On a day usually reserved for celebrations by socialists everywhere, Washington Governor Jay Inslee took the opportunity this May Day to get capitalists cheering with his announcement not to seek re-election in 2024. The Seattle Times reported on the Inslee announcement, which sounded more like one of his usual campaign kickoffs, with false bragging like “we’ve made Washington a beacon for progress for the nation,” but fortunately, instead of revealing that he would subject Washingtonians to another four years of his kind of “progress,” Inslee turned to an ironic pro-carbon metaphor that “I’m ready to pass the torch.”

Of course, voters will decide whether the next torch-bearer will be as hyper-partisan as the outgoing Inslee or whether some balance will be returned to the state’s capital. Hoping to keep the state going far to the Left, as the (Tacoma) New Tribune noted, was Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who ran through a liberal wish list of so-called wins and tweeted, “I look forward to continuing that partnership taking on the toughest fights on behalf of every Washingtonian for the next 18 months!” There will be a great hope that Ferguson joins Inslee in retirement in ’25 rather than moving into his mansion, and you can read about those possibilities here. (The News Tribune, Seattle Times)

As Shift has frequently noted, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson rarely hesitates to jump in front of the cameras when media coverage is at stake. The AG is loud and proud when it comes to wasting taxpayer money on his own political causes (like suing Donald Trump), but when it comes to doing his job and defending the state’s Democrat-dominated legislature in a high-profile case he would lose, the News Tribune reports that the “Washington state Attorney General’s Office is withdrawing from representing the state Legislature in a lawsuit over the withholding of public records, and a private law firm has been appointed to tackle the case.” AG Ferguson was so proud of this dereliction of duty that the information was found in court filings, not a press release. Guess that “Bobbie Sue” is too busy planning to launch his gubernatorial campaign to take on a new case. (Shift, News Tribune, Seattle Times)

It is easy for those of us at Shift to point out the failures of Sound Transit, from its commitment to providing places for public drug use to its longtime “leadership” in fiscal mismanagement, but when a liberal editorialist takes the agency to task for its continued ability to “squander hardworking people’s faith by making big promises they fail to deliver on while also appearing tone deaf to the hardships that bungled projects inflict.”  That’s coming from Matt Driscoll, a columnist doubling as the editorial page editor, not some right-winger.

Indeed, the entire editorial is a liberal’s long lament at government gone bad, with Sound Transit the most obvious local poster child. “It’s about what was promised, and what’s been delivered. It’s about the dull, nagging feeling that now that Sound Transit has our money, the agency really doesn’t care.” Shift couldn’t have said it any better, though we warned of it a decade ago. (Shift, Shift, News Tribune)

As Shift predicted would become a regular event, here’s yet another story about local elected officials having to defend their communities from hard drugs by passing new laws. That’s because, as Axios-Seattle notes, if the state legislature does not “reconvene and take action before July 1, Washington is set to become the second U.S. state to decriminalize possession of hard drugs, after Oregon voters approved an initiative to do so in 2020.”

What makes this story more unique than most is its focus on Seattle and King County as the latest localities coming to the anti-legalization table. The Seattle announcement came with City Attorney Ann Davison standing with two city council members to remind the council majority that “every day, people on our streets are dying of overdose and drug-related harm.” That reality doesn’t seem to matter much to the Council’s laughable (and outgoing) head of the Public Safety Committee (Lisa Herbold), who told people concerned about legal hard drug usage to shut up, as “she won’t consider a local penalty for drug use while it’s still possible for the Legislature to find a compromise on a statewide policy.” You can read more about the Democrat dithering here…  (Shift, Axios-Seattle)

You might not have noticed, but since it’s May 1, today is a special day for marches and protests. As MyNorthwest warned us, “May Day rallies are taking place around Seattle today, with an official march organized by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRCO) starting downtown Monday morning.” It was sure nice of the local Socialists to be organized enough to inform the media of their intent to disrupt commuters, in a long tradition that “was started by socialist and trade union groups in 1889.” No confirmed word on whether President Joe Biden was at the initial march. (MyNorthwest)

Representative J.T. Wilcox joined us last week to discuss his recent announcement to step down as the Leader of the House Republican Caucus, a position he has held since 2018.  Wilcox also shared his insights on the major issues that were debated during the 2023 legislative session, including the Democrats’ failure to pass a much-needed drug possession law and not supporting meaningful police pursuit reform. Read more.

THANKFULLY IT WILL BE UP TO ALL VOTERS, NOT JUST DEMOCRATS TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION

TRANSLATION: YES, SHE’S RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR

YOU CAN THANK SEATTLE AGAIN FOR HIGHER TAXES

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