The COVID-19 outbreak has demonstrated the lack of real leadership in Governor Inslee and many Democrat officials.  While true leaders would make decisions which are best for the entire state, Inslee and the Democrats have used the outbreak to play partisan games and promote their political agenda.  Inslee has also failed to be honest with Washington residents by sharing the “science” behind his decisions. (Shift)

Governor Inslee is doing nothing to stop his contributors at the tribal casinos from defying his orders and re-opening their businesses to large crowds.  In fact, the governor stated, “I hope that they are very, very successful.” Meanwhile a non-tribal Everett barber who opened his business, has had his cosmetology license suspended by the state, has received cease and desist orders from the state, could lose his state business license, and has been told he could be arrested.  When asked if the tribal casinos were threatening the health and safety of Washington residents, Inslee replied that he has, “expressed to the tribes that I would very much be more pleased if their openings were consistent with some of the business openings in our state.” If Inslee is truly more concerned about the health of Washington citizens, he would do two things: 1) inform the tribes that he will push for legislation to remove the monopoly on the lucrative sports betting business he gave tribal casinos during the 2020 legislative session, and 2)  return all contributions which he and the Washington State Democrat Party have received from tribal governments.  Yet we do not believe Inslee will do either and we doubt the media will condemn the governor’s hypocrisy. (Seattle Times and Everett Herald)

As state lawmakers begin to consider how to fix the $7 billion (and growing) hole in the state’s budget, Governor Inslee should lead by example and return the hundreds of thousands of dollars he took from Washington taxpayers to finance his failed presidential campaign’s security team.  Inslee’s re-election campaign has thus far raised more than $3.2 million. Inslee could show true leadership by paying the state back for the money that was essentially stolen from the state’s taxpayers by his presidential campaign.  Other governors who have run for president have reimbursed their states for the costs of security – but not Jay.  Instead, he feels the people of Washington needed to be invested in a presidential campaign that was doomed from the start, and proved to be nothing but a vanity run to try and earn Inslee a spot in the next administration, should Democrats win. (Seattle Times and Inslee campaign’s PDC filings)

The Mainstream Republicans of Washington will be virtually holding their annual Cascade Conference next week.  The group has partnered with TVW to air five different presentations. For schedule of events, click on the link. (Mainstream Republicans of Washington Facebook)

Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant will defy Governor Inslee’s orders on limiting local government activity by holding a meeting on her job-killing tax next week.  Governor Inslee banned all local councils’ activities unless they were either routine or dealt with combating the coronavirus outbreak.  Seattle Council President Lorena Gonzalez referred to this order when she tabled discussion on Sawant’s tax on Seattle’s largest employers.  Even though Sawant has been pushing for this kind of “head tax” tax for years, the socialist councilmember contends her tax is coronavirus related.  It will be interesting to see if Governor Inslee is willing to upset Sawant’s socialist followers by using the resources of state government to shut down Sawant’s meeting the same way he is attempting to shut down a Trump-supporting barber in Everett. If instead the governor treats Sawant and Seattle’s council the same way he does the tribes and their casinos, and refuses to act on her public act of defiance, will that mean others can defy Inslee’s orders without being threatened? (MyNorthwest)

Because there continues to be a shortage of homes on the market, there is still a strong real-estate demand in Pierce County.  The shortage was exacerbated by the month-long shut down on residential construction (while Governor Inslee allowed government construction to continue).  Realtors say those looking at homes today are more likely to buy than those who were viewing homes prior to the coronavirus outbreak. (News Tribune)

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle) believes Joe Biden is failing to excite Democrat voters.  Representative Jayapal, who supported Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid, believes many young people will not support Biden’s campaign, and stated, “We need to help Joe Biden establish policy proposals that he really believes in and is convinced about, but that also excite people to believe that government can make a real difference in their lives.” This is Jayapal’s way of saying, she wants to force Biden to promise to make government even bigger and more powerful before she will actively support his campaign. This recent condemning of Biden reminds us of Congresswoman’s Jayapal’s embarrassing first appearance on the national political stage, when then-Vice President Biden gaveled down Jayapal’s ridiculous objections during the 2016 Electoral College proceedings and stated, “It’s over” as Jayapal meekly sat back down while her new colleagues erupted in laughter. (San Francisco Chronicle and KING5 News)

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best says residential burglaries are down because people are spending far more time at home, while commercial burglaries are up.  Best said police are attempting to lock up repeat offenders, yet the department is not incarcerating as many people as it did prior to the coronavirus outbreak. (KIRO Radio)

Governor Inslee has yet to deliver a plan for larger counties to re-open their businesses.  This delay by Inslee’s office is costing Spokane County workers their paychecks and local retailers millions of dollars.  Because the state has yet to set criteria for larger counties, Spokane County’s request to re-open was denied by Inslee’s office.  Previously, Governor Inslee promised he would finally have a plan for larger counties by next Monday.  Meanwhile, just minutes away in Idaho, 90% of that state’s businesses are open and are currently benefiting from the delays in Washington State.  Maybe more Spokane businesses should contribute to Governor Inslee’s campaign so they could re-open like the tribal casinos with no repercussions. (Spokesman-Review)

Grant County Commissioner Tom Taylor says Governor Inslee’s office has been “stonewalling” the county’s effort to obtain further information on how and when his county can safely re-open businesses.  Neighboring Chelan and Douglas counties were denied by the Governor’s office from re-opening businesses because both have more than 75,000 residents and the state has yet to provide criteria on how/when these counties can safely resume activities. (iFIBER One)

Despite the 20% growth of the state budget in the last two years, and near full employment of state workers, Governor Inslee’s office has failed to respond to many counties on how they can safely re-open.  Yakima County officials have yet to receive a timeline or plan from the state on how they can safely re-open.  Yakima joined 18 other Washington State counties in a letter to the governor asking for more local control in deciding how best to safely resume public activities. (Yakima Herald)

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