Did the Democrats shoot themselves in the foot with their passage of reckless “police reform” measures?  Democrat politicians refused to condemn the political violence their supporters committed in Seattle against police during 2020.  Instead the liberal politicians rewarded the violence by quickly passing anti-police measures demanded by the rioters at all levels of government.  The predictable result has been skyrocketing crime rates on one side, and a growing support on the other side for police officers and the work they do to keep the public safe.

This has paralleled the Democrats’ rapidly declining poll numbers as the public has rightfully faulted liberal politicians for making our state a more comfortable for criminals. Working class neighborhoods, formally Democrat strongholds, are frustrated by the rising crime rates and are demanding more police to keep their communities safe. The shortsighted actions of the Democrats to please their rioters, instead of their constituents, will be felt this November, and some Democrats are just now realizing their errors. (Click to read full Shift Article)

Democrat Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has divisively ignored the plain language decision issued by a Douglas County Superior Court Judge Brian Huber last month that the Democrats’ capital gains “excise tax” is unconstitutional because it is actually an “income tax.”  The extremely partisan AG Ferguson has not been studying current law, as he changed the language of the ballot title of Initiative 1929 to say the measure would repeal a 7% “excise tax” and not an “income tax” as the initiative supporters submitted (and a judge has ruled).

The AG who wants to be governor knows this language is very important for an “excise tax” is constitutional in Washington State, while an “income tax” is not.  All 49 other states and the Internal Revenue Service consider a tax on capital gains as an income tax.  AG Ferguson, Governor Inslee, WA state Democrat lawmakers, and their campaign donors are literally the only ones in the country who consider their state income tax an “excise tax.”

Attorney General Ferguson has jumped into action quickly for a Democrat, asking the Washington State Supreme Court to review Judge Huber’s decision.  Ferguson is hoping that, in order for the Democrats to be successful in imposing this state income tax (SB 5096 was passed by Democrats during the 2021 legislative session), a majority of the all-liberal members of the Washington State Supreme Court must overturn the Douglas County Superior Court’s decision, ignore the definitions by all other states and the IRS, and ignore numerous Washington State legal precedents to determine this is an “excise” tax. There are many who fear that enough of the nine all Left-wing members of the current court have already agreed to be irresponsible and reduce the court to being just a pawn in the Democrats’ desire to open up a new hole in taxpayer wallets to fund their need to reward campaign donors by increasing the size and cost of state government.

Initiative 1929 would allow voters to repeal the illegal state income tax on capital gains, regardless of what a far-Left Washington State Supreme Court rules. Initiative petitions will soon be available for signatures to place the measure on the 2022 general election ballot. Attorneys for I-1929 are considering whether to appeal Attorney General Ferguson’s obviously biased decision, which he would actually hope for to slow down the signature-gathering process. (Washington Policy Center, Initiative 1929 ballot title letter, MyNorthwest, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and Senator Jamie Pederson 43^rd Legislative District meeting/YouTube)

Governor Jay Inslee never once indicated he was unhappy about a bill during the legislative process to pass legislation aimed at preventing California type blackouts from occurring in Washington State. The bill (HB 1623) was sponsored by Representative Gina Mosbrucker (R – Goldendale) and co-sponsored by many leading Democrats before passing unanimously in both the House and the Senate chambers before Governor Inslee vetoed the bill last week.  In his defense, Governor Inslee might not have known he was against the bill until some wealthy members of a Seattle based environmental community who contribute a lot of money to his campaigns told him he was against it.   The bill ensures that the energy needs of the state are met as the state’s power grid becomes more dependent on solar and wind power. Obviously some extreme environmental group – and donors – feels this is too much to ask.

Representative Mosbrucker expressed her outrage at the veto and how the governor failed to communicate with legislators. “It’s very frustrating that despite the time and effort spent to move this bipartisan-sponsored bill through the Legislature, the governor gave no indication at any point during the process that he would veto it. We never even received notification from the governor’s office afterward that he vetoed the bill. I’m very concerned that without this legislation, there is no clear direction in statute to these state agencies and no focus to ensure electrical generation in our state will meet those future demands.” But, Jay Inslee doesn’t care, because he has had “emergency” powers for 768 days.  (Gorge Country Media and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

The Seattle Fire Department has already responded to 450 illegal fires in homeless encampments this year, and 2022 is not even 100 days old.  This is yet another expense which Seattle taxpayers must fund due to the failed liberal policies which have created and enabled this homelessness crisis and allowed the suffering to continue. This added burden is delaying the fire department from being able to respond to other emergencies and also places fire personnel into unsafe situations of used needles, exploding propane tanks, and unsanitary conditions.

Yesterday, black smoke from an illegal encampment fire near the sports stadiums could be seen from across Lake Washington in Bellevue (where there is not an out-of-control homeless crisis).  Seattle is on pace to have more than 1,700 encampment fires in 2022, after 1,446 were recorded last year, and 854 in 2020.  The region keeps pouring more and more money into its homelessness crisis and it keeps getting worse.  Again, maybe money is not the problem, maybe it is the Democrat policies. (KING5 News and KOMO News)

Seattle Times’ columnist Danny Westneat is writing that city leaders claim to be focused on reducing Seattle’s growing violent crime rate, but it was their choices that damaged the Seattle Police Department after city councilmembers caved into the demands of violent rioters. Now, the city is not prepared to handle the Democrat-inspired crime surge.  More than 400 police officers have left the department even though the city council allocated money to recruit new officers, and the department still loses more officers every month than it is able to recruit.

Seattle Councilmember Debra Juarez, while still very liberal on every other issue, has often been the lone voice on the council against some of the irresponsible anti-public safety measures which Councilmembers Kshama Sawant, Lisa Herbold, Tammy Morales have pushed. Councilmember Juarez appears to have given up when she told a small business owner who had been robbed, “I don’t have an answer for you about what’s going to happen to stop people from getting a gun and coming into your store.” As Westneat summed up, “In other words: He’s on his own. Words to live by, in a city frustratingly going back in time on crime.” (Seattle Times)

Eastern Washington wheat farmers are not experiencing any of the financial benefits from the current high price of wheat.  As world events, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have reduced the supply of wheat, prices have steadily climbed.  Yet, wheat farmers receive the same amount for their crop, no matter the price to consumers. The dramatic rise in the cost of fuel and fertilizer is impacting all farmers.

Yet, Washington farmers must also face additional challenges which other farmers don’t have to face.  They must absorb costs associated with a state-mandated overtime wage requirement imposed on them by urban liberal legislators during the 2021 legislative session. Washington farmers will also face another rise in fuel costs as the impact of Governor Inslee’s inefficient and expensive climate policies, which will drive the cost of fuel up by as much as a dollar a gallon within a few years.  Also, with liberal politicians and wealthy urban environmentalists continuing to push for the removal of the four lower Snake River dams, their safe and clean energy method of transporting their wheat via barges is being threatened. (CenterSquare)

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 and provides you inside coverage of the 2022 elections.

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].