                                           Contact: Luke Esser
August 27, 2008                                                                        425-460-0570

“…the Democrats in the race got more than 50% of the vote.” – DarcyBurner.com, 8/25/2008

"The truth is, Vaughn was a marginal candidate who raised no money, won no endorsements, and took a meaningless sliver of the primary vote -- and the idea his endorsement will get Democrats to vote for Reichert is a joke." – Dwight Pelz, PolitickerWA.com, 8/25/2008

Bellevue, WA…Unwilling to accept her loss in the primary election, Darcy Burner and her Democrat allies continue their attempts to explain, justify – even distort – the facts regarding her loss in the 8^th congressional district primary election. They are apparently also willing to alienate moderate and "Blue Dog" Democratic voters by attacking the candidates whom they supported in the primary.

Evaluating the numbers, Democrat candidates remain shy of 50 percent of the vote, with Burner at 44.5, Jim Vaughn at 3.31, and Keith Arnold at 1.25. An estimated 10,000 ballots remain to be counted.

Clearly the loser of the 2006 race has not created momentum for herself this time around and has no intention of broadening her appeal to Democrats outside of the party's extreme left-wing. And this, even after Burner spent hundreds of thousands of dollars intended to help her win an otherwise meaningless primary election. 

Burner and State Democrats have now set about downplaying not just the results of the primary – which show her losing – but also subsequent endorsements by other candidates who have come out in support of her opponent, Dave Reichert.  One of those candidates, a self-described "Blue Dog Democrat" who took 3 percent of the primary vote, was contacted by the Burner campaign to ask for his support; he declined. Yet Burner has clearly indicated she would not join the centrist Blue Dogs once in Congress, and she does not receive their support at home.

A bit dishonest, then, the statement on Burner's campaign website blithely reassuring her supporters that Democrats took a majority of votes cast in the primary, and that her campaign isn't "taking anything for granted" moving forward.

Burner has made clear on numerous occasions that a primary win would affect her campaign resources going into the general election.  Clearly Burner is now concerned that her more liberal supporters, both inside and outside the 8^th district, are reconsidering their financial commitments and are likely to get more mileage on their investment elsewhere, rather than throw money after a chronic, ineffective candidate.

Likely, Burner and the State Democrats have taken a gamble on these facts not coming to light; if national groups who have committed to support her campaign catch wind that she’s losing, rather than gaining support, the wheels could quickly come off her campaign.

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Bellevue, WA… Though Gov. Gregoire refuses to acknowledge the state’s impending deficit, last week the incumbent continued her preparations for a tax increase by appointing herself a new economic adviser who is a strong proponent of increased spending and increased taxes.

The Everett Herald reported on Tuesday that Gov, Gregoire had appointed tax-advocate Jeff Chapman of the Washington State Budget and Policy Center to her Council of Economic Advisers. “The center is known well for arguing for increasing revenues for government rather than cutting spending by it…” reported the Herald. A sampling of the Budget and Policy Center’s recommendations from their website:

“Forecast further underlines need for revenue” (June 2008)

“Revenue increases are an appropriate response to the expected deficit.” (June 2008)

At least Mr. Chapman is intellectually honest about the existence of the deficit, which the non-partisan Senate Ways and Means Committee projects will amount to $2.7 billion in the coming biennium -- forcing the next governor to reduce spending or raise taxes.

In regard to Gov. Gregoire’s $8 billion, 33% spending increase, both the governor and her new advisor hold the same outlook:

• Budget and Policy Center: “As a state, we have rightfully made significant long-term investments…” (June 2008)

• Gregoire: "I am proud of the investments we made… what’s wrong with that?” (July 2008) 

In order to maintain the level of spending that Gregoire has said she is not willing to cut, she will need to secure additional revenue. Though the governor recently told the Association of Washington Business “at the end of the day… it’s not a time to raise taxes,” this statement is eerily similar to what she told voters in 2004 before she raised taxes by more than $500 million. 

If Gov. Gregoire does not plan on raising taxes, appointing economic advisers who will be counseling her otherwise was illogical. Her decision to appoint Chapman was counterproductive at best, and disingenuous at worst. Either way, if Gregoire truly plans on reducing spending to cover the deficit, she’s doing a terrible job of preparing for it.  For failing those who will have to foot her $2.7 billion bill, this week we give Christine Gregoire an “F”.

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For Immediate Release                                            Contact: Luke Esser
August 23, 2008                                                      425-460-0570

Bellevue, WA…State GOP Chairman Luke Esser issued the following statement today on Barack Obama’s selection of Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate:

"Six months ago, Joe Biden said Barack Obama was not ready to be president. Biden was right then, he’s right today and Washington voters will realize he’s right by the November election.

"Obama is incredibly nervous about his electoral prospects in November, and for good reason. The crisis in Georgia proved that Obama is not ready to be Commander in Chief.

"However, in attempting to compensate for his lack of foreign policy experience, Obama has only underlined and accentuated his shortcomings. For example, Biden harshly and properly criticized Obama’s naïve comments about meeting unconditionally with foreign leaders like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"No vice presidential nominee can make up for Obama’s lack of experience and judgment, especially one whose own words have documented the fact that Obama is not ready to be president."

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