Welcome to Washington State 2023, with Democrats in complete control of all the levers of government and rolling through record-setting spending to favor their campaign-donating friends. However, the Democrats have been unsuccessfully attempting to defend their soft-on-crime positions, even with their friends, as the rest of the state is dealing with the crime spree that is directly attributable to the Democrats’ loving policies that benefit the criminal element.
Now it seems that a few, rare Democrats that still have some common-sense are starting to realize that maybe it wasn’t such a good political decision to stop the police from chasing the bad guys. House Bill 1363, introduced by Democrat Representative Alicia Rule, and Senate Bill 5352, introduced, surprisingly by Democrat Senator John Lovick (who normally focuses on increasing taxes and penalties on Washington drivers), both attempt to fix problems created by the original law.
Senator Manka Dhingra (D – Redmond)
Far-Left Democrat Sen. Manka Dhingra, however, doesn’t agree and since Sen. Dhingra has been selected by her colleagues as the chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, there isn’t much chance of the bill getting any traction. In fact, according to Sen. Dhingra, despite the massive 93% increase in car thefts, traffic violations and the bad guys just ignoring the police, the existing law, that she championed, is working.
Citing a study by the University of Washington and cherry picking data on fatalities that no researcher would rely upon, Sen. Dhingra claims that her original House Bill 1054 is working wonderfully to reduce crime and it’s the best thing since sliced bread. When you dig into the details, however, the study shows fatalities were trending down despite Sen. Dhingra’s bill becoming law.
And to cap it off, now it seems the study used as her very public justification for doing nothing to stop criminals from fleeing, is based on false data. Seattle’s Q13 is reporting that a professor at Seattle University has highlighted the fact that some of the data Sen. Dhingra is using was based on media coverage and not official police data.
According to The Center Square, Sen. Dhingra thinks the deterrent of additional felonies should be enough (it isn’t) to stop the fleeing felons (they don’t stop fleeing) but, in typical Democrat “I don’t want to admit it’s not working” political speak, she wants more information before admitting her errors and rolling back the ill-crafted pursuit law.
“It’s about balance and protecting innocent Washingtonians” claims Sen. Dhingra. Since when is rampant property crime, evading police, and reduced public safety considered protecting innocent Washington residents?
Despite assurances to her fellow Democrat Senators that some bill will get a hearing, no action has been taken yet. Sen. Dhingra is putting the brakes on the bill, no pun intended. The senator told My Northwest, that “I don’t believe that the legislature is the best body to now make changes given the politics around this issue.” That’s right, after the Democrats jammed a politically motivated, anti-police law through the legislature to satisfy a rioting base, it’s no longer the “best body” to clean up her mess.
It’s quite possible Sen. Dhingra’s lip service about hearing any bill and the actual bills themselves are all just a distraction. Given the fact that the Democrats passed the original pursuit law with such excitement, it’s only public pressure that’s making them talk about considering a fix at all.
In the meantime, while the Democrats think their anti-police, soft-on-crime policies work, the rest of us are left dealing with the aftermath of their bad decisions. Thanks to the Dhingra Democrats.
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