KING COUNTY DOES WHAT IT DOES BEST – NOT ITS JOB
BURIEN LATEST FLASH POINT AS KING COUNTY FIGHTS FOR ITS FAILED HOMELESS POLICIES
Some members of the Burien city council seem to have tired of being punching bags for King County Executive Dow Constantine and liberal activists from the homelessness industrial complex, so the city moved forward with allowing the dismantling of an illegal homeless camp today. As KOUW reported, “(A)fter the Burien City Council could not come to an agreement about where to direct people living in an undeveloped park, the camp will be cleared by a group that leased the site and has plans to turn it into a dog park.”
Shift has reported on this controversy as well, and how the county has tried to threaten and intimidate Burien into doing what Executive Constantine wants. Indeed, the county’s lawyer complained the city came up with a productive use for its own property, something its citizens wanted, as the Seattle Times quoted that “(I)nstead, the City is attempting to circumvent those duties (to provide homeless housing) by entering a lease with a private party, who will maintain and continue the use of the City Lot as a public dog park while attempting to use criminal trespass to force unhoused persons from the premises.” You can read more about Dow and the liberals’ preference for squalor here…Shift,KUOW, Seattle Times.
US SUPREME COURT TELLS WA SUPREME COURT – YOU’RE WAY OFF
The Washington State Supreme Court’s Leftward march has been well documented by Shift for years, but it’s not often that the public is offered a clear example of just how far Left our nine liberal justices in Olympia have gone. But that’s the present we received today from an 8-1 U.S. Supreme Court majority, as reported by the Seattle Times, which “ended a six-year fight between unionized Seattle truck drivers and a major local concrete supplier.”
That’s right, our justices were so far off the correct legal path that only the newest U.S. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson agreed with them. You can read how none of the court’s other liberals, let alone any conservatives, could agree with our state’s legal leaders here… Shift, Seattle Times.
DEMOCRATS’ NEW TAX TO BENEFIT UNION TREASURIES (AND GENERATE UNION CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS) MIRED IN CONTROVERSY A MONTH BEFORE IT EVEN BEGINS
On a day when the members of Washington’s Supreme Court were chastised for going too far to help their friends in labor, taxpayers are being reminded that one month from today a huge favor granted to labor in this state will start hitting their wallets. That’s when, as Axios-Seattle carried, “Washington state’s first-in-the-nation long-term care program is finally getting off the ground — and for most people, there’s no longer an option to opt out. Other issues identified by lawmakers and taxpayers have yet to be addressed.”
Those issues to be “addressed” will not include repealing the disastrous program, as that would offend the Service Employees International Union which is a major funder of the Democrat Party and the primary beneficiary of the already broken program. You can read more about unaddressed problems like “whether to make the benefit portable, so people who pay in can still use it if they move out of state for retirement; and how to ensure people can buy additional private long-term care insurance” here…Axios Seattle.
COUNCILMAN’S PLAN: TAKE A POLL, RAISE A TAX, MAKE HOUSING MORE EXPENSIVE, PROMISE TO SPEND MONEY ON THINGS WE IGNORE
Seattle City Councilman Alex Pedersen is providing a prime example about why city government is so dysfunctional, going public with a poll, which he says shows support for a plan that does not exist, to fund programs the council has ignored even while on a record-breaking spending spree over the last decade. As the Seattle Times reports, “Councilmember Alex Pedersen wants real estate developers to pay a fee for each unit they build to help fund city transportation projects, and he has a poll showing 75% of residents support his idea.”
Of course, Seattle politicians have tried to get their hands into the impact fee cookie jar before, as the “council has been discussing this idea since at least 2014.” But even the supposed beneficiaries of this social spending are skeptical, with one telling the Times “(O)ur members have a range of views on transportation impact fees. We agree, however, that now is not the time to consider adding these new fees to housing in Seattle.” You can read more about how Councilmembers always use the lure of new programs to sell their old tax ideas, and why voters were not offered any options of reducing spending anywhere else in the city’s budget, as that is not the Seattle Way, here… Seattle Times.
A DEMOCRAT FOR GOVERNOR TALKING … PUBLIC SAFETY?
We will leave (for now) with limited comment the statement from new Democrat candidate for Governor, State Senator Mark Mullet, as he jumps into a 2024 field now swelling beyond a half dozen. His statement is unusual for Democrats, as it acknowledges the pain his party and its “leaders” have inflicted on the people of Washington through supporting out-of-control inflationary government spending and the rights of criminals over the rights of victims.
As he released to Crosscut, “Too many families can’t afford, even on good salaries, the rising cost of living. Too many families are worried about the direction of public safety in our state, which is why we need different leadership in Olympia.” You can read beyond Mullet’s statement here… Crosscut.
WHY WON’T BOB FERGUSON TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS CAMPAIGN DONORS?
You won’t be able to read much beyond the quote here, as Attorney General Bob Ferguson is “exploring” in his race for governor how many donors he can hide from the public and how many he can hit up for money well beyond the legal maximum for this race. That is despite telling his small donors in one of yesterday’s emails that “We’re closing the books on our May fundraising in less than 15 hours. Everything we’ve raised since Bob launched his Exploratory Campaign for Governor will be made public after this deadline.”
That’s not true of course, as Shift has tracked how AG Ferguson is trying to use a campaign finance loophole to slide over a million dollars into his new campaign without disclosing the donors or count their contributions against legal limits. Of course, he ignores that bit of sleaze in his month-end money plea here… Ferguson campaign email, Shift.
AN UPDATE FROM THE PEOPLE WHO GROW YOUR FOOD (AND ARE PAYING MORE FOR FUEL THANKS TO DEMOCRATS)
Folks over in Central Washington see this kind of news every day, but it’s worth reminding folks throughout the state, and especially over here on Shift’s Wet Side of WA, how much we depend on a relatively few number of our fellow citizens, who depend on the weather among other things, to bring us (and the world) world-class food. You can read some good news from the Wenatchee World about “how cherry growers in Washington expect a delayed but plentiful harvest season this summer. And the delay could break a record” here… Wenatchee World.
NOT A GOOD LOOK TO NOT PAY TAXES WHEN YOU’RE IN CONGRESS
More is sure to come, but the news is just bubbling North from the Oregonian today that a “Southwest Washington member of Congress failed for more than six months to pay the 2022 property taxes on an auto repair shop she and her spouse have owned and operated in Northeast Portland.” You can read more about how that doesn’t seem to be consistent with the “woman of the people” brand which Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has been trying to cultivate despite being a closet Lefty in a conservative district here… Oregonian.
OVERHEARD ON THE INTERWEBS...
IF YOU ARE DEFINED BY YOUR ENEMIES…
ANY STATE AGENCIES OUT THERE YOU KNOW OF (FERRIES, WINK, WINK) SHORT OF QUALIFIED WORKERS?
YET ANOTHER WA HIGH-VALUE EXPORT
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