The Everett Herald contradicted itself in its editorial supporting the Washington State House Democrats’ effort to forbid anyone who does not have proof of vaccination from entering the House chamber.  The editorial states, “No one is being locked out of House debate or votes and none of the representatives’ constituents — about 20 of 98 House lawmakers have yet to submit proof of vaccinated — are being denied representation.” Yet a sentence later the confused writer admits that vaccination is required to be in the chamber.  Thus, those who do not provide proof of vaccination do not have the same access to democratic proceedings as those who are willing to give the Democrat majority their personal medical information.  And those citizens served by those representatives are not receiving the same access as those who are served by representatives who will give up their right to privacy. That is clearly discrimination.

While those of us at Shift encourage people to get their shots, it is discriminatory to deny those who have chosen for personal, medical, or religious reasons to not be immunized (or not tell others their status) against COVID to have access to the same democratic activities as those who have been vaccinated, especially when there are alternatives that have been proven to being safe. Until there is proof that people who have tested negative for COVID and wear masks are transmitting COVID, shouldn’t those who abide by testing guidelines be allowed the same access to democratic activities as those who are vaccinated? (Everett Herald)

A union group is the latest liberal organization to propose discriminatory measures against a moderate or conservative non-profit group simply because they do not agree with what the group has a constitutional right to believe, say, or do.  The ultra-liberal Accountable Northwest is demanding that the Seattle Foundation, an umbrella philanthropic group which connects contributors to non-profit organizations, remove the Freedom Foundation from the list of charities its contributors can donate to.

The Freedom Foundation has been very successful in informing government workers of their recently established constitutional right to not be forced into joining a union (or pay union dues) in order to keep their jobs. This success (more than 100,000 government workers have opted out of union membership) makes liberal organizations like Accountable Northwest nervous because they are financially dependent on the money which unions currently take from workers’ paychecks without their consent.

Accountable Northwest’s public letter to the Seattle Foundation incorrectly states that the Freedom Foundation “is engaged in unlawful discrimination, and/or hateful activities, it will not permit grants to that organization.”  Then Accountable Northwest uses “McCarthyesque” methods to tie the Freedom Foundation to “white supremacy” organizations. It is easy to see that the only group using “unlawful discrimination” in this dispute is the union bosses at Accountable Northwest who are nervous about what happens when government workers are informed of their constitutional rights.(Accountable Northwest Letter, Seattle Foundation, and Freedom Foundation media release)

The Inslee Administration announced yet another cost increase for conducting business in the state, as the Washington State Department of Labor and Industry revealed that the average employer and worker will need to pay 3.1% more for workers’ compensation insurance in 2022.  Thus, for every $100 in payroll, the average Washington state business will now pay $1.53 into the state’s workers’ compensation program. And we all know how good a job the state does of losing that money. (The Olympian)

Road congestion has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels, yet ridership on mass transit is still way down.  More people are working more hours in the office and are returning to pre-pandemic activities, yet they apparently do not feel comfortable in public transportation’s crowded conditions. The state’s 10 largest transit agencies all report a drop of 40%- 50% of riders during weekdays. Also, due to many people working part time from home, it is more difficult to synch schedules to form carpools.  These new commuting habits reveal unexpected trends which should impact how we spend our public transportation funds in the future. (NW News Network

Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney reports yet another incident where a suspected criminal rammed a police vehicle, yet because of the Democrats’ anti-police legislation, law enforcement was not allowed to pursue the individual when he sped off down a crowded arterial.  A dash cam recorded an individual in a stolen truck ramming into an empty Lynnwood Police car and then taking off down Highway 99.  According to the Lynnwood Police Department, “due to newly implemented state laws, as well as department policy in regards to pursuits, (a police officer) was unable to follow the vehicle, which never stopped.” The truck was later found abandoned in a ditch near Marysville.

Sheriff Fortney writes, “It is time to stop the insanity!” He encouraged citizens to contact their legislators and demand that the Democrats’ failed public safety policies (hastily passed by the Democrats during the 2021 legislative session to reward violent liberal rioters) be fixed. (Sheriff Fortney Facebook post, Lynnwood Police Department Facebook post, and Legislative District Finder)

Anti-police measures supported and passed by Seattle’s liberal elected officials are increasing costs for city’s small business employers as they pay for additional security and damage done by criminals to their establishments.  An employer who owns three Seattle barbershops has been broken into twice in the past couple of weeks, despite installing hi-tech video equipment and other protective measures.  Both times it cost the owner more than $4,000 to replace broken windows and stolen equipment, and he is not willing to ask for insurance to pay for the damage out of fear of losing coverage.

A reporter sought a comment from Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis, one of the elected officials responsible for the drastic cut in police funding, the mass exodus of Seattle police officers, and other pro-criminal measures passed by the council.  The obviously hesitant Lewis provided a written statement claiming he is concerned about the victims of crimes and that he is seeking more money for mental health facilities.  Councilmember Lewis is just like so many far-Left Seattle politician, he is unwilling to answer questions about his failures, and tries to change the subject by stating government programs need to be funded more. (KOMO News)

Death from drug and alcohol overdoses have reached an all-time record in King County.  As liberal drug and criminal policies have removed penalties for drug use and possession, and as Governor Inslee’s severe COVID-related restrictions on addiction recovery groups has hampered treatment, it should come as no surprise that the number of people dying from overdoses has skyrocketed during the past two years.  Shift was reminded of the latest stats, released last month, which revealed a 41.7% increase in the number of deaths in King County due to drug/alcohol overdoses from 2019 to 2021 (422 deaths to 598 deaths).

Even as it became known that drug and alcohol deaths were rapidly increasing, Governor Inslee forbid 12-step recovery groups (proven to be the most effective method in helping those with addictions) from meeting in-person, despite allowing religious services to be conducted in person using the exact same facilities.  Relegated to only meeting via Zoom, attendance at 12-step meetings dropped significantly and very few “newcomers” found the support they needed to continue. (Seattle Times and Shift)

Good news for Washington State potato growers as their product will soon be available to Mexican consumers. Previous restrictions, which limited U.S. potato imports to those grown within 16 miles of the border, have been overturned by Mexican courts.  For the past couple of years, Washington potato growers have donated large portions of their harvest to food banks due to reduced demand from the severely impacted hospitality industry. (Pacific Northwest AG Network)

Individuals associated with Washington State University’s Agriculture program are promoting the controversial Critical Race Theory belief that farmers’ markets promote “white supremacy” and “white dominant culture.”  In a recent webinar hosted by the university’s San Juan Extension Ag Program, attendees were lectured on how farmers’ markets promoted “whiteness” at the expense of other cultures, and that food charities are also racist for they assume people of other ethnicities need help from whites to survive. (MyNorthwest)

Extremists spent a bunch of labor money during the 2021 election in order to buy elections to turn the City of SeaTac into Seattle 2.0.  Liberal/socialist policies have been so successful in bringing Seattle rampant homelessness, skyrocketing crime rates, and forcing small and big employers to move their jobs to other locations, so progressive activists wanted to spread these “gifts” to nearby communities and, unfortunately for the nearly 30,000 residents of SeaTac, their city was the first target.  Using government employee union money, the extremists bought three SeaTac City Council seats and (based on a glowing Seattle Times feature) are hoping to impose their failed policies, and experiment with a few more radical ideas, on SeaTac citizens. We can only hope that, two years from now, SeaTac voters will see through the liberal talking points and restore sanity to a city that had been on the economic mend with responsible leadership before the election. (Click to read full Shift article)

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