Are you suprised? The Seattle Times reported a national conservative group called The Sam Adams Alliance awarded initiative champion Tim Eyman $20,000 for his “lifetime commitment” to “shrink the size of government in Washington State.”

It gets worse. In a press release the group called Eyman “a modern day Sam Adams.” There's no denying he can play the game and win - whether you believe in his policies or not. Last year his I-1053 passed, requiring a two-thirds majority to raise taxes. Oil refiner Tesoro contributed heavily to the campaign- about $90,000 and BP threw down 100, 000.

Well, I don't believe in his politics. The man is a monument to hyperbole and deception. A year without a controversial Tim Eyman initiative - since 1997 to be exact - just wouldn't feel right—fifteen initiatives. A few have been environmental hit jobs like Initiative I-985 in 2008, a failed attempt to reduce traffic congestion for single-occupant vehicles.

The money is good timing for Eyman. He took out a mortgage on his house to get I-1053 on the ballot last year and is having difficulty paying it back. According to the Permanent Defense, a dedicated to fighting Eyman, the initiative guru had $196,101.06 remaining to pay back on that $250,000 mortgage, “but so far in 2011, nobody with deep pockets has come to Eyman’s rescue.”

And as the Times reports, Eyman is planning on some new ways to shrink government this year, starting campaigns to ban red-light cameras. He fought for the removal in Mukilteo (where he lives), which passed with 71% of the vote and has associated himself with efforts in Monroe, Longview, Wenatchee, and Bellingham. He even calls himself a “sponsor” of the initiative even though he doesn’t live in Redmond and can’t legally sign it. ("And he’s filed more than a dozen possible new state initiatives, from liquor store privatization to limits on vehicle registration fees," the Times says.)

Here's to the new Sam Adams.

---

---