While Governor Jay Inslee and his wealthy urban environmentalist donors continue to push their reckless agenda to remove the four lower Snake River dams and destroy the clean energy they provide, those structures are a major reason why Washington State has some of the nation’s lowest electricity rates.  The U.S. Energy Information Administration released a report which reveals Washington has the seventh lowest electricity rates in the country at 8.75 cents per kilowatt hour.   The national average is 11.1 cents per kilowatt hour.  California is highest in the lower 48 states at 19.65 cents, and Idaho (with its reliance on hydropower) is the lowest at 8.17 cents.

Not only is hydropower the cheapest method of creating power, Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center points out it is also the most efficient due to its flexibility. “Hydroelectric power is the best of both worlds – low cost and able to be ramped up or down as demand requires.”

Meanwhile, thanks to state taxes and extreme regulatory approach, Washington State remains one of the most expensive places in the country to purchase gas. As of this morning, released a report (only behind California and Nevada) to purchase gas on the U.S. mainland, at $4.386 per gallon, while the national average is nearly 90 cents lower at $3.448 per gallon.  Our state’s fuel prices are expected to leap an additional 46 cents a gallon in 2023 due to Democrat lawmakers passing the extremely expensive and inefficient Cap and Trade legislation in 2021. (The Center Square, U.S. Energy Information Administration, AAA National Gas Price Survey, and Washington Research Council)

Liberal students are suspected of damaging flyers which state that the University of Washington has been found to be the least tolerant of free speech of any public university in the country.  The vandalizers are likely unaware that their actions are actually proving the point of the flyers.  Huskies for Freedom, a new free speech focused student organization, posted flyers around campus to promote a meeting the group held last Tuesday to discuss ways to encourage more free speech at the UW.  Some of these flyers have been ripped down while others are tagged with such witty lines as “Shut up fascist.”

Earlier this year the national non-partisan free speech advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) published the rankings of major U.S. universities for free speech tolerance, showing that the University of Washington was at the very bottom of the list.  That’s right, out of 121 public universities, the UW was dead last. In the complete list that also includes private universities, the school ranked 188^th out of 203 (Columbia University in New York City ranked last). The private University of Chicago ranked first in the survey, and Kansas State University was the top public school.  Washington State University ranked 60^th for public institutions and 68^th for all colleges. This should be disturbing news to proud UW alums to have their alma mater ranked so far behind their rivals in Pullman for tolerating the free expression of ideas.  (MyNorthwest and FIRE’s Rankings of universities)

A lawsuit alleges that the Washington State Redistricting Commission failed to adhere to state public records disclosure laws and that some commissioners purposefully destroyed communication after public records request were made.  Democrat members of the commission, especially liberal activist Brady Walkinshaw, have been criticized for the many delaying tactics they used as the Democrats sought to have the process for determining the state’s new congressional and legislative district boundaries removed from the commission’s public process and forced before the nine liberal judges on the Washington State Supreme Court to set new boundaries.  Walkinshaw was successful in pushing the final vote on the boundaries to after the midnight deadline on November 15, 2021.  Yet fortunately the Supreme Court accepted the boundaries the commission did approve after the deadline instead of redrawing all the district boundaries.

The lawsuit does not state which of the five commissioners (two Republicans, two Democrats and a fifth non-voting chair selected by the other four) are being accused of destroying communications, but it is believed by many to be the Democrats who have the most to lose if the internal communications were revealed. The actions of the commissioners has resulted in numerous lawsuits over their failures to adhere to public meeting laws and requests for public records.  Sadly the Democrats on the commission evidently do not believe these laws should apply to them and they are not concerned with the taxpayer expense of the state having to defend their illegal actions in the courts. (News Tribune and Seattle Times)

A Seattle Times editorial strongly criticized the actions of seven of the nine Seattle City Councilmembers who supported the city’s new budget permanently cutting 80 more police officers and said this vote will be remembered next year when councilmembers seek re-election.  The newspaper stated that “The council, led by Budget Chair (Teresa) Mosqueda, all but ignored calls to stand behind the police department,” despite the rapid rise in crime since the council caved into the demands of violent liberal rioters in 2020 and voted to defund the police department.  The newspaper also criticized Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell because “If he wanted the 80 cop positions, he should have publicly fought for them. Instead, he stayed largely out of the arena.”

The editorial concludes that the seven “district-based” councilmembers (the other two councilmembers are elected citywide) are up for re-election next year.  Of those seven, only Councilmember Alex Pederson (along with at-large Councilmember Sara Nelson) voted against the budget, stating the cuts in the police department was his primary objection.  The Times asserted, “Voters will have a chance to hear from candidates about their priorities. For the incumbents, their stewardship of police funding will unquestionably take center stage. The legislative record will not be forgotten.” Let’s hope the Times remembers this editorial when it comes time for endorsements next year.  (Seattle Times)

Carfentanil, a more deadly drug then fentanyl, is showing up more frequently in drug arrests in rural Western Washington. The opioid, which is most often used to tranquilize large animals, was recently found in four separate drug busts during a 72-hour time period by the Hoquiam Police Department. Carfentanil is said to be 100 times more potent than fentanyl.  Both fentanyl and carfentanil are essentially legal to possess to Washington State due to Democrat lawmakers decriminalizing nearly all drug possessions in 2021.  Law enforcement agencies across the state have cited this action by the Democrats as a leading factor in the increase in crime in our state, as addicts commit crimes to support their addictions. (Aberdeen Daily World)

Walla Walla school administrators and teachers said there has been a significant increase in student behavior problems in their classrooms.  The educators expressed their concerns, along with a survey of teachers on the type of student problems they are encountering, at a meeting of the Walla Walla School Board on Tuesday evening.  The extended lockdown of in-person education (required by Governor Inslee and then by actions of teachers’ unions) during the COVID pandemic and poor parenting are being blamed for the increase in student disruptions. (Walla Walla Union Bulletin)

Governor Jay Inslee and his political machine see both the state’s taxpayers and his campaign donors as personal cash machines to pay for their luxurious trips and high salaries. This week the governor’s campaign emailed yet another fundraising appeal to his donors, and the pitch they provided for why people should send him money were two completely fabricated and meaningless deadlines. Not only was no serious reason given for why someone should contribute to Inslee’s campaign, but in reviewing his Public Disclosure Commission reports, we find that paying the lucrative retainers of the governor’s fundraising consultants is the campaign’s only major expense.

We also found that the campaign has moved a half million dollars into a “surplus funds” account. Which raises the obvious question of why doesn’t the governor use these “surplus funds” to reimburse Washington State taxpayers who paid for his various excesses in recent years?  Taxpayers were forced to fund his unnecessary security during his failed 2020 presidential campaign and have recently funded the lavish trips he takes with his wife to Europe so he can hobnob with wealthy environmentalists and the woke corporate executives who are making millions off of his ineffective and expensive environmental policies.  A politician who respect taxpayers and believes tax money should go towards those less fortunate would reimburse the state. (Click to read full Shift Article)

Great to have the satirical website BabylonBee back on Twitter and to see them receive well over a half million new followers since they returned!

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