Washington Republicans Dour in Victory

Sometimes it seems that Washington Republicans can't win for winning.

As reported in The Seattle Times, the Republicans in the legislature aren't happy about the enactment of some of their ideas:

Republicans say legislative moves by Dems dim GOP election hopes
By Ralph Thomas and Andrew Garber
Seattle Times Olympia bureau
OLYMPIA — When majority Democrats wrapped up this year's legislative session Wednesday night, some of their biggest achievements read like a Republican Party wish list.

They took steps to resolve long-standing water disputes between farmers and environmentalists in Eastern Washington. They handed sizable tax breaks to farmers and the timber industry. They won a truce in the years-long war between business and labor over unemployment insurance. And they pushed through tougher penalties for sex offenders.

What's going on here?

Republicans say passing those bills was more about politics than policy — a strategic move by Democrats to take away GOP campaign issues ahead of the fall's legislative elections.

Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, said he doubts any of those bills would have gotten far this year if elections weren't a few months away. "You have to ask yourself why, in a short session, so many big things came out of here," he said.

No, Sen. Hewitt, I ask myself why you're unhappy about having your ideas enacted into law. If they were good things to do, why aren't you glad they were done? Is it really more important to have things to complain about on the campaign trail?