Washington State continues to venture into uncharted cap-and-trade territory, having just finished its fifth carbon tax auction of the year and the second one “triggered by the high allowance prices” desired by the Inslee administration. The Seattle Times dryly notes that the “previous quarterly auction in August exceeded a ‘trigger’ price of $51.90 per allowance”, thus requiring this latest attempt to ease soaring prices – by selling millions more allowances for the same high price of $51.90.

Of course, the auctions have already driven gas prices up by more than 50 cents a gallon – just for Washington drivers – while generating $2 billion in windfall tax profits for the state. You can read on to see whether there is any hope of consumers prying any of that money out of the clutches of state government here… Seattle Times.

Shift readers are well aware that Spokane’s city elections were the state’s most expensive, far outpacing Seattle this year. The fallout of far-Left candidates winning for mayor and council president (and holding the council majority) will ensure big changes at city, with KREM reporting the first shoe to drop, with Police Chief Craig Meidl announcing he will retire, effective at year’s end.

The chief wrote of having “worked for two amazing Mayors who have trusted me at the helm of the Spokane Police Department for the past seven years,” a run he knew would not continue under Mayor-elect Lisa Brown since her allies had in March “called for Meidl’s resignation, claiming he was using city resources to advance the agenda” of people who wanted to reduce crime in the city. Read on to find out which councilman said this “is a significant loss for both the community and the Police Department” here… Shift, KREM.

The 2023 elections have not yet been certified, but many political observers in the state have already moved onto 2024. That is apparent from the numbers crunched over at the Washington Observer, showing that “Republican gubernatorial hopeful Dave Reichert edged past centrist Democrat Mark Mullet in campaign cash last month” and that “Jamie Herrera Beutler had a big first month in her bid for Commissioner of Public Lands.”

Both results give hope to a party that in 2021 (by decree of Gov. Inslee) was shut out of all statewide offices for the first time since 1964, after Kim Wyman resigned as Secretary of State. You can see that “Reichert pulled in $301K in October, compared to just $80K for Mullet” to provide some separation from the other leading non-Bob Ferguson candidate here… Washington Observer.

A basic lesson in civics was apparently missed by some of the louder activists in Burien, where Shift has been watching the homelessness debate for over a year. That reality arises from the KUOW story that “a group of people set up tents in downtown Burien to protest the city’s recently enacted camping ban, an ordinance that prohibits people from sleeping overnight on public property.”

Unfortunately for the activists, their misguided “protest came just days after election day. In all three open races on the City Council, the candidate who supported the camping ban won.” Despite the voters telling them to go away, the losing liberals have “issued a list of demands” to be ignored by the winners of the election here… Shift, KUOW.

Every once in a while, liberal bureaucrats are given the opportunity to implement one of their utopian dreams, only to watch it crash and burn under the harsh light of reality. It took such an embarrassment for the editorial writers at the Seattle Times to choke down a little crow and admit that their evaluation of Seattle’s Participatory Budget process “put this squarely in the category of a failed costly experiment.”

Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of economics would have recoiled at putting $27 million into such an unmonitored effort, and the “Washington State Auditor later found it ‘concerning’ that Seattle exercised ‘only the bare minimum of accountability and transparency’ in the contract process.” You can read on to see how the liberals frittered away the $27 million in ways they cannot account for, including shipping 10% of it to the “New York-based Participatory Budget Project” here… Seattle Times.

Shift is pleased to offer this column from one of our favorite regular contributors, Pam Lewison, the head of all things agriculture at the Washington Policy Center. Enjoy this food for thought as Thanksgiving approaches… ShiftWA.

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].