I am becoming quite offended by what is a disingenuous two-step by our governor in explanations of why Washington state has plunged from a surplus to a deficit and what to do about it. Most recently, she has appeared to have played the old zero-based budgeting game by submitting a budget that proposes to cut some of the most valued state programs, immediately disavowing the budget, and advocating a slew of new taxes to bridge the deficits of her spending spree.

Governor Gregoire has increased spending by over $8 billion, waived revenues from Indian gambling, and lost millions of dollars by lack of oversight on pending filing deadlines while heading the AG office. In fact, Governor Gregoire and her predecessor accounted for over 14,000 additional state employees and a cumulative increase of spending in excess of 80 percent over just three terms of office that included two recessions. There is no recession for politicians and government employees in the state of Washington while nongovernmental workers are struggling under record unemployment of nearly 10 percent.

I suppose the next proposal by Gregoire’s party will be a state income tax.

Taxpayers should not be expected to pay more taxes to cover politicians’ largesse. Under a well-managed fiscal program, Washington might still have had a surplus despite the national recession. The time for populist speeches, the appearance of quid pro quos, and convenient photo shoots are past. Voters are growing tired of erudite speeches by lawyer politicians. I would appreciate the governor doing what a responsible, capable executive with management experience would do: cut back employee staffing, enforce performance based firings, reduce budgets of discretionary programs, impose fee sharing on Indian gambling, and reduce sumptuous benefits for herself, the Legislature, and state employees. That is what management is all about.

Harvey Gillis, Bellevue