Shift’s Newsmaker Interview is with Julie Barrett, the founder of a new grassroots organization Conservative Ladies of Washington (CLW).  Now that we are finally done with the 2022 legislative session, Shift will begin to focus more attention on candidates, campaigns, and organizations who view the November elections as an opportunity for those who are Center-to-Right on the political spectrum to unite to end the reckless and expensive policies which Democrats have imposed on our communities and our state.

Barrett became involved politically in November of 2019, when she created the Facebook group Conservative Ladies of Washington, and the group rapidly grew as Governor Jay Inslee unilaterally imposed COVID restrictions on Washington residents and liberal activists violently rioted in Seattle.  CLW is no longer just a social media group, it has evolved into an active grassroots organization becoming involved in critical issues, such as education and supporting law enforcement.  CLW has encouraged members to become active at the local and state level by testifying at hearings, organizing support or opposition to proposed policies, and becoming involved in campaigns.  (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

As expected, Washington State’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson has decided to waste your taxpayer dollars to further liberals’ mission to establish a state income tax, asking the Washington State Supreme Court to reverse the ruling by a Douglas County Superior Court judge which determined the Democrats’ state income tax on capital gains was unconstitutional.  Judge Brian Huber, the noted radical who was appointed to the superior court by Jay Inslee, made the ruling on the lawsuit brought by multiple citizens following the Democrats jamming through the illegal tax (SB 5096) during the 2021 legislative session.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s latest action is part of the Democrat strategy which Senator Jamie Pederson admitted to last week, when he said their plan is to get the nine liberal members of the Washington State Supreme Court to say, “‘You are free legislature to do an income tax, or a capital gains tax, or a wealth tax.’  Any of these things with a simple majority is what we have been working on.”

That’s right.  After years of liberal politicians like Sen. Pederson claiming that they had no interest in an income tax, and attacking Republicans for even mentioning such a charge, it turns out that Democrats really, really want a state income tax to pay off their campaign donors in the state employee unions.

These comments by the Democrat’s Senate Floor Leader has once again raised speculation that there was a backroom deal made between Democrat legislators and members of the supreme court, since all other attempts to impose a state income tax have either been struck down by the courts or by Washington State voters (10 consecutive ballot measures have been defeated).

One thing we noticed about Attorney General Ferguson’s actions today is that it was not accompanied by the usual media event, press release, or Twitter blitz which normally accompany his actions. The AG is well known for seeking cameras and media attention whenever he files a lawsuit. So, why the silence today? Maybe because the governor-wannabe Ferguson is aware the income tax is very unpopular with Washington voters and thus he is not promoting his actions seeking to impose it on Washington residents.  Ferguson’s lack of public comment is similar to the silence we saw from the state’s top law enforcement official when he refused to condemn the multiple acts of violence (including a mass murder attempt) against police officers by liberal activists during the 2020 Seattle riots. (Olympia Watch Twitter,  Governor Inslee media release, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, 43^rd Legislative District Democrat virtual meeting/YouTube, AG Office media releases, AG Twitter account, and KOMO News)

The City of Seattle is going to build a $570 million sewage pump station on the Ballard waterfront, and they are going to surround the structure with an 80-foot-tall stainless-steel frame with flashing LED lights that will blink in different patterns depending on the weather and what activity is taking place inside.  Sadly, we are not making this up.  This reckless use of public funds is symbolic of the City of Seattle, it is an expensive useless covering used to distract the public from the real crap going on inside.  (Seattle Times)

Murder rates in Seattle continue to skyrocket as liberals’ public safety policies continue to leave the public anything but safe.  On Thursday, Seattle recorded its 13^th murder of the year when two individuals were shot, leaving one dead.  The shooting took place around noon on Thursday in the lower income neighborhood of Columbia City in the Rainier Valley.   While 2021 was considered a very violent year in Seattle, 2022’s murder rate (13 so far) has already surpassed the number of killings (eight) which took place in during the first three months of last year.  (Seattle Times)

The City of Seattle has reached the point where it has to close a bus stop in the heart of its downtown shopping district because liberals no longer care about public safety and the city no longer has the police resources needed to protect those who want to be there.   Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced yesterday that the city is “temporally” closing the 3^rd and Pine Street bus stop due to the criminal activity in the area.  Closing any bus stop on 3^rd Avenue in downtown would have previously been seen as inconceivable since its primary use is to provide a transit only thoroughfare during rush hour.   (KING5 News)

Spokane is experiencing the same dramatic jump in vehicle thefts experienced by other Washington cities since the passage of the Democrat-only “police reform” package was jammed through during the 2021 legislative session.  Year-to-date there have been 378 car thefts in the City of Spokane compared to 199 vehicles stolen during the same time period last year. This is likely due to thieves knowing the Democrats placed severe restrictions on law enforcement’s ability to pursue suspected criminals.   During the 2022 legislative session, Democrats refused to act on a bill (HB 1788) aimed to fix the problem created by their previous legislation. So we can expect car thefts to remain a serious problem throughout the state.  (KXLY News and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

Unfortunately, Shift will not be able to run our regular BabylonBee Friday feature because the conservative satirical website had its Twitter account suspended this week by the social media giant, because the Bee satirically named a biological male as their “Man of the Year.”  In light of the controversy and public debate surrounding Lia Thomas’ victories in the NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships, Twitter has decided that one side of the discussion is “hate speech” and has banned those who seriously or satirically express the views from that side of the discussion. We wonder if Twitter will now ban Caitlyn Jenner because she tweeted that it “is common sense” that Thomas should not be the legitimate winner of a women’s swimming title.

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