Legislature needs taxing authority

Every registered citizen voter in Island County and in the state of Washington should read and heed Maj. Bruner’s letter (Whidbey News-Times June 30). He warns against favorable voting for Initiative I-960 that seeks to interfere with the taxing authority of the Legislature. It contracts out the most important function of government, to private interests, to freebooting, pillaging, commercial and industrial sharks who would make governance a market place of trading important issues without regard to the needs of the citizens.

Tim Eyman has been repeatedly exposed by the press and by officials as promoting initiatives to replace his rather meager income, as a mail order cheap watch salesman, with concealed large sums of money to his own use and deposited as private funds, which had been collected to promote past initiatives.

Island County continues to re-elect Senator Mary Margaret Haugen whose services recently have been honored. All of us have seen the improvements to Highway 20, especially in Island County and her vigorous support and leadership in health and educational fields. All legislators make themselves available and hold frequent nonpartisan public meetings, in this state.

Do not support Initiative I-960. Retain the responsibilities of government for our elected officials. That is the constitutional democratic representative way our government operates. Do not give them away or farm them out to outside commercial/industrial and other special interests. There was a time in the distant past when Washington was a rural/marine area. Then the initiative process was helpful, but in today’s culture of immediate communications and the immediate availability of vast bodies of information on all subjects, it no longer applies and should be greatly weakened if not done away with to prevent government from falling into the hands of special interests.

Lt. Col. Richard C. Bund

USAF (Ret.)

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