Washington State is in deep trouble...

And it is our fault.

One of the things I have learned over the years it that divided government is the best government. Most of the time when our two opposing parties are forced to work together to get something done, good things can come out of it.

Recently, say the last twenty years, the two parties have gone from the middle to the outer fringe. There has been a political cleaning of both houses in the name of “purity.” This is not only a bad way to work in politics, but a dangerous one when one party or the other is a dominant party. Normally in the United States the pendulum swings back and forth with one side or the other being dominant, but never for extended periods of time. This is not the case in Washington State.

In the 2024 election cycle, most of the country swung to the republican side of the coin with former President Trump winning the presidency, the republicans winning the House and the Senate and republicans holding 27 governorships (did not change since 2022). However, Washington State doubled down on their agenda and elected another democrat governor. This is and will continue to be a problem for Washington State; one party rule is dangerous and costly. Let me explain…

Background:

Growing up in Washington State, I was interested in politics at an early age. I remember the election of 1980 and my fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Vopnford, coming to class and explaining that we not only had a new president in Ronald Regan, but a new governor of Washington State in John Spellman. That was the last time a republican governor presided over Washington State.

Looking at the chart below, you will see that starting in approximately 1930, Washington State was on its way to becoming a truly competitive state in terms of two parties battling for all three major state offices. This continued up until about 1992…

In 1992, democrats began to take over all three branches of the government, only years in 1997-1998 did republicans hold both houses of the capitol. In that same period from 1992-2024 republicans have never held all three at the same time, but democrats have in eighteen years.

Problem:

The most dangerous problem of one-party rule is that you do not have a second party that is able to force the party in power, closer to the center. If you have no one to say no to and you always get what you want, dreadful things can happen. As an example, the Editor-in-Chief vetoes a number of subjects prior to them becoming known. This is a good control so only the best product comes to fruition. It is the same in government, when compromise and innovative ideas are forced on government, you usually get the best government can offer. For a country that is constantly screaming about diversity, diversity of thought is probably the least utilized characteristic in politics and Washington State is no exception.

As I stated earlier, the one-party rule is not only dangerous, but costly and it has been costing Washington State for a number of years and now it is really bad. Governor Jay Inslee was elected in 2013 on a platform of not raising taxes, but in reality, the governor has not met a tax he does not like.

“When Jay Inslee ran to be Washington state Governor 12 years ago, he was categorical about taxes. ‘I do not believe tax increases are the right path for the state of Washington.’ That was a whopper for the ages. Mr. Inslee will leave office in January having undermined the state’s competitiveness with a new 7% capital gains tax, and now he thinks the state should impose a tax on wealth.’ ‘Mr. Inslee wants the wealth tax because he is leaving office with another legacy—a budget shortfall of some $16 billion over the next four years. This is the cost of making the state a laboratory for progressive government with climate mandates and subsidies, and multiple new healthcare subsidies such as long-term care insurance. When the Democrat took office the two-year state budget was $38 billion. As he walks out the door he wants $79 billion.” (my emphasis)

Click Here to Read this informative Brian Heywood article.

If you’re interested in Washington State politics and not reading Brian Heywood’s work on several platforms, including X, (https://x.com/bkheywood) you are missing out.

Cause:

Washington State democrats welcomed the federal government’s Covid-19 spending with open arms and forgot that the money would eventually run out. Even Inslee himself kept his “emergency powers” longer than he should to keep the possibility of more funding coming. In fact, Inslee kept his emergency powers for approximately two-and-one-half years!

With this new Covid-19 money, governments have opened new areas to spend, increased spending in others with no thought to “what do we do when the money runs out?” Government rarely ever shrinks and when you feed the beast unlimited money, as the Covid-19 debacle did, it grows exponentially.

The Budget Announcement:

On November 14, 2024, Governor Jay Inslee held a press conference in which he announced that Washington State is facing an approximate 10-billion-dollar shortfall in the budget. This came as quite a shock to me, and I am sure most Washingtonians. How did this happen so quickly and why are we hearing about this now? You will notice the date of the Governor’s press conference…after the 2024 election results and his hand-picked replacement, Bob Ferguson, won election to continue the Inslee tradition.

My favorite part of this was the reaction of the local news media: they were shocked, shocked I tell you…they acted like Claude Rains, as Captain Renault, in Casablanca, who stole that movie with his role, but I digress.

The glorious Seattle Times reacted this way:

You will notice the language used by the Times’ editorial board “over the past decade.” Who has the Times recommended for governor? Inslee…

“The verdict is in, and the most disappointing figure of the 2024 election cycle is: The Seattle Times Editorial Board. Not because I disagree with their positions, but because they have abandoned any genuine desire to hold powerful people accountable for their failures.” Brandi Kruse

Brandi's perspective on the Seattle Times

But it gets even better!! We are now finding out that the budget shortfall is much worse than Inslee told us initially! We are now projected to have a budget shortfall in the area of 16 billion for the 2025-2027 budget!!

Click here for the whole report...

The Governor’s Solution:

Part 1:

Budget cuts now - Governor Inslee has asked Washignton State agencies to hold off on unnecessary travel, put on a hiring freeze, and to cut all costs where they can. “While this is a difficult endeavor, I ask each agency to participate and use common sense, good judgment, and creativity to accomplish the ultimate goal of this directive to capture immediate savings through spending reductions not related to the public safety and essential health and welfare of Washingtonians,”

The Governor's directive

This directive will address the budget deficit like a firefighter peeing on a forest fire.

Part 2:

Raise Taxes!

The governor recommends a new set of business taxes which will push Washington even farther down the competitive chart seen below:

Washington is rated as 47 right now, I guess the democrats of this state think that being #50 out of 50 is a great goal. "The Tax Foundation now ranks Washington 45th in the 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index, slightly ahead of fellow bottom dwellers Maryland, Connecticut, California, New Jersey and New York. It ranked sixth when Mr. Inslee took office." Wonder which big business will be the next to leave Washington?

The governor’s proposal also asks for a new tax on millionaires, about 100 million dollars in Washington State. The great part of this is this number will be implemented and when not enough money is coming in, the number will be lowered. Millionaires can and know how to protect their money, then it will be up to us. The government does not forget a tax once it is implemented.

The Question(s): What is it about the Washington State politics that keeps people voting for democrats?

Is it the superior cost of living here?

Is it the low crime rates?

Yeah we are #8 out of 50!! Click here to see the rating

Maybe it is the homeless solutions they have come up with?

“According to the HUD report, Washington state had the third largest homeless population in the country in 2024, with 31,554 people experiencing homelessness.

The report also states Washington had an increase of 4,295 individuals with chronic patterns of homelessness since last year, which is a 55.8% increase. That increase is the largest, by percentage, of any state in the country.” On an added note the homelessness problem in Washington State is up 360% since 2007, and we have the 3rd highest homeless population in the country, behind New York and California!

We're #3 yes! Here is the article

But do not fret; incoming governor Bob Ferguson has it all under control:

He is going to go on fighting the tough fight against President-Elect Donald Trump, because that is where the real problems are!

Notice:

There has been absolutely no talk about cutting spending back to where it once was in an effort to get things under control. The answer is always more taxes. Eventually they will complain that not enough revenue is coming in and implement something new.

Pay attention, this is the first step for the democrats to work around the Washington State constitution and implement an income tax. The completely partisan Washington State Supreme Court has already stated that capital gains taxes are not income taxes (they are) and this will be Ferguson’s personal mission to implement the income tax through other means.

Final Thought:

The rock band the Who has a line in one of their best albums, Who’s Next, that states the following: “Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again, no, no
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss”

This is the problem Washington State is facing. We just elected someone who was the hand-picked candidate of the current governor who is responsible for the mess we are in. This person was also supported by the Seattle Times, thus “Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss.”

Don’t worry, Governor-elect Ferguson (D) is a “reformer.”

I understand that people believe in their personal politics, and I can respect well-thought-out arguments for both sides. But when a party is running your state into a ditch, isn’t it time to give someone else a chance at the wheel? Time will tell if Washington State voters are correct in voting for the same policies or will the voters be the ones turning us into the ditch…

Oh, and by the way Governor Inslee is retiring…in Idaho. Hmmmmm…I wonder how the taxes are there?