It appears history is repeating itself as modern Democrat legislators are acting similar to their 1993 counterparts by campaigning first as “moderates” and then passing expensive and unpopular legislation, which could result in a similar voters’ uprising that removes them from power.  In a two-part series, Shift examines the similarities between the two eras as contemporary Democrat lawmakers in Washington State jam through many ultra-liberal proposals which had been previously rejected by more rational elected officials, just as they did a generation ago.  (Click to read full Shift article)

Just before Shift posted on Thursday, Governor Jay Inslee (finally!) made Washington the 49^th state to announce a date when nearly all societal activities could resume.  The governor decided that being next-to-last to Hawaii had worked long enough for him, and stated that his non-scientific restrictions will be lifted on June 30th.  While many counties in Oregon will have their Democrat governor-imposed constraints lifted next week, and California’s long-suffering officials will allow nearly all activities by June 15^th, Governor Inslee wanted to keep his unchecked control over state residents longer than nearly every other state in the country – because his fellow Democrats in the Legislature allowed him to do that!  The governor also announced that he was punishing Cowlitz, Pierce, and Whitman counties for another weekend, keeping them more economically restricted than the rest of the state for no scientific reason whatsoever, but will graciously allow them to return to Phase 3 activities starting next Tuesday, unless he changes his mind of course. (Q13 News, Corvallis Gazette Times, and CNBC)

There could not possibly be more diametrically opposing views on the function of government and need for higher taxes between neighboring states than there currently is with Washington and Idaho.  While the Democrats who control Washington State government recently passed legislation to create an unconstitutional state income tax among a series of tax increases (despite record tax revenues already filling the state coffers), Republican lawmakers in Idaho saw their tax revenue surplus as a reason to lower taxes by more than $400 million.  At the beginning of the Idaho legislative session, Governor Brad Little said, “Curbing government spending and returning taxpayer dollars should be the perpetual mission of public servants.” Upon signing tax rebate and tax-cutting legislation, the governor stated, “In Idaho, we’re able to achieve historic tax relief because we responsibly manage our budgets. The strength of our economy proves fiscal conservatism works.” In one state to our East, elected officials put the citizens first and try lure employers with lower taxes, while in our own they put the government first and seek to punish employers by increasing taxes.  (KTVB7 News)

Liberal greed shows no boundaries, as progressives use the personal anguish of the Bill and Melinda Gates’ divorce as an excuse to demand higher taxes to pay for bigger government.  Despite the Gates dedicating more than $50 billion to charitable activities through their foundation (with more than $300 million spent annually on Washington State charities) and being effective advocates for other wealthy individuals to act in a similar manner, liberals believe that they are better judges of how to spend the Gates’ fortune.  Even though the article’s writer received numerous assurances that little will change with the Gates’ foundation activities because of the divorce, her greed was not satisfied. She advocated for more and higher taxes.  Instead of allowing the Gates Foundation to choose to fund organizations which produce results, the writer demanded that the money be spent increasing the size of government and wasting it on liberal programs that rarely succeed (like the many failed homeless and environmental policies that have yet to come close to achieving their stated goals).  If solving societies problems is the goal, then charitable organization have proven far more effective than government at succeeding, much to this author’s chagrin. Yet liberal greed is unconcerned with results, for solving a problem removes an excuse to raise taxes. (Crosscut and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)

While liberal Seattle-based environmental groups spend considerable time trying to tear down Snake River dams (which are actually increasing salmon populations), they fail to mention that the City of Seattle’s dam operations on the Skagit River are doing next to nothing to improve salmon recovery.  Thanks to the irresponsible environmental policies of a series of Seattle elected “leaders”, three different Skagit River salmon species have gone on the endangered list and Puget Sound Orcas are malnourished due to the dwindling population of their favorite food.  Statistics show that of all of the entities operating dams in Washington State, Seattle is at the bottom of the list when it comes to investing in salmon restoration. Evidently Seattle’s elected “leaders” don’t care about salmon, because salmon don’t vote or give them campaign contributions. Consider that the Grant County Public Utilities District has spent $600 million on salmon recovery, while Seattle City Light has spent just $12 million, with none being spent on helping salmon swim upriver.  A spokesperson for Skagit County said, “It is outrageous. Seattle is just not contributing at a reasonable level and that seems fairly inconsistent with the moral authority they claim on environmental issues.” Liberal hypocrisy – would have thought?

Many ask what is Seattle City Light spending all its ratepayer money on if it is not supporting salmon restoration?  Seattle bureaucrats are doing what all liberal government entities do – they are wasting it.  The KING5 News report revealed that the utility went overbudget by more than $100 million on a single substation, $43 million on a computer billing system, and $17 million more on a new meter system. But, hey, at least it’s not their own money, right?  (KING5 News)

Lame duck Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has no answers for why her texts and those of the police chief, fire chief, and four members of the police command staff are missing from the crucial days surrounding the riots and liberal-activist takeover of six blocks on Capitol Hill.  The mayor blamed the loss of her texts on a phone setting which automatically deleted texts after 30 days. Reporter Brandi Kruse stated that this setting must be manually set by the user and asked the mayor if she had adjusted the setting or knew if someone else had made the changes.  Durkan responded that she was unaware how the text retention setting had been altered, which, of course, is likely not true. Mayor Durkan is well aware of the requirements of the public records laws in our state  – after all, she was the U.S. Attorney before Seattle elected her to replace scandal-plagued Democrat Ed Murray in 2017. The loss of texts became known after several public records requests were made seeking information on how many key decisions were made by city officials last summer, and those requests were illegally left unfilled. (Q13 News/Facebook)

Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski was successful in passing a bill in the U.S. Senate which could lead to the resumption of the Seattle-based Alaska cruises.  Senator Murkowski’s bill provides a waiver of the Passenger Services Act (PSA), which requires a stop in a Canadian port for foreign ships (which nearly all major cruise vessels are) traveling between Seattle and Alaska.  Since the Canadian government has banned cruise ships (due to COVID concerns) until 2022, this essentially closed the 2021 cruise season unless a PSA waiver was obtained.  The bill now needs to pass the House and be signed by President Biden. It is estimated that it will take approximately 2 months before sailings will resume from Seattle, once a waiver is signed by the President. (Seattle Times)

REC Silicon believes it can reopen its shuttered Moses Lake production facility in 2023.  This announcement was made by the Norwegian company’s president earlier this week.  The company produces high-grade polysilicon that is used in solar panels.  In 2013, the Obama Administration imposed a 30% tariff on Chinese solar panels, which caused the Chinese government to retaliate with a 57% duty on all U.S. made polysilicon, which essentially closed REC’s major market.  The company soon began to layoff many of its 250 workers, before finally closing the plant in 2019.  As the trade dispute between the U.S. and China continued, the company developed markets in other countries and believes its customer base is stable enough to reopen the Moses Lake plant. (Columbia Basin Herald)

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