Free Republic

Call it the “feel good” political drama of the Spring. Just when you thought the rule of law was sliding down the slippery slope of governmental expediency into the abyss of modish public apathy, there comes a man to save the day . . . armed with nothing but backbone. Oh, and a well-worn copy of the Constitution of the State of Washington. Tim Eyman is the Evergreen State’s best-known ballot initiative practitioner. On Friday, he won an important court case — even though it wrecked an impressive compromise between state legislators, police, and proponents of Initiative 940, a ballot...

OLYMPIA — Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said Sunday she will sue in a bid to overturn the tax-limiting provisions of Initiative 960, a Tim Eyman-sponsored measure aimed at curbing the Legislature's power to raise taxes. The lawsuit, which is technically against Lt. Gov. Brad Owen over a Senate floor ruling upholding I-960, will be filed this morning with the state Supreme Court. Initiative 960 reaffirmed higher vote thresholds for tax increases and was passed by voters in November. It requires all state tax increases to achieve at least a two-thirds vote in both houses. That was previously mandated by...

Despite new management assertions to the contrary, two KVI/Seattle talk show hosts believe a July court ruling now prevents them from discussing a key November statewide ballot initiative on the airwaves. In a stunning decision, a Thurston County, Washington judge forced organizers of Initiative 912 to report, as in-kind campaign contributions, favorable comments made by KVI hosts Kirby Wilbur and John Carlson. Backers of I-912, which seeks to repeal a statewide gas tax hike, were required to place a dollar value on talk radio's supportive statements....(snip) ....Despite the August sackings of its key participants, one of sports talk's most peculiar...

On March 20, Tim Eyman kicked off signature gathering for his latest initiative, I-900, which would mandate performance audits of government programs. One guest that night at Salty's in West Seattle stood out from the usual Eyman crowd of anti-Olympia zealots: state Auditor Brian Sonntag, a Democrat. In fact, Sonntag's appearance at the Eyman shindig was so noteworthy that master of ceremonies David Boze, a host at conservative-talk station 770 KTTH, jokingly referenced it. "Brian Sonntag is the only guy I know who'd come as guest of honor to a campaign kickoff for an initiative he didn't even support," Boze...