‘The warning is, get your effing act together, Bob’: Curley criticizes Ferguson’s response to Microsoft-backed ad

KIRO host John Curley argued that Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson missed the warning about the state’s business climate in a Microsoft-backed ad criticizing state government.

On “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Curley played Ferguson’s objections to the ad and questioned the governor’s repeated description of government and business as partners.

“The warning is, get your effing act together, Bob, or we will do something,” Curley said. “We will leave. We’ll move more and more out.”

The advertisement came from Washington Needs to Compete, a political action committee that had raised approximately $13.8 million, including more than $5 million from Microsoft. The spot aired during Seahawks games.

Ferguson challenges the advertisement’s message

The advertisement played during Curley’s segment portrayed Washington as a place where entrepreneurship and opportunity were being undermined by government spending and rising costs.

“But today, Olympia is broken,” the narrator stated. “Spending more while you get less. Now jobs are leaving, and it’s harder than ever to afford a home and raise a family. Olympia needs to quit wasting money, fix what’s broken, and put Washington families first.”

Ferguson criticized the advertisement during the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s Regional Leadership Conference at Suncadia Resort. Remarks were supposed to be off the record, but The Washington Observer published a recording obtained from an unnamed source.

Curley played portions of Ferguson’s remarks, including the governor’s objection to how a business partner was communicating its concerns.

“If we’re partners, partners should treat partners like partners, right?” Ferguson asked in the recording.

Curley repeatedly paused the audio to challenge that premise. He argued that the governor and Microsoft answer to different constituencies.

“The government is to represent the people,” Curley said. “You’re elected by the people, so you’re partnering with the people. The people put you in there.”

Microsoft, he countered, is responsible to its shareholders and the businesses it enters into agreements with.

Curley questions what the partnership requires

Curley argued that the relationship between government and a company is not an equal business partnership because the state can impose taxes and regulations.

“Washington can impose taxes on Microsoft and regulations on my,” Curley said. “Don’t forget their partners. But what can Microsoft do to the government?”

He also challenged Ferguson’s comparison between the PAC’s advertisement and a hypothetical advertisement criticizing Microsoft. Curley questioned how a governor would pay for such a campaign.

“You would take taxpayers’ money, and you would take that money, and you’d run a negative ad against Microsoft,” Curley said. “How does that work, boy?”

The discussion concerned Ferguson’s analogy, not an announced government-funded advertising campaign.

When Ferguson’s recorded remarks turned to the idea that cooperation works both ways, Curley pressed for specifics about what businesses were expected to provide.

“What are they supposed to do?” Curley asked. “What do you want them to do, Bob, tell the government how to pay their taxes? What do you want them to do? More? You represent the people. They represent shareholders.”

A warning about Washington’s business climate

Curley argued that Ferguson focused on public criticism rather than the economic concerns behind it.

“The bigger question is, if Microsoft believes that the state spending is hurting Washington’s economy, why shouldn’t they tell the public about it?” Curley asked.

He pointed to tax changes, Microsoft’s investments outside Washington, and layoffs as reasons the governor should take the message seriously. Curley also acknowledged that consolidating employees in Redmond should not be described as the company leaving Washington altogether.

Still, he argued that businesses have options the state cannot ignore.

“You don’t quite understand how the business works on this one,” Curley said. “They’re not playing chess and checkers on this. They own the entire board and all the players. And if they want, they just pack them up and leave them. And you’re going to be left there with nothing. You kiss your partner goodbye.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

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