In a blistering op-ed, Chris Cargill of the Mountain States Policy Center lays out what every Washington driver has already figured out: if you want to stop getting gouged at the pump, just cross the border into Idaho. Washington’s gas prices are now a staggering $1.18 higher per gallon than Idaho’s—and no, it’s not because Idaho has secret oil wells. It’s because Washington Democrats have built a tax-and-regulate monster that bleeds drivers dry.

On July 1, Washington’s gas tax climbs again—up to 55.4 cents per gallon, not including the 46 cents added by the state’s shady cap-and-trade scheme. Meanwhile, Idaho keeps it simple with a 33-cent gas tax and no “carbon pricing” gimmicks. Add it all up, and Washington families are paying hundreds more a year just to get to work.

Even worse, drivers are left guessing where all that extra money goes. Roads? Bridges? Try again. Between environmental slush funds and endless bureaucracy, taxpayers are stuck with potholes and platitudes.

Cargill doesn’t just slam the dysfunction—he offers solutions: spend gas taxes where they belong (on roads), disclose the true tax burden at the pump, and stop punishing working people with pointless climate virtue signals. Until that happens, Washingtonians will keep lining up at Idaho pumps—and who can blame them?

If Washington lawmakers are wondering where their fuel tax revenue is going… maybe check the license plates in Post Falls. Read the full op-ed at Center Square.

Washington’s tolling system is getting a massive makeover—translation: Democrats are finding new, creative ways to nickel-and-dime drivers from Renton to Puyallup. Under the guise of “streamlining,” they’re rolling out a tangled mess of new toll zones, flex passes, and surge pricing that would make a tech bro jealous.

Want to use I-405 between Bellevue and Renton? You’ll need a “flex pass” to declare HOV status or pay up. Planning to head north on SR 167 from Sumner? Flex pass. Southbound? Soon enough. And the cherry on top? Tolls are hitting SR 509 near SeaTac this year and creeping toward Burien in 2026.

The rates? Anywhere from $1 to $9 depending on when you drive, how many wheels you’ve got, and whether you dared tow a trailer. It’s like Uber surge pricing, but with fewer perks and more potholes.

This isn’t about congestion or climate—it’s about cash. Instead of fixing our roads or addressing real traffic issues, Democrats are building an elaborate toll maze that punishes commuters and truckers just trying to get to work.

Hope you enjoy the view while you empty your wallet. Read more at MyNorthwest.com.

Sound Transit is finally “revisiting” its finances (translation: costs are out of control again), but don’t expect anything to get scrapped. Despite ballooning budgets, missed timelines, and ridership stuck in the pre-pandemic gutter, the agency is marching full speed ahead with ST3—a light rail expansion so bloated it’ll eventually serve a whopping… 3% of daily trips by 2050. Yes, three. Not a typo.

Even if the entire plan is somehow completed without running out of cash or credibility, public transit across the Puget Sound region will only handle 13% of work trips and 7% of non-work ones. That’s not a success story—it’s a scandal hiding behind bureaucratic modeling and feel-good language about “mode shifts.”

Meanwhile, groups like Smart Transit are practically begging Sound Transit to ditch the rail fetish and invest in cheaper, smarter solutions—like buses, vanpools, and actual use of the 300 miles of HOV lanes taxpayers already paid for. But no, Democrats are too terrified of “going back to the voters” to admit their plan is a fiscal fantasy.

Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers (who chairs both Sound Transit and PSRC, because why not?) says the financials will “drive the decision.” But here’s the reality: the finances have spoken—and this project is a flaming pile of taxpayer cash.

And let’s not forget: even people who want to take transit won’t, because basic things like sidewalks, safe crossings, and covered bus stops were afterthoughts. Voters were sold a shiny, utopian train map. What they’re getting is a debt bomb for a rail system no one will use—unless they like standing in the rain next to an unlit crosswalk waiting for a train that’s ten years late.

In Sound Transit’s world, failure is just another phase of the plan. And Democrats? They’ll keep throwing your money at it until you stop asking questions. Read more at Center Square.

An independent journalist gets violently attacked by an alleged Antifa thug, the suspect is identified with a face tattoo, the entire assault is caught on video, and yet—shock of all shocks—Seattle’s criminal justice system can’t seem to muster the will to make an arrest.

Cam Higby, the victim of this politically motivated beatdown outside a federal building, is still recovering from a concussion, while the alleged attacker strolls around free as a bird. Why? Because the King County Prosecutor’s Office moves slower than a sloth on a coffee break—especially when the crime involves far-left agitators.

SPD detectives did their job. They collected video, photos, Amazon receipts, even social media posts linking the suspect to the assault. But prosecutors? They’re still deciding whether they feel like doing theirs. And of course, they need everything delivered through the proper channels—because apparently Twitter video isn’t real unless it’s hand-delivered by a uniformed officer.

Jonathan Choe, another independent journalist on the scene, summed it up best: unless someone gets shot or stabbed, the system shrugs. Felony assault with SAP gloves? Meh. The message is loud and clear—if you’re attacked for covering a protest in Seattle, don’t expect justice. Expect red tape, excuses, and a mayor’s office that couldn’t care less.

This is what happens when Democrats run your legal system like a political favor bank: law-abiding citizens and journalists get punched, while the criminals get protected. Read more at Center Square.

While fentanyl flows freely and small businesses are crushed under the weight of crime and chaos, Seattle Democrats want applause for… painting the sidewalks and hanging fairy lights. Mayor Bruce Harrell’s “Downtown Activation Plan” offers zero solutions for homelessness or addiction—but hey, it does commission public art for drug addicts to collapse on in style.

In classic Democrat fashion, this is another hollow spectacle dressed up as policy. Harrell and friends seem to believe that aesthetic distractions like murals and string lights will make us forget the city’s spiraling humanitarian crisis. It’s not a parody—it’s just business as usual at City Hall, where symbolism replaces solutions and press releases matter more than public safety.

Meanwhile, over at the King County Housing Authority, they’re preemptively freezing housing help for the poor, just in case federal cuts might happen. Compassion, apparently, is only for street performers and art projects.

You can’t graffiti over failure—but Democrats keep trying. Read more at KTTH.

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