This Is Going To Be A Complete Failure!

Source:  ShiftWA.org

The complete failure of the Inslee Administration to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to front-line workers will further hamper the state’s economy, and likely force tens of thousands of Washington residents to go even longer without a paycheck.  The incompetence is clear – the Inslee administration and health officials knew at the beginning of the pandemic that it would only end with mass vaccinations. So, despite having nine months to prepare for doing only one job – putting vaccines in people – Bloomberg reports that the Washington State Department of Health had actually administered less than 24% of the 357,000 doses it has received. Inslee loves to blame the federal government – and anybody else, really – to divert attention from his shortcomings, but this latest failure of the Inslee Administration during the coronavirus pandemic is all on him. The state was given the vaccines, and it was unprepared to start using the life-saving shots.

Unfortunately, this is just the latest in a long line of Inslee administration failures while he has ruled the state with authoritarian control. First, Inslee’s Employment Security Department (ESD) allowed one of the largest thefts in American history to take place, with foreign criminals stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in unemployment benefits meant for Washington workers.  Then, showing what happens when no one at ESD was held accountable for allowing the massive theft, the ESD failed to resolve claims issues for nearly 100,000 Washington residents, who were without paychecks due to Governor Inslee’s emergency orders. Perhaps Inslee could claim he was more focused on the virus than the financial scandal, but that can’t be true since his administration lagged far behind other states in testing residents during the spring and summer months, which allowed the virus to spread and unnecessarily kept thousands of Washington businesses closed or severely restricted. Testing did not matter much in state-run hospitals and correctional facilities, where staff failed to follow the state’s own safety guidelines and caused COVID-19 outbreaks to occur in state facilities (and allowed Inslee to release 1,200 prisoners without finishing their sentences).  Then, the Inslee Administration failed dramatically to develop a contact tracing program in the Fall, with the state only notifying 6% of those who came into contact with those who tested positive for COVID-19 (the announced goal was 90%).  These failures by the Inslee Administration have seriously prolonged the pain and suffering of Washington residents, as the governor must resort to shutting down businesses and schools despite data showing they are not the source for infections.  It leads to the question: What has the Inslee Administration done right during the pandemic? (Bloomberg and Washington Policy Center)

Governor Jay Inslee’s Department of Commerce is still touting the fact that Washington does not have a state income tax in its attempts to lure businesses here.  Yet, Inslee and the legislative Democrats are again attacking the state’s economic competitiveness by proposing a controversial income tax on capital gains in a legal maneuver to get around a state constitutional ban on an income tax.  On the Department of Commerce “Choose Washington” webpage, the Inslee Administration states, “We offer businesses some competitive advantages found in few other states. This includes no personal or corporate income tax.”  So, if Washington officials believe it is a competitive advantage for the state to not have an income tax, why are the Democrats who control the state working so hard to remove this advantage? (DOC’s Choose Washington webpage)