Democrats often claim to be the “party of women.” They would do well to clarify their position to reflect reality – Democrats are not the party of women; they are the party of women with whom they agree. The Democrats relentlessly attack all other women, often in ways they would decry as sexist and unfair if used on them.  The Left’s refusal to recognize the intellectual diversity of women reveals their stunning lack of respect for women. (Shift)

Washington State Supreme Court candidate Dave Larson stated, “I would have been in the dissent” with last week’s court ruling that nullified the voter passed I-976 (the 2019 car tab initiative).  The current Federal Way municipal judge said the court used the losing side of a 2003 case to justify its decision, when it should have followed the winning argument, which would have found I-976 constitutional.  (MyNorthwest)

Those who seek to impose an income tax on Washington State residents continue to push the false narrative that it would be less volatile than the current system.  Yet studies continue to prove the exact opposite is true.  A recent Pew study found that Washington State’s current revenue structure (without an income tax) is the 16^th least volatile in the country. The Tax Foundation reviewed revenues from all states and found “general sales tax collections declined by the smallest amount (-0.3 percent) of all tax sources.” The Democrats ignore these findings as they seek to open the income tax revenue stream to fund their desire for a larger and more powerful government.  (Washington Research Council)

If the country does move to a primarily vote-by-mail system in future elections, there should be uniformity in when ballots must be received (or at least postmarked) and when votes are tabulated.  A new report from the Washington Policy Center (WPC) recommends Congress enact legislation that requires all states to follow Oregon’s election timeline.  Mailed ballots must be postmarked by the Friday before the Tuesday election day. Ballot drop boxes and election offices can receive ballots up to 8:00 PM election day. Processing of ballots can take place before election day, but no actual counting of votes is allowed until polls have closed on election day.  If Congress decides to follow the Washington State method of allowing ballots to be postmarked through election day, the WPC suggests counting the votes not be allowed until the Friday after the election day, to allow for most ballots to be received. (Washington Policy Center)

The elimination of in-person instruction in Washington State’s schools during the COVID-19 pandemic is leading many parents to call for more choices in public education.  In the new school year, 31,000 fewer students (the equivalent of the size of the Spokane School District’s admissions) are enrolled in Washington’s public schools when compared to last year. (We should note that this figure does not include the thousands of students who have switched their enrollment from “brick & mortar” schools to one of the many public “online” schools.)  Central to making school choice a reality is for the state legislature to allow education funding to follow the student.  Yet, here in Washington State, the union bosses at the powerful and wealthy Washington Education Association will not allow this to happen, and thus they will keep demanding that Democrat lawmakers maintain a school system that benefits union members, and is not focused first on meeting  the needs of students and their parents. (The Lens)

The residents of Seattle see their fair share of silly (and selfish) demonstrations, but the recent protest by a few easily duped Amazon workers is one of the most ridiculous.  Last Saturday, a few dozen employees carried pickets outside Amazon’s corporate headquarters demanding the company pay them for time off so they can vote – in a state where every voter is mailed a ballot. Additionally, all states offer methods that make the voting process more convenient for their residents by offering early voting, keeping polls open 12 – 14 hours on election day, and offering absentee ballots for those who want to mail their vote in.  Yet, these demonstrators want to make it the financial obligation of employers for their workers to vote.  Amazon (and nearly all companies) already provide additional flexibility for their employees on election day, by offering personal time off to vote.  Seems these confused protestors were convenient tools for organized labor to keep harassing Amazon. (GeekWire)

The University of Puget Sound (UPS) announced it is planning to resume in-person instruction starting in late January, when its Spring semester begins.  The Tacoma private university stated it will “will test campus community members a minimum of once per week.” The school will also set aside space on campus to house people who need to be isolated, modify common spaces to allow for social distancing, and enhance cleaning procedures.  UPS enrolls approximately 2,500 students, with around 1,300 living on campus. (News Tribune)

KING5 News announced that former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best is joining the station as a news analyst on law enforcement issues.  Best resigned from her previous position after the Seattle City Council showed its disrespect by slashing the department’s funding by a randomly selected 50%.The council buckled to the demands of their fellow far-Left protestors without consulting the police chief, which left many members of Seattle’s Black community upset with how the council treated the city’s first Black woman police chief.  (KING5 News and MyNorthwest)

The team at our favorite satirical site, BabylonBee.com, have come up with some modern travel posters for a few American cities.  For Seattle, the satirists developed a poster which features many broken windows, along with a tent encampment in the foreground. Across the bottom is the too-close-to-home slogan, “Explore the Ancient Ruins of CHAZ!” (BabylonBee)

13^th District Representative Tom Dent (R-Moses Lake) is the latest public official to be diagnosed with the coronavirus.  Representative Dent says he likely contracted the virus during the first week of October.  He has quarantined himself since the diagnoses.  Dent described what it is like to have the disease, “It’s like a really bad flu, my best advice, don’t get it. Take care of yourself.” (iFIBER News)

The Washington Policy Center will be holding its next “Farm Hall” briefing virtually, on Thursday, October 22, starting at 4:00 PM.  Among the topics covered will be farm labor issues, wildfire mitigation, and predatory animal management.  Click here to learn more and register for the event. (Pacific Northwest AG Network and Washington Policy Center)

The Washington State Democrat Party continues to ignore science as they cling to Jay Inslee’s false claim  that climate change is the cause for the recent wildfires.  In their latest fundraising email, the Democrats have again chosen to ignore the scientific research which shows climate change had little impact on the spread of recent wildfires in the Pacific Northwest.  And while Democrats have controlled the governor’s office for a generation, and the Department of Natural Resources overseeing our state’s lands for the last 12 years, the liberals blame federal policy for fires started and spread on state lands.  It is the latest example of Democrats demanding a larger and more powerful state government and trying to escape any accountability when their agenda leads to failure. (Washington State Democrat Party email and Cliff Mass Newsmaker Interview)

Government employee unions are now selfishly insisting that there be no cuts in state government spending despite billions in tax revenues being lost during the pandemic.  While many Washington State residents faced financial insecurity during the past seven months, unionized state government employees did not lose any income, and in fact, were given more money and more time off by Governor Inslee.   By now demanding no spending cuts to an already bloated state budget, the unions seek to balance the Washington budget through a tax increase on the rest of the state’s residents.  And if anyone disagrees with the union bosses on this, they will immediately be called a “racist” by the union bosses. (Shift)

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