Governor Jay Inslee, now that he’s concluded his time-consuming preparation for his nearly 4 seconds on the Democrat National Convention’s virtual stage, has returned to mismanagement of the COVID crisis in Washington State. Gov. Inslee showed up in Central Washington for a rare visit, and “announced that the state plans to improve access to healthcare in agricultural communities and provide more testing.” Seems like that might have been a timely thing to do, I don’t know, maybe back in the spring? Guess that prep time for the Democrat convention kept him from other priorities. (Wenatchee World).

It is a tad ironic that on the same morning we learned of Sen. Gorton’s passing that we should receive not one or two, but three separate emails which highlight the sorry condition of today’s Democrat “leaders” in our state. In the first, Attorney General future Governor candidate Bob Ferguson tries to claim credit for something that happened before he filed his latest (we lost count, but it’s over 70 now) lawsuit against the Trump administration. In the email, Ferguson boasts, “Just hours after news of my lawsuit broke, the Postmaster General Louis DeJoy made a statement” about suspending recent US Post Office actions. However, the Seattle Times notes that “Even as Ferguson discussed his lawsuit in a Tuesday morning news conference, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy released a statement saying he would suspend the changes to mail delivery until after the election.” Perhaps Ferguson could pay some attention to something that is actually still happening, like the attacks on police in Seattle? (Bob Ferguson email, Seattle Times).

In the second missive, failing (again) congressional candidate Carolyn Long is so desperate to stay relevant that she seemingly will make up a poll. Long, considered a viable candidate to improve on her 47.3% showing in the same district in 2018, tried to make supporters forget she was shellacked in this month’s primary by 16.5 percentage points by Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler. Long, a college professor by training who should know about the need for attributing data to a source, claimed “a new poll that just dropped yesterday” showed her only 4 points behind. However, she does not provide a link to the poll, the name of the pollster, or anything other than a screen shot that indicates the poll is from August 4. That day may sound familiar, because it’s the day that an actual poll was taking place in Washington called a “primary”, and in that one, Long lost to Congresswoman Beutler by 40,000 votes, and finished with less than 40% support from Third District voters. Evidently, Long does not wear well in Southwest Washington. (Long campaign email link, Secretary of State election results)

Finally, the State Democrat Party continued its tradition of baseless ad hominem attacks by suggesting that gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp is “a no-name sheriff from a town of 1,100 (who) has become a cult leader”. Evidently, that is best thing they can say about Gov. Inslee’s seven years in office to recommend him for re-election. And, it appears the State Dems must have plenty of money to burn through, as they have now sent three copies of a Monday email (which Shift has already reported on) that claims a Culp rally was “the grossest disrespect for public health“ they could recall. Evidently, they are not watching the protests/police attacks in Seattle. (State Dem email link)

The demands are in, and it’s time for Seattle to hand over $200 million to people no one elected, to spend however they want. It’s sometimes hard to know exactly what the protestors in Seattle’s streets want – police reform, a new President, or just some new stuff that’s behind a not-yet-broken window – so it was helpful that a few activists opened up “in a rare public discussion about the effort that has been at the heart of ongoing, sometimes volatile, protests across the city since May.” And basically, what the protestors want is cash without accountability.  Activists “will insist on the full 50% cut to SPD’s 2021 budget, which would total roughly $200 million. How that gets spent would have to lie in the hands of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities.” Perhaps there’s nothing wrong with that type of arrangement, if you aren’t on the taxpaying end of it. (MyNorthwest)

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan can’t protect the city’s streets, but she does know the appropriate salary for all workers in the city. The first-time elected official is showing her inexperience, letting noisy protestors and a far-Left City Council dictate the city’s agenda.  So, Mayor Durkan is left with determining wage policies for companies that operate in the city. KUOW reports that “Uber and Lyft drivers need a raise, according to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and the union representing drivers…” And not just a little raise, as Durkan wants “to pass a law this fall giving drivers a 30% raise.” This despite an industry study which shows an average wage of $23 dollars an hour, which Durkan dismisses as inadequate because “the city’s study considered the time drivers spend on the app waiting for a customer to show up as work.” Maybe the definition of “work” needs a little work in the Mayor’s office. (KUOW)

A story the Washington State Democrat staffers might want to read – contains some real disrespect for public health. The silence from Gov. Inslee, AG Ferguson and other state Democrat leaders about attacks on our police has been deafening, but the words of Seattle Police Officer Adam Fowler might provide them a reason to stand up to their ultra-radical base: “They want to harm us, harm businesses, harm things in Seattle and then quickly turn the story on us like we have created something bad, when they are seeking us every night.” This officer, who pointed out he supports peaceful protest, “was blasted in the face with explosives” on Sunday night, by those that state Democrat “leaders” refuse to challenge. (KOMO)

Extreme environmentalist alert – Snake River salmon are not so endangered that we can’t catch them! Scientists at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) must have missed the last dam-removal memo from Seattle’s environmental leaders, as they issued a press release yesterday that “Fall Chinook Harvest to be Allowed in the Snake River”. According to the people who actually are charged with ensuring the future viability of fish in our state, “The 2020 Columbia River forecasted return of upriver bright adults is 233,400, with 18,150 of these fish expected to return to the Snake River. This forecast is large enough to allow for harvest in the Snake River.” Time to get those fishing poles out.  (DAILY FLY)

In an exclusive news-breaking story, Shift obtained access to internal documents which reveal that, in order to meet the goal of clearing the backlog of unemployment benefit applications, Employment Security Department (ESD) Commissioner (and major Democrat fundraiser) Suzi LeVine and her leadership team instructed state employees to remove the protective review and audit restrictions on unemployment claims that were coming in.  This directive allowed the ESD to process the backlogged applications quickly, even on claims that were more likely to be fraudulent.  ESD employees were told to approve so-called “quit claims”, without investigation of why the employee quit.  Department directors complained about removing the safeguards, but the Inslee Administration officials were more concerned about being able to say they finally removed the huge backlog which their policies had created than in denying obvious fraudulent claims. Such actions will end up costing taxpayers even more money due to the incompetence of the Inslee Administration. (Shift)

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