Olympia this week

Inslee pushes for state capital gains income tax as part of budget proposal (Q13-EOX)

Jay Inslee is pushing for a new capital gains income tax and a tax on health insurers as part of his two-year, $57.6 billion budget proposal.

His proposal would drain the state’s rainy-day fund, amounting to $1.7 billion. But our revenues are still growing. And, in fact, state spending has increased around 85% since Inslee has taken office.

He will continue to take more of our money and give it to those who help him politically as long as we allow him to.

Inslee also claims a state capital gains income tax is not a form of income tax. His claim does not align with accepted tax law. Concerning the capital gains tax, the IRS states that “it is an income tax.” Capital gains “are treated as income under the tax code and taxed as such.”

If Inslee and his fellow Democrats pass a state capital gains income tax, the tax will face legal challenges. The state Constitution does not allow for an income tax.

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State auditor: Employment Security Department failed to prevent massive fraud, shared “inaccurate numbers”  (Puget Sound Business Journal)

In a new report, the office of State Auditor Pat McCarthy found that Washington state’s Employment Security Department (ESD) had “inadequate internal controls to prevent the massive unemployment insurance benefit fraud” that targeting our state in spring 2020. Further, the ESD reported “inaccurate numbers” concerning the fraud, including “how much taxpayers money was lost and recovered in the thefts.”

According to the report, ESD officials “paid out more fraudulent claims than they admitted, and recovered almost $100 million less than they said they did.” The state auditor also slammed the Inslee-controlled budget office for failing to “explicitly note the vast fraud and its financial impact on its own audited financial statements.”  One wonders if Inslee was personally benefitting from the fraud.

ESD officials have yet to face any consequences for the massive failure.

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Inslee proposes low carbon fuel standard, increasing gas tax (Seattle Times)

Jay Inslee revealed his latest attempt to increase all our energy taxes with his plan for a low carbon fuel standard and a cap on greenhouse-gas emissions.

House GOP Minority Leader Rep. J.T. Wilcox pointed out that Inslee’s low carbon fuel standard would mean a higher gas tax for hardworking Washington families. Wilcox said, “So often the people that can least afford it are paying the biggest price.”

State officials admit that Inslee’s new low carbon fuel standard could increase the cost of gas by 46 – 63 cents per gallon.

According to Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center, Inslee’s push “continues the trend of proposing costly and ineffective strategies that focus more on political special interests than responsible environmental stewardship.”

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Democrats allow stunning lawlessness in Seattle (KOMONEWS)

Leftist-activist-gangsters have established a second version of the deadly, “summer-of-love” Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ).

The gangsters have taken over an “abandoned yellow house on 11th Avenue and East Denny Way.” Meanwhile, across the street, Antifa and other agitators have built a make-shift barricade to “prevent homeless men and women from receiving shelter from the city.”

KOMO News released a 90-minute documentary called, “Fight for the Soul of Seattle” that highlights the shocking mismanagement and corruption that plagues Seattle, resulting in harm to residents and business closures.