The big government greed and dishonesty of Governor Jay Inslee and Democrat lawmakers is on full display as the price of gas has leaped 25 cents in the first two weeks following the implementation of their expensive Cap and Trade legislation.  While nearly all experts predicted that the price for a gas would increase by approximately 46 cents a gallon during 2023, Governor Inslee and Democrat legislators were telling the public that it would “only cost pennies.”  After two weeks of data, it appears the experts were correct, and the Democrats were purposefully misleading the public.

Respected environmental economist Yorem Bauman has joined with Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center to provide regular updates on the impact of the Democrats’ policies on the cost of gas. In just two weeks their findings are that the price of a gallon of gas in Washington State has increased 25 cents compared to other Western States.  This leap in comparable gas prices is due to only one factor – the governor’s Cap and Trade legislation which the Democrats passed in 2021.

The governor has attempted to blame the war in Ukraine and oil company greed for the increase in the price of gas.  Yet as Myers points out this explanation is not tied to reality for it would mean that the Ukrainian war and the supposed oil company greed only impacted Washington State’s gas prices while having absolutely no impact on the gas prices in our neighboring states. Remember, the figures provided by Bauman and Myers reflect gas price differential with other states.   The governor is clearly misleading the public when he makes these statements. (Washington Policy Center/Bauman graph, Washington Research Council, and Shift)

In case you missed it, last week the governor was asked about reports last week that his Cap and Trade legislation had already raised the price of gas by 10 cents a gallon.  And again remember that this price increase is in comparison to the price of gas in other states.  Instead of answering the question, Governor Inslee (obviously upset that someone dare question him on the impacts of his policies) blamed the price increase on “greedy oil companies” who use the war in Ukraine to increase the price of gas.  Yet again, the governor fails to explain why this greed only impacts gas prices in Washington State and not in others.

If the governor wants a clear portrait of greed, he only has to look in the mirror.  While millions of Washington State’s lower- and middle- income households were struggling due to Democrat inflationary policies, he choose to give billions in surplus tax revenue to his campaign contributors in the state employee unions instead of providing tax relief which would help these struggling families. (TVW Inslee Press Conference and Shift)

Democrat Representative Alicia Rule (Blaine) attacks the study used by Democrat Senator Manka Dhingra (Redmond) which she has used to stubbornly defend her belief that legislators should not repeal the Democrats’ reckless police pursuit restrictions. Senator Dhingra has sited a study from a liberal University of Washington Pressor Martina Morris which found that there have been fewer innocent bystanders killed due to police pursuits since she and other Democrats passed their anti-police legislation in 2021.

Yet Representative Rule points out in an email to her legislative colleagues that Professor Matthew J. Hickam, the respected Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice, Criminology & Forensics at Seattle University, blasted Professor Morris’ study and stated it would never stand up to peer review.  Professor Hickam wrote, “The analysis should be disregarded in its entirety and should not be used to inform legislative decision-making.”  Among the many faults he found in Professor Morris’ study is lack of data and the failure to include data from other impacts of the legislation.  For example, because police cannot pursue vehicles based solely on the knowledge that it is stolen, there has been a sharp increase in the number of stolen cars. This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of stolen cars involved in fatal accidents in Washington State. For example last week two people were killed in Tacoma in an accident with a stolen car. (Shift has reported on a number of these fatal accidents involving stolen cars).

Senator Dhingra previously stated that as the chair of the Senate’s Law and Justice Committee she would not provide public hearing on legislation which would repeal the Democrat’s restrictions on police pursuits.  Last year Senator Dhingra led the effort within the Democrat’s Senate Caucus to prevent a Senate vote on a repeal bill that passed overwhelmingly in the House (86 – 12).  If she uses her position as Chair of the Law and Justice Committee to keep another repeal bill from being voted on this year, then it is the fault of the Democrat Senators who allowed her to serve in this position. (Brandi Kruse Patreon, KING5 News, Q13 Fox News, and The Center Square)

The King County medical examiner is running out of space to place dead bodies because of the number of fentanyl overdoses.  The death rate from fentanyl overdoses is skyrocketing as the Biden Administration is allowing thousands to cross the Mexican border undeterred with some individuals illegally transporting fentanyl and fentanyl-laced drugs into our country.  Democrats in Olympia contributed to the problem when they essentially decriminalized possession of fentanyl (along with many other lethal drugs) in 2021.  Last year King County broke all-time records for the number of drug overdoses (1,019) with an overwhelming majority of these (686) due to fentanyl. This has led to the lack of storage space to keep bodies in the coroner’s office.

Republican Senate Leader John Braun (Centralia) made a strong statement regarding those who passed legislation which caused this latest tragedy. He said, “Those who support legislation that essentially legalizes hard drugs should be ashamed of the real-world consequences of their misguided ideologies. That includes Democrats in our state legislature who won’t listen to the pleas of law enforcement, community leaders and families who must confront the drug crisis head on.  (Jason Rantz MyNorthwest and Washington House Republican Caucus media release)

King County is wasting $330,000 a month in taxpayer money for a downtown Renton hotel that is completely empty.  King County Executive Dow Constantine’s office admits it is still paying a monthly lease payment for the old Holiday Inn that has been empty for more than a year.  This means more than $4 million has been wasted by King County Executive Constantine.  Originally the six story hotel on Renton’s Grady Avenue was used by the county to house homeless individuals.  This was done without notifying local officials who were not pleased with Executive Constantine’s actions. The City of Renton then worked to move those in the old Holiday inn to another location. Yet despite the hotel being empty, the county continues to waste millions on lease payments. (MyNorthwest)

Quick note to inform our readers that the Seattle Times has not run a story since last Friday on the lies told by New York Congressman George Santos.  Evidently even the Times’ editors realized that 30 stories were enough.  This coverage of an East Coast politician is especially noteworthy considering the newspaper posted only one story on Democrat Washington State House candidate (and now Representative) Clyde Shavers telling multiple lies to his voters in the 10^th Legislative District during his campaign.  Remember the newspaper sat on the story of Shavers’ lies for nearly a week while tens of thousands of ballots were mailed in. Unfortunately for those who respect the truth, Shavers won the contest by just over 200 votes. (Seattle Times and Shift)

Liberal Spokane City Councilmembers are receiving strong criticism from good government advocates for their appointment of a city councilmember’s husband to a $107,000 city job.  Christopher Wright, the husband of liberal Spokane Councilmember Karen Stratton, was appointed by the council to a policy analyst position by a vote pf 4 to 2 (Councilmember Stratton abstained).  The watchdog group Spokane Good Government Alliance’s executive Director John Etsey stated it was an act of pure nepotism.  He also stated that Wright is unfit for the job since he filed for bankruptcy in 2019, and he is currently prohibited from practicing law in Washington State due to Washington State Bar Association disciplinary actions over not performing basic tasks for clients. Councilmember Stratton and Wright have owned a marijuana growing business.

Ironically, the position Wright is filling previously belonged to Brian McClatchey, the husband of the Inslee Administration’s Department of Commerce Secretary Lisa Brown.  Secretary Brown is expected to soon announce her candidacy to become mayor of Spokane, after she took the very unusual step of relocating her office away from Olympia (where nearly all her employees work) to Spokane.

Evidently the liberal majority on the Spokane City Council simply budget hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to hand to the spouses of liberal politicians. (The Center Square)

Representative Mary Dye (R – Pomeroy) writes about an innovative proposal to focus attention on the problems facing men and boys in our state. The representative’s legislation (HB 1270) is the first in the nation to create a state commission on the issues facing males and has received attention from the New York Times, C-Span, and national think tanks.  Among the many daunting national statistics, males are more likely to be incarcerated, suffer serious repercussions from drug and alcohol abuse, have trouble in school, experience homelessness, and commit suicide.  There are currently 39 states which have state commissions focused on issues impacting females, while there is no state with a similar effort focused on issues facing males.  Representative Dye’s legislation would create a nine-person bi-partisan board which would identify solutions to issues and provide recommendation to lawmakers. (Click to read more about this innovative approach.)

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview was with new Republican Senator Nikki Torres who made history last November when she became the first person of Hispanic heritage to be elected to the Washington State Senate from Eastern Washington. Senator Torres represents the 15^th Legislative District including the Yakima Valley, Pasco in the Tri-Cities, and Othello in Adams County.  The former Pasco City Councilmember is a manager for Western Governors University and is the mother of two daughters and has three grandchildren.

In her interview, Senator Torres outlined her agenda for the 2023 legislative session stating that her top priority is to improve public safety by reversing many of the Democrats’ disastrous anti-police measures. The senator asserted these liberal mistakes have “put the public at greater risk, making the streets safer for criminals, hostile to law enforcement, and dangerous for our families.” She outlined her belief that the legislature should focus more on providing tax relief to help families instead of using extra tax revenues to expand state government even further.

Senator Torres also provided her views on policies urban Democrats continue to impose of Eastern Washington farmers threatening their existence. She explained her legislation designed to help our farmers by improving their access to water. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

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