Our latest Newsmaker Interview is with the highly respected commentator and political operative Sarah Isgur, who will be a featured speaker at the 2023 Roanoke Conference (January 27 – 29 in beautiful Ocean Shores).  Isgur is currently working with two previous Roanoke Conference speakers (Steve Hayes and Jonah Goldberg) as a staff writer for The Dispatch and is a political commentator with ABC News.  Isgur is a Harvard Law School graduate and has worked on campaigns for Mitt Romney, Ted Cruz, and Carly Fiorina. She has also worked for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Republican National Committee and was the spokesperson for the Department of Justice under Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

In her Shift interview, Isgur discusses what her topic might be for her upcoming Roanoke Conference presentation, who the Republicans should nominate for president in 2024, the liberals’ war against free speech on college campuses, conspiracy theories about elections, and the media’s role in promoting political division in our country. Finally, we ask Isgur to provide advice to young people who want to become involved in politics. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) has opened an enforcement case to investigate whether the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) illegally lobbied Democrat members of the Washington State Redistricting Commission and if this questionable activity was properly reported to state agencies.  This development is the latest news evolving from a lawsuit filed by an open government advocate against the state redistricting commission on whether it is withholding and deleting public records.  Arthur West of Olympia filed the lawsuit in Thurston County Superior Court after he failed to obtain many documents related to his public records requests. Previously the state (which is representing the Redistricting Commission) admitted that a Democrat member of the commission (April Sims) had erased texts between herself and the Chief of Staff of the Democrat House Caucus.

West has now provided evidence in his court case that a lobbyist for the SEIU repeatedly texted Commissioner Sims on the day (November 15, 2022) the commission failed to act before its deadline to approve new boundaries for legislative and congressional districts. West claims that the lobbyist failed to report this activity, which is required by Washington State law.  The PDC announced on Monday that it has opened an investigation case on the activities of SEIU lobbyist Lindsey Grad.

Repeatedly, the actions of the Democrat commissioners on the redistricting panel, Democrat staff members, and liberal organizations have frustrated open government advocates, as the so-called progressives have sought to remove the public from the process, destroyed communications, and failed to legally disclose their lobbying activities.  This is typical of the arrogance of Democrats in Washington State as they often demonstrate their belief that they are above the law and that the public should be kept out of the political process. (News Tribune, Arthur West complaint against Lindsay Grad, and Washington State Public Disclosure Commission enforcement case)

A state commission made up of Inslee Administration staffers and appointees used its new powers to end Yakima County’s moratorium on construction of solar panel farms, allowing a California corporation to move forward on developing its solar project on 1,700 acres of land zoned for agricultural use. The Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) informed local officials on Monday that the Yakima County Council no longer has a say as to how large local energy farms are developed.  The county council had previously placed a moratorium on large solar and wind farms being built in their county as they studied how these large developments impacted threatened species and reduced the amount of farmland available.  Yet, under the direction of Governor Inslee, Democrat legislators passed SB 5415 to remove local authorities from having any input into how large energy farms are built in their county and gave that power to the EFSEC. (Capital Press and Association of Washington Cities website)

Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center provides a tongue-in-cheek list of last minute gift ideas for those interested in Washington State policy decisions.  Included are such items as the “Capital Gains Income Tax” board game, on which players get to act as Washington State Supreme Court justices by trying to ignore the IRS, 49 other states, and all other countries in the world which define a capital gains tax as an income tax and thus illegal in our state. Also available are superhero action figures who attempt to defeat villains who abuse the state’s emergency powers laws and “Title only etch-a-sketch” where players can hastily add in details of a bill moments prior to public hearings. (Washington Policy Center)

Surveillance video shows the three suspects who broke into a Rainer Valley home on Monday evening and then held the residents at gunpoint while stealing items from their home.  Unfortunately the residents are among the growing number of crime victims in Seattle since the passage of anti-police measures by liberal politicians on the Seattle City Council and in the Washington State Legislature.  As neighborhood crime statistics demonstrate, it is those in lower income and minority neighborhoods that are most often the victims of crimes.  (KOMO News and Neighborhood Scout map of crime statistics)

Governor Inslee promises that his upcoming budget proposal will spend even more taxpayer money on the homeless problem which liberal policies created and have made worse.   Liberals at all levels of government are using the homeless crisis to permanently make government larger by increasing the size of an expensive bureaucracy to work on (but not solve) the problem.  As liberals have done with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (which sought an incredible 75% increase in its budget after one year of existence, during which the homeless problem became even worse), Spokane liberals are seeking to build a large permanent bureaucracy to work on (but not solve) the homeless problems which liberal crime, drug, and housing policies have created.

On Monday, Governor Inslee divisively ignored requests from Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich to discuss finding shelter for the remaining 400 residents of his “Camp Hope” encampment, which the Inslee Administration has allowed to develop on Washington State Department of Transportation property.  Instead of meeting with officials actually trying to solve the problem, the governor chose to only attend the “opening” of the “Catalyst Project” at a former Quality Inn, which state taxpayers paid $6.5 million to purchase. The facility will provide permanent housing for approximately 100 homeless individuals.  Yet, as could be expected from a state-run project, the facility was not ready to open (due to various construction delays) when the state held a media event celebrating its opening with the governor.

Speaking at the “opening” event, the governor talked about the permanent bureaucracy he is building at the state level to work on (but not solve) the homeless problem. “You are going to see very significant ambition and an aggressive approach to this statewide,” Governor Inslee said.  “I am very hopeful the Legislature will join me in upping our game in this regard, because the existing funding is not adequate to solve this problem. In the upcoming legislative session you are going to see some big asks of the Legislature and the people of state of Washington to tackle this problem.” (Spokesman Review, Seattle Times, and The Center Square)

Yakima County has already achieved its highest annual murder rate in 42 years, as violent crime rates continue to rise across Washington State after the Democrats in the Washington State legislature passed their anti-police package and decriminalized possession of lethal drugs. There have been 36 homicides in the Central Washington county thus far in 2022, which is the most since Jimmy Carter was president in 1980.  Among the victims are a 16-year old student who was shot at Eisenhower High School in March, and Jose and Rafela Guzman, both in their 80s, who were brutally beaten to death in their Union Gap home on July 4^th. (Yakima Herald)

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

Shift was the only Washington media outlet in 2022 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.

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].