The Sunday Seattle Times carried a 1900-word front page story on the skyrocketing increase of car thefts and catalytic converters, yet failed to hold Democrat lawmakers accountable for the legislation which they wrote, passed, and are now watching being cited as the cause behind the increase in criminal activity.  The Times mentioned that criminals are becoming more brazen in their actions because as Steve Strachan, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs said, “What we’re hearing is increasing frequency of persons not stopping for traffic stops and acknowledging to law enforcement and to others that the word is out, that you don’t have to stop for law enforcement if they try to pull you over,” due to the Democrats’ 2021 “police reform” package.

Yet the Times fails mention the partisan aspect of the legislation that it was written and championed by Democrat Representatives Roger Goodman (Kirkland) and Jesse Johnson (Federal Way), was passed on party line votes, and that Governor Jay Inslee called the soft-on-crime bills a “moral mandate” when he signed them into law.  If the Times is going to tell its readers that specific legislation is behind an increase in criminal activity, shouldn’t the paper also identify who was responsible for writing and passing such bad policy?  And shouldn’t the reporter also mention that the legislation was passed to reward the political violence committed by liberal activists in Seattle? (Seattle Times and NPR)

Washington State Democrat legislators (in their latest insults to those who demand more government transparency) finally released their massive multi-billion-dollar budget proposal to the public just hours before holding public hearings on their out-of-control supplemental fiscal plans.  Senate Republican Ways & Means Committee leader Lynda Wilson (R – Vancouver) expressed her disappointment that despite a $15 billion state revenue surplus, there is no room for tax breaks for Washington residents who have been forced to pay higher consumer prices (especially at the gas pump) due to the Democrats’ inflationary policies. Senator Wilson asserted, “It’s beyond belief that the majority (Democrats) can’t find space within a 15-billion-dollar surplus for anything that qualifies as significant, direct tax relief.  How can they possibly justify this to people who are finding it unaffordable to live in our state, between the rising prices for gas, food, housing, and electricity, the economic struggles brought on by the pandemic, and all the new taxes and fees they have adopted – and are pursuing again this session, with no end in sight?”

The Democrats’ supplemental budget increases the annual budget to $63.7 billion – thus doubling the cost of state government since 2013, the year Governor Inslee became governor (when the budget was $32.1 billion). (Washington Senate Caucus media release, Twitter, and Annual Washington State budgets)

The Seattle Times editorial board blasted Democrat lawmakers for breaking the legislature’s long-standing tradition of creating bi-partisan transportation packages. The newspaper stated that the Democrats’ current proposal is “hobbled from being negotiated in this echo chamber when a better process could have produced sounder results.” Like the Democrats’ poorly developed Long-Term Care plan, their hastily created 2021 “police reform” plan, and the likely unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains, the Democrats failure to consult with Republicans has resulted in poorly written and hyper-partisan legislation which will need to be fixed in the future.  While the Times’ editorial claims there is still time to fix this proposal by including Republicans, there is very little evidence that any current liberal legislator is willing to alter the “Democrat-only” process which has dramatically failed so often.

Thanks to negotiating only among liberals, the Democrats’ 2022 transportation package is likely unconstitutional since it breaks the interstate commerce clause by forcing consumers in other states to pay higher taxes for fuel refined in from Washington. This has drawn unprecedented criticism from both Democrat and Republican leaders in neighboring Alaska, Idaho, and Oregon.  The package is also underfunded because current Democrats don’t want to impose even more taxes before facing already difficult re-election attempts this fall.  This will force future legislators to raise taxes to pay for all the transportation projects that this year’s Democrat candidates want to brag about.  Specifically the Times is very critical of four Puget Sound Democrats who co-authored the highly flawed transportation package (Senator Marko Liias of Edmonds, Senator Rebecca Saldana of Seattle, Representative Jake Fey of Tacoma, and Representative Bill Ramos of Issaquah) for excluding Republican members and those from other areas of the state.  (Seattle Times and Twitter)

Liberal activists, who evidently want people to continue to suffer the cruel reality of a homeless life on the streets, attempted to block city workers from cleaning up a homeless encampment across the street from Seattle City Hall.  On Sunday morning, a couple of dozen activists locked arms and attempted to shield media cameras as crews removed piles of garbage, drug paraphernalia, personal items, and tents from the 4^th Avenue sidewalk across the street from the entrance of Seattle City Hall.  As of Monday morning, some of the tents were still on the sidewalk and nearby buildings were spray painted with the liberal activists’ slogans. As is the case with all encampment removals on public space, residents of the homeless camp were given many days advance notice and offered free public housing.  (KOMO News)

The Seattle City Council will vote on Tuesday whether to override Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s decision to end the city’s eviction moratorium on February 28^th.  The council will need the support of six of its nine members to extend the moratorium and allow people who are not paying rent to stay in place.  Socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant argues the moratorium should not be lifted because it will lead to “a wave of evictions.”  She does not explain how this will be any different if the moratorium is finally lifted 3 months from now, three years from now, or 30 years from now.  In fact, the longer it continues, the more people will take advantage of it and face a harsh financial reality when the moratorium ends.

The city’s eviction moratorium was originally put in place to last a few months as the pandemic raged without vaccines.  Since that time the federal government has provided three significant bailouts to American citizens, Washington state has provided full unemployment benefits, and the job market has been flooded with employment opportunities.  Meanwhile economists argue the moratorium is reducing the number of rental units in Seattle and driving up the rental price of the remaining apartment and houses. (MyNorthwest)

The Washington Policy Center’s Pam Lewison stated that a recent Capitol Press interview with Governor Inslee demonstrated how “out of touch” he is with the state’s farmers and ranchers.  When asked to describe his relationship with the state’s agriculture community, the governor claimed that it is “easier for me” to have a relationship because three decades ago he “set my little irrigation box to just the right amount of water to water my hay field” (when he was a full-time trial lawyer and aspiring politician). Lewison then pointed put that the governor has dramatically increased the cost of farming by setting rigid wage regulations which fail to take into account the irregular work demands, illegally brought over maggot-infested apples from the Governor’s Mansion into Central Washington orchids, and did not consult with any member of the agriculture community as he attempted a mass land grab of hundreds of thousands of acres of farm lands by seeking to unnecessarily increase the buffers around rivers and streams in rural areas (but not in urban areas where more damage to salmon habitat is actually being done). (Capital Press)

Last week’s Newsmaker Interview was with Washington State Senator Keith Wagoner (R – Sedro- Woolley).  The retired Navy pilot and Commander first entered politics by serving as a city councilmember and mayor of Sedro Woolley. Senator Wagoner recently announced he will be running in the special election this fall to become Washington’s Secretary of State, but our interview focused on his work in the current legislative session.  The senator is critical of the “fixes” the Democrats claim to have made thus far to their ”fiscally flawed” Long-Term Care payroll tax plan, which he reminds readers drove many private insurance carriers out of the WA market, even though they were providing better plans than what the state will be offering. Senator Wagoner is very critical of the Democrats’ attempt to restrict voters’ rights (and their ability to create and repeal laws) by eliminating initiatives and referendums in odd-numbered years. Senator Wagoner also provides his thoughts on Governor Inslee’s latest attack on the state’s farming community (HB 1838), repairs to the Democrats’ hastily written “police reform” package, and the Democrats’ fake reform of “emergency” powers authority. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

The House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations will be holding a public hearing Monday afternoon on the Senate Democrats’ fake reform of the state’s “emergency powers” law.  The reform is meaningless because SB 5909 does nothing to end Governor Inslee’s 720 days (and counting) of abusing emergency powers and does absolutely nothing to prevent some future governor from doing the exact same thing.  Governor Inslee’s refusal to end his undemocratic snub of the legislative branch (as well as locally elected officials) is very telling in demonstrating how little confidence the governor has in his own leadership abilities and how he has no confidence in the Democrats who currently control the legislature. This year the governor will likely be campaigning for the many very vulnerable Democrat legislators who are up for re-election.  Voters should ask themselves one question, “If the governor believes his party’s current Democrat legislators are incapable of deliberating on pandemic-related decisions, then aren’t they unfit to serve in the legislature?” (Click to read full Shift Article)

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