The 2019 SCRP Lincoln / Reagan Day Dinner is on Saturday, May 11th and there are sill seats remaining. This year we are blessed to have WA State Treasurer Duane Davidson and State House GOP Floor Leader Jacquelin Maycumber as Featured Speakers. Also we are extremely honored to have World-Renowned Human Rights and Democracy Dissident Dr. Yang Jianli joining us as a Featured Speaker (to view program click here); with the genocide happening in Venezuela the timing could not be more appropriate to learn first hand what Socialism/Communism inevitably brings. Dr. Yang has two PhD's, and is an internationally known Scholar and Activist for Freedom & Democracy; his story is truly fascinating.
Dr. Yang grew up in China and at age 15 enrolled in Beijing Normal University where he graduated at age 19 with a Masters Degree. He quickly was indoctrinated into the Chinese Communist Party, but soon became disillusioned by the corruption he experienced, and in 1986 he left China to pursue a PH. D. and career in mathematics at UC Berkeley. When the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests began he went to Beijing to support his comrades in the demonstrations for democracy; while actively protesting he witnessed the massacre of thousands of innocent and peaceful protesters by the guns and tanks of the Chinese Communist Army, including tanks running over protesters. He narrowly escaped capture and returned to the U.S. to study democracy and continue his activism; in the next few years he founded 'Foundation for China in the 21st Century' and co-authored 'A Constitution for a Democratic China' under the theme of understanding and trust (which was endorsed by the Dali Lama).
In 2002, after completing his Doctorate in Political Economy at Harvard University, Dr. Yang returned to China to help the labor movement with non-violent struggle strategies. He was then arrested by the Chinese Government and sentenced to five years in prison, 15 months of the time was spent in solitary confinement, and also he was subjected to ongoing physical and psychological torture. Following an international outcry for his release, including a UN Resolution, a call by George W. Bush, and a unanimous vote of both houses of the U.S. Congress Dr. Yang was freed in April of 2007. Immediately following his return to America he formed 'Indicatives for China / Citizen Power', a Pro-Democracy movement committed to a peaceful transition for democracy in China.
Dr. Yang's accomplishments are many. He is consistently elected as a Top 100 Chinese Public Intellectuals. He founded the annual 'Interethnic / Interfaith Leadership Conference.' In 2010 he co-chaired the 'Committee on Internet Freedom' at the Geneva Human Rights and Democracy Summit. In December 2010 in Oslo at the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony, he represented the imprisoned Chinese Democracy leader Liu Xiaobo (Nobel Peace Laureate who would eventually die in the CCP regime's custody in 2017). In December of 2011 he joined the Dali Lama and four other delegates, to attend 'Forum Democracy and Human Rights in Asia', hosted by former Czechoslovakia President Vaclav Havel. He has been the recipient of dozens of international human rights awards, including the 2013 'Truman - Reagan Medal of Freedom Award' for demonstrating a life-long commitment to freedom & democracy and opposition to communism and all other forms of tyranny.
Dr Yang is also a frequent contributor to and interviewee by the international media, panelist at hearings held by U.S. Congress, European Parliament, UK Parliament, Taiwan Legislative Yuan, and speaker on various international forums, on topics ranging from human rights in China, China's democratization, China's politics, ethnic relations in PRC, Taiwan - China relations, U.S. - China policies. For more info on Dr. Yang's see his bio here. To view a couple of his YouTube videos click here and/or here.
WA State Treasurer Duane Davidson has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting, is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and he is a former Chief Financial Account and Treasurer for Benton County; as County Treasurer he was elected to four consecutive terms. While a County Treasurer, Duane served three terms as President of the Washington State Association of County Treasurers and earlier served as the organization's Treasurer. In 2016 Duane became Washington's 23rd State Treasurer, in that election he won every single county in the state, something that no Republican has done in a statewide election in more than 50 years. That puts him in very exclusive company, as he is only one of two Republicans elected to statewide office on the west coast.
WA State House Republican Floor Leader Jacquelin Maycumber lives in the town of Republic representing the 7th Legislative District. She has a Bachelors Degree in Biochemistry and spent time working as a Biomedical Research Scientist. She is also a former law enforcement officer and elected School Board Member. Jacquelin has earned many honors including this year being named the State House Republican Floor Leader (becoming the first woman to hold the position since 1983), and being selected to give the Republican response to Governor Inslee's "State of the State" speech.
Jacquelin also was named "Legislator of the Year" by the Washington Hunters Association and last month was awarded "Legislator of the Year" by the Washington Council of Metropolitan Police and Sheriffs. Also earlier in the year she was given the Slade Gordan "Rising Star" Award.
Sadly over the weekend the corrupt WA State Socialist/Democrat Party released a 900 page state budget full of new taxes and liberal policies. They collaborated among themselves and did this in the middle of the night on the 104th day of a 105 day legislation cycle with NO BI-PARTISAN INPUT, with NO PUBLIC HEARINGS and NO TRANSPARENCY. This is also taxation without representation; all the while the main stream media capitulates and enables their corruption.
Several years of Republican control in the WA state senate helped to keep excess taxes and regulations in check. However now Democrats (with their many reckless and out of control policies) have a 27 - 21 senate majority, and with a large 57 - 41 majority in the state house we are on the precipice of an even more ultra liberal Democrat "Tax & Spend" agenda becoming the reality in 2019. This corrupt trend is unacceptable and unsustainable and it is all our duty to do everything we can to expose the facts so we can get as many Democrats out of office in 2020.
The Democrats new two year budget grows state spending by a whopping 18% (the largest increase in 30 years). This equates to a $8 billion increase in state spending from the current budget and includes $4.5 billion in new state taxes; which included another Title Only "Ghost Bill" that had language inserted in the new legislation at the last minute (deviously avoiding GOP and Public Oversight) that will have stifling new B & O income taxes on small businesses. Also Dems imposed a new graduated Real Estate Excise Tax that now goes up to 3% (one of the highest in the U.S.).
The Democrat authoritarian stranglehold of more taxes and increased spending needs to stop! The state has ample money and taxpayer provided cash flow for the many needs of the state. New taxes are not necessary as we already have record tax revenues and a $2.8 billion surplus. In the current economy we need fiscal responsibility and to prioritize spending, government should be cutting (not raising) taxes; obviously that will not happen until Republicans can gain control of the state legislature. The much better question and focus should be on "How can we best use the extra billions of revenues that we have now?"
Despite the unified Republican house and senate, many new terrible Democrat tax and overspending laws (including more insane regulations) will be in place soon, as a result expect more people & businesses to move out of the state and the state's economy and our hard working citizens to suffer. Continuing on with the theme of the previous few months Newsletters here are some more examples:
ESHB 1087 mandates a new payroll tax to raise over $1 billion a year in new taxes from the paychecks of EVERY WA employee. Without your approval this tax will take approximately 58 cents for every $100 you earn and put it into an account to pay for this administrative bureaucratic state run Long Term Care Trust capping maximum benefits at a ONE TIME $36,000 per person.
ESSB 5438 creates a new administrative agency under the Employment Security Department which now has authorization to tax a farmer at a per worker rate (Head Tax) above the $2,500 which the Federal Govt. charges. This unfairly allows a state government dept to raise a tax without direct legislative approval, making it much for expensive for farmers to hire any additional workers.
HB 1257 is a new tax called "The Home Energy Efficiency Tax" which mandates stringent "green new deal' building codes and is expected to add at least $6,000 to $12,000 to the cost of a new house. This is not the way to make the cost of housing more affordable.
HB 2158 will impose a 20% B&O tax surcharge on income from sales and services that directly impacts about 90,000 statewide businesses, the legislation also includes a 33% - 66% B&O "surcharge tax" on Computing businesses (expect higher prices across the board for all of us to pay). This new law is a great way to kill small and new startup businesses.
HB 2167 is a new tax that imposes an additional 1.2% B&O tax on the state's financial institutions.
ESSB 5579 is a law that now makes it impossible for any more deliveries of Bakken (North Dakota) Crude by rail to area Skagit and Whatcom refineries. This will end production and force shut downs of the refineries that serve our communities and state, also will take away hundreds of jobs in the process. Of note, after months of advocating for passage of the bill Democrat Reps Shewmake and Morris from Whatcom County did the cowardly thing and were "Not Present" for this vote, simply because they knew their caucus had enough overall votes and the backlash they would get from their constituents.
SB 5497 gives sanctuary status for illegal immigrants (making them a protected class) by preventing state and local law enforcement agencies from sharing information with the federal gov agencies. Expect court battles. This proposed legislation law is unconstitutional (Art 1 Sec 8) and violates Federal Law (8 U.S. Code 1373). Also it compromises our national security and community safety.
HB 1638 mandates vaccinations for all children that go to public school so parents now have no say so in whether their own children have a needle stuck in them. Forced immunization is an attack on personal and individual rights by the government.
HB 2140 allows statewide school districts to dramatically increase local levies/property taxes, this undermines previously negotiated agreements regarding the McCleary decision and will have a huge adverse impact on the state taxpayers.
SB 5116 mandates a "Green New Deal" phase out ALL fossil fuels, natural gas, oil, etc. and to have 100% carbon free electric by 2045, coal is to be outlawed by 2025. Meaning we will be forced to spend billions of dollars to provide alternative sources of power such as wind and solar. This is a needless and severe financial penalty to our citizens as WA state currently is one of the cleanest energy states in America and the leading hydro-electric producer in the country.
Of note: state Democrat lawmakers voted to have our taxpayers pay $4 Million to fund Gov. Inslee's extra required security costs as he is campaigning all across the county. In prioritizing running for President over the state's constituents Inslee is not focusing on his job dealing with the important state day-to-day issues. In a recent poll over 90% said they disapproved of the Democrat vote as hard working state taxpayers should not be subsidizing Inslee's political ambitions. Dems are trying to justify this by saying it will help the state's tourism industry (laughable).
And the list of new foolhardy Democrat laws and policies goes on and on. However, there is some good news, some or their scary proposed legislation was (at lease temporarily) killed because of overwhelming protests, emails and phone calls by the people of Washington. This included HB 2156 a state capital gains income tax, (however BEWARE there is funding in the new 900 page budget for a study), SB 5395 a law that would have mandated sex education (that included liberal LGBTQ curriculum which thankfully is finally off the Superintendent of Public Instruction website) in all Washington public schools beginning in kindergarten; (however BEWARE on page 711 of the new Dem state budget a K-12 Sex Education Study is being funded). Also good news that SB 5693 which tried to require farmers to report whether they have "slaves" employed was killed and HB 5323 which would have banned plastic bags statewide and mandated to businesses what their customers can or can't do at this time is dead.
We absolutely need to keep the pressure on the state legislators to stop the Democrat insanity! To have your voice heard VOTE REPUBLICAN, contact your legislators and call the legislative hotline @ (800) 562-6000. Also you can call the Governors office @ 360) 902-4111 and ask Inslee to VETO these taxes!
Republicans are Conservative, that means we want to 'conserve' (preserve) everything possible that has made our county great. This includes conservation of the earth, air and water. Unlike many Democrats the GOP is committed to common sense solutions to the environment, based on known and provable science. Something that we can actually do to help minimize unwanted carbon dioxide (without any new taxes) is to take practical steps on one key issue. That is to properly manage our forests. Recent years of devastating Washington state forest fires are releasing an estimated 90 - 100 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each summer. The consequences of forest fires not only leads to unhealthy air to breath, it costs our state billions of dollars every year in collateral impacts and are the result of decades of failed stewardship and maintenance of the forests.
To help make necessary progress with our forests the corruption needs to be exposed and ceased. An example at the federal level, the Equal Access to Justice Act is being abused. (EAJA) authorizes the payment of attorney fees (taxpayer $) to a party that prevails against the U.S. govt. in court. Liberal Environmental groups have been using EAJA to help fund their existence by filing lawsuit after lawsuit for many years; i.e. documentation in the U.S. Forest Service Fiscal Year 2020 budget shows environmental groups received EAJA-payouts of more than $9 million in fees and settlement awards between 2011 and 2018; over that period about $2.5 million of the $9 million payout was made to groups suing to stop forest management projects (environmental groups and their attorneys were awarded an average of $76,000 per settlement in the forest management cases). Also data obtained from the DOJ showed environmental groups filed 570 lawsuits related to the Endangered Species Act from 2009-2012. As a result, the government paid out over $15 million via taxpayer dollars. It would be interesting to know how many innocent animals, birds, "endangered species" etc. die unnecessarily each year in preventable forest fires.
No Brainer Science: NASA latest findings are proving that the large glowing orange ball in the sky called the sun (with its latest sunspot and solar activity cycle) contributes much more to the planet's global warming and cooling than the humans inhabiting it. The new scientific data is from NASA's soundings of the atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry or SABER instrument high above the earth on a satellite. SABR monitors infrared radiation from carbon dioxide (CO2) and is showing that the very top levels of the earth's atmosphere (the thermosphere) are in a slight cooling trend that is now predicted to last for several decades. All the while many Dems continue on with their global warming hysteria to justify nonsensical liberal agenda.
More climate change hoax & true science facts: Patrick Moore, co founder of Greenpeace, recently came public saying "The whole climate crisis is not real, it's fake science, there is no climate crisis, there is weather and climate all around the world, and in fact carbon dioxide is the main building block of all life; carbon dioxide occurs naturally in the earth's atmosphere as a trace gas, the current concentration is about 04%, natural sources include volcanoes, hot springs and geysers." Moore also blew the whistle on some scientists as they were found to be receiving huge government grants for helping to perpetuate the worldwide hoax; obviously the left-wing liberal media also drives this false narrative 24-7 to serve its power-hungry agenda by censoring the facts.
We should not be surprised that Democrat Congressional Rep. Ilhan Omar keeps advocating for the release of a jailed leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization wanting to establish a global caliphate that funds terrorist groups such as Hamas and al-Qaida. Omar continues working on behalf of the Muslin Brotherhood on a regular basis at CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations / the front group for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas) fundraisers, etc. and is keeping with Barack Obama's plan to "Fundamentally Transform the United States of America." Additionally Omar's recent remarks describing the 911 terror attacks by saying "Some people did something" and her re-tweet after the Isis Easter Suicide Bombing Massacre in Sri Lanka, saying that "Jesus was a Palestinian" are other reason for people to wake up!
Also of very serious concern locally, is that Ilhan Omar will be in Bellevue at a CAIR-Washington event entitled: UN-Apologetically US Building Muslim Power for 2020 & Beyond to be held on Saturday, May 25th from 6-10 PM.
It needs to be known that the Muslim Brotherhood's ongoing goal is to "Destroy Western Civilization From Within." Also they are classified as a terrorist organization in several nations, including Russia, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the UAE. Additionally the Muslim Brotherhood has produced brutal terrorists such as al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden (mastermind of the Sept 11, 2001 Terror Attacks) and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the current leader of ISIS.
Republicans in Congress and the Trump Administration need to continue the press for the Muslim Brotherhood to be officially designated as a foreign terrorist organization the U.S.. Per Article 4 Section 4 of the U.S. constitution, The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a Republican form of government, and shall protect them against invasion.
A RAND Corporation recent study indicates that drug smugglers and cartels made 2.3 billion dollars in 2017 as illegal aliens crossed the southern border. Other estimates are also saying there are now approximately 30 million illegals living in the U.S.; not surprisingly taxpayers continue to be hit with more and more taxes to support them as about 70% of the 30 million are on some sort of government welfare benefit programs. This is costing U.S. taxpayers over 100 billion dollars per year to fund Illegal immigrant education, health care and housing.
Democrat Presidential Candidates running for the highest office in the land continue with their platform of promoting lawlessness with planks and policies such as Legalizing Prostitution which is what Kamala Harris is espousing; Government Seizure of Firearms, which is what Pete Buttigieg advocates and Allowing Convicted Felons and Murderers to Vote (from their prison cell), which is a policy that Bernie Sanders is fully endorsing.
The Republican tax & regulation cuts continue to fuel excellent growth as the overall U.S. economy grew at 3.2% GDP in the first quarter of 2019. Most analysts predicted modest expansion of 2 % - 2.5%, and the impressive 3.2% GDP number could have easily been higher considering the government shutdown was in full effect over this recorded time frame. Also African American, Hispanic, Woman and the Middle Class jobless rates continue at historic lows (overall unemployment is at 3.6% a 49 year low). Also in April 263,000 jobs were added to our national economy. Thank you GOP and President Trump!
King County Executive Dow Constantine's Executive Order for Boeing Field Airport to ban all Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) Illegal Alien detainee flights is unconstitutional; (Art 1 Sec 8 Clause 4 of the US Constitution, Congress has the responsibility to establish all laws and rules of naturalization and immigration). This EO should be challenged by the federal govt. and in court. Because the U.S. Constitution assigns responsibility for regulating immigration exclusively to the federal govt., state and county governmental agencies have no say so. It is also a violation of Federal Law (8 U.S.C.1373) enacted in 1996 by Congress which prohibits policies that impede cooperation between federal, state and local officials when it comes to Illegal Immigration.
Thank you to Kim Bryan who spoke at our last SCRP Central Committee meeting. Kim gave a riveting talk on the problems we are now facing in Skagit County with Human / Sex Trafficking. Kim has dedicated her life to helping provide solutions for traumatized minors with CrossRoads Youth Ranch, a private Non-Profit program. For more info click here.
Thanks to Skagit Sr. Deputy Prosecutor Will Honea and Commissioners Dahlstedt, Janicki and Wesen for their Resolution to Dept of Fish & Wildlife. The overpopulated 1,700 + Skagit elk herd is severely damaging farmland, endangering public safety, are a hazard to motorists, and many elk with "Hoof Rot Disease" are infecting other livestock. Lets hope DFW acts. The elk were originally brought to Skagit in the 1940's as a food sources, so there should be no issue with harvesting some of the elk and donating the catch to area food banks. Policy must be enacted now, literally every day private property is being destroyed as the elk feast on farmer crops, damage fences, etc.
Thank you to GOP State House Floor Leader Jacquelin Maycumber, her sponsored HB 1448, "Creating a Veteran Service Officer Program" passed the House unanimously and was signed into law. It took 3 long years of negotiations and fighting to bring the issue of Veterans Services to the floor, finally giving the Veterans the money and services they deserve and have earned.
Thank you to Republican LD 10 Senator Barbara Bailey for her work in securing $1.3 million to provide access to domestic water use for many Skagit area homes in the Little Mountain area. The money will be used for a road water pipeline and booster station with plans to have future development in the area for landowners who currently do not have legal access to water. Perhaps their is hope that the 2001 Dept. of Ecology Skagit river "instream flow rule" imposed via the State Supreme Court and last years Democrat lead "Hirst fix" legislation that exempted Skagit County will be a non-factor in other areas of the county as well, it is time for more common sense solutions to be enacted!
As mentioned the 2019 SCRP Lincoln / Reagan Day Dinner will include three amazing featured speakers, a Welcome Reception Meet and Greet, no host bar, dessert dash, live & silent auctions and much more, you will not want to miss this power packed program! Of note: Our featured dinner speakers will include Skagit County Commissioner Ron Wesen, 39th LD Rep Robert Sutherland, 39th LD Rep Carolyn Eslick, 39th LD Senator Keith Wagoner, 10th LD Senator Barbara Bailey, 10th LD Rep Norma Smith and 42nd LD Senator Doug Ericksen. Event is guaranteed to be a lot of fun, for more info and to RSVP see http://skagitrepublicans.com or call (360) 424-9792.
Respect and Blessings!
Bill Bruch, SCRP Chairman
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