Olympia this week.

Democrat lawmakers send income tax on capital gains to Inslee’s desk (KIRO7)

Washington House Democrats passed the income tax on capital gains but added a deceptive clause that would prevent the people from repealing the tax with a voter referendum. Ultimately, House and Senate Democrats agreed to pass the bill without the emergency clause.

The tax passed the State Senate on a razor thin 25-24 vote this afternoon. The bill will face serious legal challenges, given our state constitution bans an income tax.

Is the Democrats' "excise tax on income" a display of incompetence or plain dishonesty?  The final bill passage link here.

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Democrats pass record-setting budget proposal  (SRC)

Democrats treated the new 2021-23 state budget with an unprecedented level of irresponsibility, from start to finish.

Senate and House Democrats both approved their respective budgets, which included out-of-control spending and an array of new taxes, weeks ago. Yet they chose to release the final version of the budget on the day before the end of session. Republican Sen. Lynda Wilson summed up Democrats’ actions by stating, “Why the delay? How could it possibly take so long to agree on a budget that will grow spending by double digits, despite a pandemic?” Wilson pointed out that, under Democrats’ timeline, lawmakers only had “24 to 36 hours maximum to look at a spending plan which could top $60 billion.”  Unfortunately, that’s just what Democrats did.

Draining the state’s “rainy day fund” and enforcing an income tax on capital gains, Democrats’ plan spends $59.2 billion over the next two years and uses $10 billion in federal stimulus funds.

Democrats’ new taxes will hit working families across Washington hardest at a time when many are struggling to recover from financial pain caused by COVID-19.

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GOP leaders respond to Inslee’s false attack on motivations to curb emergency powers (SRC)

Gov. Jay Inslee criticized the efforts of legislative Republicans to advance bills aimed at reforming the governor’s emergency powers during a recent interview. Inslee claimed that Republicans wanted to “gut the ability of the governor to try and save lives” rather than seeking to restore the balance of power.

Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, and House Republican Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, responding by stating in part, “Silencing the voices of the people, including those who might disagree with him, by shutting out the Legislature is wrong. We are a coequal branch of government and should have equal input on how the state moves forward.  Unfortunately, the Democrat majority has abdicated what little legislative oversight there was, giving the governor unchecked power indefinitely. Despite members of the Senate and House offering multiple legislative solutions, the Democrats have been entirely unwilling to even discuss the issue. That undermines the people.”

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Democrats’ “green” bills burden working poor and struggling middle class (Cross Cut)

In a recent article, Bill Bryant, founding member of the Nisqually River Foundation and former gubernatorial candidate, writes of how Democrats’ Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and cap-and-tax scheme dump new costs on the working poor and struggling middle class and creates new bureaucracies without substantively reducing emissions.

Bryant also points out that both bills failed to garner any bi-partisan support, which is “essential if we are to sell a climate-carbon package to skeptical voters.”

Bryant writes, “Jamming new taxes down voters’ throats will only invite an initiative opposing, and potentially eliminating, those taxes.” Any bipartisan climate package will “most likely need to be revenue neutral.” He explains, “Republicans will want projected carbon reductions to be worth the taxes imposed on workers and people living in rural communities.”

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Meanwhile, threats work in Puyallup (Washington Times)

A Puyallup pastor was forced to canceled an activist speaker, Charlie Kirk, because the church received “terrorist” threats.  The state government and Governor Inslee refused to do anything to investigate the threats.  In  America, it is sad to see a church pastor forced to cave in to terrorism. Governor Inslee should be ashamed.

When government refuses to serve the needs of it's people ... when  government serves only its own special interest ... when those special interests use violence or implied violence ... it is time to take special action to protect yourself and your family.