This week’s Newsmaker Interview is with Senator Lynda Wilson of Vancouver. Sen. Wilson is the Ranking Republican on the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee. She provides her thoughts on the negative consequences of the Washington State Supreme Court’s controversial and partisan decision to allow the Democrats’ state income tax on capital gains. And – among other thoughts – she also provides insights on Gov. Inslee hypocritically calling for more new housing construction when many of his policies are the reason why our state has the most severe housing shortage in the country. Read more.

Even in the bizarro world that is Seattle City Hall, calling the tripling of the property tax levy for “affordable housing” a positive step for “affordable housing” doesn’t pass the straight-face test.  Perhaps that’s why Mayor Bruce Harrell had one of his staff defend his proposed billion-dollar money grab as “incredibly appropriate” based on just how badly Democrat policies have screwed up the housing supply within the city’s limits.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a truly progressive policy if your affordable housing tax dollars weren’t being wasted on items that have nothing to do with affordable housing. Consider that this levy is being larded up, as the story notes, with “a fund to ‘stabilize wages’ for people who work in permanent supportive housing” (called giving out “free” money), and “(a)nother $60 million would go toward the levy administration over seven years” (we must have bigger government to support our bigger dreams). Perhaps the saddest fact, buried deep in the article, is that even this massive levy won’t actually improve the situation: “Despite tripling the levy, the number of affordable units built would not increase at the same level because of rising costs to buy land, build projects and maintain housing over the long term.” Seattle Times

A favorite tactic of the Saul Alinsky-motivated Leftists of today in Seattle is to use whatever means necessary to silence those who put a spotlight on their failures.  Those means include taking up a baseball bat against those who would dare speak out about you. Jonathan Choe, a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, has been one of the loudest voices highlighting the reality that the homelessness tragedy on our streets is being exploited by some activists who make money off squalor remaining the status quo. And so, they need to quiet him down, even if that means breaking a few laws. Because, you know, the ends justify the means. (The Post Millennial)

It’s not like we need another reminder that the starkest difference between the two major political parties in our state is that one of them favors policies that benefit those suspected of, or being guilty of, criminal acts, while the other prefers policies that don’t create more victims of criminal acts. But, State Representative Dan Griffey was compelled to provide us with that reminder anyway after seeing just how little respect that House Democrats showed crime victims in Washington with the massive changes made to an already-watered-down drug possession law. He put it plainly: “people will die because of revisions to Blake bill.” (Rep. Dan Griffey)

One of the best well-known secrets in Olympia is how frustrated all the other Democrats are that three-term Governor Jay Inslee is in no hurry to stop collecting a government paycheck after 40 years, and take his huge carbon footprint off to greener pastures. Perhaps that’s why one of the more motivated pretenders to replace him decided to let slip to KUOW (right off the start of the long interview) that “a lot of people have asked me to run for governor” and we “need leaders who are bold” and “too often we operate in a place of division”, as part of her well-rehearsed campaign stump speech while denying she was running. Then, unlike Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s courageous position of not being up for running against the incumbent, Franz staked out different ground by saying Inslee’s decision does not factor into her own: “I am right now in a place of considering it as people are asking me to come forward and put my hat into the ring.” Sounds like some tennis shoes are being laced up by another Washington Democrat woman tired off an old white guy clinging to office. (KUOW)

One of the main advantages which the state’s public employee unions have in their wage “negotiations” with state government is that state “negotiators” agree that the unions deserve more money, since when it comes to giving into demands they are just spending other people’s money. Even better, the “negotiators” operate behind closed doors, so the people who must pay for these very expensive “negotiations” must fork over their money without knowing if there were any better alternatives. That’s why today’s court decision that “the offers and counteroffers for state employee pay raises are disclosable public records once a deal is reached with Governor” could be the first crack in the secrecy which Democrats have used to make our state’s public employees among the best compensated in the country. (Jason Mercier on Twitter)

Typical progressive policy: throw taxpayer money around, make problem worse

Unsaid truth: liberals can give state as much of their $$$ as they want… But they don’t

Seattle transit at its best – 3 times the cost to carry (maybe) the same amount of people

To get early insight into what might make Shift’s next Daily Briefing worth reading, tune in to 570 KVI on your AM dial weekday mornings at 8:05, to hear John Carlson talk Washington State legislative politics with Shift co-founder Randy Pepple. And you can always stay for the rest of the Commute with Carlson by tuning in here.

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