Democrats in Olympia have had months to prepare for the citizen initiatives which gathered millions of signatures last year and are now certified for legislative action. One would think the Left from Governor Jay Inslee on down would be prepared for a public debate on the merits of the Let’s Go Washington efforts to reverse several of their “signature” tax and policy priorities.

Unfortunately, as Todd Myers details for the Washington Policy Center, the liberals who pushed all six of the policies voters have put up for repeal/reform “are intentionally misleading” voters in their “first salvos in what is likely to be a rhetorically charged year.” Leading the early misinformation charge on social media is State Senator Marko Liias, who is claiming highway funding will be cut by voters’ repealing the carbon tax, even though the transportation budget he wrote specifically prohibits using carbon taxes to benefit highways – so there is nothing to cut.

You can read on to see how there is even disagreement between House and Senate Democrats on how much to blackmail voters with carbon tax refund checks, with House Democrats wanting to hold back half the money unless voters do what they say here… Let’s Go Washington website, Washington Policy Center.

Turns out the Washington Policy Center is not the only legislative watcher that caught Sen. Liias’ carefree approach to legislative truth, as KTTH’s Jason Rantz pointed out that “Liias was caught in a whopper of a lie about the carbon tax and Washington Initiative 2117 (I-2117). And he used government resources to do it.”

Rantz went on highlight that “State Rep. Drew Stokesbary (R-Auburn) called out Liias’s lies by revealing that ‘not a dime’ is spent as the Democrat claimed.” Of course, getting caught in a lie doesn’t bother members of the Democrat majority in Olympia, as you can read on to learn that Sen. Liias just can’t abide the survival of I-2117 which “threatens to dismantle Governor Jay Inslee’s beloved carbon tax scheme under the Climate Commitment Act, which is already costing drivers an extra $0.50 per gallon at the pump.”… KTTH.

Seattle voters have tried to turn their City Council around in the last two elections, but there is a still a long ways to go before families and businesses can feel comfortable with the competency of local leadership. One reminder of just how far out-of-touch the council remains with reality was surfaced by Center Square writing that “recently enacted legislation intended to help app-based delivery drivers receive fair wages is instead hurting delivery drivers, business owners and customers.”

The reaction to the onerous new law has been extreme, as “Doordash’s latest data shows that just over two weeks since the pay regulations launched, consumers have placed 30,000 fewer orders on the DoorDash Marketplace, with expectations that it will worsen and cause significant decline in revenue for Seattle businesses.” You can read on to see how one driver complained that “some delivery drivers are a paycheck away from being homeless as a result of the lack of orders. ‘We can’t pay rent’ he said.” … Center Square.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is giving drivers a little more time to get used to a new level of being ripped off. That’s because, as Axios Seattle reports “the tolled carpool lanes on Interstate 405 and State Route 167 near Seattle (are) about to get more expensive”, as “the maximum toll rate to enter the carpool lanes on each highway will rise to $15 starting March 1” and “(M)inimum tolls are going up to $1, and tolling hours will last an hour later on weekdays, through 8pm.”

This triple whammy of increases is the best way for Democrat bureaucrats to make sure they collect more cash from as many drivers as possible, while at the same time jacking up “the maximum tolling rates to $15 is also designed to ‘discourage too many cars from entering the lanes’.” Because the last thing Gov. Inslee’s transportation department wants is for transportation to be occurring without government taking more money from drivers… Axios Seattle.

Shift pointed out yesterday that the Democrats’ approach to state budgeting this year resembles a bad B-movie shakedown effort, with voters being threatened with punishment if they don’t vote the right way. Well, more analysis of more parts of the budget has yielded more examples of such blackmail, with the latest coming from the Salish Current (via KNKX) that “increased state aid for Skagit County, Kitsap Transit and Washington State Ferries comes with a major catch: the promised money vanishes if voters repeal the 2021 Climate Commitment Act (cap-and-trade program) in November.”

That’s right, the Democrats are desperately promising to deliver all kinds of nice presents, as long as voters don’t ask for their money back. And it’s not just one item, as “ferry spending is far from alone on the chopping block. The 2024 spending blueprints unveiled in Olympia this week list page after page of proposed purchases and construction for which the money cannot be spent until after the November election.” Read on to see how House Democrats are trying to pretend to be fiscal conservatives when it comes to their precious carbon tax money…. Salish Current (via KNKX).

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