Governor Jay Inslee and the Washington State Department of Transportation want to track everything you do.  Gov. Inslee and WSDOT bureaucrats hate the fact you are able to drive when and where you want to.  The bureaucrats believe they should be able to restrict where you live, and make you use the buses and trains they provide to get to work and visit your family.  They want to tax you more when you do something that they do not approve of, and fine you when you do something they deem “un-mutual”. (Shift Article)

The 2021 Legislative Session begins today, with Governor Jay Inslee and the Democrats’ legislative majorities planning to make it even more expensive to live in Washington State, and expand the size of state government (and their own power).  Of course, Shift will be busy keeping our readers up-to-date on the Democrats’ latest shenanigans.   WashingtonVotes will also be providing timely information on specific bills, amendments, and votes to its subscribers.  This is a free service provided by the Washington Policy Center.  (WashingtonVotes/Washington Policy Center)

Among Governor Inslee’s 2021 legislative priorities is an unconstitutional state income tax, starting with capital gains.  The governor just can’t get enough, despite increasing the size of the state budget a record 19% during the current 2019-2021 budget period. Now, with taxes and other revenues projected to annually increase about 4% during the next two-year budget cycle, the governor wants even more of our money to pay off his campaign promises.  Fortunately, the governor has failed at passing his illegal state income tax many times during his reign.  As the Seattle Times writes, “Inslee has pushed for a capital-gains tax since 2014, when he broke a 2012 campaign pledge to veto any new taxes. But it consistently has failed amid opposition from Republicans and some moderate Democrats.” (Seattle Times)

More people in rural Washington communities are concerned about Governor Inslee’s latest “regional” method to reopen the state.  Governor Inslee’s latest plan switches the geographic area, from 39 counties to eight geographic regions, which determines when basic activities can resume (based on whatever various random bits of information that Inslee has decided are important this week).  Last week, Shift reported the concerns of Kittitas County (which had been one of the first to move to Phase 2 under Inslee’s county-based process) over its community now being “regionally” linked to Yakima and the Tri-Cities (which have had the highest infection rates in the state).  Now we hear that people in Grays Harbor and Pacific counties are concerned with being linked to Thurston County.  They are also concerned that jail inmate infection rates are being included even though they are not (generally) roaming about the community.  In a well-shared Facebook post by Grays Harbor community leader Kellie Daniels, State Representative Jim Walsh made the comment, “The ‘regional’ scheme is designed to undermine (the) independence and authority of county governments.” (Kellie Daniels on Facebook, Governor Inslee’s Medium Page, and Ellensburg Daily Record)

The 2021 Roanoke Conference has released its agenda for its January 29^th & 30^th “virtual gathering.” The scaled-back annual event will still include a short program on Friday evening, a couple of panels (on cultivating leadership and on surviving Governor Inslee’s one-man rule) on Saturday afternoon, and the always interesting and entertaining Saturday evening program.  This year’s Keynote Speaker will be radio host Dennis Prager.  And don’t worry, despite the online format, the Roanoke Board is adapting its always entertaining “Political Science Theatre 3000” for a virtual performance during the Saturday evening program.  You can register by clicking on the links. (Roanoke Conference and Dennis Prager)

Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has managed the COVID-19 crisis almost as poorly as Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, is now facing a recall campaign from frustrated citizens.  Both California and Washington rank near the bottom of states for administering the vaccine doses they have received from the federal government, with Washington sliding in below its southern neighbor at only 29.3% of the doses administered, to California’s 31.7%. Unfortunately for both Democrat governors, starting next week they will no longer be able to blame the federal government for their failures. (Politico and Bloomberg)

KTTH Radio Host Jason Rantz points out the hypocrisy of Seattle City Councilmembers condemning the violence that took place in Washington, D.C., just six months after they previously justified the political violence of liberal activists on Capitol Hill.  Not only did the city councilmembers rationalize the anger displayed by the liberal mobs last summer, but the council also rewarded the violence by passing police defunding legislation which the mobs demanded.  And remember, many of the councilmembers had run on platforms to increase police funding in 2019, only to have their views dramatically altered by the violent actions of those who caused damage to Seattle businesses and physically attacked police officers.  Leaders do not rationalize and reward violence by their supporters and condemn it by others – but that’s what Seattle City Council members do. (MyNorthwest)

Homicides in Seattle jumped nearly 50% in 2020, over the previous year.  Year-end totals show that murders rose from 35 in 2019, to 52 in 2020.  Also, worth noting is that homicides in the city have almost tripled since 2016, when there were “only” 19 murders.  Yet the liberal response to this increase in violent crime is to defund the police. (Seattle Crime Stats in Facebook post)

The City of Puyallup is making it easier for restaurants to offer outdoor dining to comply with Governor Inslee’s nonsensical restrictions against indoor dining.  In order to help restaurant owners on the verge of closing their businesses, and the restaurant workers who were again forced out of their jobs before the holidays by Inslee’s autocratic mandates, the Puyallup City Council allowed establishments to set up outdoor dining on sidewalks, parking lots, and parking spaces. (News Tribune)

We have just read the news that Shift’s friend, Kirby Wilbur will be retiring from his job as host on KVI on January 27th.  We wish him well as he and his wife Trina have announced that they will be moving to Texas.  Kirby was recently a Newsmaker Interview for Shift. (All Access and Shift)

Yakima County Commissioners have again unanimously passed a resolution asking Governor Inslee to allow local health officials to determine the best approach to slow the spread of the coronavirus.  The commissioners believe that local businesses have been required to shut down even though they were not the source for the spread of COVID-19.  In part, the resolution states, “Governor Inslee has abused his emergency powers to circumvent the checks and balances provided by the voice of the people through our duly elected representatives. We find Governor Inslee’s actions to be grossly unjust and indefensible in nature as to the crisis in hearts and homes that he has created which far exceeds the negative impact of COVID-19.”  (Yakima Herald)

In the latest example of Democrat hypocrisy over political violence, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is the latest Democrat to speak out against the violence that took place last week by Trump-supporting activists after remaining completely quiet about the continuous violence conducted by liberal activists in Seattle last summer.  As the state’s top law enforcement official, it was painfully disappointing when Ferguson (who now embarrassingly labels himself “The People’s Lawyer”) was silent as Left-wing radicals attempted to conduct mass murder of Seattle police officers by shutting them inside a building they were attempting to set on fire.  Ferguson was also silent during numerous other attacks on police officers and businesses, and when liberals seized control of six blocks in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood that resulted in six people being shot and two deaths.  If Ferguson is truly committed to stopping violence, he will join with Republican officials who have stood up to ALL violence, and not just the violence conducted by their political opponents. (Ferguson Campaign email, KOMO News, and the New York Times)

Last week’s Newsmaker Interview was with Mike Solan, President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild.  Solan describes why so many experienced and well-trained officers are leaving the Seattle Police Department (“Sadly, I have yet to hear one politician on the city council publicly condemn the violence against our officers. This to me is stunning and a direct reason as to why officers are leaving.”), the reversal of Seattle politicians from praising the department for being a model of police reform to cutting police budgets, and how unreasonable “reform” could force communities to reduce employment qualifications in order to hire enough officers.  (Shift’s Newsmaker Interview)

Governor Jay Inslee’s hypocrisy on political violence. “Nearly all Democrats (including Governor Inslee) were silent while rioters attempted to lock people inside the Seattle East Precinct before setting the building on fire and when someone (the stepson of a former Democrat legislator) bashed the helmet-clad head of a police officer with a baseball bat. For these same people to demand ‘soul searching’ of others who condemned violence while it was actually taking place is hypocrisy in its purest form.” (Shift Article)

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