The latest action by Democrat legislators demonstrates how much they do not care about those impacted by Governor Jay Inslee’s failed COVID-19 policies.  The Democrats do not want to hear from those who have lost their jobs and businesses due to Gov. Inslee’s random restrictions. In a public hearing for a bill (SB 5114) that could return thousands of Washington residents back to work, and save hundreds of small businesses from closing, the Senate Democrats only allowed one hour of their precious time to be tied up in testimony from the “little people” who have suffered due to Inslee’s actions and could obtain relief if SB 5114 is passed.  The Democrats clearly do not care to hear from people who do not already support their far-Left policies. (Read the full article at ShiftWA)

Despite Washington State being one of the leading hi-tech centers in the world, Governor Inslee’s administration continues to be plagued by software problems that other states don’t seem to experience.   After the colossal administrative problems experienced at Jay Inslee’s Employment Security Department, which embarrassingly allowed Washington taxpayers to be the victims of one of the largest thefts in American history, we now find out that “software problems” are allegedly the reason why Washington is in the bottom five states for dispensing COVID-19 vaccinations to its residents.  Governor Inslee and his team have known since last Spring that a mass immunization would be needed to end the pandemic.  Yet, when the vaccine arrived in December, the Inslee Administration was again unprepared to fulfill its most basic responsibilities, by not being prepared (allegedly not having a software system ready to record the necessary data). This is the latest of many failures of the Inslee Administration during the pandemic.  Instead of spending so much time seeking microphones to repeat national Democrat talking points to any 24-hour news station that needs to fill airtime, maybe the governor should focus on the job he is paid over $180,000 a year to perform – running the state government. Lives will be lost, and people will be forced to close their business due to the repeated incompetency of the Inslee Administration.  (Seattle Times and Shift)

Governor Inslee’s Department of Ecology (DOE) released figures which once again reveal, despite the many state and local government programs which liberal politicians have promised would reduce greenhouse gases, that carbon emissions have increased in Washington State.   And once again, Jay Inslee’s  DOE is claiming that the state is “Turning the corner” and that sometime soon the emissions’ numbers will start to decrease.  As the Washington Policy Center’s Todd Myers writes, “Considering their repeated failure over the years to accurately predict emissions, this claim is truly remarkable.  A quick look at recent predictions makes it clear that legislators should not take seriously DOE projections about emissions or the potential impact of climate policies.”  Maybe the real reason why government carbon emission programs fail to meet their stated promises is that the environment is not the primary goal of most legislation which funds government climate programs.  Like many problems (homelessness, racial justice, poor education, etc.), the actions by Democrats are not meant to solve the problems, bur rather to increase the size and power of government. We have far more confidence that private companies, like Amazon, will be more successful in meeting their climate goals than government entities will in fulfilling their promises.  That’s because Amazon has to be accountable for its actions, while government is not. (Washington Policy Center and Amazon)

When Governor Inslee and the Democrat-controlled legislature gave exclusive rights to the lucrative sports gambling business to tribal casinos during the 2020 legislative session, they gave up on obtaining approximately $50 million in tax revenue for the state.  A bill introduced in the Washington Senate aims to correct that mistake, by expanding sports betting to existing non-tribal card rooms and horse racing tracks. The bipartisan bill (SB 5212) was introduced by Senator Curtis King (R – Yakima) and Senator Marko Liias (D – Lynnwood).  The bill has been referred to the Senate Labor, Commerce, and Tribal Affairs Committee, where Senator King is the Ranking Republican member.  (AP and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

Former legislator Mark Harmsworth writes that Governor Inslee’s dysfunctional Employment Security Department’s response to the massive layoffs caused by the governor’s emergency orders “has been a failure” and that a “major change is needed at ESD.”  Harmsworth calls for “properly authenticated systems to enable claims to be made efficiently, automatically,” a new program to register and verify identification of employees when they are hired (instead of when they are let go), and to legalize individual employment accounts.  (Lens)

Some people are talking about the security costs to fortify the state capitol in Olympia after the mayhem that occurred January 6, before the legislature began.  The stories about over a million dollars being spent from the Washington State Patrol’s budget led us to remember that Washington taxpayers had to pay for the additional security costs for Governor Inslee’s failed presidential campaign.  Since the campaign ended rather quickly (blowing though $7 million and dropping his support level from 2% to 0% in just five months), we assume there was no need to spend the full amount ($4 million was authorized) that was allocated for Inslee’s out-of-state security.  In checking the Inslee for Governor campaign’s public disclosure file, we see that his state campaign has more than $800,000 left over in cash reserves.  If the governor is deeply committed to tax the wealthy to pay for his expansion of the state’s budget, then maybe he should start with himself and reimburse the state taxpayers for funding his failed selfish presidential campaign. (KING5 News, Inslee for America Federal Election Commission report, Seattle Times, and Inslee Campaign’s Public Disclosure Commission report)

Left-wing activists resumed their political violence last night, by smashing up the original Starbucks and other businesses in Pike Place Market – and once again, not one Democrat elected official has come forward to condemn this violence.  As newscaster Brandi Kruse states, “I can’t be the only one completely mind boggled that Seattle’s elected leaders LITERALLY DO NOT CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS. They genuinely do not.”  The hypocrisy from Democrats is incredible. While Governor Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, and Washington State Democrat Party Chair Tina Podlodowski flooded email boxes the past two weeks with partisan appeals over the violence by fringe Trump supporters on Jan. 6, all of them are completely quiet today regarding the political violence perpetrated by their supporters.  While Republicans have the courage to stand up against Right-wing violence, Democrats appear to be afraid to stand up against Left-wing violence.  Democrats appear shamefully comfortable in allowing political violence to become acceptable behavior.  (Brandi Kruse Facebook post)

The Bellevue School District went forward with its plan to return students to the classroom, despite union threats. This morning, 2^nd grade students returned for their first day in a classroom in over 10 months.  The school district refused to stop moving forward because of the Bellevue Education Association’s decision to not support the resumption of in-person instruction.  A district statement says,  “We will not pause our long-negotiated plan to return students to classrooms. If educators choose to not show up and teach and fail to meet their professional responsibilities, we will have substitute teachers, administrators and other qualified professionals ready and able to help ease students back in the routine of attending school in person with their classmates.” (Seattle PI)

The Inslee Administration failed to consult with Chelan-Douglas health officials before they announced that Wenatchee’s Town Toyota Center would be the primary vaccination site for the region.  Besides local health officials being caught off guard by the announcement, the general manager of the facility found out about this decision while watching the news.  People even showed up to the center seeking a vaccination.  This is the latest example of the Inslee administration’s sheer inability to manage basic tasks, and is why the Washington State Association of Counties and the Washington State Association of Local Public Health Officials sent a letter to Governor Inslee asking that local officials be consulted by Inslee’s staff about decisions which impact their communities. (Wenatchee World and Yakima Herald)

Faculty at Washington State University apparently will reject the administration’s plan to subsidize the school’s athletic department.  WSU’s athletic program has been running a deficit for many years, and has accumulated $120 million in debt.  Faculty members are upset that their departments have struggled to stay within their budgets and are now being asked to “subsidize a university entity that’s neither essential nor self-sustaining.” (KQQQ Pullman Radio)

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