The March of Incompetence Continues!

Source:  ShiftWA.org

Hey Seattle Times, be careful, your bias is showing.  Very questionable coverage from the Seattle Times over its story regarding legislative concerns about the lack of transparency in the investigation of the data breach at the Washington State Auditor’s office.  Last December, hackers took advantage of shoddy management and infiltrated the office’s computer system, gaining access to the personal financial information of 1.3 million Washington State residents.  Ironically, the auditor’s office had the data because it was investigating the security breach last Spring at the Governor Inslee’s Employment Security Department (ESD) in which $600 million was stolen, one of the largest crimes in American history.  In the story, the reporters never once mention that Washington State Auditor Pat McCarthy is a partisan Democrat, only that she is “an independently elected statewide official.” The story also only mentions three Democrat legislators who are investigating the security breach and never mentions the investigations by Republican Representative Matt Boehnke (Kennewick), who is a 30-year data security expert and who has already proposed significant reforms.  As to the lack of transparency in the investigation into actions by McCarthy’s office, this appears to be a trend by Democrats in Olympia.  It was only last November, when Auditor McCarthy herself accused Governor Jay Inslee’s appointee at ESD, Suzi LeVine, of imposing “severe constraints” on the state auditor’s investigation into employment office’s security practices.  (Seattle Times and House Republican Caucus)

A new report reveals that Washington State residents have averaged nearly 17 alcohol drinks per week during the COVID-19 pandemic and have crossed over the threshold of being classified by the Centers for Disease Control as “heavy drinkers.”  The report is from data collected from an American Addiction Centers’ survey.  Marijuana sales have also spiked in the state, as many residents have increased usage of addictive substances during the pandemic.  Meanwhile, Governor Jay Inslee has ignored numerous requests to reclassify 12-step meetings as “faith based” (instead of “group counseling”), which would allow addiction recovery groups to safely meet in-person. To show how nonsensical Jay Inslee’s rules are for meetings, “faith based” groups are allowed to gather at 25% room capacity, while “group counseling” is limited to just five people, even when they are meeting in the same rooms.  Many 12-step meetings have moved to the Zoom platform during the pandemic, but have experienced a severe decline in attendance, especially from newcomers seeking assistance with their addiction. (Bellevue Reporter, Washington Observer, and Shift)Very questionable coverage from the Seattle Times over its story regarding legislative concerns about the lack of transparency in the investigation of the data breach at the Washington State Auditor’s office.  Last December, hackers took advantage of shoddy management and infiltrated the office’s computer system, gaining access to the personal financial information of 1.3 million Washington State residents.  Ironically, the auditor’s office had the data because it was investigating the security breach last Spring at the Governor Inslee’s Employment Security Department (ESD) in which $600 million was stolen, one of the largest crimes in American history.  In the story, the reporters never once mention that Washington State Auditor Pat McCarthy is a partisan Democrat, only that she is “an independently elected statewide official.” The story also only mentions three Democrat legislators who are investigating the security breach and never mentions the investigations by Republican Representative Matt Boehnke (Kennewick), who is a 30-year data security expert and who has already proposed significant reforms.  As to the lack of transparency in the investigation into actions by McCarthy’s office, this appears to be a trend by Democrats in Olympia.  It was only last November, when Auditor McCarthy herself accused Governor Jay Inslee’s appointee at ESD, Suzi LeVine, of imposing “severe constraints” on the state auditor’s investigation into employment office’s security practices.  (Seattle Times and House Republican Caucus)

Governor Inslee’s former Chief of Staff David Postman has been appointed (paid off?) by his former boss to a cushy part-time position as the chair of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Control Board.  Postman will be paid $66,420 a year to attend a scheduled 7 hours of meetings a month.  Postman most recently served (briefly) on the Biden Administration’s transition team, where apparently he was successful in ridding the state of Inslee’s disastrous Commissioner of the Employment Security Department Suzi LeVine, by securing her a position in President Biden’s Department of Labor. (Bellingham Herald/AP, Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Control Board, and Vancouver Columbian)