Our Newsmaker Interview is with Susanna Keilman, Republican candidate for the 28^th Legislative District’s House of Representatives position currently held by Democrat Representative Dan Bronoske. This former U.S. Air Force medic has spent the past 22 years in a successful health care career, including in clinical research business development.  Her South King County 28^th LD includes Joint Base Lewis McChord, so the needs of military members, their families, and veterans are a top priority – making military voting rights, which Keilman wants to make a stronger priority for our government, a defining issue.

During our interview, Keilman asserted that the state’s current public safety laws are “frustrating and disrespectful to law enforcement and law-abiding citizens.”  She wants to close the loopholes which allow criminals to be immediately released after they have been arrested.  Keilman claimed it was a “missed opportunity” by Democrat legislators to not provide any tax relief when the state had a $15 billion revenue surplus.  Keilman added she wants “a performance and salary audit of every state employee, including the Governor’s office,” and start “cutting the bloat that they’ve created over the last decade.” (Click to read full Newsmaker interview)

There are two interesting notes in the latest Washington State Department of Health’s (DOH) Bulletin. The first is that the DOH says it will now post bulletins “only if there is significant new information to share.”  Does this mean the DOH now believes the “emergency” is over?  Will the DOH inform Governor Jay Inslee the “emergency” is over so he can finally end his undemocratic abuse of the governor’s emergency powers (now on day 769)?

The second is, the DOH again admits its data is faulty. The bulletin states, “DOH is still experiencing delays in reporting cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as a result of prior slowdowns in our data systems during the omicron surge. We are clearing these backlogged cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as resources permit.”

Unfortunately, after Governor Inslee has doubled the size of state government during his nine years in office, hired thousands more state employees, and last month decided to spend the state’s entire $15 billion in surplus revenue making state government larger and more costly (instead of providing any tax relief for Washington’s residents), the DOH still does not have the “resources” to provide accurate data during an “emergency.”

This is especially disturbing because the governor has stated this “emergency” is so severe that it justifies his removal of the legislative branch and locally elected officials from making important decisions which impact millions of Washington resident’s lives. (Washington State Department of Health Covid-19 Bulletin)

It appears that Democrat legislative leaders will again allow Governor Inslee to commander legislative powers , as they have made no move to call a special session to vote on overriding the governor’s six vetoes and 10 partial vetoes of bills passed during the 2022 legislative session.  13 of the 16 bills were passed in both chambers with more than the 2/3rds support needed to override the governor’s vetoes. These are the same Democrat legislative leaders who refused to reform the governor’s emergency powers and have allowed Washington State to be one of the few states to completely remove the legislative branch from decisions during an emergency.

House Republican Leader JT Wilcox expressed his disappointment in the embarrassing lack of action by his Democrat colleagues who control the legislature. “The Democrats in the legislature have given no indication that they are interested in holding the governor accountable for anything.”

It is worth remembering during the upcoming elections that evidently neither Governor Inslee nor the Democrat legislative leaders have the faith in the current Democrat senators and representatives to make the important decisions they were elected to make. If those who know these Democrat lawmakers best don’t have confidence in their ability, then why should the voters? (CenterSquare and Washington Policy Center)

The family of the late United States’ Senator Slade Gorton announced that a memorial will be held on Wednesday, May 4^th at 1:00 PM at Seattle’s St. Mark Cathedral. Slade served three terms in the U.S. Senate and three terms as Washington State’s Attorney General. After his departure from the U.S. Senate, Slade continued to serve his county as a member of the highly regarded 9/11 Commission.  While he was an Ivy League graduate (Dartmouth & Columbia Law School), he became the champion of rural Washington, fighting against the constant attack of urban extreme environmentalists. He is best known by many for saving the Seattle Mariners when he appealed to the owners of Nintendo to purchase the team.  He was highly respected by his colleagues for his intelligence and quick wit. Slade passed away on August 19, 2020, at the age of 92. (Gorton Legacy Group Facebook page)

Seattle has lost nearly 10,000 rental housing units in just eight months due to the city’s radical housing policies. This is more than a 6% drop in the supply of rental units (158,884 to 149,125) available within the city.  In the past few years, the members of the Seattle City Council have ignored basic economic principles and have passed tougher eviction laws, required landlords to pay to register properties, increased inspections, and created new laws about rent increases and rejecting tenants.

Property owners have responded by turning their apartment complexes into condominiums, sold their properties, and/or chosen to invest elsewhere. A spokesperson for the Rental Housing Association of Washington said that the new laws and requirements are too difficult for property owners to comply with them and that they leave the landlord open to many lawsuits. While city councilmembers like Kshama Sawant and Lisa Herbold attack and blame landlords for the increasing the cost to renters in Seattle, they really should be assigning their blame to themselves and their fellow councilmembers for rental unit shortage and the subsequent the rent increases. (MyNorthwest)

An astonishing 67% of Seattle’s residents said they are considering moving out of the city according to a new poll conducted by the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce.  The top two reasons for why residents are thinking about moving are the cost of living and public safety.  Remember Seattle used to be routinely listed as one of the most livable cities in America, and now it is an example of failed liberal policies, leading a majority of its current residents to consider moving away.  This new polling information comes as the Seattle Police Officers Guild public safety index reached a new low due to the amount of violent crime during the past week in the city (four murders, 10 shootings, and 11 assaults) and the number of police officers who continue to leave the force due to lack of support from Seattle’s liberal leaders. (CenterSquare)

The Lincoln County town of Odessa has begun flying Ukrainian flags in support of their namesake city in Ukraine. The farming town of about 900 residents is approximately 15 miles north of Moses Lake. The dozen Ukrainian flags which currently fly over the town were the inspiration of Chamber of Commerce President Norman Ott (who also leads the “Omm Pa’s & Ma’s Polka Band”) after he saw American and military flags flying over the nearby town of St. John. (Spokesman Review)

Did the Democrats shoot themselves in the foot with their passage of reckless “police reform” measures?  Democrat politicians refused to condemn the political violence their supporters committed in Seattle against police during 2020.  Instead the liberal politicians rewarded the violence by quickly passing anti-police measures demanded by the rioters at all levels of government.  The predictable result has been skyrocketing crime rates on one side, and a growing support on the other side for police officers and the work they do to keep the public safe.

This has paralleled the Democrats’ rapidly declining poll numbers as the public has rightfully faulted liberal politicians for making our state a more comfortable for criminals. Working class neighborhoods, formally Democrat strongholds, are frustrated by the rising crime rates and are demanding more police to keep their communities safe. The shortsighted actions of the Democrats to please their rioters, instead of their constituents, will be felt this November, and some Democrats are just now realizing their errors. (Click to read full Shift Article)

Babylon Bee Friday

Conservative Satire to start the weekend

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