This week’s Newsmaker Interview is with Brian Minnich, the Executive Vice President of the Freedom Foundation.  Over the past decade, the Freedom Foundation has become one of the nation’s leading organizations combatting the ever-increasing power which government employee unions have over government decisions. While democratic governments were designed to serve the needs of the people, unions have used their large bankrolls to build their political influence and have now essentially made government a tool to serve their own selfish needs.  Unions leverage their control over the Democrat Party to exploit government’s taxing powers to fund larger governments with more government employees with higher salaries and expensive benefits.  Minnich discusses the Freedom Foundation’s successful efforts to promote workers’ rights by stopping the state’s automatic deduction of union dues from their paychecks, and the foundation’s lawsuit to strike down the unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains passed earlier this year by the Democrat-controlled legislature (which is strongly desired by the government employee unions to fund their larger state government strategy). (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

While Washington State residents continue to wait for the state’s faulty data to finally show a 70% vaccination rate, nearly all other states (most with far lower vaccination rates) have already lifted restrictions.  Despite the Biden White House celebrating that Washington State had reached the 70% mark nearly two weeks ago, and the Washington State Department of Health admitting that the federal data is more comprehensive than the state’s own data, Governor Jay Inslee continues to stubbornly refuse to keep his promise to lift his restrictions on activities once 70% of those older than 16 had received a vaccination shot.  Michigan’s Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced yesterday that her state would be lifting restrictions next Tuesday with a 61% vaccination rate, meaning that Inslee is proving he is more inept than the often criticized Whitmer. (Detroit News, White House tweet, and Washington State Department of Health media release)

Governor Inslee is refusing to say whether or not the state’s eviction moratorium will be extended past June 30^th.  While the deadline is fast approaching, financially impacted landlords are further hampered by the governor refusing to state whether some people can continue to live rent-free despite there being a surplus of jobs in the region. The governor did say, “We’ll have some decisions obviously before the end of June,” but that the state is still working on some issues.  Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has already announced that the city’s eviction moratorium will remain in place through September,. (MyNorthwest and Seattle Times)

Nearly all of the candidates running to become Seattle’s next mayor are running as an “outsider,” which is likely a good strategy considering the complete failure the city’s liberal policies have been over the past three decades.  Current lame-duck Mayor Jenny Durkan has become the 5^th straight Seattle mayor to be forced out of office (Paul Schell, Greg Nichols, and Mike McGinn lost re-election bids, and Ed Murray was shamed into resigning due to multiple sexual molestation accusations), as unchecked liberal policies have created a dysfunctional and ineffective government entity which only seems to make worse the problems (homelessness, drug addiction, crime, affordable housing, carbon emissions, transportation, etc.) it claims to be fixing.  The only candidate who is not claiming to be an outsider (because she is the lead “architect” on the city council for many of city’s current failed policies) is City Council President Lorena Gonzalez.  Yet, since nearly all of the current leading mayoral contenders (except one, Art Langlie), is ensconced firmly within Seattle’s liberal establishment, it is laughable that any of them would consider themselves to be an “outsider” or even “an agent for change.”  While they may use different slogans to market their ultra-liberal ideas, nearly all of them are pushing the same failed policies which have turned the once “Most Livable City in America” into a national joke. (Seattle Times)

Mayor Jenny Durkan has given $5 million of taxpayer money to a liberal special interest group (which supported her campaign) so it can spend taxpayer money to challenge the internal personnel policies of a private business.  Lame Duck Durkan has handed the Teamsters’ Union a two-year contract so it doesn’t have to use union dues money to mount legal challenges against Uber and Lyft. The Teamsters want to know when they deactivate drivers from their apps, many of whom have been released due to aggressive sexual behavior toward riders.  A Lyft spokesperson said, “We echo concerns raised by anti-sexual violence advocates that Seattle’s rules will roll back protections.”  This is the latest example of the ultra-liberal city government imposing its beliefs onto the management of a private business. City wage policies have already turned the formally affordable ride-share business into a luxury service only the privileged wealthy can afford (which has also resulted in fewer ride-share drivers in the city).  Seniors on fixed incomes, who used to appreciate the door-to-door service ride share companies provided, can no longer afford the innovative service and must now hike blocks to bus stops (likely past homeless encampments) and mask up and sit amongst strangers on a bus. But, at least it’s for a for a liberal cause. (Seattle Times)

The arson of a police vehicle and the theft of police weapons were among the multitude of political violence acts committed by liberal activists last summer.   While Democrat local and state officials (including Governor Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson) have still refused to condemn the political violence that shook the region last summer, the perpetrator of these crimes has been sentenced to five years in prison for his actions (he will serve the sentence concurrently with punishment for a Kitsap County burglary conviction).  The 25-year-old felon committed these crimes last year the afternoon of the May 30^th riot in Downtown Seattle (the same riot in which King County Executive Dow Constantine’s staff was handing out face masks to participants).  While the rioter fired a couple of rounds from the stolen weapon, fortunately, the rifle was quickly grabbed by the bodyguard of Q13’s news crew. (MyNorthwest, and KOMO News/YouTube)

A new report from the Washington Policy Center reveals that the Chinook salmon runs on the lower Snake River are 27% higher than last year, and 55% greater than 2019.  Liberal politicians and wealthy environmental groups (who keep pushing their reckless and expensive policy of demolishing the clean-energy producing dams) predicted a couple of weeks ago that the runs would be reduced from previous years, and were once again proven wrong by the scientific data. The report goes on to state that, despite greedy false proclamations by environmental groups, there are clear indications (most notably the increased number of “jacks”) that next year’s population totals will be even greater. (Washington Policy Center and Spokesman Review)

Did recent radical police reforms go too far, to the point where someone in a mental health crisis will not receive desperately needed treatment?  In a guest column, Caitlin Bassett of the Discovery Institute describes a recent terrifying episode in Sedro Wooley, where the police were called multiple times due to the violent behavior of a man either suffering a severe mental episode or under the influence of drugs.  Recent Democrat reforms, which were hastily rammed through the Washington State Legislature to placate the often-violent liberal activists who are key drivers of the Democrat base, have constrained what law enforcement can do.  Police officers were forced to leave the scene while the man was still a threat to himself and his neighbors. Prior to the recent legislative actions, the man would have been taken into custody, where he would have received the medical attention he desperately needed. (Click to read full Shift Article)

BABYLON BEE FRIDAY

Do you like The Daily Briefing?

Please consider making a contribution to ensure Shift continues to provide daily updates on the shenanigans of the liberal establishment.

Forward this to a friend.  It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

You can also follow SHIFTWA on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected].