While Washington State’s politically correct universities are mandating their students be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to participate in classes and other campus activities this Fall, they have yet to make the same requirement of union members who are on their own payroll.  This hypocrisy is due to the level of control public unions now have on our state campuses, as school administrators know that in order to ask union members to do something not already in their contract, they will be forced to cave into other union demands (usually starting with dollar signs).  It is also worth noting that while administrators are able to appear to be promoting the liberal mantra of vaccinations-for-all, students can actually opt out of the requirement by signing a document that states they don’t want a vaccination for whatever reason they might have. The mandate is really just to sign a piece of paper (or mail). (Click to read full Shift Article)

The Opportunity for All Coalition has filed its lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the recently passed state income tax on capital gains.  The group is represented in the lawsuit by former Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna, who recently spoke with Shift about the legal arguments behind the lawsuit.  The case was filed in Douglas County Superior Court on behalf of the Washington Farm Bureau and nine Washington State residents.  The Opportunity for All Coalition president said, “This tax is the latest attempt by state legislators to defy Washington’s constitution which clearly prohibits an income tax over one percent. The long game here is that they want to defy the will of the voters, who’ve rejected a state income tax ten times, and lay the groundwork for a statewide income tax that would impact most Washington residents.” Click here to view a copy of the complaint. (Opportunity for All Coalition media release and Rob McKenna Newsmaker Interview for Shift)

Legislative Democrats believe Washington State farmers and ranchers get wealthy “while working less than half time.”  This degrading and ignorant comment was made in an internal Democrat document obtained through a public records request made by the Washington Policy Center.  The document provides talking points for Democrat senators to parrot while responding to amendments proposed by Republican senators to SB 5096 (the state income tax on capital gains) during the floor debate on the bill.  The internal memo was written by Democrat senate caucus staff and was distributed to Democrat senators.  Responding to an amendment proposed by Senator Judy Warnick (R – Moses Lake) to exempt all livestock from the tax, the talking point suggested by the caucus staff was “If farmers and ranchers are able to make more than $250,000 in profit each year while working less than half time, they can afford to pay 7% on all profits above $250,000.”

In none of the correspondence provided is there a single mention by any of the Democrat Senators who received this document that this talking point was derogatory and disrespectful to the state’s agriculture community.  Obviously Democrat Senators and their staff members need to break free from their cozy urban lives (and their narrowminded perspectives) and spend a day or two working on a farm, to learn that being a farmer or rancher is not a “less than half-time” job. BTW, remember this comment was made by a government employee “working” for an institution that meets for annual sessions that last only 60 or 105 days, so truly a “less than half-time” job even in the busiest of years. (Democrat Senate Caucus talking points memo for SB 5096 and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

In Clallam County (on the North end of the Olympic Peninsula) there are currently 2,200 unfilled job openings and approximately 2,000 people who could be in the job market but are not seeking employment.  This is a situation duplicated across the state and the country, as employers are having difficulties attracting workers currently receiving full state unemployment benefits plus $300 extra every week from federal relief packages.  While recognizing it is hard for employers to overcome the government incentives for some people not to work, employment experts also point to the fact that some parents are reluctant to resume their careers until students are again in class fulltime. (My Clallam County)

Even the liberal national media is critical of the irresponsible behavior of Seattle’s elected leadership, which has resulted in more than 260 members (20%) of the Seattle Police Department leaving their jobs.  In a CBS Morning News story, a former Seattle police officers stated he left his job (three years before full retirement) due to the lack of support from public officials and poor leadership. Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz said that the budget cuts forced by the Seattle City Council has resulted in longer response times to 911 emergency calls and forced him to cut community policing teams.  When asked about the reckless decisions she and her fellow councilmembers made, which has led to this mass exodus of police officers and an increase in crime, Councilmember Tammy Morales could only offer that sometime in the future, if their already shaky community investment program (i.e. giving taxpayer money to liberal special interest groups) is successful, they can “take a look at” the rising crime rates. (CBS Morning News)

In breaking with both national and state guidelines, King County health officials have issued a directive that “strongly urges” residents to continue to wear face masks in public no matter if they are fully vaccinated or not.  The directive states, “Continued use of face masks for everyone five years of age and older within indoor public spaces is reasonable and necessary in King County to reduce the risk for COVID-19 transmission until more of the population is protected through vaccination and COVID-19 disease rates decline.” Sure is good to know that the folks at King County Health are still willing to watch over all of us, tell us what to do, etc ., even without scientific backing. (MyNorthwest)

In yet another example of how liberal media members fail to understand the complexities of natural resource issues, Crosscut republished a national article which over-hypes the ability of previously discarded wheat stalks to save virgin forests. The article points out that Southeastern Washington wheat farmers have begun selling their left-over wheat stalks to a company which then extracts pulp to make paper.  The article then makes the false claim that this technique will result in more trees left standing. While this is certainly an innovative approach to use all of the wheat plant that is grown, it will do extraordinarily little to save forests, especially here in Washington State.  Normally pulp is the byproduct in harvesting trees, which are primarily used for the wood product they produce – especially here in the Pacific Northwest.  If pulp from wheat stalks is successful in taking over market share from tree farmers (primarily in the Southeastern United States), the farmers will not simply leave trees standing, they will convert their lands to harvest other crops like cotton. (Crosscut/Reasons to be Cheerful)

Once again, Governor Jay Inslee has upset both Republican and Democrat legislative leaders over his unlawful use of his veto powers, and they have already announced they are taking the governor to court, again.  In order to obtain the necessary votes to pass two (expensive and inefficient) climate bills (the “Low Carbon Fuel Standard” and “Cap-and-Trade” schemes demanded by the governor), legislative leaders inserted language into the bills saying they could not be implemented until a future transportation funding package was also signed.  Wealthy environmental groups’ lobbyists convinced the governor that they cannot wait a few months for the legislature to pass an actual transportation funding package and demanded that he veto this linkage language in their climate bills.  By fulfilling their demand, Governor Inslee demonstrated that he either lacks respect for the Democrat legislators involved or that he is blissfully ignorant of the trust required for the legislative process to work (or both). (Click to read full Shift article)

BabylonBee Friday

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