Shift’s Weekly Photograph from former
Congressman Rod Chandler (WA-08) 1982 – 1992
Madness in Olympia
Play in Shift’s “Madness in Olympia” contest before Wednesday, as you determine which of the many bad proposals the Democrats have made this year deserves to be crowned 2021’s Worst Idea. In a tournament format, we have included our top eight contenders. Each week we will ask our readers to vote on the worst ideas. We have two brackets, one for “More Taxes” and one for “Less Public Safety,”, which have turned out to be the top two Democrat priorities for this session, Share it with your friends. (Shift’s Madness in Olympia)
State
As predicted, the Democrats in the Washington State Senate used a rare Saturday session to pass their unnecessary and unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains legislation, and the Seattle Times buried the story on page A8, while the News Tribune did not cover it at all in their Sunday print edition. Despite the state being flush with cash after a record-breaking 20% revenue increase the past two years, and at least 7% more projected during the next two years, and another $4.2 billion more on its way from the federal bailouts, the greedy Democrats in Olympia voted to take control of even more of your money to fund the their strong desire to increase the size, power, and reach of state government. One of the reasons for the quick actions by the Senate on a state income tax bill is because the upcoming March 17th state revenue forecast is expected to show the state will be projected to receive even more tax revenue than previously estimated (see our next news item below).
A state income tax revenue stream (which future Democrats will certainly expand to include more and more taxpayers) will primarily benefit the Democrats’ major source of campaign funds — government employee unions (which in turn will benefit Democrat politicians, since the union bosses will have more dues money to send their way).
It was interesting that the media has chosen to use the Democrat’s factually incorrect political spin about the new tax, and call it an “excise tax” instead of an “income tax,” which is how the IRS and 49 other states label a capital gains tax. Since an income tax is unconstitutional in Washington State, Democrat legislators are the only public officials in America to not use the term “income tax” to accurately describe their legislation. The region’s media not only fails to call them on out on this deception, they happily follow along with the “excise tax” scheme.
We should also note that while Democrats have disingenuously argued that this new unconstitutional state income tax is necessary to make Washington taxes “more equitable,” they have not proposed to reduce taxes elsewhere. In fact, many of their other Democrat proposed new taxes are very regressive, like an 18-cent-a-gallon gas tax and a tax on sugary drinks, and would impact lower-income households the most. (Seattle Times, Washington Policy Center, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and News Tribune)
Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council officials informed legislators last week that next week’s revenue forecast will likely show at least an additional $600 million windfall over its already glowing November 2020 forecast (and that was even before the latest gusher of federal bailout money). This is the reason why Democrat senators rushed their state income tax on capital gains legislation through the Senate Rules Committee and onto the floor for an unusual Saturday vote. The official revenue forecast report is expected March 17th. (Columbia Basin Herald/WNPA Services)
Republican legislators are listening to health officials from across the state, and continue to push to safely reopen to 50% capacity for retail stores and restaurants, and return students to in-person instruction. Meanwhile Governor Inslee continues to ignore the advice, concerns, and ideas from local health officials, and has yet to provide criteria for moving the state to something called “Phase 3,” or what will be allowed to occur once the state, or regions, or counties meet the criteria. The governor only response is to blurt out his latest hyper-partisan straw-man argument, that the state is not following Texas to immediately reopen to 100%. Apparently the governor failed to know that no one is proposing that, and that something far more reasonable had come over from Washington Republican legislators. (KING5 News and Yakima Herald)
Due to the state education system being unable to transition to providing quality distance learning to enough of the state’s public school students, and the refusal of teachers’ unions in the largest districts to respect scientific data and health officials’ advice to re-open schools, a bill has been introduced which would allow high school juniors and seniors to do this past year over. If passed, SB 5265 would allow the student to replace the grades they have received this year and allow them to participate in sports in the hope of attracting scholarship offers. (Q13 News and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)
Western Washington
The impact of destructive liberal Seattle policies is driving people to move out of the city and into more moderate and business-friendly suburban communities. According to data from the United States Postal Service, 26,000 more households moved out of Seattle than moved in during 2020. This is a decline of 7% of the city’s households, and is the first reduction in the city’s population in at least 40 years. These are interesting statistics given that Democrat legislators are increasingly attempting to pass wacky and ineffective Seattle-based laws onto the rest of the state. (Seattle Times/Danny Westneat)
The Seattle Teachers’ Union continues to demonstrate one of the reasons why parents continue to move their families out of Seattle in record numbers. The union keeps ignoring scientific data and the expert advice of local, state, national, and international health experts, and refuse to return to in-person instruction. Teachers were expected back today to begin training for special education students, but the union believes that their unscientific opinions are more important than the education of these children, and have stated that union teachers will not be in Seattle schools today. (Q13 News)
Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney is the target of a flyer which claims he has formed “death squads.” The flyer, which appears to condone violence, is supportive of the politically motivated recall effort against the first-term sheriff. Fortney said the recall supporters “have crossed several lines during the recall, this one is reprehensible.” (MyNorthwest)
A sudden departure of a Puyallup City Councilmember as the CEO of the Puyallup Food Bank has many people asking questions. After just three months on the job, the food bank announced that Councilmember Dean Johnson was no longer leading the organization. Food bank board chair Anna Malden said, “I can’t go into the detail of how we decided to no longer work together.” That sounds like lawyer-speak. (News Tribune)
Eastern Washington
Washington State University’s budget deficit has grown to $62.2 million. The loss is attributed to factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which include fewer students, loss of parking fees, costs associated with increasing online learning, and the loss of athletic ticket and merchandise revenue. The school is hoping to make up the deficit through canceling construction projects, federal relief funds, and refinancing loans. (KQQQ Pullman Radio)
Saying dams on the Snake and Columbia Rivers are an effective method to reduce greenhouse gases, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R – Spokane) and Congressman Dan Newhouse (R – Sunnyside) sponsored legislation to expand hydropower and encourage innovation in the industry. They two Eastern Washington U.S. Representatives reintroduced their Hydropower Clean Energy Act, which they had originally put forth in the last Congress. The bill would recognize hydropower as a valuable renewable energy source and would assist in developing new technologies to make turbines more efficient. (The Lewiston Tribune)
Newsmaker Interview
This week our Newsmaker Interview is with Kaitlin Vintertun, the Executive Director of an exciting new organization, League of Our Own. Recently, U.S. Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Jaime Herrera Beutler, and Secretary of State Kim Wyman, took part in a virtual event announcing the formation of the Washington State chapter of the League, which aims to elect more free market and fiscally responsible woman to office. It is based on a similar successful group started in Michigan, where more than three dozen conservative women were recruited and trained to win elections and who now hold public office. The concept is based on how professional baseball teams recruit and train young talent to make it in the big leagues. We think many Shift readers will be interested in the League of Our Own, and will want to take part as one of its “team members.” (Read full Newsmaker Interview)
Overheard on the Internets
Like what you read?
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].