Jay Inslee is engaging in another fundraising blitz, using every means available to pump money out of supporters before today’s end-of-the-quarter filing deadline. From warning of a fundraising freeze that will occur 30-days before the 2016 legislative session begins (in mid-December) to warning of so-called Democrat states with Republican governors, Inslee has used every trick in the book.
Most recently, that includes taking credit for the accomplishments of Republicans.
Inslee asks supporters to pick between two options (presented via charts) in one email. The red box depicts what Inslee claims are the priorities of Republicans, while the blue box depicts those of Democrats. Check it out below,
The problem with Inslee’s assessment – as is so often the case – is that it doesn’t match-up with reality. Contrary to what Inslee would like the public to believe, Republican lawmakers did not to reduce environmental standards—his accusation is baseless. During the 2016 legislative session, Senate Republicans passed an energy bill. The difference between it and Inslee’s extreme “green” agenda is that it sought to incentivize good stewardship rather than punish activities Inslee does not approve of .
Republican Sen. Doug Ericksen’s energy bill (Senate Bill 5735) sought to encourage carbon emission reductions while creating jobs and avoiding new taxes by giving large electric utilities an “alternative way to comply with a state law requiring them to get more energy from renewable sources.” The Democrat-controlled state House, undoubtedly with Inslee’s blessing, did not bring the bill to a vote.
Moreover, Republicans did not propose increasing tax cuts for the wealthy. They merely refused to allow Democrats to create a new state income tax. Our state’s significant revenue growth, which started before Inslee took office in 2013, has proved to everyon e except die-hard liberals that new taxes are entirely unnecessary.
Inslee’s claim about rewarding rich people best describes his own proposal to extend tax breaks on purchases of electric vehicles. As Shift reported, not only is the incentive unnecessary, it favors mainly the wealthy and is costly to the state’s taxpayers.
As for what Inslee claims are Democrats’ priorities, actual events point to a very different reality. It is Republicans in the state Senate who fought for affordable college tuition, by specifically by making Washington the only state in the country to reduce college tuition. On the other hand, Democrats resisted cutting tuiotion, since they have become dependent on using college tuition as a cash cow to transfer taxpayer money to their special interest allies/key campaign donors for decades.
The truth is that Democrats attempted to obstruct the Republicans’ bill that would lower tuition from the time it was introduced. Democrat state Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe and other members of her party opposed the bill because it proposed essentially provided a tax cut for for middle class families and prevented Democrats from turning (as they have so often done in the past) to tuition hikes to fund their special-interest agenda.
That certainly does not sound like a party that prioritizes education, but it wouldn’t keep Inslee from making the claim.
The truth that Democrats are responsible for killing his extreme “green” agenda also won’t keep Inslee from blaming Republicans. Inslee’s cap-and-tax scheme did not even have enough support to pass the Democrat-controlled state House.
Inslee’s latest fundraising emails are just another example of him talking a good, yet very false, game.
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