Unfortunately in Washington State we are witnessing the dangerous impact of one-party rule as Democrat politicians routinely ignore basic principles of American democracy because they are inconvenient in their drive to impose their liberal agenda.  We have seen this repeatedly with the Inslee Administration as the governor undemocratically abused emergency powers for 32 months (unprecedented in our state, even during war times) because he believed it was more important to provide benefits to his supporters than it was to adhere to the democratic belief that all voices should be heard in determining laws.  We now see almost daily examples of Democrat politicians ignoring basic governing principles (on Tuesday we reported on two such occurrences).  This abuse will continue until Washington voters say they have had enough. (Click to read full Shift article)

A non-profit legal watchdog organizations has sent the Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) a cease and desist letter to stop rulemaking on the state’s capital gains tax which a Douglas County Superior Court judge determined was “unconstitutional and void.”  It has been found that the Inslee Administration has ignored state law and has continued to have the DOR develop rules and procedures on collecting a tax which the courts have ruled is illegal.

The non-profit group Citizen Action Defense Fund’s (CADF) Executive Director Jackson Maynard sent a letter today to the DOR Acting Director John Ryser stating, “It is black letter law that statutes declared unconstitutional . . . have no legal effect whatsoever and the law treats them as if they never existed. Department’s actions to ignore a valid ruling from another branch of government serves to undermine the rule of law and respect for the judiciary.” The CADF demanded that the DOR cease and desist rulemaking until a higher court overturns the Superior Court’s ruling or issues a stay.  The CADF also demanded DOR internal records related to timing and implementation of rulemaking.

Jackson highlighted that this is yet another example of the Inslee Administration believing they don’t have to follow the same laws as the rest of us. “Everybody understands that you can’t just ignore court rulings that you disagree with. The Department is doing exactly that.” Citizen Action Defense Fund website and Citizen Action Defense Fund letter to the Washington State Department of Revenue)

Senator Republican Leader John Braun said that the contract agreement secretly negotiated by Governor Jay Inslee and his campaign contributors in the Washington Federation of State Employees, demonstrated there is plenty of money available to fund the Republican’s proposals to help lower- and moderate- income households who are currently struggling due to the Democrat caused inflation and higher fuel prices.  In a radio interview, Senator Braun said, “Whether it is sales tax relief, or gas tax relief, or property tax relief, we could have figured out a way to make it a little more affordable for all of our state’s citizens.”  The GOP senator from Centralia then asserted that the governor took the state’s sizable surplus in tax revenues and used it to benefit only his campaign contributors in the government employee unions while ignoring the financial concerns of millions of Washington State residents.  Senator Braun said the governor’s actions “may be legally permissible, but it should be morally unacceptable.” (Washington Senate Republican Caucus audio)

One of the legislative architects of the Democrats’ disastrous anti-police legislation states that those who want to fix his hastily developed legislation, including many local Democrat officials, are upset because cops “can’t go around killing people.”  Representative Jesse Johnson (D – Federal Way) made this comment in a tweet following the release of a video produced by Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney which asserted that the Democrats’ 2021 legislation was the cause behind the increase in violent crime and that it hampered police efforts to keep our communities safe.

The video featured several city officials Snohomish County asking the legislature to change the laws passed by the Democrat controlled legislature as they caved into the demands of liberal rioters.  Among the city officials featured are well known Democrat Mayors Cassie Franklin of Everett and Barbara Talbert of Arlington. Representative Johnson called these mayors and other local Democrats who are calling for a repeal of his dangerous legislation, “Republicans in Democrat suits.”

We should note that Representative Johnson, who Public Disclosure Commission reports reveal was busy raising thousands of dollars for his re-election campaign in the days before the legislative fundraising deadline last December, suddenly announced during the 2022 legislative session that he would not run for a second term.   It is widely believed that the representative made this decision after seeing polling numbers which revealed an overwhelming disapproval of his legislation, especially in South King County where the Democrats’ legislation has caused crime rates to skyrocket. (MyNorthwest, Snohomish County Sheriff video/YouTube, and Washington State Public Disclosure Commission report)

Seattle continues to experience record breaking homicide rates due to liberal anti-police and soft on crime policies at both the city and state level.  While murder and violent crime rates are declining around the country, Seattle has already surpassed in 2022 the number of murders committed in 2021, and there are still nearly three months left in the year.  There have been 47 murder victims in Seattle so far this year.  Only 2020 saw more murders (53) and this year the city is on pace to surpass that figure by election day (November 8^th).  This is what happens when liberal politicians allow liberal rioters determine public safety policies. (KOMO News)

With liberal policies creating skyrocketing inflation rates and record breaking fuel prices, more households are becoming dependent on local food banks to make ends meet.  This has caused financial difficulties for some food banks who not only have seen an increase in the number of people they serve but have also seen inflation reduce the amount of food they are able to buy with their donations.  Democrats at the state level refused to help lower-income households through any form of state tax relief (instead choosing to give two more pay raises to their campaign contributors in the state employee unions – after three pay raises in the past two and a half years).  So local governments, including King County, are now seeking ways to help food banks help those who have been negatively impacted by the Democrats’ policies. (MyNorthwest)

Zillow expects renters in Seattle to be harder hit the rest of the country as higher mortgage rates are forcing more potential home buyers to stay in rental units, which will cause rental rates to increase. Seattle (where rent is already 12% higher than other urban markets) has seen a large decrease (3,000 in the past year)  in the number of rental properties as landlords and property owners have pulled out of the rental market and have turned apartments into condominiums and have sold houses they used to rent.  This trend is the result of radical changes to rental property regulations which have been enacted by the City of Seattle. (Axios and MyNorthwest)

The rise in energy costs will soon be passed to consumers as a number of Western Washington utilities are seeking rate increases.  Puget Sound Energy, Seattle City Light, and Tacoma Public Utilities are among the utilities who have applied for rate increases. (KING5 News)

The Spokane County Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to authorize the county prosecutor’s office to file a lawsuit against the Inslee Administration over the large homeless encampment the Washington State Department of Transportation has allowed to grow on its property.  The lawsuit will argue the 500+ resident encampment is a “nuisance” and will ask the court to allow the county to remove the encampment without the state’s approval.  Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has recently stated that his office will remove the encampment if it is not removed by mid-November. The encampment has caused Spokane to spend additional taxpayer money on police and sanitation and is the site of violent attacks and rapes and has been called “The Lord of the Flies on drugs.” (Spokesman Review and KXLY)

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview was with Stephanie McClintock, the GOP candidate for the open State House of Representatives Position 1 seat in the 18^th Legislative District (Clark County).  In the August primary, McClintock won the “test run” against her Democrat opponent (who is heavily financed by government employee union money) by over 5%.  She is a mother of two college-aged sons and a former Battle Ground School Board Member. McClintock currently works as a public relations specialist for a grain export company, and she and her husband previously operated their own small business.

In her interview, McClintock, who is the daughter of a police detective, states that the legislature needs to repeal the Democrats’ anti-police laws which were jammed through in 2021.  She states her opposition to the Democrats’ poorly conceived and expensive Long Term Care payroll tax and her frustrations with Governor Inslee’s secret negotiations with his political contributors in the government employee unions. McClintock shares her thoughts on a new I-5 Columbia River bridge and on Governor Inslee’s attempt to remove the clean energy provided by the Snake River dams (it would remove barge traffic and force thousands of large semi-trucks onto already crowded roadways). She concludes the interview by providing an excellent book from Erik Larson as her current favorite. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

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