Like many of you, the staff at Shift will spending today reconnecting (in-person!) with friends and family. Today’s Daily Briefing is a recap of recent articles and interviews from the past couple of weeks.  We recap the expensive (for Washington taxpayers) 2021 legislative session, Governor Inslee’s backstabbing vetoes, and interview Rob McKenna on the lawsuit filed to protect Washington residents from the unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains passed by the Democrats. We also begin to look forward to 2022 and what Republicans must do to halt the insanity being waged by the ultra-liberal Democrats.

Jay Inslee Once Again Breaks His Promises.  “It should have been obvious by now to any political observer that, after his nearly four decades in the public square, Governor Jay Inslee doesn’t care about his friends, enemies or frenemies. His actions are all about Jay Inslee. If the COVID pandemic has shown us anything, it’s the fact the Jay Inslee is drunk with power and will do whatever necessary to maintain the dictatorial control he craves.”

Newsmaker Interview With Washington State GOP Chair Caleb Heimlich. With the end of the 2021 legislative session (which Heimlich labeled as “brutal”), we thought it would be interesting to obtain the thoughts of the person who is responsible for leading the effort to turn the radical and expensive laws passed by the Democrats into opportunities for Republican candidates. Chairman Heimlich shares the state party’s plans for 2022, as they work for a repeat of 1994 and 2010, when voters overwhelmingly rejected the misguided and unpopular policies of arrogant legislative Democrats and elected Republicans in record numbers.  Heimlich also describes how he chose to “lead by example” in condemning the political violence which took place on January 6^th and the “hypocrisy” of Democrat officials who remain fixated about the acts committed by fringe Trump supporters, but have remained silent about the numerous acts of violence committed by their own supporters.

Governor Inslee Vetoed the 2030 Ban on Cars Because it Did Not Go Far Enough.  Banning the sale of gas-powered cars and trucks by 2030 was among the crazy ideas passed by the Democrats in the Washington State Legislature during the 2021 session.  Yet it was not crazy enough for Governor Jay Inslee and his wealthy environmental special interest buddies, so he vetoed the legislation.  While knowing that the state’s power grid cannot handle charging the large influx of electric vehicles Inslee desires (which are too expensive for nearly all working families), liberals want to reduce our options and force us into their inefficient government-run mass transit systems.

Legislators to Governor Inslee: See You in Court!  Once again, Governor Jay Inslee has upset both Republican and Democrat legislative leaders over his unlawful use of his veto powers and they have already announced they are taking the governor to court, again.  In order to obtain the necessary votes to pass two (expensive and inefficient) climate bills (the “Low Carbon Fuel Standard” and “Cap-and-Trade” schemes demanded by the governor), legislative leaders inserted language into the bills saying they could not be implemented until a future transportation funding package was also signed.  Wealthy environmental groups’ lobbyists convinced the governor that they cannot wait a few months for the legislature to pass an actual transportation funding package and demanded that he veto this linkage language in their climate bills.  By fulfilling their demand, Governor Inslee demonstrated that he either lacks respect for the Democrat legislators involved or that he is blissfully ignorant of the trust required for legislative process to work (or both).

Newsmaker Interview with Former Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna on the Lawsuit to Stop the Unconstitutional State Income Tax on Capital Gains.  McKenna will argue against the new tax on behalf of the Opportunity for All Coalition, as he previously did when successfully challenging the City of Seattle’s illegal income tax. While Democrat lawmakers claim the new tax on capital gains income is an “excise tax” in an attempt to avoid the problem of a state income tax being unconstitutional in Washington State, McKenna argues, “The IRS, Congressional Budget Office, and 49 state revenue departments all say that a tax on capital gains is an income tax, because it plainly is an income tax. Relabeling an unconstitutional tax does not change its substance and cure its constitutional defects.”

When Democrats Go Too Far – Part 1.   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.

When Democrats Go Too Far – Part 2.   In the final installment in a two-part series, Shift examines six suburban Democrat legislators who originally ran as moderates, yet when they arrived in Olympia quickly joined the far-Left members of their caucuses to impose Seattle’s failed liberal policies on the rest of the state.  It is looking like 2022 could become this generation’s 1994, with Democrats being swept from office after going too far to the left by raising taxes and pushing their extreme agenda after campaigning as moderates.  Shift reports on six Democrat lawmakers who will be among the dozen legislators that are most vulnerable in their election contests next year.  These endangered Democrats know their far-Left policies are not always popular in their district, and they will be seeking financial help from their Seattle special interest friends to push the false “moderate” narrative once again to their voters.  Yet this time, the Democrat candidates will have a record of supporting extreme policies which will provide the truth about how they will vote once they are in the legislature.

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