The normally very liberal Vancouver Colombian editorial board has joined the voices calling for Governor Jay Inslee to delay implementation of the state’s controversial new long-term care insurance payroll tax. The editorial begins, “Washington’s road to a payroll tax supporting long-term care has too many potholes for a smooth journey. Governor Jay Inslee should suspend the program until legislators have an opportunity to level the path.” The Columbian joins a bipartisan group of 23 state senators who previously sent a letter to Governor Inslee asking him to delay the payroll tax’s implementation.

The editorial explains the many problems that need to be ironed out with the new entitlement program the Democrats jammed through in 2019, and which is set to begin taking money from workers on January 1, 2022. Problems include insurance companies pulling their private long-term care policies out of the Washington State market (leaving workers with no option of “opting-out” of the state’s payroll tax), and many Washington State workers will be forced to pay into the plan yet will be unable to obtain the small benefit (capped at just $36,500) when they need it.  There have also been numerous times during its initial weeks that the state’s website for opting out of the plan has crashed, frustrating many Washington workers.

Despite the many obvious problems detailed by the editorial and others, many believe Governor Inslee will allow the poorly written plan to be forced onto workers without delay, because it achieves the top liberal Democrat priority of expanding the size and power of state government, even though it will negatively impact Washington residents. (Vancouver Columbian editorial, Senate Letter to Governor Inslee, and Shift’s Newsmaker Interview)

Today will be the last day for many state and local government workers, as this is the arbitrary deadline set by Governor Inslee for latest one-man mandate.  Washington State residents have already been impacted by the serious reduction of sailings of the state ferry system, closure of highway rest stops, and fewer state patrol officers thanks to Inslee’s politically motivated vaccine mandate . Residents can also expect even slower responses from state agencies which will impact everything from license tab renewals to children protection and welfare.

At the local levels the mandates will slow response times for medical emergencies and law enforcement.  In Seattle this will be even more brutal, since the police department has already been depleted by over 300 officers thanks to the actions taken against the department by the radical members of the Seattle City Council. The vaccine mandate will likely impact just about every Washington resident’s life, yet it was undemocratically dictated made by Governor Inslee and his continued abuse of the state’s emergency powers (with consent from timid legislative Democrats). King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn has a simple solution to the problem Inslee has created for so many people, suggesting in a letter to King County Executive Dow Constantine that the county allow government workers the option of taking a COVID test in order to keep working.  (Fox13 Brandi Kruse Facebook video and FOX13)

Washington State Trooper Robert LeMay signed off eloquently on his last call Friday, as the veteran trooper will be fired by Governor Inslee due to the vaccine mandate. The video of Trooper LeMay’s final signoff has been widely shared on social media, as it contains his parting shot at the governor.  LeMay, who objected to receiving the COVID vaccine for religious reasons, briefly described his service in Central Washington – and his thanks for the public he served with distinction – before stating, “Jay Inslee can kiss my ass.” (YouTube)

Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center writes yet another interesting article on the abuse of power currently being committed by Governor Inslee.  As we approach 600 days of the governor (with Democrat legislators’ consent) removing the public voice from making important decisions (and thus increasing the public’s distrust in government), Mercier asks,” Do we still need a state legislature that apparently doesn’t want a role in policy development?” The answer from Democrat legislators is a resounding “yes”, as they get paid even though they are doing no work. (Washington Policy Center)

Long-time environmental activist/columnist Joel Connelly tells the formally mainstream Washington Conservation Voters (WCV) to get off his proverbial lawn, as its hard turn to the left is alienating old lefties like him and whatever remains of its current moderate supporters.  The group has decided to endorse the extreme liberal candidacies of Seattle mayoral candidate Lorena Gonzalez and the radical Seattle City Council candidate Nikkita Oliver (who wants to defund police 100%), while the group embraces the ultra-liberal political ideology of the social justice warriors.  Connelly reflects that WCV’s “victories over the years have come not via bullhorns and woke-left Tweets — rather, through inclusion and finding common ground.” Sadly it appears one of the most successful broad-based environmental groups has been taken over by the narrowminded liberal establishment, which is responsible for the many homelessness, public safety, and environmental failures plaguing the region. (Post Alley)

An op-ed by a Seattle pastor explains how the failed liberal homeless policies supported by the region’s liberal elites is anything but “compassionate”.  Downtown Cornerstone Church Pastor Adam Sinnett writes that Seattle, “is slowly losing its moral bearings.” Pastor Sinnett details how city officials allow many people to commit various destructive acts “without accountability” and that it is also compassionate to sometimes tell people they cannot do something that is harmful to themselves or others. (Seattle Times)

Over a third of the Seattle Public School district’s students eligible for bus rides were forced to find their own method to school this morning, as the impact of vaccine mandates and ongoing liberal mismanagement forced the district to slash 142 bus routes. It is estimated that up to 6,700 students (out of 18,000 who are eligible) were impacted.  The district mostly cut transportation in the Northern end of the district to maintain nearly full service in the lower income southern sections of Seattle. (Seattle Times)

A liberal Spokane School Board candidate made small waves on social media over the weekend when he made the embarrassing claim that he had “13 years of firsthand experience in the system” which he obtained simply by going to school, including kindergarten.  Riley Smith made this laughable claim in campaign materials received by voters in the past week.  Even more surprising is this ridiculous statement is included in a quote attributed to a current Spokane City Councilmember Betsy Wilkerson, who apparently also found going to school an acceptable usage of the term “experience.”  Mr. Smith’s actual experience is limited to running the failed 2020 legislative campaign of Zack Zappone, who as a 2021 Spokane City Council candidate recently gained notoriety by filming himself breaking traffic laws while campaigning.  We should mention that Councilmember Wilkerson, Zappone, and Smith all have one thing in common, they are all endorsed by the Washington State Democrat Party, whose chair is strongly supporting the radical candidate Nicole Thomas Kennedy for Seattle City Attorney. Quite the slate of candidates the Democrats are supporting. (Daniel Walters Twitter, Shift, Washington State Democrat Party, Tina Podlodowski Twitter, and NTKforcrime website)

Governor Jay Inslee and U.S. Senator Patty Murray continue their expensive assault on Eastern Washington residents by announcing they will release their latest study on the fate of the Snake River dams sometime next summer.  While it is not known at this time what exactly will be contained in the study, it is a very safe bet that it will be used by Senator Murray to court support from wealthy Western Washington environmental groups to buy TV ads in the final months of her re-election campaign to add on to her 30 years of “service” already, as the do-nothing liberal senator rarely meets with the public. Western Washington environmental groups like to attack the Snake River dams despite the significant increase in salmon which have been counted passing the dams in recent years. Meanwhile the same environmental groups remain quiet about the dams operated by the City of Seattle which have eliminated all salmon in sections of the Skagit River. (OPB, Tri-City Herald, and KING5 News)

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