August 31, 2010

PRESS

51 Reasons Dino Rossi Is Not on the Side of Washington State Voters

Handpicked establishment Republican Candidate Dino Rossi phoned a friend this week and brought Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown in to help him raise money. Rossi says that with the help of “number 41” he can become the Senate’s 51st Republican. (Interestingly enough, Dino seems more excited about being the 51st lockstep Republican vote than being Washington’s voice in the Senate.)

Here is a list of 51 reasons Dino Rossi is not on the side of Washington state small business owners, seniors and families.

1. Dino says he wouldn’t fight for communities in Washington state as a U.S. Senator, but would instead leave our needs up to a D.C. bureaucrat.

2. He would protect corporate tax loopholes for companies that send jobs overseas instead of protecting jobs here in Washington state.

3. Dino is pledging to repeal Wall Street Reform so that big banks can gamble with your money again.

4. His repeal of Wall Street reform would leave taxpayers on the hook to bail out his big bank friends.

5. His repeal of Wall Street reform would also eliminate new consumer protections aimed at keeping your family safe from predatory financial practices.

6. Rossi determined his position on Wall Street reform after he collected money from bankers and hedge fund managers in Manhattan, and then he decided he would repeal the bill hours after a fundraiser hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce PAC.

7. He co-founded a bank that engaged in “unsafe or unsound” lending practices.

8. He taught others how to make money off of foreclosures and got paid $16,000 to do it.

9. Rossi took the endorsement of Jim DeMint who supports moving Boeing jobs to South Carolina.

10. He’s promising to extend the budget-busting Bush tax cuts for the rich.

11. He voted for a resolution to support the Bush economic agenda that drove our economy into a ditch.

12. Dino supports radical tax schemes like the Flat Tax and the “Fair” National Sales Tax that give the wealthy a tax break but put a crushing burden on middle class families.

13. He will make it harder to buy a home by eliminating the mortgage interest deduction as prescribed under the flat tax.

14. Dino will eliminate the child tax credit as prescribed under the flat tax.

15. He refuses to support the small business lending bill that would help small business owners create jobs right here in Washington state.

16. He’s promising to take away the chance for kids with pre-existing conditions to see a doctor.

17. He promises to end help to seniors to help cover the cost of the Medicare Part D “donut hole.”

18. He will end progress on closing the donut hole.

19. He promises to kick your kids off your insurance once they graduate college.

20. He will end new provisions of the health care law that do away with lifetime limits on coverage.

21. Rossi will end new provisions of the health care law that tell insurance companies they can’t pull your coverage when you get sick.

22. His budget cut health coverage for 46,000 children.

23. Rossi supported Bush’s veto of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program.

24. Rossi opposes a woman’s right to choose.

25. Dino thinks women who are victims of rape or incest should “maybe” have access to safe, legal abortion services.

26. He thinks requiring pharmacies to provide emergency contraception to women in need is the same as forcing Safeway to carry his favorite sports drink.

27. He opposes ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

28. Rossi supported a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

29. Rossi sponsored a bill to strip same-sex partners of health care coverage.

30. Rossi voted with the BIAW 99% of the time.

31. Rossi opposed letting victims of domestic violence or stalking file for unemployment benefits if they left their job because of those threats.

32. Rossi supports corporate voices taking over elections by refusing to support the DISCLOSE Act.

33. He raided pensions of police officers and firefighters to balance his budget.

34. Rossi took the endorsement of Tom Coburn who believes Hanford cleanup is “wasteful spending.”

35. Rossi’s endorser Tom Coburn also actively blocked passage of legislation to create the Wild Sky Wilderness Area.

36. He has been endorsed by the Family Research Council, an extreme far-right group that calls being gay a “deathstyle.”

37. Rossi mocked the job and research of a WSU Vancouver professor.

38. He refuses to support a permanent ban on drilling off the West Coast.

39. Rossi says he isn’t sure whether climate change is caused by humans.

40. His solution for climate change is to build bigger highways.

41. Rossi voted to limit Washington’s ability to set environmental standards exceeding federal limits.

42. When asked if he would cut the minimum wage by $1.50, he said, “You bet.”

43. He opposes embryonic stem cell research that could provide cures to millions of Americans with chronic illness.

44. He promised to reduce unemployment benefits and worker’s comp.

45. He opposed state employees’ right to collectively bargain.

46. He is tied up with fraudsters like Melvin Heide and Michael Mastro.

47. He founded the sketchy, alleged non-partisan Forward Washington Foundation that used Republican mailing lists to raise money and operated as a shadow campaign organization for Rossi.

48. He attacks Patty Murray for earmarks, but refuses to acknowledge that the budget he wrote contained $25 million in earmarks.

49. He personally benefitted from an earmark that went to a minor-league baseball team of which he was part owner.

50. Dino and the minor league baseball team he owned, the Everett Aquasox, benefitted handsomely from an earmark.

51. When he was a state Senator, he went into business and bought a building with two statehouse lobbyists.

8/31/10

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