The Tax Foundation provides interesting data on immigration between states to highlight Washington State’s Democrat lawmakers’ agenda to keep imposing higher taxes on Washington residents. The national non-profit tax research organization found that a “strong positive relationship exists between state tax competitiveness and inbound migration. Overall, states with lower taxes and sound tax structures experienced stronger inbound migration than states with higher taxes and more burdensome structures.” This does not bode well for Washington as it attempts to encourage companies to move to our state (or at the very least stop leaving the state).

Nearly all states with sizable surplus tax revenues (including even California!) have provided tax relief to their taxpayers during the past year.  Yet Washington State residents were not only denied tax relief by Governor Jay Inslee and Democrat legislators, but they can also expect higher tax/fee bills due to the Long-Term Care payroll tax, Family Leave payroll tax, increased drivers’ and vehicle licensing fees, higher Workers Compensation taxes, Cap and Trade fees on gas, and if the Democrats are successful in overturning a century of judicial precedents, a state income tax starting with capital gains. (Tax Foundation and The Hill Twitter)

The greed of Washington State government is on full display after most state agencies have submitted their requests for the next two-year budget and if all were approved they would increase the cost of state government by 28.5%!  These demands are after state government has more than doubled in size since Jay Inslee became governor a decade ago.  This liberal greed is why Washington residents have been denied tax relief, as the governor and Democrat legislators want to keep growing the size of state government instead of returning money to taxpayers.  More state workers means more people forced to pay state employee union dues, which are then used by union bosses to elect more Democrats. This vicious cycle will continue if Democrats are successful in using all of this year’s surplus money to convince voters to keep them in power. (Washington Research Council and LEAP year-by-year Washington State budget)

Two-term extreme environmentalist State Representative Alex Ramel (D -Bellingham) either purposefully attempted to deceive voters about the cost of legislation he supported, or (despite his years of environmental activism) he is embarrassingly unaware of the impact of expensive climate legislation he supported.  In a candidate interview conducted by Business Pulse (a Whatcom County publication), Representative Ramel was asked, “According to the state Department of Ecology, Washington’s new climate laws will add more than 40 cents to the cost of a gallon of gas. Is increasing prices/taxes justified to address climate change? What simple thing would you do to provide a measure of permanent relief for the high gas prices in our state?”

Obviously the question refers to the Cap and Trade legislation (SB 5126) which nearly everyone (including Jay Inslee’s own Department of Ecology) agrees will raise gas prices by 40 to 50 cents a gallon starting next year. Yet instead of honestly answering the question, Representative Ramel chose to mislead voters about the jump in fuel prices caused by SB 5126 by switching the discussion to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard legislation (HB 1091), which on its own will not immediately raise the price of gas substantially.

Representative Ramel started his evasion by responding, “That report from Ecology shows that the impact on gas prices from the low carbon fuel standard next year will be less than 1 cent per gallon. The 40 cents you reference is the high-end estimate for what the impact may be a dozen years from now (2034–2036).”

We have little doubt that Representative Ramel knew he was being asked about the Cap and Trade bill and its future impact on fuel prices. By switching the discussion to a different bill, the very liberal representative shows how he and his fellow Democrats are rarely honest (especially around election time) about the cost to Washington residents of their expensive environmental programs.   It is interesting to note that the representative included in his reply this warning to the Business Pulse’s editors, “I hope you will make sure this is accurately reported in the way this question is framed.” Thus Representative Ramel is telling the editors they had better be honest about his dishonesty. (Business Pulse page 33, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and Washington Policy Center)

One can tell that Democrats are worried that skyrocketing and record-breaking crime rates continue to be a top concern of voters when their liberal apologists in the local media attempt to discredit the relevance of the violence and the thousands of victims it has created.  KIRO Radio Host Dave Ross (who was a 2004 Democrat candidate for Congress) does his best to defend his fellow Democrats by wondering what all the fuss is about since the murder rate in Seattle, while record-breaking, is not as high as it is in Atlanta or Chicago.

There are two substantive answers to Ross’ question. The first is, while the crime problem in other U.S. cities is the result of a decades of social, economic, crime, and race policies that are complex, the explosive crime rate increases in Seattle and across Washington are the direct result of specific anti-police and drug decriminalization legislation recently passed by liberal lawmakers who are now seeking re-election.  And just like Seattle voters rejected the campaigns of candidates (like Lorena Gonzalez, Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, and Nikita Oliver) who vocally supported the City of Seattle’s reckless anti-police polices, Washington State voters will have the opportunity in a few weeks to demonstrate their opposition to the state’s pro-criminal and pro-drug policies passed by Democrat lawmakers in 2021.

The second answer is that while Democrats like Dave Ross believe we should wait until our murder rate is as high as Chicago or Atlanta before we do anything about it, Washington residents don’t want to wait that long and see thousands of people killed because they chose to do nothing about the problem today.

It is interesting that Ross would make the argument that we shouldn’t be so concerned about violent crime in our state because it is worse elsewhere.  We wonder if he will consider that argument valid the next time he supports anti-gun legislation in our state. (MyNorthwest)

The 2022 homicide rate in Tacoma continues to break records after two more people were murdered over the weekend.  Two separate shootings occurred on Sunday leaving two people dead and another one injured.   There have been 36 murders in the “City of Destiny” so far this year, already breaking the record of 34 set in 2021. (KING5 News)

A liberal pro-criminal organization attempted to get the suspect of a random killing in Tacoma released on his personal recognizance while awaiting trial. The non-profit Freedom Project, which states its mission is to “dismantle the institution of mass incarceration and heal its traumatic effects,” argued at a court hearing that Kevin O’Neal Harvey, Jr. should be set free until the trial for the murder of Papaloa Sauileone takes place sometime next year.  Fortunately the court did not seriously consider the Freedom Project’s unreasonable request and set bail for $1 million.  Sauileane was the father of six children and was shot in the head and groin after buying coffee at a convenience market in the early morning of September 5^th. (News Tribune and Freedom Project)

University of Washington students are expressing their fear after seeing their turf become the latest Seattle neighborhood negatively impacted by a slew of violent and disturbing crimes. A week ago a person was killed by a hit-and-run driver fleeing a shooting scene, and four students were shot the next night outside a popular University Way restaurant and bar.  This past weekend a man broke into a sorority house, pointed a gun at a female student’s head and attempted a sexual assault.  Students are calling for more police patrols in their neighborhood.  Unfortunately, the Seattle Police Department might not be able to fulfill this request since it has lost nearly 500 officers due to lack of support from the city’s liberal elected officials. (KOMO News)

An alleged large embezzlement of public funds is the latest problem the City of Spokane has faced from non-profits receiving large contracts to run homeless shelters.  For years, Jewels Helping Hands has faced many investigations into its past mismanagement of city-run warming centers and is now facing controversies over its running of the large 500+ homeless encampment on Washington State Department of Transportation property.

Yesterday it became public that Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward has ordered an audit and police investigation into the activities of the Guardian Foundation, which has a $2 million contract to manage the 72-bed Cannon Street shelter and just signed a $6.6 million contract after the city council approved it to run the new 100-bed Trent Avenue shelter. There are allegations that a former Guardian employee embezzled between $100,000 to $1 million over the past 18 months.   (Spokesman-Review, Shift, and KXLY News)

Shift’s Newsmaker interview was with Greg Cheney, a GOP Washington State House of Representatives candidate in the 18^th Legislative District (Clark County).  The Battle Ground attorney and small business owner won a hotly contested primary race between three Republican candidates for the opportunity to face a Democrat opponent in next month’s general election.  It is an open seat following the retirement of Republican Representative Larry Hoff.  Cheney is a Clark County native and he and his wife are the proud parents of two elementary school boys.

In his interview Cheney discussed how the state can reduce crime by “recriminalizing” drugs and allowing the police to pursue suspected criminals.  As a local planning commission member, Cheney described how the state’s liberal energy policies are increasing the cost of new homes and making them unaffordable for first-time buyers. He believes the state should help seniors stay in their homes during retirement by freezing their property taxes.  Cheney has been active in helping those with mental health challenges and believes early intervention is key to helping students struggling after the pandemic. Finally, he provided one of the best presidential biographies ever written (in Shift’s humble opinion) as his favorite book. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

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