Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Maia Espinoza welcomes a new daughter while continuing to campaign to replace controversial incumbent Chris Reykdal.  Espinoza told Shift, in an exclusive interview, that the birth of her third child makes her more determined to “make meaningful change in our education system now.”  Espinoza also discusses her goals if elected, the failure of the SPI office to assist local school districts during the pandemic, provide more education choices for families, and the negative campaign being waged by the incumbent after his poor showing in the primary election (“It’s sad that the public schools in Washington are being run by a bully.”) (Shift Interview)

The Seattle Times wrote an extensive front page story about the increasing impact of Native Americans’ financial contributions in Washington politics, but failed to mention the political favors the money has already purchased.  In the latest example of how the media treats liberal special interest groups more favorably than conservative organizations, the Times so-called “news” story was sympathetic to the tribes’ environmental positioning and their long running legal and political battles with former Washington State Attorney General and U.S. Senator Slade Gorton (failing to provide the legal reasoning behind Gorton’s defense of the state’s interests).  The story also failed to mention that tribal money has already purchased significant political favors from the Democrat-controlled state government.  In the past year, the legislature and Governor Inslee gave tribal casinos a monopoly on the lucrative sports betting business just being legalized and allowed the state to give sales tax revenue to tribes which was taken from non-tribal businesses on reservation properties.  Also, while many “non-essential” businesses were threatened and fined by the state for not abiding by the governor’s random COVID restrictions, Inslee hoped tribal casinos were “very, very successful” as they defied his emergency orders and reopened their doors to thousands of gamblers. Maybe if Governor Inslee had threatened to take away the sports betting monopoly, the sovereign tribes would have been convinced to observe the same guidelines as other Washington residents during the pandemic. But, threatening campaign donors is not the Jay Way – he’d rather threaten Boeing with higher taxes to drive even more jobs out of the state. (Seattle Times, Q13 News, Everett Herald, and Seattle Times)

Secretary of State Kim Wyman has brought in the expertise of the National Guard to assist her office in ensuring the state’s 2020 elections are free from cyber-attack influence.  As opposed to Governor Inslee’s Employment Security Department, which brought in the National Guard months AFTER foreign criminals stole a hundreds of millions of dollars in one of the largest heists in American history, Secretary Wyman’s office recognized the expertise available and has chosen to work with the National Guard for the past three years to make sure future elections are free from foreign influence. The Washington Air National Guard has developed expertise in cyber security due to the number of its airmen and women who are employed by local hi-tech companies. (News Tribune)

Opponents of the new divisive sex education legislation believe the subject should be taught in school, but they are concerned the bill removes local control and parents from determining the curriculum.  A spokesperson for the proponents of the Referendum 90 campaign (those who encourage voters to “Reject” the sex ed bill on the ballot) said, “Parents want to be involved in the process, and this takes that away and gives it to Olympia.” The bill, which was written by liberal special interest groups and was promoted by the underwhelming Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, was passed along party lines during the 2020 legislative session.  Parent groups organized a referendum campaign, after being ignored by the Left during the legislative process, and collected (despite significant COVID-19 restrictions) a record-breaking 266,000 signatures to place a repeal of the poorly drafted law on the ballot. (Everett Herald)

Youth advocates are tired of receiving lip service from Governor Inslee as he continues to send foster children out-of-state to institutions operated by the same company responsible for the death of a Michigan child.  Since 2017, youth and civil rights advocates have said Inslee has promised to stop sending foster children to out-of-state facilities owned by Sequel Youth and Family Services, yet the governor has failed to keep this promise. Sequel owns a facility in Michigan where a 16-year-old resident died while being constrained by staff. (Inlander)

King County Metro does not need the tax increase in Proposition 1 to stay financially solvent, thanks to the $244 million it received from the federal CARES Act. Taxpayer money is already being used to keep Metro afloat – that  is one of the primary findings from a new report by the Washington Policy Center. The report states the federal funds will fully compensate Metro for the loses it will experience from reduced ridership due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Also, showing its leaders are more committed to the expansionistic agenda of mass transit as opposed to the reality of it, and despite uncertainty over future ridership numbers due to more people working from home, Metro is planning to restore full, pre-COVID service of its transit service and embark on expensive new projects (which will, of course, be delayed after new ridership trends show less need). (Washington Policy Center)

Antifa activists used fascist techniques to squash free speech. In their latest act against free speech, Antifa supporters broke up a small pro-police rally in the Green Lake neighborhood by shouting down speakers and creating many disturbances.  Meanwhile, Governor Jay Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Representative Kim Schrier, and nearly all elected Democrats refuse to take a public stand against Antifa’s illegal and often violent activities, seemingly in fear of upsetting part of their liberal base which supports the radical organization.  Maybe we are expecting too much from our governor to condemn Antifa, for only a year ago he thought Antifa was a person and was completely clueless to their part in the violent activities in Seattle this past summer. (MyNorthwest, YouTube, and Rebecca Perry Twitter)

Governor Inslee joined with the governors of Idaho, Montana, and Oregon in signing a letter of agreement to work towards improving the region’s salmon and steelhead populations.  The legally non-binding document follows a federal study and report that outlined actions to improve Snake River salmon runs, but do not include the (Inslee-supported) expensive and environmentally damaging acts of removing the four Lower Snake River dams. Hopefully the new agreement means recognition by Inslee and other “greens” that the dams provide clean energy to the region and that the economic well-being of many communities across multiple state are dependent on the dams. (Lewiston Tribune)

A wolf success story: In a video report on the Colville Confederated Tribes and their management of wildlife on tribal lands, it shows that their wolf population has recovered.  About 10 years ago, when the tribe began managing wildlife on their lands, there was one pack of wolves on the reservation — and today there are five. The tribe seeks to manage its wildlife so that members can maintain their sustenance and cultural traditions. (Washington Policy Center video report)

While Bob Ferguson makes frivolous claims about his opponent Matt Larkin “violating state law” simply because he attended a political rally, he continues to turn a blind eye to his supporters who not only “violated” the same state emergency orders, they have done far worse.  The Attorney General (along with all other state Democrat office holders) has refused to condemn the actions of his fellow liberals who have attempted to burn police officers alive, have repeatedly physically assaulted police officers, and have caused millions of dollars of damage to Seattle businesses. Yet we expect this from the state AG who often selectively enforces laws due to political considerations.  (Ferguson campaign fundraising email)

Jay Inslee admitted that Chris Reykdal’s poor primary election performance demonstrates the controversial Superintendent of Public Instruction is in serious political trouble.  In a fundraising email on Reykdal’s behalf, the governor first insulted the state’s voters by proclaiming that Reykdal “fell short” in the August primary because “voters don’t know the details of this race.”  Inslee then hurt the embattled and very partisan superintendent when he stated, “Like me, Chris puts science first.” This from a governor who ignored the scientific evidence so he could claim the state’s recent wildfires were caused by his favorite cause, climate change. And Inslee concluded the fundraising email by further helping Reykdal’s opponent by stating, “The contrast between Chris and his opponent couldn’t be more clear” – something Maia Espinoza and her supporters have been proudly proclaiming during her campaign to oust Reykdal. It is interesting that in the email, Inslee avoids mentioning Reykdal’s crowning achievement of his SPI tenure, the very controversial mandatory sex education bill. (Inslee email,  Cliff Mass Shift Interview, Mindie Wirth Shift Interview)

Governor Inslee constantly makes elusive and factually incorrect statements, and the local media fails to uphold its responsibility to point them out to the public (and to Inslee).  Consider a few of Governor Zero’s whoppers: his defense for having Washington State taxpayers fund security for his failed presidential campaign; him claiming ignorance of the forceful takeover of six city blocks (and a Seattle police precinct) by protestors; to his stubborn refusal to call a much needed (and legally required) special legislative session. In each of these instances – and many more – the Washington State media fails to hold the governor accountable for his misleading comments. Since there are no consequences for providing evasive responses and fabricating false scenarios to legitimate questions and concerns, Inslee will continue to make them. As a result, the public is not served, and our democracy suffers. (Shift Article)

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