The Mercer Island School Predator story just gets deeper … Brandi outlines that the school board suddenly decided for no apparent reason after 40 years of zero change to its policy to significantly restrict and limit parental comments and input at board meetings starting this week.

It is totally a huge Koinkidink that the story about paying off a predator teacher after ignoring the complaints for 8 years broke this week… totally not related to the change in public comment rules….

OK Mercer Island School Board and Teachers union now we really trust you…..

And one party rule legislators in Olympia.. you’re right, parents really don’t have a right to know….they should just trust government employees to decide whats best for our kids

Yesterday, dear readers, we spotlighted Mercer island Dem. Legislator Lisa Wellman going to bat to try to change the law to allow online predators who solicit minors off easy.

Today in Lisa Wellman’s Mercer Island district a teacher accused of sexually assaulting students for at least the past years is silently allowed to retire with a $70K bonus to keep quiet.

Mercer island, seems like it is time for you to vote differently…

Oh and btw our legislature doesn’t think parents should be notified until 48 hours after discovery of a crime by a government employee (and by 48 hours, they mean 8 years in Mercer Island)

Here is the 411 on a truly awful bill, its background and the level of ick coming from the majority party in Olympia

– a sick predator got caught, found guilty, and sentenced in an online “net nanny” sting thinking he was talking with a mother of young children he was negotiating to violate
– The predator’s dad felt that since no children were actually harmed by his son, the penalty should have been much lighter than current law
-It turns out the Predators Dad (lets just call him P-Daddy) and and Dem. Senator Lisa Wellman from Mercer Island were very good friends
-So P-Daddy enlisted Sen. Wellman to craft a bill that would significantly reduce the sentence of both P-Daddy’s son and any other predators caught in similar online stings (you can check out SB 5312 from 2025 legislative session to see the bill yourself)
-Sen. Wellman worked the back channels hard to get the bill a hearing but thankfully was not able to get it up for a vote
-My opinion is that the legislature was already feeling heat for gutting the parents bill of rights and insisting on the ability of government employees to keep secrets from parents
– The senate was also smarting from the seemingly unexpected blow back when Sen. Jamie Pedersen said on camera that in WA state, if children are old enough to get pregnant, parents have no right to know, be informed or participate in the decisions those children might make about their bodies. (See the video of the interview in the comments).

If you are a long time watcher of the WA legislature you will know that this bill has not gone away. It came up last year but the pattern for truly awful bills is to run them and then run them again and again and again until finally they are able to pass something that has no business even being debated in the legislature.

This awful bill is one of those that needs a stake through the heart and the legislators proposing it need to be replaced.

Mercer Island is this what you support?

1) overspend and wastefully use tax payer dollars
2) declare an emergency that will cause you to raise taxes
3) design a tax that only hits “the wealthy” — in this case larger businesses
4) signal your virtue by emphasizing how you are helping the little guy — in this case businesses under $2million of rev
5) brag about how this will help the little guy grow
6) watch the little guy realize that if they grow over the $2 million mark they get hit with the new tax
7) then watch as large business relocate out of the city
8) finally watch as small businesses, who relied on customers that worked for the large businesses , start to fold and go out of business
9) act shocked when half of the city businesses go out of business and buildings sit empty
10) act more shocked when crime and homelessness skyrocket in hollowed out retail areas
11) declare the next emergency that will only be fixed by raising taxes on the small remaining businesses…
12) rinse and repeat

• “Threatens a specific person or group of persons and places that person, or members of the specific group of persons, in reasonable fear of harm to person or property. The fear must be a fear that a reasonable person would have under all the circumstances.”
• “a “reasonable person” is a reasonable person who is a member of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation, or who has the same gender expression or identity, or the same mental, physical, or sensory disability as the victim.”
• “Words alone do not constitute a hate crime offense unless the context or circumstances surrounding the words indicate the words are a threat. Threatening words do not constitute a hate crime offense if it is apparent to the victim that the person does not have the ability to carry out the threat.”

• this is a terrible law
• I strongly believe that even derogatory speech is protected by the first amendment
• i find it offensive but would still defend your right to mock my religion
• I have other alternatives such as blocking this person, closing my account, getting off twitter etc.

I’ll take unfathomable phenomena for $600 Please Alex.

Warning TLDR

H/T
@WAPolicyGreen

So What does this chart by the progressive think tank Center for American Progress say?

– County by county the creation of new businesses through entrepreneurship, startups, and new business formations is robust around the United States
-Time frame is 2019-2023
-most counties in nearly every state demonstrate strong growth
-However, counties in WA state stand out like a sore thumb during this period
-Why could that be?

-Of course there are several things we need to reject right off the bat
-We are already sure it has nothing to do with:
-nearly 40 years of one party rule
-over 40 uninterrupted years without one republican governor
-a sharp turn from Libertarian left to authoritarian left
-a steep fall in our education system
-a broken day care system due to over regulation
-subsidized unhinged drug policies
-subsidized homelessness
-blame the victim crime policies
-set the criminal free justice system
-mock, defund, and shackle the police system
-a board your business up in the cities program
-a sue happy attorney general (did we mention he likes to sue? especially businesses? who then raise their prices to pay for the lawsuits?or move away?)
-A tax everything that moves legislative mindset
-then regulate it if it keeps moving mindset
-then subsidize it if it dies mindset

And of course, we must completely ignore and never mention or look at or pretend to look at or insinuate that it could have an influence or pretend to insinuate that it could effect behavior

A new capital gains tax

-But, you say, it sure seems interesting that the capital gains tax came about right during the period covered by the chart
-hogwash! People don’t change their behavior because of taxes
-What about Ken Fisher who immediately moved his investment firm out of the state?
-that just means he is selfish like every other entrepreneur or business person who makes money
-What about Jeff Bezos who quit selling Amazon stock until he moved to Florida where there is no capital gains tax?
-Hogwash he just wanted to be with his mum
-Well don’t we tax things like cigarettes and alcohol as a means to disincentivize behavior like consumption?
-No, that is different
-But isn’t the CCA hidden gas tax a means to reduce the amount of fuel based commuting in the state?
-No silly that has no cost associated with it whatsoever but we do hope the hidden nature of the cost will cause people to drive less
-hmm I’m not sure i follow you on that one
-so doesn’t a capital gains tax disincentivize the formation of new businesses, start ups, and the creation of entrepreneurs?

As we said in the beginning this is a completely unfathomable phenomena. Now please pay your $600 car tabs, vote for the one party rule, and shut up….

Ready for a TLDR? 1 of 3

One of the key criticisms i hear over and over goes something like this:
-we already have elected representatives
-these representatives represent the vote of the people
-they are wise and knowledgeable
-these issues are complex and are better handled by experts who know more than us
-a rich guy should not be able to buy his way on to the ballot
-in fact it is hubris for him to think he knows better than the rest of the state
-so we should not have these initiatives that give voters a voice
-we already have elected leaders with their own hubris who can hubris better than the voter hubris or any single rich guy hubris…. Or something like that

Some thoughts:

1) Three initiatives already adopted by the Legislature
-three of the original six initiatives sent to the legislature in January 2024 were overwhelmingly passed
-with bipartisan support
-went into law in June
-and began fixing stupid things the legislature had not gotten around to fixing yet

No Secrets from parents (2081)
No income tax (2111)
Restore local control of Police Pursuit (2113)

2) Hubris for thee but not for me
-if hubris is the measuring stick doesn’t it take quite a bit of hubris to write a letter to the editor to tell everyone that the 1.3 million voters who signed an initiative in compliance with the state constitution to make changes to laws with which they do not agree is an invalid act and should be rejected?
-is it hubris to give voters a chance to make a decision?
-is it not hubris for the legislators to pass laws after and even though those exact same laws were rejected by the voters at the ballot box ?

3)Public Policy crafters
-Let’s also take up the argument in the letter below that it is hubris to suggest one man can craft policy better than elected representatives.

-I have now had the opportunity to meet with several of those representatives directly and defend the initiatives in front of the Seattle Times. You can watch for yourself if you are willing to take the time and judge.

But some thoughts from those interactions
A) Tracking Success
-The majority party in the legislature seems to have completely overlooked the need to track how the money is spent and the effectiveness of the money doled out in achieving the desired goal
-the measurement of success repeatedly appears to be how much money is spent not how effectively it is used to achieve the goal
-there does not even seem to be any real understanding of how to track the results let alone a desire to do so

2)Flawed legislation — the but defense
-Repeatedly i heard from legislators the following
-this law is flawed but
-it is not perfect but
-we still need to do some work on it but
Or
-well we couldn’t fix it because Mr. Heywood ran an initiative that made fixing it impossible

2 of 3

-The problem with this argument is that the legislature has already had 2-3 years to fix each one of these laws.
-Their complete refusal to make meaningful change on police pursuit likely lead to a significant increase in highway deaths during the 2 years that police pursuit was suspended (just go look up that statistic on the state web site) and it took our initiative to finally get the legislature to act
-several terrible laws were not enacted in this last session because they were afraid of the voters getting even more angry so bad laws were stopped from being born
-Even though the legislature claim they were prohibited by law from making changes to the initiatives this session they did so anyway, defying the voters and taunting Let’s Go Wa to spend money on lawyers to challenge them in court for their actions (talk about Hubris!!)
-The changes they made, however, did not even amount to bandaids to fix the problems which, if you listen to their defense in the Seattle Times ed board meetings, are still enormous problems that need to be addressed
-Finally, the initiative to the legislature process provides the legislature with a unique opportunity. They could have, under WA state law, written alternative initiatives to go on the ballot to compete with the Let’s Go WA initiatives.
-If the legislature had chosen to do so, they could have fixed all the problems that have become so apparent in the flawed laws they have laid on the people of this state.
-Did they choose to do this? No, quite the contrary they and their supporters are spending money to disenfranchise voters through hush hush lawsuits to get the initiatives thrown off the ballot as well as a mad campaign to get voters to reject the corrective initiatives in November

3 of 3

-finally it has to be noted that those who argue they do not like the initiative process when I financially support it, (people like our dear letter writer down below and Lauri Jenkins Speaker of the House) seem to have no problem whatsoever when Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Nick Hanauer, SEIU, WEA (the largest political contributor in the state!), British Petroleum, and others with much more money than me spend to either get initiatives on the ballot which they like or to attack me and the 1.3 million voters who signed their names to get these initiatives on the ballot.

Couple of TLDR thoughts on
@TravisSCouture ‘s TLDR thoughts

Thank you @TravisSCouture

I read the first half of this and thought spot on.

I keep hearing excuses from Olympia majority legislators that the CCA is not perfect or the Long Term Care is not perfect, etc but they have had multiple years to go back and fix it yet they did not.

Now they are actually blaming me and the initiative process for preventing them from making the fixes.

They are indeed using CCA money to try to bribe voters and organizations .

And their efforts have raised prices for everyone

And all their “good intentions” tend to hurt people much more than they help

Farmers and Farm workers are two great examples.

I wasn’t ready for the kind words at the bottom of the post but I am very grateful for the thoughts expressed. There are a lot of great people out there who knocked doors and gathered signatures hoping for something better.

Thank you and
In November Vote Yes Pay Less

“…the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors”
Thomas Jefferson

This quote, of course is completely unrelated to the following random TLDR thoughts about the Seattle Times Editorial board shocking , surprising, completely out of character decision to not endorse initiative I-2117 which would repeal the hated Cap and Trade hidden gas tax.

Random TLDR Thoughts

-It is hard for anyone including editorial boards to prevent their bias from exposing itself
-It is even harder when your continued employment is dependent on money from large donors not as advertisers but as propaganda pushers in sections called things like “The Climate Laboratory”
-It is harder still if your minds are already made up and all 6 of you are in heated agreement with each other
-But lets be honest, the editorial review below is not a biased editorial, rather it is a full throated defense of a political agenda
-In fact, one might argue that the ST editorial board both in the meeting and in the write up were more up to the task of pushing their anti I-2117 agenda than were the two spokespersons for the No on 2117 campaign

-The two sides arguments might be summed up like this
Yes on I-2117 :
We were given three lies in the CCA
1) It will not cost anyone anything to implement
2) The money spent and the results generated would be tracked with world class transparency
3) It would have a measurable and meaningful positive impact on reducing carbon

But in fact, it has failed with all three promises,
-it has taken over $2billion from Washingtonians pockets
-it is not being diligently tracked and a system to track the effects of the money spent was apparently never seriously considered during the design of the law
-As it is not being tracked, there is no way to meaningfully measure whether meaningful change is actually occurring

No on 2117 arguments are something like this
-This is an existential threat to our state and we must act now
-The money is being spent on important stuff and it will make a difference
-Even though it is not perfect we cannot get rid of it because we must do something
-trust us

-When we pointed out the complete lack of accountability by the legislature, the ST did ask Joe how they were tracking?
-His answer is that we don’t have any tracking
-The ST then turned around and blamed it on us for not doing an initiative to force the legislature to track the way they spend money and the results

So wait, the fact that the legislature made a terribly flawed law and didn’t track the effectiveness is somehow my fault for not running an initiative to correct it?

The ST Ed Board concludes that because i did not provide a solution they approve of to fix the problems created by the poorly designed CCA then you, dear voter should put your head in the sand and stick with the CCA. Please read for yourself.

The ST and their partners on the No campaign have only one metric for success.

“The amount of money spent by government means we care.”

If you really cared about climate crisis, you would be more concerned with the effectiveness of how the money is used and the results of those “Investments”.

The complete lack of concern for tracking and efficiency says more clearly than words that the No on I-2117 and the ST do not care about the environment. They are more concerned about how much money is spent because that way people will know they care”

#VoteYesPayLess hold the government and the ST accountable for the money being taken out of your wallet

https://seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/the-seattle-times-editorial-board-recommends-keep-was-climate-commitment-act-vote-no-on-i-2117/

“Thousands of high earners moved out of Washington in a span of two years, outnumbering new arrivals, an analysis of tax data found.
More than 13,300 households with an income over $200,000 left the state in 2021 and 2022. “

Warning TLDR

What could possibly have happened in the last few years that would make WA less attractive to high earners? If only i could put my finger on it…. No no don’t tell me about Jeff Bezos…. Hmmm what could it be

OK OK I will spell it out

Capital Gains tax hello

Oh you say (as does the reporter) this survey only covers the period before the capital gains actually went into effect so it can’t be the capital gains tax.

“DeJohn noted that some of the most attractive states for high-earning households were those without a state income tax, such as Texas, Florida and Tennessee, which ranked sixth among states where the well-off were moving. This makes Washington an anomaly, as it also does not have a state income tax. (The state imposed a 7% capital gains tax in 2022 on long-term gains over $250,000, though it didn’t take effect until 2023, putting it outside the study window.)”

Except that the tax was passed in 2021, 2 years before it went into effect and plenty of time for people to move to states without a capital gains tax and right in the middle of the survey.

No , i hear you say, Jeff Bezos really did just stop selling Amazon stock for no particular reason in the two years the tax was in place before he moved and he really did move to Florida just to be with his mother and his mother is just a really good saleswoman convincing him to once again start selling shares one he moved to the coincidentally no cap gains state of Florida.

So because you believe all those things, you should also sleep very comfortably at night believing that the Legislature in Olympia has no other plans to lower the cap gains threshold and or increase the rate and or come after the fat juicy tax targets of your home or your retirement savings. No worries at all.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/washington-is-falling-behind-in-attracting-retaining-high-earners

Tell me you are a biased reporter and work for a biased newspaper without telling me you are biased
@kcwithycombe

@Conrad_Swanson

C’mon you two. You can be better than this!

Warning TLDR

How to write a biased article

1) Select name calling non factual quotes that try to make one side look bad, then you don’t have to say the words, they said them for you

“Right-wing Republicans are truly desperate to keep voters from getting factual, nonpartisan information about the deep funding cuts their ballot measures would require, which is why they keep filing these cynical lawsuits,” said Aaron Ostrom, the executive director of the progressive group Fuse Washington”

If you let them use the right wing quote then why not include the word “radically” progressive when you describe Fuse. don’t play dumb like you don’t know what they are trying to convey with right wing”. Or I can give you a quote!

2) barely mention and give no context for a lawsuit from the side you support that is a huge conflict of interest for the AG and which nearly turned over the entire slate of initiatives through legal warfare kept under wraps by a complicit AG

“Separately, initiative opponents mounted lawsuits challenging the signature verification process used by the secretary of state that allowed the petitions to get on the ballot, but the state Supreme Court on Aug. 9 issued decisions in the secretary of state’s favor.”

3) talk with an informed source about the subject in number two but don’t include any quotes about that

In fact, when i brought this issue up I was told by Mr. Swanson that the issue was too complicated for readers to understand.

Seriously? Dude! Conrad! Claire! This is literally your job to explain things that matter in a way that the public is informed not biased in the direction you think is best.

The AG takes huge money from #NotToday Nick Hanauer as well as SEIU and WEA who file a lawsuit against the initiatives and the AG does not recuse himself. That is not something readers should be aware of?

4) Quote the plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit (and colluded with the AG to keep it under wraps by not informing interested parties) but don’t mention they are the ones who brought the lawsuit. Let them be the mouthpiece to suggest that bygones are bygones and we should all just move on.

“But now that those legal disputes have been resolved, and the Aug. 6 primary is over, the initiatives are going to be “much more front and center” in voters’ minds as November approaches, said Sandeep Kaushik, a consultant for Defend Washington, an umbrella group that opposes the initiatives.”

Oh, we forgot to mention Defend WA is the same people funding AG FErguson’s run for Governor oh AND they are the ones that filed the lawsuits to overturn the initiatives but those are just confusing details to readers.

5) Don’t ask any deep or penetrating questions
-Who is Defend WA and who funds them?
-Why did they file a lawsuit to overturn the initiatives and disenfranchise 1.3 million voters/signers
-Why didn’t the AG recuse himself when this group of funders filed the lawsuit?
-When the AG wrote in their own briefing that Defend WA had failed to inform interested parties why didn’t the AG then make a big deal about the fact especially when the case jumped to the Supreme Court without going through the Appeals court?
-Why do we think our readers are so dumb they won’t get this nuanced details on the side we oppose?
-Why does the public have any reason to believe that a propaganda desk masquerading under the name of the Climate Lab funded completely by biased organizations and individuals with a clear biased agenda would put out information that would be considered trustworthy or believable?

Shame on you two
You both know this article is full of half truths.
You either look down on the intelligence of your readers or you are using them as a shield to protect your biases
Or worse, you are just lazy
Shame on the
@seattletimes

We were two hours away from the Supreme court tossing out all 7 initiatives
Warning TLDR

The Attorney General is claiming victory while shooting off flares like the enemy in Top Gun for not having notified us until the case was already at the Supreme Court

Bob #11 is counting on two things

1) He thinks you are stupid or uninterested
2) He is confident the Seattle media won’t look deeply

-General legal practice is that all parties are notified of a lawsuit that impacts them or where they are an interested party
-My name and Lets Go Wa were specifically mentioned not to mention we gathered over 3 million signature making us an interested party deeply affectged by the outcome
-The AG’s office even notes this in their defense that it is a problem that we have not been notified
-But they did not feel the need to notify us
Flare #1
-Well , they said, we should have known because it was on a court docket – that didn’t really fly
Flare #2
-So they said hey we briefed the CLE and senior staff in the legislature – This didn’t really seem to fly
Flare #3
-Then they called us partisans well because Republicans are scary and that seems like a tactic that works – I believe that is called othering so he has been trying to “other” us
-Part of his “Othering” is to make Jim Walsh a bad guy
-Then tell everyone he told Jim Walsh’s staff so Jim should have known
-Problem here is two fold
1) it does not appear that the AG told Jim’s actual staff but
rather told legislative staff
2) and this is a much bigger mistake for the AG who thinks you are stupid and the press is uninterested…. The ethics rules of the legislature forbid any legislative staff or resources from being used for non legislative issues. That would include updating legislators who authored an initiative about any communication or updating from the AG’s office specifically about non legislative issues such as initiative lawsuits
-So this explanation seems more flawed than the first two

Strange Coincedence
-Interestingly there was another lawsuit regarding the initiatives going on at the same time
-This one was about biased language that would included on the ballot itself about financial impact of the initiatives to the state (not to the citizens of course)
– For some reason that case had public comment from Noah Purcell who works in the AG’s office so all parties on the other side were made aware of this case.
-it must just be a koinkidink that cases the AG supports get airtime and parties notified and cases he has publicly stated he does not support are kept in the dark

Why is it so hard for this AG to just tell the truth?
Why were we not notified but on other cases interested parties were?
And there is a lingering question about why this AG did not recuse himself on this case.

He has so many conflicts of interest that it would have seemed obvious that he should recuse on this one but he did not.

They often say the cover-up becomes worse than the original crime. Bob #11 certainly seems to be running down the path.

Tell us the truth Bob
Free yourself from the lies
Be transparent Bob
You will feel better by telling the truth

Or are you too busy looking for businesses you can cripple with frivolous lawsuits to give you money to send to voters as a bribe?

Asking for a friend

Some TLDR Thoughts on the Shady Actions of the AG

The AG issued a 7 point squeal/reply to our concerns

I encourage you to read all 7 of his tweets

First listen to his words :Who is Partisan?

“Some Partisans…”
“These Partisans…”

Wait a minute. Does the AG office have a specific political view that would make opposing views somehow officially partisan?

Second: Let them Check Dockets !
-This AG issues a press release if the sun comes up
-In the documents submitted by the AG’s office they specifically mention and note that interested parties have not been notified
– My name and Let’s Go WA were directly mentioned in the lawsuit
-And yet the AG did not feel the need to either encourage or reach out and inform us of this ongoing case that would directly affect Let’s Go WA and the 1.2 million signers of the initiatives
-His initial response was essentially, Hey the court dockets are public they should have got up every morning and checked every superior court to know whether their names had been listed in a suit

Does the AG with his hand to the square before God and Angels believe that his failure to notify Let’s Go WA was in keeping with legal and historical practice and that he acted in good faith here?

Third : You told the Caucuses? Say What?
-His second bite at explaining his lack of transparency in the thread below, is that he told the Caucus senior staff
-wait, caucus staff? What? That is your answer?

So wait, you felt it appropriate to tell partisan Caucus senior staff who had nothing to do with the initiatives
-but did not feel it appropriate to inform non-partisan Let’s Go WA who did sponsor and fund the signature gathering?

And who exactly did you inform?
Why senior staff and not leaders?
And when exactly did you inform them?
And what exactly did you inform them ?
And did you inform them in a way that they were free to share the information?

So many questions!

Fourth: To Recuse or Not to Recuse that is the question
-This AG has historically, to great fan fare and press coverage, publicly recused himself when a subject before him held a conflict of interest
-He would make a show of how he was walling off his office to ensure a fair representation
-He did not do that this time
-And yet the Plaintiffs are huge donors to his political activities and aspirations
-And he has publicly made his “partisan” position clear that he opposes these initiatives

If you are defending the SOS
AND you do not support the initiatives
AND the lawsuit is being brought by your financial buddies and donors
And the subject is some of the most consequential current political subjects in the State,

It did not seem appropriate to you, Mr. AG to recuse your self-interested self in this case?

Finally i note that you are trying to make this about me impugning the integrity of your staff,

This is classic
You are the leader
You set the tone
You drive the direction
You cannot hide behind your staff in this way
You have not been accountable
Your leadership is questionable
Your actions reek of arrogance, privilege, and shady ethics

You owe the public a complete and transparent explanation of your actions. Playing a game of Heads I win Tails I win
Where if you defend the Initiatives you can claim victory as you are doing but if you lost (and we were never informed and unable to participate in our own defense) you could have just easily placed the blame on the Supreme Court.

This is too cute by half and unworthy of a State Attorney General

OK lets talk Inslee, Government Corruption, and the use of the word Weird

You gotta watch Inslee’s interview-seriously

Warning TLDR

Inslee
-So Jay Inslee multiple times has claimed that the CCA-Hidden Gas Tax would not raise the price of Gas

-Then when it raised the price of Gas he said it was just the greedy oil companies (like British Petroleum who has donated big dollars to support the complete above board and not corrupt governors efforts to block 2117)

-Then when it became undeniable that the CCA had indeed increased costs Inslee doubled down and shot back that repealing the CCA – Hidden Gas tax was no guarantee that prices would go back down

Then when polls showed I-2117 is likely to pass because people are not stupid, he decided to roll out a straight up government bribe

Government Corruption
Jay Inslee’s administration is suddenly rolling out a $200 bribe (and lets be honest there is no other way to accurately describe what is going on here) to 675,000 households right before election time

This government bribe, he says is to help families that have been hurt by the rising cost of energy which is not actually happening as he has assured us multiple times but if you disagree with the bribe you cruelly want to hurt poor people who are struggling to cover the non-existent increase in energy costs that he didn’t cause…..

Are you getting this?
-There is no increase in prices
-but households have seen upto $1000 increase in their total energy costs
-The governor is handing out checks for $200 to try to offset the $1000 increase in costs
-He denies the costs have increased
-But you are a bad person if you oppose him giving checks to families who have been hit by his hidden gas tax

Unbelievable….

OK Now the weird part

In the
@ChrisDaniels_TV

@komonews
Video linked below,

“Inslee was asked if he was trying to bribe voters with a tax credit. “No. They’re trying to take away $200 from these families. Who wants to take away $200 credit from a family to help them with their costs of these low-income folks. That’s reprehensible. You know what else? It’s weird.”

OK, Weird? that is a really weird word choice.
-You know what was weird was Jay Inslee’s bluster and weirdness
-what does he mean its weird?
-Is it weird that we are questioning his 975 day imperial self?
-Is it weird that citizens don’t seem to believe him when he tells them things like the price will not go up might even go down?
-Is it weird that people don’t want to pay extra taxes for a program that does not seem to have any real impact on the environment but which takes money from their paycheck every single time they fill up at the pump?
-Is it weird that people don’t like it when Jay is going around the state handing out $million dollar checks to dubious programs and then tries to bribe 675K of us with $200 checks?

I don’t know Jay but it seems like there is a lot more weirdness in your behavior than the voters.

Despite your attempted bribery I suspect the voters are going to see through you.

Why don’t we just give everyone a break from the unnecessary increase in energy costs and repeal the gussied up grift posing as an environmental program

Share this if you agree

You know what else?
#VoteYesPayLess

Lets talk I-2124 Long term care
Warning TLDR

Who are the people that do not want you to have a choice of whether to opt out of a poorly designed state program? What does the PDC tell us?

Wait what? The SEI”U Union Bosses are spending their members dues opposing worker choice!

SEIU wants members trapped in a program that

-discriminates against workers who take 5 years off to raise a family or take care of loved ones (if you work 9 years but then take 5 years off you have to start all over at year 0 and work a new 10 years to qualify – your first 9 yeas of contributions go away)
-discriminates against disabled workers that cannot work the minimum 500 hours per year (but still have to pay into the system even though they will never qualify for a payout
-discriminates against the working poor will be eligible for Medicaid but ending up subsidizing the middle and upper income groups through their contributions
-discriminates against migrant workers who will never have the hours to qualify but have to pay in
-is designed so poorly that even the Seattle Times called for it to be scrapped

And then even if you did qualify what do you get?
Lifetime max about $36K.

-That is not longer term – maybe 2-3 months in a decent LTC facility
-It is indexed to inflation but not to health care inflation which will go up much faster which means you will not even have 2-3 months in the future
-oh and less choice in the market because the state went from 5 private LTC providers before the LTC law was passed to now only 1 that services small businesses and 1 that services larger business
-less choice, less options, always equals higher prices and less quality… Always

And remember
-nearly 500,000 Washingtonians already rejected the scheme and were allowed to opt out when the program began
-however, if you worked for a company with a small or non-existent HR department you probably did not hear about or get the chance to opt out
-Is that fair?
-The labor bosses want you trapped paying into this program, Why would that be?????

The kicker

-If you want to take time off from your job and help out MeMaw for the last years of her life
-because you can stretch the dollars and you get to spend time with MeMaw
-Guess what group you have to join in order to be eligible to receive funds?

Yup you guessed it you have to join SEIU

So lets review
Union Boss lap dogs Jay Inslee and Olympia designed a program that you are forced to pay into
-and which shut down private competition
-and which does not give you long term care
-and which discriminates against multiple vulnerable groups

-Very coincidentally it happens to enrich SEIU Union Bosses

-Even more coincidentally SEIU labor bosses are the primary contributors

Let’s Go Washington wants you to have the same choice 500,000 of your fellow citizens already had. Its not fair to trap you in a program if you don’t want to be there. If you like the program. Great you can choose not to opt out.

Vote Yes on 2124 Pay Less

#VoteYesPayLess

How convenient!
Government Checks coming in October

Warning TLDR

Background
The CCA creates an additional 25 to 50 cent hidden gas tax on every gallon of gas you buy
-This means probably $200-$800 extra per year per person driving
-This Hidden CCA gas tax also makes shipping food to grocery stores more expensive and costs you at the store
-This likely equates to a 10-20% increase in the cost of groceries just from the shipping costs
-again this probably means anywhere from $100 to $1000 depending on family size and food budget
-And then insult to injury the CCA made the price of energy go up so energy companies like PSE asked for rate increase authority from the Utilities Commission -And they got the rate increase
BUT
– they were told by the current attorney general’s office (you know the guy the Seattle Times called petty, pushy, and overly ambitious ) they could not tell you why the rate increase happened

BUT BUT BUT
-I-2117 to repeal the hidden gas tax happened
-People are feeling the pain at the pump happened
-People are feeling the pain at the grocery store happened
-People are not stupid and know their energy costs increased due to government action happened
-Carbon credit auction prices dropped to minimum pricing happened (this means the carbon credit buyers think that 2117 is going to pass in November and they don’t want to buy credits that will become worthless)
-Bob#13 is running for office happened
-Political year pandering happened
-Polls showing taxing is not popular happened
-Polls showing Bob#13 is not popular happened

OK HERE IS THE MAGIC!!
FREE MONEY FOR 750,000 Washingtonians!!!!
-Olympia is cutting a bunch of $200 checks to send out to 750K WA residents
-The checks will hit in Sept/Oct. just in time to “remind us of their love” and right before the Nov. Election
-Yes they are just one time checks
-And yes it is like taking someones dollar bill and then giving them back a shiny nickel
-But Arrogant Olympia doesn’t think you will see through their cloud of CO2

-“What?” you say
-“There is no such thing as free money”
-“and the $200 won’t even begin to cover the increased cost to my budget”
-“and they wouldn’t even need to send out checks to people if they didn’t make the mess to begin with”
-“and doesn’t it seem like they sort of lied about prices increasing because of this CCA hidden tax thing?’
-“and didn’t they tell us prices might even go down?”
-“And didn’t Jay Inslee just do a lollipop tour handing out million dollar checks he funded from the money he said he was not taking from us? Yet they are only giving us $200?”
-“do they think we are chumps?”
-“and aren’t they telling us now they have no plan to get rid of natural gas?
-“and that we should ignore 1589 because it was just a bill to plan to ban natural gas not an actual ban?”
-“oh and didn’t they lose over $1billion of Federal money that they can’t find?”
-“and didn’t they send chicken checks to dead people?”
-“and, come to think of it, did ‘t they lose a craptonne of money to a Nigerian prince scam?”
-“oh and don’t they have budget surpluses every year but they never seem to have enough money so they always have to increase taxes?”
-“so shouldn’t we be a little cautious about trusting them to take and spend our money wisely or efficiently?”

You are so right sister. I could not have said it better myself.
In November Vote Yes Pay Less

#VoteYesPayLess
@letsgowa

@TJMartinell1

Buckle up This is why we cannot have nice things

Warning TLDR oh and Vote Yes Pay Less

Olympia wasted $1million of your money to teach 37 people how to drive.

Say What?
-well it is becoming a familiar theme
-in a 2019 Seattle Times story, WA ranked number 1 as the hardest state to get a drivers license in the entire nation
-WA also had the highest test fees in the entire nation
-So of course, once WA over-regulates (making things harder and too expensive)
-people have a hard time complying
-And So the state feels it must subsidize a system it screwed up to begin with

Now comes the juicy part
From the Center Square:

-last year the legislature allocated $1million to a King County program to teach people how to drive
-to qualify for the assistance you must meet three criteria
1) Woman (or non binary)
2) refugee or asylum seeker or immigrant
3) low income
-King county outsources training and money to a group called Mujer al Volante

My musings:
-one might get upset at the discriminatory way in which public money is being distributed but the results are so horrible you might better direct your sympathy to the poor souls who got suckered into the program
-see some numbers below:
522 -# of people who have gone through the program since Dec
37 – # of people who have actually received their license
7% – pass rate
55%- the average pass rate for a private driving school
$500-700 – the average cost for a new teen driver (most expensive option) course in WA
$27,000 – how much it cost per successful student through Mujer al Volante
1,428 – the number of students the state could have sent to a private driving school for $1million (1million /$700)
786 – number of those students who would have passed the test (55%)
$365,000 – the amount of money the state would have spent if it sent each of the 522 applicants to a private driving school (@$700 per)
287 – the number that would have passed (55%)
$1,271 vs $27,000 – private versus public spending to pass the test
21X – the multiple overspend by the state

This is just one single program of waste by Olympia
-But look at their ad to oppose the initiatives
WE CAN’T AFFORD IT

What we can’t afford are incompetent legislators wasting our money. Then raising taxes so they can waste more of it.
-They are wasting CCA funds on similar programs
-They are wasting Capital Gains taxes on subsidies needed due to state meddling in day care which increased costs
-They want you to believe they can manage an insurance product that was bankrupt before it was even launched
-they want you to believe that even as they are getting rid of infrastructure to support natural gas, they are not banning natural gas

In one program alone the state spent 21 times what it should have cost – how many programs do we just not even know about????

Fool me once…..

#VoteYesPayLess

FEAR

During this initiative process I have run into something in this state that is quite chilling. People are afraid.

-Teachers will privately tell me about meetings where they are told how to keep secrets from parents but they could not possibly go on the record
-Police officers afraid of voicing opinions contrary to the Governor, AG, or Mayors for fear of losing their jobs
-Wealthy men worth $500Million or above do not want to make any sort of contribution that would expose their name for rear of retaliation – they are also planning their departure date but would not speak about it publicly
-parents are afraid of schools taking it out on their children if they complain
-many parents are afraid to share their stories of overbearing school administrators
-property owners terrified of coming under the sights of overzealous regulators
-Energy companies afraid to defend their industry and making back room deals that hurt customers because it is the only way to survive in this state
-Business owners afraid to challenge unlawful edicts from governors who assume 975 days of emergency power
-Restaurants owners who were afraid to say anything against the AG because he would sick the liquor licensing burea on them and take away their ability to sell alcohol
-Political players that warn me not to upset Bob F. Because he will sue me using the awful power and resources of the state

This is wrong. It is not healthy. And it is the reason we were able to collect over 3 million signatures to get 7 initiatives either passed by the legislature or on the November ballot.

Help us push back against Olympia and against the fear.

#VoteYesPayLess

Crosscut#3 final post of the night
Warning TLDR
Subject Reuven Carlyle

Who is he?
-Represented WA 36th district in the house in the legislature
-Authored the CCA – Climate Commitment Act and Hidden Gas Tax
-Served 4 years
-Quit legislature to start up Earth Finance

What does Earth Finance Do?
-Provides consulting services to business to help them comply with climate related laws written to regulate those very companies by legislators
-provide investment and financing for companies hoping to take advantage of the massive government spending in “green projects”

This is a completely legal business.
It is also, in my opinion somewhat shady thing for a former legislator to do.

Let me explain:

First you create rules that are hard to understand, hard and expensive to comply with , and pose a serious financial penalty for those who get it wrong.

Second, while a legislator, you write a bill that takes billions of dollars from the citizens and then redistributes that into 1000’s of projects all directed by the legislature and the governor. Whom of course, are your personal friends and allies.

Third you create a business that makes money from
1) providing consulting services on how to navigate all the laws you just passed
2) helping find and provide funding for green projects remarkably similar to the types of projects that are going to be funded by the CCA

According to Carlyle that is all just pure coincidence. I have suggested that it is more than coincidence and that he has plans to make significant profits from his time in the leg.

His response in crosscut was

“Carlyle said Earth Finance has not done any business with any project receiving cap-and-invest money. “

“Brian Heywood’s 100-percent-false accusation about me personally is a reflection of the deceptive and misleading Initiative 2117 that will do absolutely nothing to reduce gas prices, but is 100 percent certain to increase pollution and eviscerate transportation funding statewide,”

OK so i have some questions and thoughts

1) His wording suggests that he has not done any business so far. Does that include going forward? Is your intent to take zero money from any project funded by the CCA? If so, I completely apologize for this remark.

If, on the other hand, you are just playing word games because the money had not come in yet, then shame on you.

2) When you make laws that are hard to understand and costly to comply with and then start a business to help people navigate the law- which, if they screw up, can cost them dearly in penalties —- how is that different from a chicago style shakedown artist? Both are offering protection “I would really hate to see something happen to this establishment” from a form of violence. But of course the consultants are there for the children.

Reuven and I are scheduled to debate in October. I am sure he will correct me where I am wrong, but i have been in business for a lot of years. i sit on international company boards and this is not the first shakedown former legislator scheme i have seen. I am sure it won’t be the last.

One thing seems consistent, these former government schemers wrap themselves up in a cloak of righteous vigor and tout how much good they are doing for the children while completely ignoring the commuter, the grocery shopper the home heating user who are financial penalized by disastrous ineffective legislation designed to line their own pockets.

I am accused of greed for using my own money to give voters a choice on the ballot. But would you not call someone greedy who has used the government to create laws so complicated that the only way to navigate is to hire the very person who created the scheme?

Get rid of the CCA

#VoteYesPayLess

2081 – No secrets from Parents went in to law Jun. 6 2024.
-Remember this was the result of over 460K signatures from Washingtonians AND a unanimous vote in the WA Senate AND a super majority vote in the House

-OSPI said he was not going to enforce the law and has given no instruction to schools on their obligations under the law
-ACLU has sued to stop the law but was only give a temporary restraint on one small portion of the law (no finds just inconclusive so wait sort of ruling)
-When I met with the editorial board of Seattle Times they scoffed that 2081 was even needed and asked for proof

-Listen to the mom on the Brandi Kruse show below detail her interaction with the school officials
-She sited the law but they were unaware of it (hmm why didn’t the OSPI give information or direction on the requirements under the new law?)
-She asked to see the curriculum and at first they refused
-Then they gave her a portion of the material but stated that non curriculum material used in the class room were not subject to this rule
-Non curriculum material were also not reviewed by any school board or administration
-I am sure this would never be abused, just like schools would never deny information to a parent.

Don’t take my word, listen to a parent brave enough to come forward and talk with Brandi.

2081 is your tool to fight this arrogance by state officials. You have a right to know what is being taught in your kids classrooms.

Lets have a short talk about about I-2066 (prolly still TLDR)

When the majority party put forward bill number 1589, it originally included a ban on all new natural gas hook ups. This was original intent.

In an attempt to blunt the impact of 1589 and future gas bans on the economically disadvantaged, the follow amendments were all made But REJECTED by the majority party :

“Lawmakers were directly presented an opportunity to offer protections for families and homeowners, with more than two dozen amendments offered by the minority party. Here are some examples:
•Amendment 818 would have required PSE to “pay for any costs a residential, commercial, or industrial gas customer incurs as a result of transitioning from gas to nonemitting energy resources.” It was not approved.
•Amendment 840 would have prohibited “discontinuing gas service for any low-income customer.” It was not approved.
•Amendment 821 would have required “reasonable rate protections for all customers.” It was not approved.
•Amendment 839 would have prohibited “discontinuing gas service for any restaurant.” It was not approved.
•Amendment 842 would have allowed customers to “request gas service from another utility if a large combination utility will not provide gas service.” It was not approved.
•Amendment 841 would require “at least eight years’ notice before transitioning a gas customer to a nonemitting energy resource.” It was not approved. “

This Guy- Chris Reykdal – WA state Superintendent of Schools believes he is above the law and that the state knows better than parents what is best for your children.

In November he needs to go.

2081 is now law
-it was passed with a unanimous vote in the WA Senate and an overwhelming majority in the WA House

Here is what the 2081 law now gives parents despite lawless Chris’s attempt to once again ignore the law:

1) parental right to access textbooks, curriculum, supplemental material, used in their child’s classroom
2) parental right to inspect their child’s public school records including academic records, vocational counseling, screening records, medical or health records, discipline and attendance records, and any other student specific files
3-5) medical service and treatment notification including anything with financial impact, or requiring follow up care beyond normal school hours
6)parents be immediately notified if a criminal action was deemed to be committed against their child
7) parental notification if any law enforcement officer questioned their child unless the questioning is about whether a parent abused or neglected the child
8) parentalnotification if the child has been removed from campus without parental permission
9) school will not discriminate against a child based on their family’s religious beliefs.
10) parental opt out option for their children from engagements that may question their child’s sexual experience or attractions, religious or political beliefs, and mental or behavioral health of the child or family members.
11) parental opt out option for their children from instructional topics on sexual activity.
12 parental right to receive a copy of the school’s calendar, with revisions, which also must be posted on the school’s website.
13 parental right to receive a list of any required fee and its purpose end use and how economic hardships can be addressed in writing or on the school’s website.
14) parental right to receive a description of the school’s dress code or uniform
15) parental right to be notified of their child’s academic performance if it could result in failure to be promoted to the next grade level and be offered an in-person meeting with teacher to discuss options for academic improvement

Share this with parents all over the state.

Link to article

Damning King County Net Zero Audit

Short version : Inslee’s folly is driving us off a cliff

Longer version (Warning TLDR but you really should)
Jay Inslee’s Cap and Trade (Hidden Gas tax) and climate goals are ill-thought out plans that will result in significant energy supply and transportation shortages as well as safety issues

Local implementation of the mandates are a mess. King County audit on Net Zero tells us
-the manufacturing is not ready
-the technology is not ready
-the electrical supply is not ready
-the bus battery performance is sub par
-The supply chain is not ready
-There is no emergency response plan in place if zero emissions (read electric buses) don’t work during an emergency

And yet we are running hell bent for a mythical net zero
Damning stuff from a government audit. Some quotes below:

“Metro Transit is working to transition its revenue bus fleet to zero emissions by 2035”

“Metro Transit …faces significant risks that may impede reaching the goal, including the loss of bus manufacturers, technology limitations, sufficient electricity supply in the future, and lagging battery-electric bus performance.”

“The accelerated pace compounds risks associated with the unknowns of emerging technology and supply chain challenges”

“It has also not yet adapted its emergency response role to a zero-emission fleet, increasing safety risks if Metro Transit is not able to fulfill anticipated roles in a disaster.”

“Metro Transit will need to improve its ability to complete capital projects to stay on schedule and avoid costly changes to projects.”

And how efficient is Metro at wasting…oh i mean investing your tax dollars: listen to the report again

“The Metro Transit Capital Division is working to improve
planning and use collaborative delivery methods that could save time on projects, but it has not developed a strategy to maximize efficiency and other benefits.”

“We also found that capital project teams do not yet consistently engage central procurement or Metro Transit’s government relations and safety staff early in projects. As a result, teams might not address risks that cause delays or safety and security issues.”

This is the same poorly run organization with Meth coated buses that is somehow going to get its act together and we promise we promise won’t have to make “costly changes to projects”.

Stop the nonsense
Vote Yes Pay Less in November I-2117

Read it for yourself here:

Clueless Economic Clown Inslee
(because if he is not clueless then he is lying)

This is from this week. He deflects the impact of the CCA to increase gas prices through the hidden gas tax And instead tries to turn it back and say that 2117 won’t lower prices.

My dear friend… the very foundational design of the CCA is to increase the cost of gasoline every year by reducing carbon credits which make the price go up so that one day it will be so expensive you cannot afford to drive. That is fundamental to how the carbon market works and how it was designed.

So, either JI does not understand this (which is possible, remember he was not even aware of what was happening in CHOP in Seattle) or he is flat out lying. You decide.