The Inslee Chronicles

Source: ShiftWA.org While speaking to a class of elementary school students in Spokane, Governor Jay Inslee said that he has no plans yet for what would be required for regions to move into Phase 3 of his random “Roadmap to Recovery”, or what would be allowed once a region reaches it.    The governor said, “I doubt there will be anything clear in the next several days about the issue.” And he ought to know, since he is the only one who gets to decide how the state re-opens its economy. This is more evidence that Inslee’s “Roadmap to Recovery” is more of a “Random Acts of Stagnation Program”, as thousands of small business owners and workers are seeking leadership on what needs to occur for them to pay off all the debts they have incurred under the past year of Inslee’s one-man rule. ( KHQ TV ) State Senate Republican Leader John Braun exposes the hyper-partisanship underlying Governor Inslee’s COVID-19 related actions by stating, “ The executive branch cannot expect its COVID-...

Source: ShiftWA.org A new report from the Washington Policy Center exposes a significant contradiction from a major promotor (and likely benefactor) of the Democrats’ Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) proposal.    Tim Zenk, a high-priced Washington State lobbyist for the Norwegian company Naste (which will financially benefit from the higher energy costs Jay Inslee wants to impose on Washington residents) testified at a state House hearing that California has lower gas prices now than when it passed its LCFS in 2011 (the truth is prices are higher).  Despite facts not being on Zenk’s side in WA, it also appears clear that his employer knows the truth about a cost-raising LCFS. After all, Naste representatives told California regulators not to impose a cap on how high an LCFS could increase fuel costs, and allow gas prices to continue to climb (and make it profitable for them to develop more expensive energy sources). Thus, while talking to Washington State lawmakers, Naste’...

Source: ShiftWA.org It turns out that it is possible to balance the state’s budget without raising taxes, and   two weeks after the Washington State Senate Republicans proposed a budget that does just that (without including an unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains), the Seattle Times finally decided to do a story about it.    Of course, the story was primarily focused on the Democrats’ plan for an unconstitutional state income tax, not why such a tax is unnecessary when state tax revenues are going up.  Nor did the story’s author consider the Democrats’ dubious inclusion of a so-called “emergency clause” in the tax legislation, to prevent voters from overturning the law with a referendum.  The “emergency” the Democrats are falsely claiming is that the revenue is needed for COVID-19 relief, despite the fact that the earliest any revenue would be collected from SB 5096 is 2023.  This significant restriction on voter involvement chosen by the De...

  Source: ShiftWA.org This week’s highly informative Newsmaker Interview is with Senator Lynda Wilson (Vancouver), the ranking Republican on the Washington State Senate’s Ways & Means Committee and the budget leader for the GOP caucus.    The Senate Republicans released their 2021 – 2023 budget last week, and it contained no new taxes, incentives for school districts to reopen, and assistance for those who have been most impacted by Governor Jay Inslee’s random and unscientific “emergency” orders.  When asked why the Senate Republicans released their budget so early in the process, Senator Wilson replied that she wanted to provide transparency, so the public had time to examine their proposal, and because Democrats “keep claiming there is a massive deficit, to justify their own call for more taxes.  But that is false.  Just look at the four-year budget outlook from the governor’s own budget office.” ( Click to read full Newsmaker Interview  and...

Does this scenario portray our state's legislature on state income tax?  I'll leave it up to you as to who's who here. Source: ShiftWA.org Proposed House Republican budget helps the families the Democrats have forgotten.    Democrats patted themselves on the back in 2007 for creating the Working Families Tax Credit.  Problem is, they never funded the program (because it does not achieve the primary liberal goals of expanding the number of government employees or rewarding another special interest group).  Republicans have proposed a budget that funds the long-forgotten program, helps working families (including childcare options and assisting with distance-learning expenses), and does not increase taxes. ( Click to read full Shift Article ) Democrat legislators continue to ignore the fact that their “capital gains” tax is actually an unconstitutional state income tax, even after they slightly altered Governor Jay Inslee’s proposal (reducing the tax rate from 9% ...

Source: ShiftWA.org In a statement that has frustrated many retailers and workers, Governor Inslee said that his administration has “not identified” what is necessary for the state to move forward to Phase 3, and what restrictions might be lifted to allow their survival.    While many restaurants and bars are relieved to be able to serve customers – even at 25% capacity – under Phase 2, that restriction will not allow them to hire back many of their workers or make a profit. Beyond businesses, many local health officials have also asked that they be consulted about what “Phase 3 will look like,” so that we don’t have the ongoing disaster of Jay Inslee making the decisions on his own. Unfortunately, history shows that the  Inslee Administration will continue to ignore the advice and concerns of local authorities . ( KXLY  and  Yakima Herald ) We Could not help but comment on the quote regarding the slightly altered state income tax on capital gains made by Speake...

Might this be an internal concept by Gov. Inslee?  Source:  ShiftWA.org Governor Inslee likes to argue that his policies have kept the state’s COVID-19 death rates low, but he conveniently ignores the fact that Washington State began the pandemic with a younger and more healthy population, the far more likely reason for the state’s lower mortality rate than Inslee’s random “emergency orders”.    COVID-19 is more fatal to those over 65 and those with existing respiratory problems – two classes of people which Washington State has a smaller population of than other states.  While the governor claims his numerous error-filled actions (including a failed contact tracing effort and a disastrous vaccination plan) are the reasons for fewer COVID-19 related deaths in Washington, the health and the age of the state’s population are a more significant contributor to fewer deaths. But, Jay can’t take credit for that, so he hopes you will ignore it.  ( Click to read th...