Washington State Senator Keith Wagoner (R – Sedro Woolley) provides a strong perspective for voters to consider following the senseless killing of Everett Police Officer Dan Rocha last Friday.  Normally Shift adds its own opinion to the news stories we feature. With this item, we will let Senator Wagoner’s words speak for themselves.

“The policies enacted by Democrats in Olympia over the last two legislative sessions have created an open season on law enforcement in our state. Today’s shooting is just another example of Democrats putting criminals ahead of our communities and our police officers. I am appalled by this lawlessness; Democratic lawmakers who continue to support these bad policies own these horrible outcomes. To make matters worse, this tragic incident comes on the same day that the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is honoring and remembering one of their own officers after being shot and killed last week.

“We had the opportunity during this year’s session to restore many of the law enforcement tools that were stripped away by Democrats in 2021. Instead, the majority party doubled down on many of their policies and refused to listen to the voice of reason. These policies give criminals the upper hand and put us all at risk. This shooting is a direct result of their failure to empower the men and women in uniform who keep our neighborhoods and communities safe.” (Senator Wagoner statement)

Many Washington residents continue to deal with allegations from the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) that they were overpaid unemployment benefits when Governor Jay Inslee shut down the state’s economy in March 2020.  State government was completely unprepared to handle the influx of claims from the hundreds of thousands of Washington workers who lost their income due to the governor’s actions.  This lack of preparedness forced Jay Inslee’s chosen “leaders” to panic and remove security procedures which left the ESD vulnerable to one of the largest heists in American history allowing foreign criminals to steal more than $650 million.  ESD then shut down its processing of claims and began sending out notices to thousands of rightful benefit recipients that they had been overpaid.

Many of these recipients, some of whom have been forced to hire attorneys, have been battling the state’s allegations for more than two years while the state continues to impose late fees.  Others say the state fails to inform them that their case has been settled and only learn the good news by checking the ESD website.  Remember, not one state employee lost their job or was demoted due to Inslee’s bureaucratic debacle which has caused so many difficulties to so many state residents.  In fact the head of the ESD, Suzi LeVine was given a “promotion” to the Biden Administration, though that was short-lived as even liberal Democrats determined the political price to have her confirmed by the U.S. Senate was a price they were unwilling to pay. (Q13 Fox News and KING5 News)

ChangeWA points out the falsehoods in the Democrats’ misleading claim that their $17 billion transportation package does not raise the state’s gas tax.  The group (which is not affiliated with ShiftWA, despite its similar name) released an issue paper explaining that while the transportation plan does not specifically raise the state gas tax (which is one of the highest in the nation at 49.4 cents a gallon), it is largely funded by money the state plans to collects from its 2021 ineffective and expensive “cap and trade” legislation which will raise the price of gas by $0.58 to $1.38 a gallon.  This is not part of the current price of gas, yet it will be in just a few months, and fuel prices will continue to increase.

While this price increase is bad enough for lower- and middle-income households, the “ripple effect” of the Democrats’ expensive policies will cause even more damage to the economy.  Nearly all groceries and other necessary products will also have transportation costs increased by the rise in gas prices and these will be passed onto consumers. (ChangeWA issue paper)

One of the few Republican proposals the divisive Democrats allowed to pass during the 2022 legislative session was a bill sponsored by Senate Republican Leader John Braun (Centralia) to assist disabled youths find employment.  Senator Braun’s bill (SB 5790) assists intellectually and physically challenged youths by connecting them with services which provide employment opportunities.   The Republican leader said that those who receive this kind of assistance are three times more likely to find a job. Governor Inslee signed the bill on Monday. (Centralia Chronicle and Washington State Bill Summary)

Former KOMO reporter Jonathan Choe admits that he made a mistake in his reporting of a Proud Boys rally, but that he hopes he is able to receive a second chance to continue to report on the dangers from the extremists on both sides of the political spectrum.  KOMO fired Choe, who was already a prime target of Seattle’s cancel culture mob, over his presentation of the rally by the extremist group.  He has not said where he will go next, but that, “I want to continue to do the good journalism that is needed in this town.”  Choe is concerned that his departure from KOMO will increase the influence of radical liberal activists who seek to control how news is presented in Seattle. “My concern, though, is this chilling effect, that this could have – the intimidation tactics used by activists, that coordinated effort by my critics over the weekend to call the station to bombard the station with emails.” (MyNorthwest)

Residents of Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood complain that their elected city officials do not view their working-class community as a priority, as crime and homeless encampments continue to cause serious safety concerns.  On-going invasive crime incidents and violent behavior by those living in illegal RV and tent encampments have local residents stating there is no one accountable in city government to solve these never-ending problems. (KOMO News)

Many taxpayers and commuters are frustrated by the cost overruns and long delays in the construction of Sound Transit’s light rail system, so a few have re-introduced an even worse plan to build a gondola over Elliott Bay to connect West Seattle to the SoDo/Stadium District.  KTTH’s Jason Rantz points out that the installing of yet another mode of public transportation (which already includes car ferries, passenger ferries, light rail, buses, street cars, a monorail, and ride share options) is such a bad idea “it’ll probably be implemented.” (MyNorthwest)

The Spokane Journal of Business has joined the chorus of those critical of the Democrats’ multiple failures during the irresponsible, divisive, and expensive 2022 legislative session. The publication was especially critical of failure of the Democrat-controlled legislature’s “missed opportunity” to provide any tax relief to Washington’s working families despite an unprecedented $15 billion in revenue surplus. Instead the Democrats used this money to unnecessarily expand the size of government.  The Spokane Journal points out that the increase in the budget means the state is spending 24% more on this two-year budget than the last one, and 50% more than the one passed in 2017. (We will also note the cost of state government has actually doubled in the nine years Governor Inslee has been in charge of throwing money around).

The editorial also points out how the Democrats shortchanged Spokane and their neighboring counties in their $17 billion transportation package. The urban Democrats continue their attack on the Eastern Washington by increasing the cost of gas (which impacts rural Washington residents more due to distances between communities and dramatically increases the cost of farming), and then also deciding to spend nearly all of the tax dollars on transportation projects around Puget Sound. (Spokane Journal of Business)

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].