The only people who matter are those who live along Puget Sound — in the narrow-minded views of too many Washington State’s Democrat lawmakers.  Those who reside in the rest of the state simply need to adapt to the urban lifestyle, for other chosen ways of life are irrelevant to liberal politicians as they impose their failed Seattle policies onto the rest of the state.  Maybe Democrat legislators should concentrate on fixing the many serious problems within their own communities/legislative districts before they force the causes of those problems (i.e. unchecked liberal policies) onto those who live in the rest of the state. (Click to read full Shift Article)

After Democrat state lawmakers caved into the reckless demands of liberal rioters by imposing severe restrictions on police officers, car thefts have jumped a whopping 10% in the past year.  Representative Roger Goodman (D – Kirkland) and Representative Jesse Johnson (D – Federal Way) ignored the concerns of police agencies and victim support organizations to lead the effort during the 2021 legislative session to pass laws which make it easier for criminals to escape punishment.  The Democrats passed these laws despite the fact crime rates were increasing throughout the state.  In fact, the mayor of Representative Johnson’s own hometown of Federal Way announced yesterday that due to the increase in crime in his city he has been forced to ask for more money to pay for additional police officers.

A report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau reveals that Washington State is now in the top ten states for vehicle thefts thanks to 10% increase (from 34,142 to 37,465).  We can expect this figure (and nearly all crime stats) to continue to climb as Representives Goodman’s and Johnson’s reckless “reforms” continue to hamper police departments from doing their jobs. (KING5 News and KOMO News)

Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center brought to our attention a very interesting report from the highly respected O’Neill Institute, which focuses on issues related to health and the law.  The report from the Georgetown University-based think tank states that it is apparent that strains of the COVID virus will be around for years to come, and that tying the end of emergency powers to its eradication (as Governor Jay Inslee and Democrat lawmakers have done in Washington State) will hurt democratic institutions and principles. “Prolonged states of emergency may have a stifling effect on key democratic principles, including democratic debate, discussion, and participation, even when employed in the most benevolent and well-intentioned ways. Prolonged use of heavy-handed legal tools is cause for concern and must be scrutinized.” But nothing to see here, according to Democrats, so just move along. (Washington Policy Center/O’Neill Institute)

You can view for yourself the four versions of legislative district maps which the members of the Washington State Redistricting Commission released yesterday.  As Shift highlighted yesterday, the goal of both Republican commission members was to increase the number of competitive districts.  The Democrat members meanwhile seemingly sought to protect incumbents. Maps for suggested revisions to the state’s 10 congressional districts will be released next week.  (Seattle Times)

A campaign law which restricts local business involvement in campaigns – which was championed by Seattle Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez – is now benefiting her campaign for mayor.  As out-of-state unions are pouring tons of money into political efforts to help failed Councilwoman Gonzalez become the next failed mayor of Seattle, businesses with more than 1% foreign investment (which is nearly all major publicly traded businesses in the global economy) are prohibited from supporting Seattle campaigns.  This means that union organizations based in New York City and Washington, D.C. (who love Gonzalez’ plans to continue to grow the size of Seattle government) can pump huge amounts of money into their favorite mayoral campaign. Meanwhile, Amazon, which employs tens of thousands of Seattle residents and pays millions in local taxes, cannot contribute a penny.  Even liberal retired journalist Joni Balter sees the unfairness in the restrictions Gonzalez was able to impose on businesses. Balter writes, “We all want, should want, elections to take place on an equitable playing field.”  It is a shame Balter and others in the Seattle media failed to speak out on this law when Gonzalez rammed it through the Seattle City Council after the 2019 elections. (Crosscut)

Parents and children protested the continued lack of action by Seattle officials who have allowed Woodlawn Park and adjacent Green Lake Park to be overrun by homeless encampments, thus making both unsafe for public use.  Instead of enforcing laws and implementing effective measures that encourage people to obtain help, City of Seattle officials have chosen to enable homelessness by denying permits for local residents to hold athletic events or social gatherings.  When city officials were confronted with the problem, there was absolutely no accountability as they pointed fingers at others and told local residents that they must go to other parks. The frustration was expressed by one mother who asked, “Will we just surrender our parks” because of the failures of liberal policies implemented by city lawmakers? And the answer from every Seattle City Council incumbent is a resounding “Yes, we will!” (Q13 News)

While City of Seattle parks are overrun with homeless encampments, violent crime rates are skyrocketing, small businesses are failing due to consumers abandoning downtown, and well-trained police officers are fleeing the department, lame-duck Mayor Jenny Durkan is sending out media releases on the “Black Lives Matter” graffiti which city workers painted on the sidewalk outside city hall.  Since Mayor Durkan has stopped performing any real duties and spends her time counting the days until she leaves office (approximately 100) and can begin collecting on a couple of her government pensions, highlighting a virtue-signaling “achievement” like this is all her staff can do.  (Mayor Durkan media release)

As more property owners are selling their rental properties, Mayor Jenny Durkan has again extended the eviction moratorium to January 15^th.  Conveniently for Mayor Durkan, she will likely be relaxing on a beach enjoying her taxpayer-financed retirement by then. It is estimated that 60,000 tenants are behind on their rental payments, which has resulted in financial difficulties for landowners who still must pay bills despite not receiving rental payments. Many have been forced to sell their units and thus have reduced the number of rental properties available. Those are the “unintended consequences” of Seattle’s inability to distribute federal money to renters and landlords which is just waiting to be used. (Seattle P-I)

Quick note on the bias of Seattle media. The Seattle Times was eager to feature a Washington Post story about who was behind the January 6^th Washington, D.C. riots, yet it has failed to provide any coverage on who was behind the liberal riots which caused millions in damages in Seattle and has forced liberal lawmakers to make radical changes to the region’s law enforcement and spending priorities.  As always, the Seattle media is completely irresponsible in investigating the nefarious actions of liberals, while they rush to expose any misdeed from those who claim to be on the Right.  (Seattle Times)

Members of the Walla Walla City Council issued a media release to dispel social media rumors that it will soon impose COVID vaccination requirements on businesses and other community activities.  The release stated that members of the council had received many emails and phone calls regarding these rumors and stated, “Simply put, this rumor is false.” (City of Walla Walla media release)

Residents who live in the Badger Mountain area above East Wenatchee are organizing to prevent any solar panel farm from being constructed in their community. At least three major solar panel companies have made inquiries into purchasing land in Douglas County.  Besides the impact on people’s views, these 5,000-acre solar panel facilities would replace agriculture lands, wildlife habitat, and lands currently set aside for environmental purposes. (iFIBER One)

Are you in need of a good laugh?  Then let us suggest you read Washington State Democrat Party Chair Tina Podlodowski’s latest fundraising email. Actually it is not that funny when you consider that some people actually believe the “1984”-style distortion Chair Podlodowski peddles in order to keep funds flowing into her bank account.

The focus of Podlodowski’s latest rant is the fact that Republicans have a very good chance of defeating liberal 8^th Congressional District Congresswoman Kim Schrier in 2022.  In Podlodowski’s narrowminded opinion, it is “undemocratic” and a “power grab” for any legitimate Republican candidate to begin the process of mounting a campaign against the vulnerable Representative Schrier.

It is a bit off that Podlodowski would use the term “undemocratic” about allowing voters to choose their member of Congress while she supports Governor Inslee’s never-ending one-man rule of Washington State. She also supports liberal office holders who broke campaign promises to increase funding for law enforcement and caved into the “defund police” demands of those who committed political violence (which included a mass murder attempt on police).

So to Ms. Podlodowski it is “undemocratic” to run for congress if you are challenging a Democrat, but it is evidently “democratic” for a governor to ignore the legislative branch and local elected officials, and for politicians to cave into demands of rioters. Obviously with her unique version of “Newspeak,” Podlodowski has been reading the manual for the Ministry of Truth from Orwell’s “1984.” (Washington State Democrat Party email, KOMO News, and Wikipedia)

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