From Shift’s “Zoomer” correspondent comes this article on how liberal protesters and advocates allow their emotions to control their actions. While emotions do play a role in our political discourse, we should not expect our elected officials to base their decisions on the emotional outbursts of citizens. (Shift)

Tribal casinos, a major source Democrat campaign contributions, are defying Governor Jay Inslee’s orders and are planning to re-open.  This is a very public insult to Inslee and the Democrats who just handed the tribes a monopoly on the lucrative sports gambling businesses (while totally ignoring the qualifications of non-tribal businesses).  The real question is… If Governor Inslee and the Democrats believe that an early opening of tribal casinos will endanger the lives of Washington citizens, will they continue to accept their campaign contributions? (Seattle Times)

Governor Inslee announced the formation of three extremely partisan groups, that are mostly comprised of his political donors/supporters, to “advise” him during the coronavirus crisis.  The membership of the groups further confirms the suspicion that partisanship is guiding Inslee’s decision-making during this crisis.  It is also interesting to note the inclusion of tribal leaders on these panels, even though tribal casinos are preparing to defy his stay-at-home orders.  The announcement of these advisory panels comes after Shift and others have criticized Governor Inslee for forming the partisan Western States Pact (nearly a month ago) with other states’ Democrat governors, while not forming any non-partisan groups of Washington residents to help decide our state’s future. (Governor Inslee’s media release and Shift’s Daily Briefing)

A “rough” study by the state’s chief economist predicts the State of Washington will lose more than $750 million in revenue by the end of June and nearly $3.8 billon over the next year. Representative Ed Orcutt (R-Kalama) asked Steve Lerch to prepare the study.  Governor Inslee responded to the report by stating the obvious: “This is obviously a very significant hole.”  The economist will be publishing a complete examination of the state’s current financial condition in mid-June.  It is expected that Inslee will be forced to call a special session of the legislature to fix the state’s finances, after a decade of Democrats’ jamming through budget increases every year.  Expect Inslee and the Democrats to use the financial suffering of others to justify a state income tax and an increase in the size and power of government. (Everett Herald)

Two ethics complaints have been filed against Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant alleging she encouraged others to break the law.  Roger Valdez of Seattle for Growth has filed two ethics complaints against the socialist councilmember.  Valdez contends that Sawant encouraged people to commit a felony (theft) when she stated people should not pay rent and that the councilmember incited people to violate Governor Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” orders when she promoted the May Day Caravan protest to Olympia. (Sawant is already defending herself in a defamation lawsuit brought by a Seattle police officer and is also defending her office in a City of Seattle investigation that alleges her staff illegally used public funds for political purposes.) (Seattle City Council Insight)

A highly respected Olympia Republican has stepped forward to run for Congress in the 10^th Congressional District.  Jackson Maynard, who recently helped overturn Governor Inslee’s ban on residential construction, has announced he is running for the seat vacated by Representative Denny Heck.  After serving as the attorney for the Republican Senate Caucus, Maynard is currently the counsel for the Building Industry Association of Washington (and vice president of the popular Roanoke Conference).  Maynard will be holding his virtual kick-off on Thursday (May 7^th) at 10:00 AM on Facebook.  All are welcome to join and ask questions. (Jackson Maynard Media Advisory and Facebook Page)

Even Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, a consistent promoter of more taxes and bigger government, is against the so-called “Amazon Tax.” Durkan said the tax will not provide the city with any additional funds to respond to the lost revenue due to the COVID-19 crisis – even though Councilmember Kshama Sawant says that we need the tax to help those currently suffering.  Also, because the coronavirus outbreak is impacting many local businesses, there is no way to predict how much revenue will be collected since we do not know which businesses will still be around and subjected to the tax. (MyNorthwest)

The three Democrat legislators who represent Clallam County are asking Governor Inslee to lift restrictions in that county to reduce its high unemployment rate.  The northern Olympic Peninsula county is experiencing the second highest unemployment rate in the state. It has had only 18 coronavirus patients, which health officials said were contracted outside the county.  (Letter to Governor Inslee)

Governor Inslee has ignored the request of Spokane area officials and placed “unrealistic” requirements on the region before it can re-open for business.  In a conference call with Spokane area officials, Inslee stated that Spokane County had to have no new coronavirus for three weeks (something that will likely not occur anytime soon) in order for the county to be able to move to “Phase II” before Inslee lets everybody out of their house.  Meanwhile, 15 miles to the East of Spokane, Idaho is safely opening 90% of its businesses. (Spokesman-Review and Idaho Press)

The Vice President of the National Cattlemen’s Association states, “There is no beef shortage.” Ethan Lane says his industry is working hard to safely return workers at beef processing plants and that frozen product originally destined to restaurants should be able to fulfill grocery store consumers’ needs. (Washington AG Network)

Longtime popular Yakima establishment is a victim of Governor Inslee’s emergency edicts.  Jack-Sons Sports Bar and ClubHouse Lounge has been a mainstay in the Central Washington community for years, but was unable to survive the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. (Yakima Herald)

Another day, another liberal special interest group using the hardship of others to push their selfish demands.  In FUSE’s latest email blast, the government union-financed group lays out its agenda to respond to the coronavirus outbreak – and each item only financially benefits those who depend on higher taxes and bigger government.  Of course, FUSE’s top priority has nothing to do with Washington State, as the far-left group recklessly wants Congress to pass an expensive proposal to quickly force all states to impose a vote-by-mail election for this November – an act that will lead to mass chaos and untrustworthy results.  And, while state residents and businesses are trying to rebuild our economy, FUSE wants to impose its extreme green agenda, resurrecting the low a 57-cents a gallon carbon tax that will mostly impact low income workers and struggling businesses.  And finally, of course, FUSE wants to achieve the holy grail of liberal special interest groups, a permanent state income tax to provide an ever-increasing taxes to pay for even larger and more powerful government. (FUSE email and Shift)

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