The more the merrier! At the same time the Washington State Auditor’s office had its files hacked last December, nearly 200 more state and local government agencies also had their computer systems compromised.  The auditor’s office had its files hacked during the investigation of the Inslee Administration’s historic management failure at the Employment Security Department, where $1.1 billion dollars was stolen or “lost.”.  When State Auditor Pat McCarthy announced that her department’s files had been compromised, she stated that other government agencies were also hacked, but did not identify them.  KXLY filed a public records request and received the list of nearly 200 other state and local agencies which have had information stolen.  It is not clear if the hack of the State Auditor’s office resulted in the other government agencies’ computer systems being compromised. (KXLY TV)

Senator Doug Ericksen (R – Ferndale) says that the “cap-and-trade” bill passed by the legislature will add $2.41 cents to the price of a gallon of gas.  This will obviously impact low-income households the hardest. The bill places a declining cap on the amount of carbon emissions allowed by businesses and other entities.  Those which expect to exceed their state-mandated limits will need to purchase unused credits from those below their emissions allotment. The bill goes into effect in 2023, but only if the legislature also passes a transportation plan by the end of the 2022 legislative session. (KONA Radio)

For only the second time in 50 years, Washington State’s population did not grow enough to garner a new congressional district.  After the 1980 census, the 8^th Congressional District (CD) was created, in 1990 the 9^th CD was formed, and the 10^th CD was established after 2010.  Six “rust belt” states and California all lost one seat in the reapportionment, while five states (including Oregon) gained one seat and Texas gained two.  With the new census data in hand, the redistricting commission will now draw the new boundaries for the state’s 10 congressional districts and 49 legislative districts. (Seattle Times)

Ultra-liberal King County Executive Dow Constantine is being challenged for his job by very ultra-liberal Senator Joe Nguyen.  With the end of the legislative session, Senator Nguyen made it official that he is seeking to take out the three-term incumbent from his own party.  We are not sure who will win this race, but we are confident that King County taxpayers will lose, as both career politicians will attempt to buy liberal special groups’ support by promising them items bought for with public funds. (Crosscut)

Brandi Kruse interviewed a challenger to Extreme Left Seattle Attorney Pete Holmes on her “The Divide” program.  Steve Fortney is a former attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and Microsoft, and describes himself as a longtime Democrat activist. Kruse described three-term City Attorney Holmes as “Too lenient on demonstrators who believe that smashing windows will get their message across.  Too lenient on individuals who find themselves arrested dozens, and dozens, and dozens of times. Too lenient on drugs, an epidemic that no doubt contributes to the deteriorating state of downtown.”  In describing how he will be different than the long-term incumbent, Fortney said, “I believe it is action versus inaction.” For more information about Fortney and his campaign, please click this link. (Q13’s The Divide/Facebook and Elect Steve Fortney)

Judges continue to retire in mid-term so Governor Inslee can appoint a liberal replacement.  This has just occurred in Clark County, where Superior Court Judge Daniel Stahnke has announced his retirement in June, and Governor Inslee has appointed attorney Nancy Retsinas to replace him on the bench.  This practice is yet another liberal method to dilute the public’s participation in government, as the Democrats encourage judges to leave the bench early, instead of waiting for the end of their term.  That way Governor Inslee appoints a jurist who is approved by liberal special interest groups, and who then runs for election with all the advantages of an incumbent (often unopposed) in the next election.  Many local attorneys find that it is bad for business to run against incumbent judges, which is why many judges run unopposed.  (Vancouver Columbian)

In a typical national media portrayal of an environmental story, ABC News ran a segment about the historic decline of salmon on the Snake River.  While pushing the wealthy environmental groups’ false narrative that we need to remove the four lower Snake River dams to increase the number of salmon, it is not mentioned until near the end of the story that scientists have determined that the salmon are more impacted most by completed unrelated ocean conditions, and that tearing down the dams would have little or no impact on the fish populations. The TV segment goes on to promote the expensive and poorly researched $33.5 billion plan to tear down the dams.  Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center said this is “irresponsible” for there are better ways to spend money that would have more impact and not leave the region low on power supply.  The story is so poorly researched that it mentions the Snake River lies between Oregon and Idaho, yet fails to mention that the four Snake River dams in question are all located in Washington State. (ABC News and map of the Snake River dams)

The Walla Walla Union Bulletin waited until the farm workers overtime bill had passed the legislature before stating “a more balanced and sustainable solution should be drafted.”  Yet, with the only current options available for the bill (SB 5172) is for Governor Inslee to either sign or veto the legislation, it is too late to be asking legislators for a revised bill.  While the paper is correct in asserting that the post pandemic economy is not the best time to ask farmers to increase their labor costs, the bill contains much needed protection for farm operators from retro-active lawsuits, which would cause far more financial harm and could force many farms into bankruptcy. The time for the paper to argue this point was a couple of months ago, before Seattle liberals amended the original legislation and imposed a steep timetable for increased wages for farm workers. (Walla Walla Union Bulletin and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

With Loren Culp announcing that he will be running against U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse in Central Washington’s 4^th Congressional District, many GOP consultants believe he has some tough questions to answer before voters can take him seriously.  The most often asked questions are:

• With much of the funds collected by Culp’s gubernatorial campaign going to out of state consultants and expensive vendors, how can potential contributors to his congressional campaign know that their donation will not be wasted in the same manner?
• Why hasn’t Culp conceded losing the 2020 race for governor despite losing by 550,000 votes, or produced any evidence of fraud?
• How does Culp plan to win in a congressional district in which he is currently not a resident? Culp’s long-time residence is in Republic (Ferry County) which is in the 5^th CD (which is represented by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers). While Democrats Marilyn Strickland and Pramila Jayapal were able to do this in their Puget Sound-area districts, Eastern Washington Republicans tend to be more concerned about such matters.

Local reporters continue to act as press agents for state Democrats by not asking basic questions about their tax-and-spend priorities.  The media rarely conducts the same critique on liberal measures as they write about conservatives.  Among the many recent examples of this biased journalism was last week’s Crosscut story on the Democrats’ state income tax on capital gains.  Many vitally important questions were never asked as the media allowed the Democrats to make dishonest claims and spout liberal hyperbole to justify their new and excessive taxes. (Click to read full Shift article)

Do you like The Daily Briefing?

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].