Hope you had a great America 250! We took a short break to celebrate the greatest nation on Earth—now it’s back to keeping an eye on the folks trying to “fix” it.
Washington AG’s Office Calls Accurate Reporting “Nonsense” While Hiding Behind Selective Transparency
The Washington Attorney General’s Office is not happy that The Center Square exposed internal communications showing AGO attorneys actively helping Democratic lawmakers craft the new “Millionaires Tax” to challenge decades of Supreme Court precedent.
Instead of addressing the substance, AGO spokesman Mike Faulk dismissed the story as “misinformation,” “nonsense,” and the work of a “partisan outlet.” Internal emails show Faulk coordinating with top leadership, including Attorney General Nick Brown, to downplay the revelations while treating different media outlets differently. The Center Square received nearly 1,000 pages unredacted. Opponents of the tax and other requesters got heavily redacted versions.
This is classic one-party Democratic governance in Washington: push a controversial tax, get caught coordinating behind the scenes, then lash out at transparency while claiming there’s “no story.”
The records revealed the AGO advising on how to structure the bill to force the Supreme Court to revisit rulings treating income as property. That’s not routine legal counsel — it’s political lawyering with taxpayer resources.
Washingtonians deserve real transparency from their Attorney General’s Office, not selective record releases and attacks on journalists who actually report the facts. The income tax battle is far from over, and attempts to dismiss legitimate scrutiny only make the whole operation look more suspicious. Read more at The Center Square.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez Dodges Questions on Washington’s New Income Tax — Because Her Record Says It All
Two months after the NRCC released polling showing Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Washougal) trailing Republican State Sen. John Braun, pressure is mounting for the incumbent to publicly state her position on Washington’s new income tax.
Outlets like The Center Square has repeatedly sought comment from Gluesenkamp Perez on the tax and her challenger. Responses have been sparse or nonexistent. A spokesperson previously offered vague platitudes about “working people” and “lowering taxes” without addressing the 9.9% “Millionaires Tax” specifically.
Braun, who is challenging her in what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive House races in the country, isn’t buying the moderate image.
“In spite of all her claims to be moderate, she has been pro-tax in every aspect of her voting in Washington, D.C.,” Braun told The Center Square. “As recently as last year, she voted against the largest tax reduction in our country’s history.”
Meanwhile, as Republicans point out, Gluesenkamp Perez was involved in drafting the Washington Democrats’ 2020 platform calling for taxing the highest incomes, and her voting record aligns with the party’s tax-and-spend agenda.
With the new income tax facing a lawsuit and a repeal initiative from Let’s Go Washington that has already gathered enough signatures for the ballot, the race is becoming a referendum on Olympia’s fiscal policies. Gluesenkamp Perez’s reluctance to clearly state her position speaks volumes.
This is classic Democrat strategy in competitive districts: talk like a moderate, vote like a progressive, and hope voters don’t notice the difference. Washington’s 3rd District deserves better than another tax-friendly representative who dodges accountability on the issues that matter most to working families. Read more at The Center Square.
Seattle’s World Cup Glow-Up Proves Everything Liberals Claimed Was Impossible Was Just a Choice
The World Cup is over for Seattle, and the city just spent a month proving every excuse City Hall has offered for the last decade was a lie.
As Seattle Red’s Jason Rantz points out, downtown looked clean. Streets were power-washed. Encampments were cleared from tourist corridors. The city actually felt like a place people would want to visit. That should be the baseline expectation, not a limited-time promotional stunt to impress FIFA.
Unfortunately, don’t expect it to last. The sweeps and increased policing weren’t a change of heart — they were image management for a global audience. Mayor Katie Wilson campaigned against sweeps, ran them anyway when the world was watching, and will likely quietly retire them now that the cameras are gone.
Police delivered because they were finally allowed to. With federal backup and a green light, SPD managed massive crowds and kept matches incident-free.
The real question now is whether Seattle’s leaders will keep delivering these results. Everything that happens next is a policy choice. The return of tents, open drug use, and downtown decay isn’t inevitable. We just saw the alternative for a month.
If the city slides back into failure, it’s because Mayor Wilson and Washington Democrats chose the slide. They can no longer claim a cleaner, safer Seattle is impossible. We all just saw it.
This is the clearest proof yet that progressive governance isn’t incapable of basic competence — it’s simply unwilling to prioritize it for the people who actually live here. Taxpayers deserve year-round results, not World Cup cosplay. Read more at Seattle Red.
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