Sen. Keiser, D-Des Moines, makes it appear that we are all better off for the spending that the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved this last session.

However, it is the taxpayer and consumer who are really paying for this in every way. It is a cost that the small business person and larger businesses can not afford to absorb. And we wonder why it is so expensive to live here?

Not only have Senator Keiser and many of her fellow tax-and-spend Democratic colleagues driven businesses out of Washington state, or out of business altogether with more and more taxes, they continue to penalize families by maintaining that a “death tax,” that taxes even more on top of assets that have already been taxed, is good and fair.

Where do you think businesses looking to relocate and expand would choose? Washington state with water and mountain views and high taxes and anti-business attitudes, or Nevada where they have desert, sagebrush, inexpensive land, business friendly attitudes and low taxes that welcome their arrival and encourage them to grow and prosper.

Washington has enjoyed a good reputation for business startups and small businesses,

but Washington state is equally notorious for driving businesses out of business and out of the state entirely. Some may think this is good but who is going to pay for it?

WE WILL as taxpayers, because the cost of goods and services is driven by the bottom line of all businesses regardless of nature. That means that the cost of living raised by the increasing cost of funding a bloated government is passed on to us in form of price and wage increases.

Senator Keiser would have us believe that state government’s involvement in health insurance for small businesses is a plus because now small businesses ONLY have to pay 40 percent of the cost of health insurance for certain employees.

If we are to really understand what this means, let us understand that it is one more way that the government is meddling where they should not be. It is tantamount to another tax of 40 percent on businesses that are forced to provide health care for their employees.

The small business person should not have to shoulder this burden. Aren’t they being strangled enough by all the other red tape and regulations that are foisted on them by the voracious appetite of an overweight state government?

Karen Steele

Normandy Park

33rd District Republican Chairwoman