We don't need what Rossi is selling

So he thinks he can erase the deficit? Is that all he can do?

Apparently that's all the Seattle Times really cares about. The Sunday paper's endorsement of Rossi made the case that Dino "The Salesman" Rossi will "erase the state's huge projected deficit without raising taxes." They base their judgment on the fact that when Dino was in the senate he took Governor Locke's balanced budget and pushed it through the legislature.

So he was good at selling Locke's misguided budget, but what did he actually contribute?

I don't know that he contributed much, but this is what he sold:

If he balances the budget like he tried to do last time, then 40,000 low-income Washington kids will have no health coverage and will end up getting their medical needs met in emergency rooms at the taxpayer's expense, end up spreading germs at school and not feeling well enough to learn.

If he balances the budget like he did last time, he will go against voter-approved Initiative 728 and keep money from public schools that was intended to reduce class sizes which are currently some of the country's highest.

If he balances the budget like last time, he will raise taxes. When making "his" budget, Rossi raised taxes on nursing home beds and on liquor.

Chris Gregoire has fought for children's health insurance and for improved health benefits for seniors. She is a champion for the disadvantaged and in tough economic times, she will not lower the ax on those of us who are suffering the most. When Gregoire faced a big budget deficit in 2004, she did raise some taxes, on cigarettes, liquor and rich estates, but these taxes were targeted on areas that could most afford the increase.

From the Olympian:

Gregoire said in the 2004 campaign that she wouldn't raise taxes, but she says her argument was that it was wrong to raise general taxes during an economic downturn.

"I am committed — was and am — that in economic tough times, you don't raise taxes like property tax, sales tax and B&O (business-and-occupations) tax. And I didn't," she said.

So even if Rossi can erase the deficit, what next? What is his vision for Washington?

He lacks specifics not only on his budget cutting plan but on pretty much everything else. The Seattle Times couldn't find any other reason to recommend him, and when I look at Dino I can't see much more than a salesman standing out in front of a big lot of SUVs that no one is willing to buy.

We just don't need what you're selling.