Guest Commentary

By Tim Eyman

Special to the Dayton Chronicle

OLYMPIA–In the past 22 years, by working together with our thousands of heroic supporters, we've qualified 17 statewide initiatives for a public vote. They all limited the governments' power over us and have saved taxpayers $46.9 billion. And our four 2/3-vote-to-raise-taxes initiatives have saved taxpayers billions more by stopping and deterring tax increases.

While other initiatives spend $1.2 million to qualify, we averaged $672K because we run a tight ship and I often risked my own money.

After two decades of effort, there's no denying that vehicle tabs and property tax increases are dramatically lower than they used to be. Judges vetoed those early initiatives, but the people's overwhelming vote pushed politicians to readopt them anyway. We've also accomplished this:

• Government affirmative action is prohibited

• Performance audits of state and local governments by the state auditor

• Reduced the size of the King County Council from 13 politicians to nine

• Red-light ticketing cameras were banned in numerous cities

• Tax advisory votes allow voters to vote each November on the taxes imposed by the Legislature and they inform voters about how much they cost and how legislators voted

These amazing accomplishments happened despite fierce opposition from liberals controlling the Legislature, Governor, judges, and media.

Because I led those efforts and constantly kick the hornet's nest of big government, politicians and the press have all been gunning for me.

In 2012, when a reporting complaint was filed against me by a disgruntled former vendor, I knew what was coming–a witch hunt. And because the government had unlimited resources and I didn't, I knew I'd never survive it without assistance. So, I asked for help.

As my attorney (former supreme court justice) Richard Sanders said, "Thousands of people voluntarily chose to help Mr. Eyman and his family–there is nothing unlawful about that. People and businesses entered into voluntary business relationships with Mr. Eyman–all of them were legal. Mr. Eyman never took money from anyone–he wasn't a signer on anyone's bank account except his own. In every instance, the money he received came from people who chose to voluntarily give it to him. And he consulted with professionals–why wouldn't he? –to ensure he was following state and federal laws."

Democrat AG Bob Ferguson spent nearly $2 million of taxpayer money going after me, my family, friends, and supporters. That's more than all other reporting cases in the last 8 years combined!

Generous people responded to my pleas for help, recognized this injustice and abuse of power, and helped me fight back. Their checks were made payable to the "Tim Eyman Legal Defense Fund, "Tim Eyman & Family," and "Tim Eyman Watchdog for Taxpayers LLC"–none were campaign donations. Their voluntary assistance, plus our own savings, went toward paying the lawyers and financially surviving this brutal 8-year onslaught.

A year ago, Richard Sanders wrote: "During the recent mediation conference, the AG made clear their priority: the lifetime ban. They don't care about the money; they want to shut you down. When you told the mediator it was blackmail, you were exactly right. This whole thing is about breaking you so you give up and agree to the ban. But you refused. Good for you!

"After hundreds of hours of examining the facts and researching the AG's case against you, it's clear to me you didn't violate any laws. You were never the committee's treasurer - professional CPA Stan Long was your committee's treasurer - and he did not believe these transactions needed to be reported. He was right, the AG is wrong.

"Tim, in all my years on the court, I've never seen such a miscarriage of justice. Seven years of investigation? Harassment of your wife? Frankly, I'm astounded you're still functioning. Anyone else would've given up a long time ago. I admire your commitment."

As predicted, a Gregoire-appointed judge in Thurston County's kangaroo court rubberstamped the AG, ignoring the law and the Constitution. Go to tinyurl.com/FergusonHypocrisy to learn how the AG's bizarre claims are fundamentally flawed and reek of hypocrisy––"How Much Has Democrat Bob Ferguson personally profited from politics? Over $2.8 million!."

I'm committed to appealing these ridiculously unconstitutional restrictions on the First Amendment because if they get away with it with me, you could be next. To help with the appeal go to TimDefense.com.

While it gets appealed, despite the risks, I will continue fighting for taxpayers because our efforts are needed now more than ever. Politicians have an insatiable tax appetite and are hell-bent to impose income taxes, carbon taxes, and other taxes this session. We're committed to stopping them. To help us fight back go to PermanentOffense.com.

Ferguson's fascist 8-year jihad has cost me everything but I'm not going to let him slow me down. Because like President Donald J Trump said: "They're not after me, they're after you, I'm just in the way."

Tim Eyman is a longtime political activist, born and raised Yakima, a WSU graduate, who now lives in Bellevue. For more information, contact him at 425-590-9363 or [email protected].