Governor Inslee has formed yet another task force (stocked with campaign supporters) to restore the state’s economy – which he will likely ignore.
State
Left-wing big government advocates, higher taxes politicians, government union employees, and Seattle special interest groups are celebrating the Washington StateSupreme Court ruling that overruled the voter-approved I-976 car tab initiative. The extremely liberal court decided that, after nearly two decades of debates about car tabs, voters were confused: its title was “deceptive and misleading” and the measure failed to adhere to the state’s “single subject” requirements. I-976 passed with 53% of the vote in the 2019 General Election and would have rolled back annual car tabs to $30. After passage, liberal politicians (Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and King County Executive Dow Constantine) immediately sought to overturn the voters’ wishes by filing a legal challenge. It appears another initiative will soon be filed by those who wish to reduce the car tabs. Let us hope the campaign organizers do their homework and craft a measure that can withstand legal challenges. (News Tribune, Washington Secretary of State Elections Results, and MyNorthwest)
One piece of good news from today’s I-976 ruling is that legislative Democrats don’t have to follow through on Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal’s revengeful demand that they should punish people living in counties which voted for the measure. If you remember, the controversial SPI tweeted on election night (and deleted soon after), that “If Washington State legislative Democrats do not pull down transportation projects in direct proportion to the 976 yes votes by county, then nothing will change! If certain counties want transportation projects cut, then they don’t get the projects. Step up Democrats!” The problem with this vindictive and revealing tweet from our ultra-partisan state school chief – who is supposed to be a non-partisan official — is that he still wanted residents in pro I-976 counties to pay the higher taxes, but also wanted them to be denied the government services they were paying for. (Twitter)
At Governor Inslee’s latest “News Conference” (a.k.a. “taxpayer funded campaign event”), he announced the formation of his latest do-nothing task force, one that will be packed with Inslee campaign donors, liberal special interest group representatives, and government bureaucrats. The Governor’s press release claimed that the Washington Recovery Group “will help state agencies change how we do business so that we can better serve the people of Washington” after the “the social and economic damage wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Even though neither the governor or his subsequent press release stated who would participate in this group, a media report revealed it would “include representatives from a variety of interests, including state agencies, boards, commissions, local agencies and the private sector.” In May, the Governor announced the formation of three “Safe Start Advisory Groups” which were stacked full of Inslee campaign donors, liberal special interest group representatives, and government bureaucrats (i.e. the same people who will make up the latest task force). Since the announcement of the Safe Start groups, we cannot find any mention of the groups’ activities or accomplishments. Similar to past efforts, the Washington Recovery Group will be another dysfunctional Inslee initiative that will fall into obscurity. But, announcing it in a non-news conference allowed his campaign to gain a day’s worth of free publicity (on the public dime). (Inslee 10/13/ 2020 Press Release, The Patch, and Inslee 05/05/2020 Press release, and Listing of Governor Inslee’s Press Releases)
Another top health official has decided to leave the Inslee Administration – but unfortunately, it’s not the super-incompetent Suzi LeVine at Employment Security. As Governor Inslee continues to claim his political decisions are based on random unscientific health reasons, his second top health official has decided she has had enough. State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy revealed she is leaving the Administration to focus on her own health and reconnect with her family and friends. Lofy announcement comes after Secretary of Health John Weisman stated he was leaving to take a job with the University of North Carolina. Perhaps Inslee will put in the job description that replacements must be able to find some bureaucrats who can actually produce accurate daily COVID counts. (Everett Herald)
Western Washington
The Seattle Times comes out with a strong endorsement for incumbent “moderate” Democrat Mark Mullet in his 5th Legislative District State Senate race against “progressive” Democrat challenger Ingrid Anderson, who is strongly supported by Governor Inslee and government employee unions. Inslee and the unions are upset with business owner Mullet because he understands economics, and has not joined his Democrat legislative colleagues in supporting every tax increase the unions have sought. In its endorsement of Mullet, the Times makes an argument that perhaps its editorial board members might remember when they contemplate their endorsements in races between Republicans and Democrats. After discussing the historic level of compulsory-dues dollars the unions are spending on the race, the paper writes, “Millions are being spent because so many of their tax dollars are up for grabs. Billions may be collected by new taxes the Legislature will consider next year, and labor interests want the state to go big. Anderson is an unabashed supporter of more taxes and spending.” While you were letting that stark admission of progressive (read: socialist) purity , the Times continued “Mullet is a moderate whose support for spending increases is tempered by concerns about the impact on jobs and the economy. There was already a strong case to reelect Mullet. Outrageous efforts by Seattle political interests to buy his seat only make it stronger.” (Seattle Times)
Due to bureaucratic delays, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan will not be announcing next week her recommendation on whether to repair or replace the damaged West Seattle Bridge. The mayor was scheduled to announce her decision Oct. 21, yet the task force advising the mayor has said the staff have not provided it with sufficient data to make their recommendation. It is not a good sign that before the construction has begun, the delays have already started. (MyNorthwest)
King County Executive Dow Constantine’s latest plan to jack up the sales tax, this time to fund his Seattle-based homeless projects, continues to lose funds as suburban cities elect to instead use the revenue collected in their jurisdictions for their own housing priorities. The state bill which allowed counties to raise the sales tax for housing issues contained a provision allowing cities to retain the funds if the county raised the sales tax. Since Constantine announced he was going to raise the tax, suburban communities including Bellevue, Issaquah, Kent, and Renton have voted to keep the revenue. (Bellevue Reporter)
After Seattle’s pro-homeless, pro-criminal, and anti-business policies forced the owner of Elephant Car Wash to close and propose demolishing his long-time Denny Way location, a local group is fighting to take control of the iconic neon business sign he owns. Instead of fighting someone over what he wishes with his own property, shouldn’t the group be fighting against the extreme policies that are forcing many long-time Seattle establishments to close their doors? (Seattle Times)
Eastern Washington
Nearly 90 Republican precinct officers gathered at the Yakima Sun Dome for a socially distant selection process to replace the late Norm Childress on the Yakima County Council. Eleven people vied for the position, with the top three candidates (LaDon Linde, Autumn Torres, and Jim Restucci) moving forward to the remaining county commissioners to make the final selection. (Yakima Herald)
Washington State University has announced that its Spring semester will be taught mostly through remote learning, due to college campuses becoming hot spots for the spread of the coronavirus. The university also announced that it would be starting the semester a week later (on January 19th) and that it would eliminate its March spring break. And somehow these academics think they think these decisions will cause young adults to stop acting like, umm, young adults. (YakTriNews)
Say What???
We are used to seeing factual errors and illogical arguments coming from Democrat organizations and politicians in their fundraising appeals, but the latest from the Washington State Democrats would be laughable (if it didn’t come from those who control all aspects of our state government). We thought it was bad in August when the party repeatedly sent out an email proclaiming its outrage at a Loren Culp rally in non-existing “Cheval County” (we sent the party’s staff a state map to help them learn the names of the other 38 Washington counties outside of King County). Yet, this week the party emailed out their latest reason for voting Democrat in the November election. The main reason the Washington State Democrat Party provides for why state voters should support their candidates is because our state, which the Democrats have controlled the Governor’s Mansion for 35 years (and Republicans controlled the legislature for only two of those years), is “one of the worst state’s for income inequality.” The email then attempted to blame national Republicans and President Trump for Washington State’s poor ranking when compared to other states. Did we miss some action from the Trump Administration that caused the income inequality to widen in only Washington State, but not in the other 49? If Washington State is one of the worst states for income inequality, is it not the fault of Washington State policies that have been dictated by Democrats for over a generation? Our latest offering to the Democrat party staff is the children’s logic textbook, “The Fallacy Detective.” Obviously, their logic education needs to start at the simplest level. (Washington State Democrat Party 10/14 email, Washington State Democrat Party 8/16 email, and Amazon)
Shift Article
“(Inslee’s) blatant pandering to the extreme left… He calls the state’s public safety system, built and reinforced by his Democrat gubernatorial predecessors over the last 35 years, full of systemic racism, unsafe law enforcement practices, and just not equitable. And his criticism is not just limited to law enforcement. According to Inslee, education, healthcare, housing, and other areas are all flawed and are in dire need of reform. It’s amazing that Inslee would even want to belong to a party that has overseen such racist developments over the last generation.” (Shift Article)
Overheard on the Internets
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