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Campaign Fizz: Misleading Claims
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• Solidifying her strategy of focusing on fundraising over endorsements, Congressional candidate (and professional fundraiser) former state legislator Laura Ruderman---running in a crowded field for the First District US House seat being vacated by Jay Inslee, who's running for governor---announced today that she's the first candidate in her race to raise $100,000. State Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45) has reported raising just over $85,000, and neither state Rep. Marko Liias (D-21) nor state Rep. Steve Hobbs (D-44) has reported raising any money yet.
• In endorsement news today: Richard Mitchell, the Mercer Island Democrat who's challenging embattled Republican King County Council member Jane Hague (Position 6), got the nod from the machinists' union, the local Teamsters, and United Food and Commercial Workers.
• The campaign against Initiative 1183, Costco's liquor privatization initiative, has a new ad ---"The TV ad Costco doesn't want you to see!," according to the press release---that claims the initiative represents a "brand new 27 percent tax."
The "yes" side of the campaign has complained that the 27 percent increase is actually a combination of "fees," not a "tax", and that retailers and wholesalers, not the public, will actually pay the 27 percent increase. It also strongly implies that the cost of liquor will go up by 27 percent.
Leaving aside the semantic "tax vs. fee" question (are people really more willing to pay a tax if you call it a fee?), the ad is accurate in one way and misleading in another. The claim that citizens, not Costco and its ilk, will pay the 27 percent markup is absolutely true---liquor taxes get passed along to customers.
However, the implication that liquor will cost 27 percent more is misleading: While 1183 would include a 27 percent markup (going down to 22 percent after two years), it would also remove the current state markup on liquor, which, at 52 percent, provides the state with a profit of 39 cents on the dollar.
• Solidifying her strategy of focusing on fundraising over endorsements, Congressional candidate (and professional fundraiser) former state legislator Laura Ruderman---running in a crowded field for the First District US House seat being vacated by Jay Inslee, who's running for governor---announced today that she's the first candidate in her race to raise $100,000. State Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45) has reported raising just over $85,000, and neither state Rep. Marko Liias (D-21) nor state Rep. Steve Hobbs (D-44) has reported raising any money yet.
• In endorsement news today: Richard Mitchell, the Mercer Island Democrat who's challenging embattled Republican King County Council member Jane Hague (Position 6), got the nod from the machinists' union, the local Teamsters, and United Food and Commercial Workers.
• The campaign against Initiative 1183, Costco's liquor privatization initiative, has a new ad ---"The TV ad Costco doesn't want you to see!," according to the press release---that claims the initiative represents a "brand new 27 percent tax."
The "yes" side of the campaign has complained that the 27 percent increase is actually a combination of "fees," not a "tax", and that retailers and wholesalers, not the public, will actually pay the 27 percent increase. It also strongly implies that the cost of liquor will go up by 27 percent.
Leaving aside the semantic "tax vs. fee" question (are people really more willing to pay a tax if you call it a fee?), the ad is accurate in one way and misleading in another. The claim that citizens, not Costco and its ilk, will pay the 27 percent markup is absolutely true---liquor taxes get passed along to customers.
However, the implication that liquor will cost 27 percent more is misleading: While 1183 would include a 27 percent markup (going down to 22 percent after two years), it would also remove the current state markup on liquor, which, at 52 percent, provides the state with a profit of 39 cents on the dollar.
