This week’s Newsmaker Interview is with State Representative Joe Schmick (R – Colfax), an outspoken critic of the Democrats’ desire to create a new, expensive state-run entitlement program with their poorly designed Long-Term Care payroll tax.  Representative Schmick is the GOP’s ranking member on the House Health Care and Wellness Committee.  In a Seattle Times op-ed published earlier this week, Rep. Schmick and fellow Representative Peter Abbarno (R – Centralia) describe the many flaws in the new payroll tax (which is scheduled to begin on January 1^st), and why its implementation needs to be either delayed or scrapped all together.  In his interview, Rep. Schmick provides his thoughts on what needs to be done to improve the program so it actually fits the needs of Washington workers, and he provides the selfish reasons why the Democrats refuse to delay the payroll tax in order to fix its many flaws. Spoiler alert – your money might be involved. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office released a report stating that a record number of data breaches (280) have been reported thus far in 2021.  This already breaks the previous record of 78 incidents, which occurred in 2018.  More than 6.3 million notices of data violations have been sent to Washington State residents in the first 10 months of this year.

Not mentioned in the Seattle Times article, and barely mentioned in Ferguson’s media release, is the role the Inslee Administration played in failing to secure the private financial information of Washington State residents.  Buried in the AG’s media release is the fact that more than 1 million residents had their financial security compromised by the “mega-breach” which occurred at the Washington State Auditor’s office, which had the personal information to lose because of its investigation into the massive security failure that took place at Governor Inslee’s Employment Security Department (ESD).  Not reported is how many of the other 280 security breeches were created by ESD’s massive failure, which allowed one of the largest thefts ($650 million) in American history to take place and allowed criminals across the globe to have access to Washington residents’ personal information.  And now that the governor’s “Verify WA” computer app will be obtaining the personal medical records of millions of Washington residents, do Washington residents feel that information is secure from international criminals? (Seattle Times, Attorney General’s office media release, and Verify WA)

The Washington State Department of Transportation admits that Governor Inslee’s unilateral decision to fire unvaccinated state workers will result in longer-than-normal delays on the Cascade Mountain Pass this winter.  The governor’s vaccine mandate separated 402 essential WSDOT workers from their jobs.  This has caused the department to have 293 fewer winter operations jobs filled then it had in 2019.  As a result, it will likely take longer for road crews to reopen roads and WSDOT has already stated that instead of clearing the entire roadway, the agency will only clear one or two lanes (which will also cause delays for travelers). Imagine if the governor had allowed public debate and permitted other lawmakers to propose alternatives to his strict vaccine mandate; there likely would be less disruption of state services. But for the governor, it is far more important that he maintain his undemocratic one-man rule (for more than 615 days!) than it is to provide basic government services which many people depend on – especially since pass closures impact Eastern Washington residents and businesses the hardest. (Washington Policy Center and Shift)

In a surprise announcement, FOX 13 political reporter/commentator Brandi Kruse announced that today will be her last with the Seattle station.  The highly respected Kruse is one of the very few local journalists who has not proven afraid of asking liberal politicians the same type of difficult questions posed to conservative lawmakers.  There has been some speculation about Kruse’s future since her highly regarded “The Divide” Sunday morning program is no longer on the air, and Kruse’s social media posts have recently featured her enjoying some much deserved extended vacation time.  Kruse did not say what she will be doing next, but did tease that she will be announcing on Monday what her next endeavor will be, and that, “I promise I’m not giving up the fight – quite the opposite.” Stay tuned.  (Brandi Kruse Facebook Post)

The Northwest Carpenters Union is under investigation by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters for “voter fraud, pension and welfare investment improprieties, and other areas of mismanagement” and has been placed under the stewardship of its national organization. This development follows last week’s announcements that three of the union’s leaders had resigned their positions. The carpenters union settled a very divisive three-week strike exactly one month ago. (MyNorthwest)

Two Washington State Patrol Troopers fired by Governor Inslee for not complying with his vaccine mandate have been hired by the Grant County Sheriff’s office. The two were among the 74 troopers fired due to the governor’s mandate, which received no input from other elected representatives or local health officials. We wish the officers well in their new posts. (iFIBER One, KING5 News, and Shift)

Unfortunately for taxpayers, small business employer Mike Lish lost ground in his Spokane City Council bid in the latest round of votes counted by the Spokane County Elections Department.  Restaurant owner Lish’s vote deficit grew from 453 votes to 537 after more than 3,000 ballots were counted in the 3^rd Council District contest on Thursday.  Around 5,000 more votes are still expected to be counted in the race. (Spokane County Elections vote totals and Shift)

The attorney for fired Washington State University football coach Nick Rolovich sent a 34-page letter to the university’s athletic director outlining the case against his dismissal for not complying with Governor Inslee’s vaccine mandate. The strongly worded letter to Athletic Director Patrick Chun states, “This is your opportunity to take a step back, reexamine your illegal and unconstitutional conduct, and adopt a different posture toward Coach Rolovich before you and the University are forced to defend your conduct in the context of a federal court civil rights action.” (Spokesman Review)

Since an exhaustive federal study and another expensive report commissioned by Governor Inslee’s office both failed to provide the answers that wealthy environmental donors wanted, the governor has announced that he will join with U.S. Senator Patty Murray to force taxpayers to fund yet another study on removing the four dams along the Snake River and eliminating the clean energy and the agricultural benefits they provide.  Wealthy environmentalists are not happy that a scientific report conducted by several federal agencies recommended keeping the dams in place. Earlier this year, the governor’s own “Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Engagement Report” failed to provide any reason for removing the dams as well.

Since Senator Murray will be facing a tough re-election campaign next year as she hopes to extend her 30-year U.S. Senate career, she will need plenty of money from rich “progressives” and liberal special interest groups – thus order up a study which we already know will regurgitate unscientific findings the environmental groups desire. Of course, in Governor Inslee’s email to his supporters about his wasteful study, he says such nonsense as “We cannot let our children or our grandchildren grow up in a Pacific Northwest without salmon”, while also failing to mention a very important fact – that salmon runs on the Snake River already have been increasing and are projected to increase even further next year.  But why let facts get in the way when the faltering career of a liberal politician is at stake. It’s not like they are spending their own money. (Inslee campaign email and WAPolicyGreen Twitter)

Voters across Washington State rejected the Democrats’ extreme agenda of raising taxes and making the state a safer place to be a criminal.  In an “advisory” vote, Washington residents strongly voted against the Democrats’ new state income tax on capital gains. Even normally crazy voters in Seattle rejected candidates who wanted to prolong the liberal agenda of defunding police departments and increasing taxes. Spokane voters elected a new employer-friendly candidate to the city council (and another one could still win). Tuesday’s elections provided many positive stories and a couple of disappointments. Shift recaps the election results and how they will impact politics in 2022. (Click to read full Shift Article)

BABYLONBEE FRIDAY!

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