Seven years after liberal politicians declared homelessness an “emergency,” the problem continues to get worse and the only thing to show for the hundreds of millions of tax dollars being spent on the issue is an ever-growing homeless bureaucracy which will never go away (because it won’t ever solve the problem). On November 2, 2015, disgraced former Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine stood before TV cameras with other members of the region’s liberal establishment to proclaim they were going to solve the region’s homelessness problem by increasing the amount of tax money spent on the “emergency”.  At that time, it was estimated that there were approximately 3,800 homeless people in the county.  Today that figure is conservatively estimated to be above 5,500.  When asked where all money was spent, government officials could not provide the answer, and the only achievement they could point to is the creation of the King County Regional Homeless Authority.  Sadly, this new government bureaucratic agency (which is already demanding that its $119 million budget be increased to $209 million) is just one example of how liberals have selfishly used the pain suffered by those who are homeless to permanently increase the size and cost of government. (Click to read full Shift Article)

Democrat Attorney General Bob Ferguson has asked the Washington State Supreme Court to allow the state government to begin collecting on a tax which has been ruled unconstitutional.  Yesterday AG Ferguson filed a motion with the court to allow the Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) to begin collecting revenue from the state income tax on capital gains, despite a Superior Court ruling earlier this year (following nearly a century of legal precedent) that the tax was illegal.  The State Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the state’s appeal of the ruling made by the Douglas County Superior Court judge next January 26^th.

Despite the Superior Court’s ruling that the capital gains tax is illegal, it was recently discovered that the DOR was spending taxpayer funds to develop procedures to collect the illegal tax. This led the non-profit group Citizen Action Defense Fund (CADF) to send a cease and desist order to the DOR demanding that it stop wasting taxpayer money to prepare for collecting an unconstitutional tax. CADF has also asked the Joint Administrative Rules Review Committee of the Washington State Legislature to determine whether or not DOR has the authority to prepare for the collection of an illegal tax.

Yesterday’s actions by Attorney General Ferguson provides further proof of the differences between Republicans and Democrats in Washington State.  Republican legislators have offered multiple different tax relief bills (on the state’s sales tax, gas tax, property tax, and B&O tax) to do what many other states have done, which is to help citizens who are struggling financially due to inflation. Not only have Democrat legislators ignored these tax relief proposals, but actually want to start collecting an illegal tax.  This is how desperate Democrats have become to increase the size and cost of state government, because evidently to them doubling government spending in just nine years is not fast enough. (Washington Policy Center and Citizen Action Defense Fund)

Journalist Brandi Kruse made an interesting point about 10^th Legislative District Democrat House candidate Clyde Shavers being caught making numerous false statements to voters regarding his work history and on many other important matters.  Kruse points out that Shavers’ multiple lies were totally unnecessary.

In a story Shift broke on Monday, Shavers’ father authored a letter pointing out the many lies his son and his campaign have made as he sought a State House seat representing Island County, Northwest Snohomish County, and Southwest Skagit County.  Since then, the Lynnwood Times has obtained solid evidence which prove Shavers’ lied about multiple topics.

Kruse points out the Shavers has a noteworthy family history, and that he did enlist in the U.S. Navy and did attend Yale Law School and that there was no need to embellish his history with false statements about his mother’s immigration, false Navy service, and fake employment with prestigious law firms. Kruse says, “Many voters (in a district which contains Naval Air Station Whidbey) would have accepted him for who he really is.  But because he felt compelled to lie, it will probably cost him the campaign.”

Kruse also points that that the state’s Democrat establishment still supports Shavers despite his many lies to the voters.  She states that Democrat leaders “are willing to sacrifice morals to stand behind someone who lied.” Kruse goes on to point out that the Washington Democrats exemplifies “power at any cost.” The Lynnwood Times contacted all 16 local liberal officials who had previously endorsed Shavers’ campaign, and not one of them followed the lead of the Everett Herald and either flipped their endorsement to Republican Representative Greg Gilday (which the Herald did) or simply withdraw their endorsement of Shavers.  Disturbingly one local official, Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon stated that despite Shavers lying repeatedly to voters, she was still endorsing him because they both support abortion.

Shavers refuses to accept responsibility for his lies and claims that it was his father’s conservative political beliefs that caused the letter which detailed the many lies which the younger Shavers has refused to provide any proof are true, or sit for an interview to explain his actions.  (Brandi Kruse Twitter, Shift Article, Lynnwood Times, Everett Herald,  Shift Newsmaker Interview, and Clyde Shavers’ campaign Facebook page)

A suspect in a Renton drive-by shooting was arrested in Everett this week and police found illegal drugs and guns in a locked safe in his apartment.  It is believed the arrested individual was involved in the October 6^th random drive-by shooting on Rainier Avenue which left two people injured.  Democrat Representatives Tarra Simmons (Bremerton) and Larry Hackney (Tukwila) introduced legislation (HB 1692) during the 2022 legislative session to reduce the penalties for those who are convicted in drive-by shootings. If the Democrats remain in control of the legislature, this bill will likely be taken up again during the 2023 legislative Session. (Q13 Fox News, KIRO News, and Washington legislature Bill Summary)

A Montlake Terrace Church has been repeatedly targeted by vandals over the past few months.  Three times in the last five months, the St. Pius Catholic Church has been defaced.  The last time was this past weekend when graffiti was spray painted on doors and windows.  No other churches or businesses in the area have been targeted. (MyNorthwest)

Twelve City of Spokane firefighters were warmly greeted by a group of supporters as they returned to work after being fired last year for not following Governor Inslee’s order which mandated they must be fully vaccinated for COVID.  With the mandate lifted on Monday after the governor finally ended his unprecedented 975 days of abusing his “emergency” powers, the firefighters were allowed to return to work and provide some relief for the understaffed department.  Because of the governor’s mandate and subsequent firing of 25 fire department employees, the city has been forced to pay $7 million in overtime pay. Many of the fired employees have either moved or found other jobs. (The Center Square)

Spokane officials dispute claims made by Governor Inslee that the state was “very, very aggressively looking for other housing solutions” for the hundreds of people who have built and lived in a large encampment on Washington State Department of Transportation property near I-90 in Spokane.  Both the City of Spokane and Spokane County have been frustrated by the lack of progress from the state to clean up the encampment.  They have declared “Camp Hope” a public nuisance (which has been described by one resident as “The Lord of the Flies on drugs” due to the many beatings and rapes which have occurred) and have begun the process to clean up the encampment beginning on November 15^th. (KREM TV and KXLY TV)

Do you like The Daily Briefing? Do you want to keep seeing coverage of election issues which are important to you?

Shift is the only media outlet in the state to interview legislative candidates to obtain their views on the important issues facing Washington State voters.

Please consider making a contribution to ensure Shift continues to provide daily updates on the shenanigans of the liberal establishment and provides you inside coverage of the 2022 elections which includes exclusive interviews with top candidates.

Forward this to a friend.  It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

You can also follow SHIFTWA on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected].

Now that Elon Musk has finally taken control of Twitter, many moderates and conservatives are becoming more active on the social media site.  If you are considering using Twitter as one of your information platforms, we hope that you will consider following Shift. (Associated Press and Shift Twitter Account)