As we (and many others) predicted, the Governor Jay Inslee’s Employment Security Department (ESD) will soon run out of money, and the Inslee Administration’s creative response is to borrow funds from the federal government and thus force future taxpayers to pay for the department’s failures.  The authorities have only recovered about half of the estimated $650 million stolen from Washington taxpayers in the ESD “Nigerian hacker: scam (one of the largest thefts in American history).  After missing many previous deadlines, Inslee’s hand-picked team now hopes to reduce the 70,000+ in backlogged applications by the end of July.  Governor Inslee has yet to answer many questions about his administration’s catastrophic failure and why Suzi LeVine, the ESD Commissioner with a political fundraiser background, is still in charge of the highly dysfunctional and incompetent ESD. (Shift)

Last Friday’s Newsmaker Interview was with Representative Andrew Barkis (R-Yelm), who has served in the legislature since 2016.  Barkis operates a property management company and is one of the legislature’s leading experts on housing issues. During the coronavirus outbreak, Barkis has been critical of the many partisan decisions made by Governor Inslee and he has been a vocal advocate for the Washington residents who have been poorly served by the governor’s mismanagement of the Employment Security Department. (Shift Newsmaker Interview)

Do you have your Governor Zero mask yet?  Send us a picture of you wearing the mask and we might publish it.  Send it to [email protected], for we love to see our readers express their views about our governor.  We sold out of our first batch of masks in early June, and we are almost out of our second order.  Buy yours today by clicking on this link. Only $25, with proceeds going to support Shift and the Northwest Republican Community Fund’s support for Hopelink (which is assisting those who have lost their income due to the coronavirus outbreak). (Governor Zero Mask and NWRCF/Hopelink)

It is apparent Governor Inslee and Democrat legislative leaders are more concerned about their personal political future than in the economic well-being of the state, and have decided against doing the responsible thing and calling a special session before the 2020 elections.  Despite the nearly $9 billion revenue projection short fall caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the Democrats know Washington voters would likely revolt against their preferred solution of raising taxes on the state residents who are currently experiencing financial insecurity. Thus, the Democrats are willing to further damage the state’s budget, and make it more difficult to fix, instead of making responsible repairs today. (Washington Policy Center)

We stumbled upon this 2014 Ted Talk video from Suzi LeVine, then-Ambassador to Switzerland, and current Commissioner of Washington State’s Employment Security Department (ESD), in which she, ironically, talks about failure.  In a short presentation in Bern, LeVine shares the quote, “Failure is just another word for growing.” If this is true, then LeVine has hit a serious growth spurt during her short tenure on Jay Inslee’s executive team at the embattled ESD, during which she has allowed the state to be victim of one of the largest thefts in American history, delayed much-needed payments to hundreds of thousands of Washington residents, and has a backlog of applications so severe the National Guard has been called in to rescue the situation. (Ted Talks on YouTube)

In an unanimous 9-0 ruling, the United States Supreme Court ruled against the three 2016 Washington State “faithless electors,” and ruled that states may pass laws ensuring Electoral College members vote for the presidential candidate who won the state’s popular vote.  In 2016, four of Washington’s electors (one did not take part in the lawsuit) voted for Colin Powell, and not for Hilary Clinton as they were pledged, in the hope some of Donald Trump’s electors would follow them. They were fined $1,000 by the State of Washington for doing this.  Washington has since passed additional laws saying electors could be replaced if they do not vote for the candidate who won the state’s popular vote. (Seattle Times)

It appears 2020 will be the first presidential election year in nearly a century without a statewide initiative on the Washington ballot.  Even though more than 120 initiatives were filed with the Secretary of State’s office, none of the people promoting them were able to collect the 260,000 valid signatures required – likely because of restrictions on public activities due to the coronavirus outbreak.  (Note: Parents for Safe Schools’ repeal of the Superintendent Reykdal’s controversial sex education legislation – which will be on the general election ballot – is a “referendum,” which repeals legislation, while an “initiative” creates new legislation). The last time no initiative appeared on a presidential year ballot was in 1928, when Herbert Hoover was elected president. (NW News Network and Shift)

While Seattle liberals are falling all over themselves to cut police funding, a new report shows that Seattle is at the top of the list for the most property crimes of any major U.S. city.  While Seattle ranks much lower for violent crimes, it is the worst of the 30 largest cities in America for property crimes. The FBI defines property crimes as burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Like San Francisco, the reason for the high property crime rates in Seattle is directly related to liberal policies that create a safe environment for drug use and homelessness, instead of encouraging individuals to seek assistance. Remember, Seattle has achieved this distinction despite many businesses no longer reporting thefts for the city attorney has stopped prosecuting the suspects.  (Puget Sound Indexer)

Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda says the city should not charge any of those who were arrested for disobeying police orders during the sweep (and dismantling) of the CHAZ last week.  This is the latest example of Mosqueda’s belief that those who routinely break the law should not have laws applied to them, while those who do obey the laws should be forced to pay higher taxes.  This appears to be the foundation of Mosqueda’s platform for her presumed 2021 mayoral campaign. (MyNorthwest)

The Seattle Mariners are preparing for a 60-game season, and hoping to play in the post-season for the first time since 2001 (the longest active streak of any major professional team to not appear in the playoffs). We should note that the last time Major League Baseball played a shortened season was in 1995 (due to a players’ strike), when the Mariners had their magical run to the American League championship series and “saved baseball” in Seattle. Hopefully for the long-suffering M’s fans, history will repeat in 2020. (News Tribune)

In an editorial, the Walla Walla Union Bulleting stated, “The Legislature needs to be called into a special session as soon as possible to address the fiscal problems looming.”  Citing the $8.8 billion revenue shortfall, the paper rightfully observes, “serious cuts need to be made. The sooner those occur, the fewer cuts will have to be (made) next year and the year after.”  The problem is, Governor Inslee and the Democrat legislative leaders do not want to cut the budget, they want to increase our taxes.  And it is better for them if this is done after the November elections. (Walla Walla Union Bulletin)

At the end of last week, Benton, Franklin, and Yakima counties were approved to a “modified” Phase I (or “Phase 1.5”) for reopening their economies as coronavirus infections finally begin to decline.  As a result, many small businesses and restaurants will finally begin to re-open, while needing to adhere to strict social distancing regulations. (Yakima Herald and KXLY)

A top official in the Benton County Sheriff’s office has resigned claiming poor working conditions and hostility from his boss, Sheriff Jerry Hatcher.  This is the latest in a series of disputes between Hatcher and his deputies. Commander Tom Croskrey said Hatcher’s management methods have affected his health and well-being. (AP)

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